The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
First Amendment & FOIA
Unsafe bridges put public safety at risk
Dani Dodge of the Ventura County Star used Federal Highway Administration data to show that “twenty-eight of Ventura County’s 485 bridges are considered ‘structurally deficient’ … Bringing just 15 of those bridges up to standard would cost $50 million.” A map shows the location of the troubled spans, and a sidebar describes the condition of…
Read MoreConsulting work pays big for former employees
Brett J. Blackledge of The Birmingham News used state records to show that Alabama’s Department of Human Resources has spent millions on computer consultants, including payments to former agency employees who left DHR only to return for consulting work. “The agency responsible for helping needy children and families now is facing questions from federal officials…
Read MoreLow tax penalty serves as cheap loan for some businesses
Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used local records to show that “at least 443 land developers, real estate companies and construction companies owed more than a combined $5.17 million in back property taxes and penalties” as of January 2005. Ski resorts, an airline and telecommunications firm MCI are among the other tax delinquents…
Read MoreCoaches’ contracts with Nike raise ethical questions
Hartford Courant reporters Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman won a month-long legal battle for release of the contracts between University of Connecticut mens’ and womens’ basketball coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma and Nike Inc. Over strenuous objections by the coaches’ lawyers, the state Ethics Commission decided that the contracts were public documents. A Courant…
Read MoreHigh donations pour in through campaign finance loophole
Michael Cooper of The New York Times found gaps in New York’s campaign finance laws. “Local parties can still accept unlimited corporate donations to their so-called housekeeping committees, which have few restrictions on how they can spend the money.” The Times uncovered a growing number of corporate donors topping the $100,000 mark, well above the…
Read MoreCharity linked to evangelical sex cult
Don Lattin of the San Francisco Chronicle used tax and property records to show that a Southern California charity called the Family Care Foundation has “deep, ongoing ties between the organization and the Family, the evangelical sex cult rocked by a recent murder-suicide.” Officers of the foundation are linked to the Family via property records,…
Read MoreFormer gov. remains on state payroll
Patricia Alex of The (Bergen County) Record reports that former New Jersey governor Jim Florio “has stayed on the state payroll, and in the state pension system, thanks to a $90,947 side job at Rutgers University.” Florio, voted out of office in 1993, teaches one class a semester and sits on two advisory boards. Two…
Read MoreLegislator used state funds for own benefit
Kim Chandler of The Birmingham News used state and local records to show that “an east Alabama lawmaker steered state money to pave the dirt road that led to a subdivision he and his wife were developing.” A $50,000 state grant in 2002 went to the paving project, but was also intended to be used…
Read MoreFOI investigation finds most comply, but not entirely
Mark Chellgren of the Associated Press reported on an investigation led by the Kentucky Press Association and the Associated Press into “whether public offices are allowing citizens to view government documents. The investigation “showed most are obeying the state’s Open Records Act, but compliance is not uniform.” The results were mixed, varying from a smile…
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