Monthly Archives: February 2010

If there’s a snow-related travel ban, here’s who can drive

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

Sometime today or tomorrow you might hear about a travel ban because of the snow. In 2008, the state’s emergency management agency laid out, among other things, who is authorized to travel when such a ban is in effect. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Pennsylvania public record | Leave a comment

State grant helps snow removal at Crispus Attucks

Posted on February 6, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

Figured with all the snow I’d check the state’s web site for contracts. I found out two things: 1. The search function needs a ‘filter’ option, because if you search for “snow removal york county” you get, like, 400 things, … Continue reading →

Posted in Online records | Leave a comment

Specter’s campaign docked $$ for violations

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

The Federal Election Commission fined Sen. Arlen Specter’s campaign and its treasurer for accepting too much money from “individuals and political committees,” according to opensecrets.org. The campaign has to pay a $10,900 civil penalty and $37,950 in excessive contributions to … Continue reading →

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Put a muzzle on that city

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

Love this one: Four cities in Texas filed a federal suit against the state and its attorney general, saying that the state’s open meetings law violated the cities’ freedom of speech because it “prevents a quorum of government officials from … Continue reading →

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Sunshine report cards on Pa. counties: Shield your eyes

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

There’s a lot of red on this report card showing what public information each county in Pennsylvania has on its Web site. The report is put together by Sunshine Review. It gives the state’s web presence an ‘A,’ but gives … Continue reading →

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Online data rocks

Posted on February 2, 2010 by nichole dobo

More than a year ago the York Daily Record/Sunday News launched an online data warehouse. The idea was simple: It was the place where readers could access the documents and databases we used to in our reporting. The American Society … Continue reading →

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Track — and share — bills, money and more in Congress

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

What do you get when social networking meets the U.S. Congress? This: www.opencongress.org. The web site, a project by The Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation, gives you information on bills before Congress, including its status, who supports/opposes it … Continue reading →

Posted in Online records | 1 Comment

Sewer bills, death investigations and e-mails

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Scott Blanchard

Open-records decisions/appeals in Pennsylvania, courtesy of the oh-so-handy RSS feed from the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition: Allentown officials didn’t want to release e-mails in electronic format, despite an Office of Open Records ruling, so now they’re suing the newspaper … Continue reading →

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