Monthly Archives: January 2010

U.S. Supreme Court upholds public access to jury selection

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that jury selection in criminal trials is open to the public, and ifthere’s a problem — such as a too-small courtroom — judges have to consider alternatives other than closing the courtroom, according to … Continue reading

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York countians win, lose in open records appeals

A Carroll Township woman won her appeal to see money spent by the township, while a York Township man lost his appeal to see letter of complaint to township supervisors. You can check out both decisions here. Carroll Township case: … Continue reading

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Pa. open records group interested in RTK grant money

The National Freedom of Information Coalition is making $2 million available over three years to help state open-records advocacy groups pay for up-front costs such as filing fees, court costs, depositions and other expenses related to right-to-know appeals. I asked … Continue reading

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Another federal office … but could this one be helpful?

Got tipped off to this by The FOIA Blog: A new federal office just opened that is supposed to help mediate disputes that arise from federal agencies’ responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. Federal Computer Week reported that the … Continue reading

Posted in FOIA, Freedom of Information Act | 3 Comments

Jobs & money subject of York Co. public-records stories

Municipalities in York County are getting questions about hiring and about their bankrolls as the result of recent newspaper stories. In addition to the Daily Record/Sunday News’ continuous work on open records issues in the county and state, catalogued on … Continue reading

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Video, blogs lose in Fla., Calif. court access cases

Thanks to Kim de Bourbon of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition for passing this on.  The Daily Online Examiner reported on separate cases in which judicial decisions barred video from a California case (the case was going to be … Continue reading

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Haiti charity’s finances scrutinized; puts focus on charity research

 The Washington Post is reporting that the finances of singer Wyclef Jean’s Haiti charity, Yele Haiti Foundation, are under scrutiny amid “questions about how it has spent money in the past, with administrative expenses that appear to be higher than … Continue reading

Posted in Online records | 1 Comment

Tracking flu trends

I’m not sure how accurate this is, but it’s a nifty idea. Google has a map that’s tracking of swine flu Internet searches. That information is then plotted on a map. Google claims this is a reliable way to determine … Continue reading

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Grant will boost open-records requests

A new grant from the Knight Foundation will support groups seeking greater government transparency. The National Freedom of Information Coalition at the University of Missouri journalism school in Columbia announced the three-year, $2 million grant from the foundation last week. … Continue reading

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