Sunshine Report for August 2024: FOIA Council opinions and studies; animal testing; mayors and managers; more Richmond woes

Sunshine Report for June 2024: amicus briefs, a summer intern, FOIA Council moves (and gripes), more than 20 open-government news items

Sunshine Report for April 2024: bombshell; more on our conference and award winners; Zoom gone wrong and lots, lots more

Sunshine Report for March 2024: Richmond woes; last two bills; FOIA Council opinions; attorney invoices; internal email

Sunshine Report for January 2024: new faces; anonymous & specific employees; running a council; open government news

Sunshine Report for November 2023: an indefensible interpretation; a tale of two reports; why more litigation; is there a parliamentarian in the house?

VCOG Annual Report for 2023

Sunshine Report for August 2023: hot temperatures, hot heads; Council meets; Virginia FOIA, you've come a long way, baby

Sunshine Report for June 2023: another SCOVA ruling; lasting impacts of COVID; aggressive replies; Twitter threads, podcasts and tons of news

Sunshine Report for April 2023: our survey of state agency websites; conference wrap-up; threads and op-eds; lots of open government news

Sunshine Report for February 2023: Busytown lobbyist; eye roll of the month; short-staffed DOE, jails & what that means for FOIA; televised bid opening

Sunshine Report for December 2022: annual conference info, the tipline, frequent filers, digital cities, code names and much more

Registrars deluged; Norfolk ruling; craziness in Spotsylvania; lots of stories based on FOIA'ed documents

VCOG's annual report for 2022

Sunshine Report for July 2022: new laws; citizen+VCOG=superhero; library repository; and tumultuous times in several places

Sunshine Report for May 2022: A litigation month like no other; our conference - register or be a donor; open government news

Sunshine Report for March 2022: wrong on working papers; opposed to roll-back; not a quorum; minimal disclosure on I-95 back-up; and more open government news

New bill charts; NFOIC announcement; apathetic, not lazy; the Kamikazie option; and many more open government news bites

Sunshine Report for November 2021: considering electronic means; intra-board sniping; what FOIA'ed emails can show

Sunshine Report for September 2021: we must behave better; our annual report; Bloody Mary garnishes; lots of open government news

Forrest M. "Frosty" Landon
Sept. 24, 1937 - July 19, 2021

Sunshine Report for July 2021: FOIA Council update, roundups, open government news, FOIA full text, a court win and more

Sunshine Report for May 2021: FOIA Council updates; in-person round-up; Transparency Virginia report and open government news galore

Episode 1 -- How VCOG works through the legislative process

Sunshine Report for February 2021: virtual legislature; FOIA & the Public Records Act; filling vacancies; lots of open government news & pssst, it's our 25th birthday!

Sunshine Report for December 2020: FOIA Council proposals; oral confidentiality agreement; FOIA litigation; low on the S.W.A.M.P. index

Sunshine Report for November 2020: FOIA fees here & across the country; FOIA Council; high-level denials; court cases; and more

Sunshine Report, September 2020: special session; virtual meetings; COVID in higher ed; court cases and lots more open government news

VCOG's annual report, July 2020

Sunshine Report for July 2020: FOIA Court cases; TVa report; nursing home data; open government news

Sunshine Report for May 2020: FOIA has COVID-19; Court wins (settlements, responses); GA's reconvene session; open government news

Sunshine Report for 2020: General Assembly update; FOIA in the courts; our annual conference; open government news from around the state

Sunshine Report for February 2020

Virginia Coalition for Open Government
The Sunshine Report: February 2020 

In memorium:
Emily Abbit Woodrum

Sunshine Report for December 2019: GivingTuesday; board members going rogue; FOIA Council opinions; live-streaming and more

Sunshine Report for 2019: award winners, FOIA Council updates, uptick in defamation lawsuits.

Sunshine Report for September 2019: claim settlements; phishing; the Tourism Council; open government news

Sunshine Report for July 2019: FOIA full-text; coalition building; open government in the news

Sunshine Report for June 2019: Millions of Messages; FOIA Council studies; open government in the news

Sunshine Report for April 2019: Amazon and Arlington; an citizen's FOIA impact; new Supreme Court cases; open government news

VCOG's 2019 Open Government Conference
Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communication at Hampton University
April 11, 2019

Sunshine Report for January 2019: Welcome ruling; legislative preview; annual conference save-the-date; open government news

Sunshine Report for November 2018: Bob O'Neil; training; judicial branch records; open government news

Sunshine Report for September 2018: Not as easy as A-B-C: Albemarle, Bristol & Charlottesville woes; open government updates

VCOG's monthly newsletter, July 2018: FOIA Council updates; email disclosures; subpoena; apologies

Sunshine Report for May 2018: police model; TVa report; amicus brief; FOIA Council meetings; news

VCOG Sunshine Report for March 2018

The Sunshine Report: Online
Transparency News from the Virginia Coalition for Open Government
October 2017

The conference on Nov. 12 was a big success. Check out the program and our sponsors from the links below.

Thank you to our sponsors

Access 2015 --
get the program here

VCOG filed an amicus brief in the Virginia Supreme Court case Department of Corrections v. Surovell.

Transparency Virginia, of which VCOG is a member, released a report that discusses some of the less-than-transparent practices at the General Assembly. The report takes note of the number of times bills were killed without a recorded vote, as well as instances where meetings were scheduled with little to no notice and some bills were never considered. The report's conclusion is that transparency takes collective will and collective action. Every member of the General Assembly can contribute to a more open, more citizen-friendly legislative process.

PLEASE NOTE: THE LINK FOR THE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE BELOW IS FAULTY. THIS IS THE CORRECT LINK: http://www.opengovva.org/2015-legislative-wrap

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In this issue

Please join the Virginia Coalition for Open Government's in celebrating the legacy of Clifton A. "Chip" Woodrum by being a part of our effort to endow a student internship for each General Assembly session, where the recipient would learn about and participate in the legislative process.

VCOG Board of Directors member Mark Caramanica talks to On the Media about the ramifications of the Supreme Court's ruling on state citizenship & the Freedom of Information Act.

Op-Ed piece: "Those governing us find the unrestricted flow of information a bitter pill to swallow. When questioned about their actions, they say that it's for our own safety. Does this argument stand? Is openness detrimental to security? I think not.... Secrecy chokes democracy and mitigates our ability to respond to outside threats.