Posted in Open Records on Aug 20th, 2007 No Comments »
I can blog until I’m blue in the face about the fact that open records reform is not a newspaper issue. It is a public issue. So when I read a letter, such as that below from a Lancaster County woman, I want to stand up and cheer.
Demand open records
Editor: I am appealing to […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 17th, 2007 No Comments »
Considering that we are in the depths of the summer doldrums, the amount of news coverage and the strength of editorial comment on open records reform has been staggering.
First the sheer volume of it all. August is supposed to be a slow month in the news business. Beyond that, the legislators have all gone […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 16th, 2007 No Comments »
In the past few days, newspapers across Pennsylvania have written strong editorials on the subject of open-records reform. Spurred by the Minnesota bridge collapse, the testimony of the state’s secretary of transportation at the recent House committee hearing, and local issues that have affected their communities, editorial writers have reinforced the growing sense that reform […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 15th, 2007 1 Comment »
“Right To Know” In The News:
a statement from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association
By Deborah Musselman, Director of Government Affairs, PNA
It took a tragedy that is still unfolding, since the final death toll has not been ascertained, but the collapse of a bridge in Minnesota has caused quite a stir in Pennsylvania — not only about bridge […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 14th, 2007 No Comments »
Early this year Congressional Democrats made history by requiring all “earmarks” – the formerly secret pet projects that politicians love to attach stealthily to pending legislation – be publicly acknowledged. This was part of their campaign against what they called “the culture of corruption.”
The idea behind this exercise in open government was presumably to put […]
Posted in Open Records News on Aug 13th, 2007 No Comments »
From last week…
Monday: The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that the bills pending in the Legislature provide an opportunity to fix PA’s horrible open records law.
Tuesday: The Reading Eagle “celebrated” the Commonwealth following the lead of EVERY OTHER STATE in the country and publishing state consolidated statutes online.
Wednesday: The Chambersburg Public Opinion […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 10th, 2007 No Comments »
An interesting piece from Monday’s Morning Call about kennel inspections reveals that the Dept. of Ag. has dropped the “final grade” on inspections because the “satisfactory” rating was pretty much a given. Hmm…so they finally post the results online, but the inspections are pretty much useless?
Keep reading and I bet you’ll […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 10th, 2007 No Comments »
It’s time to catch up on coverage of this issue from around Pennsylvania. Below are a few excerpts. The big news, of course, was the testimony of Allen Biehler, the state’s secretary of transportation at the House State Government’s Committee’s hearings last Tuesday on Rep. Tim Mahoney’s (D-Fayette) open-records reform bill. Biehler, whose department had […]
Posted in Open Records on Aug 9th, 2007 No Comments »
What follows are excerpts from the testimony of Carl H. Lavin, deputy managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer at Tuesday’s hearings on House Bill 443. For Lavin’s full testimony – and that of Teri Henning of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association and Bob Heisse, editor of the Center Daily Times – go here.
How do we insure […]
Posted in passopenrecords.org news on Aug 8th, 2007 No Comments »
SOMEHOW, whether as a computer glitch or through my own fault, I managed to delete the Legislative Advocates page earlier this afternoon. I have managed to recreate it through email and computer records, but would like to apologize in case you notice any differences. The glitch also deleted the comments, and I will repost them […]