FOI Blog

Spotsy ruling: the good and the bad

Posted 11/8/07 by Waldo Jaquith
I write in response to the article the Free-Lance Star "Spotsy ordered to release 4 e-mails." While there are certainly heartening parts to Judge Beck's decision, I fear that once again a failure to interpret the letter of the law of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act will result in future withholding of records that should be public. Judge Beck stated county officials did not have to disclose the blacked-out portions of a Sept.

In Penn., where to vote's a poorly kept secret

Posted 10/26/07 by Megan Rhyne
Note: The governor rescinded the policy Friday after the story broke.

I never thought of Pennsylvania as a particularly nutty place. You can’t get much more sober and sane than Philly’s Main Line neighborhoods, Pittsburgh’s serious steel making and the Amish, for heaven’s sake.

But the people running the state’s elections, bolstered by equally nutty folks at the state police, Emergency Management Agency and the state Office of Homeland Security, have lost their marbles!

Recessive behavior

Posted 10/22/07 by Megan Rhyne
Over the weekend, the Roanoke Times reported that the Salem City Council took an expensive retreat to a West Virginia resort to talk city business in more comfortable climes.

Out-of-town retreats are nothing new. Though not particularly public-friendly to begin with, at least most local governments who favor these jaunts keep them close by or at least in-state. But a West Virginia resort?

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