From Hartford Courant:
The Office of State Ethics has quietly destroyed a quarter-century’s worth of public records concerning the finances of present and former public officials, drawing a protest from the head of an open-government group who says the thousands of shredded files were an irreplaceable resource.
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From The Daily Courier:
PHOENIX (AP) – A computer glitch at Arizona’s child-welfare agency kept some public records hidden from parents and their lawyers for more than 15 years.
The missing records could have led to children being improperly removed from their homes and stopped caregivers from filing civil claims against the state.
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From Richmond Times-Dispatch:
A community activist and a City Hall watchdog are pushing for Richmond’s City Council and its boards and commissions to improve the quality and quantity of information available to the public on the city’s website.
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Read More… from Virginia activists seek more open city government
From News and Sentinel:
PARKERSBURG – Doddridge County officials remain tight-lipped on the details surrounding the shooting deaths of Fred and Dixie Spencer and their daughter P.J. and their 16-year-old son who is in custody.
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Read More… from Wood County attorney: Teen’s records confidential
From American Civil Liberties Union:
Just shy of the one-year anniversary of the inaugural Occupy Wall Street protests, the ACLU of Northern California obtained initial documents from the FBI about surveillance of Occupy demonstrations in the region (see the FBI’s response here).
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From The Gainesville Sun:
A circuit court judge has ruled that the city of Gainesville did not violate the state’s public records law by requiring that a former employee pay some $40,000 in advance to process a public records request made in connection with an employment discrimination complaint against the city.
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Read More… from City prevails in former employee’s public records lawsuit, Florida
From Sun Herald:
PASCAGOULA — Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd on Friday denied the Sun Herald a copy of an incident report about a shooting at the office of the Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County, though the law says the report is public record.
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Read More… from Jackson County sheriff denies request for report on shooting
From San Francisco Chronicle:
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A task force seeking ways to make South Dakota government more open has narrowed its focus to a list of proposals ranging from giving citizens access to crime suspects’ mug shots to making sure board and commission meetings are public.
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Read More… from South Dakota panel narrows focus on open government ideas
From McLean Patch:
Every year, for every elected office, candidates are asked what their position would be on Policy X or Policy Y. Candidates also make promises about what they would do about Issue A or Issue B. And some try to assure voters that they would adhere to Principle M but not Principle N (or vice versa) if elected.
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From The Olympian:
The state Court of Appeals has upheld a $2,175 fine against Gov. Chris Gregoire’s staff for illegally withholding a three-page briefing document that Olympia activist Arthur West requested in 2009.
Gregoire initially claimed the record was protected by “executive privilege” – a controversial legal position that is now under legal challenge by open-government advocates in a separate case being heard Thursday in the state Supreme Court.
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Read More… from Washington state court upholds fine against governor’s staff in records case
