About this blog
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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Recent Posts
- Judge John Cleland on Sandusky trial, news organizations and the ‘Twitter’ ban
- Matthew Diehl’s court documents related to Rodney Miller’s death, other cases
- Eight York County school districts approved to raise tax rates higher than state ceiling
- Thoughts from open records advocates on proposed amendments to right-to-know law
- Time-response log definition — including location — part of proposed amendments to Pa.’s right-to-know law
Recent Comments
- Eight York County school districts approved to raise tax … – YorkBlog « Tax Rate Calculator on Eight York County school districts approved to raise tax rates higher than state ceiling
- TBC on Eight York County school districts approved to raise tax rates higher than state ceiling
- Barb Harman on York County school superintendent contracts are online
- massages in modesto ca on Sandusky lawyer: State has no legal right to revoke pension
- 12/5 Morning Buzz | PoliticsPA on Pa. lottery: State senator asks Corbett for copy of company’s privatization bid
Categories
- appeal
- Commonwealth Court
- Court records
- denials
- Federal government
- fees
- fines
- First Amendment
- FOIA
- Freedom of information
- Freedom of Information Act
- funny
- Judicial records
- Lebanon County
- Melissa Nann Burke
- Nichole Dobo
- Online records
- Opinion
- Pennsylvania open records
- Pennsylvania public record
- Pennsylvania Right to Know
- Right-to-Know Law
- Scott Blanchard
- Sean Adkins
- Sunshine Act
- Transparency
- Uncategorized
- Websites
- York City
- York County
Twitter Updates
- The Leaks Scandals: Questions for Obama // via The New Yorker http://t.co/ijCtYPiW2L 3 hours ago
- RT @christhedunn: What @I_M_BrandieK @blackcat911 @bradjennings9 @scott_blanchard & I did for @ydrcom's Memorial Day: http://t.co/iQ5Wid5Wf7 17 hours ago
- Full story up on Democrat Kevin Schreiber winning the 95th state House seat. http://t.co/woBAUNxei2 #yorkvote 1 day ago
- Full story up on Flannelly v. Platts for judge: See you in November. http://t.co/vpou1xIxgC #yorkvote 1 day ago
- & newsgathering a crime? amazing. RT @LauraPaskus RT @SAlbarado Journos enemies of state? RCFP response to Holder http://t.co/EAfIGk4m7V 1 day ago
Category Archives: FOIA
Report: Angel Food Ministries’ fraud case held up by mountainous paperwork
A Georgia newspaper reports that the federal government’s case against the leaders of Angel Food Ministries, a nonprofit that used to operate several sites in York County, has been delayed because of massive amounts of paperwork.
Posted in FOIA, Melissa Nann Burke
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Transparency Outsourced as U.S. Hires Vendors for Disclosure Aid
An open government update brought to you by Record Tracker via Evernote. Story from blooomberg.com reports that since President Obama took office, “spending on FOIA-related contracts has jumped about 40 percent, leaving transparency advocates wondering who’s making the decisions on … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA, Uncategorized
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York County, state, federal open records: A starter kit of resources
I’m getting ready to spend some time at the York Fair to talk about open records, and in preparation, I put together a starter kit of public records resources on the bookmarking service Evernote.
Posted in FOIA, Online records, Pennsylvania Right to Know, Websites
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Penn State’s crime stats available online
The U.S. Department of Education says it will investigate whether Penn State broke federal laws by not reporting to law enforcement allegations of child sex abuse against a former assistant football coach. “Under the Clery Act, colleges and universities are … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA
Tagged campus crime, campus crime statistics, child abuse, child sex abuse, paterno, penn state, psu, sandusky
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Congressman says Homeland Security plays politics with FOIA requests
@SunshineReview asked in its #foiachat today if anyone had any thoughts on Rep. Darrell Issa’s charge that the Department of Homeland Security was running some Freedom of Information Act requests through political appointees. The California Republican invoked another California Republican when … Continue reading
Posted in Federal government, FOIA
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Report says political appointees vetted some FOIA requests
The federal Department of Homeland Security ran some Freedom of Information Act requests by political appointees for scrutiny and “awareness purposes,” the Associated Press is reporting. The AP says the homeland security department stopped doing that when it became aware … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA
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FBI releases files on former Pa. congressman Murtha
A Pittsburgh-area TV station is reporting that FBI documents on former Rep. John Murtha detail threats against him, as well as documents related to a corruption investigation that involved Murtha, who died earlier this year. The files include a 43-page … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA
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YDR investigation of nonprofit honored as national award finalist
Investigative Reporters and Editors yesterday named YDR staffer Melissa Nann Burke’s investigation into the finances of Angel Food Ministries as a national finalist in its 2009 awards competition. Melissa’s reporting revealed how AFM’s founding family paid itself $2.5 million in … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA
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Yes, but fork over $111,930 for those records
A research group recently received an answer for its 2006 records request. Yes, you can have the records. If you pay nearly $112,000. This is how the requester responded to that price tag: “Your letter provides no information why 861 … Continue reading
Posted in fees, FOIA, Freedom of information, Freedom of Information Act
Tagged backlog, cost, freedom of information, requests, wow
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Sunshine Week reveals gap in open government theory, reality
Apologies — I’m late to the party for Sunshine Week, which started Sunday. But I’ll try to make up for it with some posts this week. For starters, check out this story from Scripps-Howard News Service, which reports the public’s … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA
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