Monthly Archives: September 2009

Opinion: Apply FOIA to Congress

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Scott Blanchard

     What is U.S. Rep. Todd Platts running, a counseling agency or a congressional office?    After news came out that the Obama administration agreed to release to citizens a list of people who visited the president at the White … Continue reading →

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Free speech ain’t always pretty

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Scott Blanchard

Westboro Baptist Church’s free speech victory today is hardly the only controversial free-speech decision by a federal court or the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, the fourth circuit appeals court’s decision today noted that sometimes, defending free speech means being … Continue reading →

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Documents show abuse in Naval canine unit

Posted on September 24, 2009 by melissa nann burke

Listening to NPR yesterday, I was blown away by the reporting done by young journalists involving a successful FOIA request. The FOIA’d documents led to an investigative story detailing the hazing and abuse of U.S. sailors in a canine unit … Continue reading →

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Meet me at …

Posted on September 24, 2009 by nichole dobo

We had a reader ask where he could find municipal meeting listings. You could go to every municipality, authority, board or school district Web site. Or you can do some one-stop shopping. Check this out. I’ve been using this site … Continue reading →

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Audits of federal defense contracts come up short

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Scott Blanchard

The agency that audits federal defense contracts isn’t doing a good enough job, according to another federal agency that reviewed its work. That resonates in York County because of the county’s military contractors, including Gichner Shelter Systems of Dallastown, BAE … Continue reading →

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Rep. Platts: Thanks for the tip, but …

Posted on September 19, 2009 by Scott Blanchard

When Todd Platts, York County’s congressman, denied our open-records request for a list of people who’d visited his office, one of his answers to our questions piqued my curiosity. We asked that if people couldn’t see who visited his office, … Continue reading →

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Track your bank’s financial condition

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Scott Blanchard

People at the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University have updated their Banktracker Web site that allows you to check up on your bank’s finances. They calculate a “troubled asset ratio” that can give you an idea of how stressed … Continue reading →

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Reminder: Right-to-know, Sunshine law training on tap

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Scott Blanchard

Bring your open-records questions, because the state’s open records office will answer them in training sessions next week and the week after. Specifics: Sept. 21, two sessions, 10 a.m.-noon and 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 … Continue reading →

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Desperately seeking .gov?

Posted on September 16, 2009 by nichole dobo

I noticed google is making an effort to engage government Web sites to become more user-friendly. Interesting. There is a way to use google to only search government sites. It’s www.google.com/unclesam. It’s a quick and easy way of filtering out … Continue reading →

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Before you eat …

Posted on September 14, 2009 by nichole dobo

Is there such a thing as too much information before you eat? The state health inspector was at the York Fair on Friday. Before you get worried (and/or nauseous), it appears everything that was checked out passed. To do the … Continue reading →

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