Posted in Open Records on Apr 11th, 2008 No Comments »
This piece from the York Daily Record is too good — and too important — not to publish in its entirety.
NRC keeps us in the dark
The feds should reveal the nature of a security violation at TMI.
Last week, when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported a security violation at Three Mile Island, a spokesman […]
Posted in Open Records on Apr 9th, 2008 1 Comment »
• Wagner calls school district’s confidential agreement a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
State Auditor General Jack Wagner took issue last week with Peters Township School District’s separation agreement with its superintendent, saying such agreements are a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
The school board recently approved an agreement with Superintendent Timm Mackley, releasing him from the last two […]
Posted in Open Records on Apr 7th, 2008 No Comments »
Just a reminder that the workshop, “The Open Records Act: What is New and What has Stayed the Same,” is in full swing across Pennsylvania.
The workshop is designed to help elected and appointed municipal and county officials gain a better understanding of how the Open Records Law has changed due to Act 3 of 2008 […]
Posted in Open Records on Apr 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh has won a “Peabody,” broadcasting’s most prestigious award, for its series on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Association and the fight for open records reform in Pennsylvania.
WTAE-TV was one of the 35 winners of the 67th annual award. The station was cited for “’Fight for Open Records,’ a series of reports […]
Posted in Open Records on Mar 31st, 2008 No Comments »
For all the bad stuff that went on behind its closed doors, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Association has proved a treasure trove for award-winning journalists, who persevered through thick stonewalling to open the state-run student loan agency to public scrutiny . . . and in the process helped change Pennsylvania’s 50-year-old Right-to-Know law, which […]
Posted in Open Records on Mar 28th, 2008 No Comments »
• From Virginia . . .
… We want to know what our politicians are doing and, of equal import, why they are doing it. That’s why journalists and community activists alike remain ever vigilant on the lookout for attempts to revise state laws to allow more secrecy and for efforts to skirt the existing law. […]
Posted in Open Records on Mar 26th, 2008 1 Comment »
• Thomas Jefferson once said that if he had to choose between a nation with government and no newspapers, or one with newspapers and no government, he’d always choose the latter.
Jefferson was no fan of intrusive Revolutionary War era media. He was a constant target of scurrilous coverage. But Jefferson also cherished the role of […]
Posted in Open Records on Mar 24th, 2008 No Comments »
Beginning this Wednesday, March 26, Teri Henning, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, will lead a series of workshops around the state. The indefatigable Ms. Henning has set a schedule of two-a-days for herself that would exhaust both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers and makes the Nittany Lions’ spring practice schedule look […]
Posted in Open Records on Mar 20th, 2008 No Comments »
This is “Sunshine Week” across the United States – a time to reflect on and discuss the importance of open government and the freedom of information. It is the critical flip side of the Right-to-Know efforts that resulted in a new open records law earlier this year.
The Sunshine Act refers to open meetings, and it […]
Posted in Open Records on Mar 14th, 2008 No Comments »
Two powerful and high-profile politicians announce their intention to leave office on the same day. Although their stories are completely unrelated, each is leaving under a cloud. And that cloud may also be taken as a symbol of the secrecy under which they both operated. Is there a connection to be made to open records […]