The reporting team from @WhyDontWeKnow1 looked at how much college students could find out about fire safety before leasing a home. The answer: If inspections happen at all, the results are hard to find.
Too many student apartments are overcrowded fire hazards unfit for 21st century life | Opinion
College students often crowd into old homes that can be fire traps.
www.pennlive.com
The @BrechnerCenter is now accepting applications for the annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award that recognizes outstanding news coverage that promotes transparent, accountable government. Deadline is Feb. 26. https://bit.ly/3oJWU3f
Environmentalist Hurchalla: ‘I’m okay, the First Amendment is not’ https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020/04/14/environmentalist-hurchalla-im-okay-the-first-amendment-is-not/ via @flphoenixnews #FlaPol #FloridaNews #environmentFL #SLAPP
“We live in America. We don’t have secret police.” Could the attack on the Capitol cause Congress to rethink categorically excluding the Capitol Police from FOIA?
The Capitol Police Are Not Subject To FOIA. Jan. 6 Could Change That.
Unique among major law enforcement agencies, the department in charge of protecting Congress can ignore public records requests.
www.huffpost.com
A great teaching resource for all the #MediaLaw folks out there looking for some multimedia content... https://twitter.com/BrechnerCenter/status/1302797520804941830
Each week on the "Why Don't We Know" podcast, @sganim and a team of @UF journalism students take a deep dive into government secrecy. Follow their journey and share your own stories of missing, misleading or withheld data: http://www.whydontweknow.org.
"To this day, no government entity is tracking police shootings in Utah," even though the state promised to do so. So reporters are doing it instead, and their findings are revealing: 40% of those shot at by cops had no firearm. #datadeserts
Utah Attorney General‘s Office âsurprised‘ police shot at so many people in 2020
Utah police shot at a record-tying 30 people in 2020. But Utahns do not have a clear picture of why this lev...
www.sltrib.com
Wise words from @FrankLoMonte -- "The fact that, half a year later, we know so little about the disciplinary history of police officers speaks to much deeper problems afflicting New York’s Freedom of Information Law, and laws like it...." #FOIL https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/opinion/guest-column/2020/12/30/essay-grant-public-access-police-disciplinary-records-promptly/4086200001/
"[C]rime data reporting is mostly the same today as it was 90 years ago. ... agencies aren’t required to report data, and those that do report are often not asked to provide data in a way that’s useful."
National Crime Data Reporting Models Called ‘Severely Broken’ | The Crime Report
While the FBI reported in September that murder was up almost 15 percent based on data from agencies that report...
thecrimereport.org
Miami schools paid $9M to 5 students raped by ex-teacher, then tried to keep it quiet https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article247606095.html
Why enforcing open-meeting laws matters: California utility commission chair caught plotting ouster of whistleblower via text message, a discussion that should've taken place (if at all) in public.
She Noticed $200 Million Missing, Then She Was Fired
Alice Stebbins was hired to fix the finances of California’s powerful utility regulator. She was fired after f...
www.route-fifty.com