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Pennsylvania's new open records law gives you a stronger tool for keeping an eye on how government spends your money. We'll be watching, too.-
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Monthly Archives: July 2009
Keeping tabs on school districts, politics, state business
I wanted to pass along a couple of sites that look good if you’re interested in open records, politics and other state business. One is School Board Transparency, run by Fred Baldwin, a self-described “recovering school board president” from the … Continue reading
The Case of the Disappearing Document
Thanks to Eric Wise, a reader who’s interested in open records issues, for spotting this one: A resident and a member of the borough council of Hatboro, just outside Philadelphia, want to see a study that examined the borough replacing … Continue reading
More stimulus tracking
I posted something a few days ago linking to a story that reported how tough it is to track federal stimulus money. But propublica.org is at least taking a run at it. Check out their tools for tracking the stimulus. … Continue reading
Posted in Scott Blanchard
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Cameras, courtrooms and Sotomayor
Perhaps you missed this nugget in the deluge of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings … or perhaps you weren’t watching or reading at all … but anyway, the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press picked out of … Continue reading
Posted in Judicial records, Scott Blanchard
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Speaking of school district draft budgets …
… as I did in an entry below, I just read something interesting about a different open records office decision on school budgets. John Micek of the Allentown Morning Call’s bureau in Harrisburg, in an interesting story checking in on … Continue reading
Are we to be trusted?
I just read reporter Nickie Dobo’s story about a York County resident who asked to see a copy of the working budget for South Eastern School District. No, the district said, we won’t give you that. It’s only a draft, … Continue reading
Where’s federal stimulus money going? Who knows?
Good piece from the Cincinnati Enquirer about how difficult (impossible?) it is to figure out where all the federal stimulus money is ending up. Highlight: Feds are spending $18 million to re-work their Recovery.gov web site, prompting this from Ohio … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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911 logs disagreement points out issues in RTK law
The York Daily Record/Sunday News and York County are headed to court over the newspaper’s request for what the state deems a public record: 911 time-response logs. Rick Lee has a story in today’s paper. The state’s new right-to-know law … Continue reading
School board, Powell: Out in the open
Court records involving lawsuits or other civil matters can be some of the most interesting public records you can look at. Someone who’s suing someone else, or making some kind of claim, lays out their case — and when they … Continue reading
Watch ‘Secrecy’ in action
A free showing of the documentary film “Secrecy” is planned for 7 p.m. July 15 at the Midtown Cinema (215 Reily St. in Harrisburg). The film was directed by Harvard professors Peter Galison and Robb Moss and looks at whether … Continue reading
Posted in Melissa Nann Burke
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