Current Headlines

 http://www.examiner.com/printa-1287016~AP_CEO_Pushes_for_More_Open_Government.html

Politics
AP CEO Pushes for More Open Government
By HOPE YEN, The Associated Press
2008-03-19 01:32:40.0
Current rank: # 4,675 of 9,698

WASHINGTON -
At a time of continued government secrecy, the news media should press the presidential candidates on whether their administration would enforce "the spirit as well as the letter of the law" protecting the public's right to know, Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley said Tuesday.

News Partners Launch Second Salaries Project
http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/news.PrintView.-content-articles-TRI-2008-03-18-0006.html

Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008 - 12:00 AM Updated: 08:32 AM
 
By Bristol Herald Courier Staff Reports
E-mail
 

Sunday kicked off Sunshine Week across the United States. It’s an annual effort to educate the public about the need for open government and freedom of information.
 

Equal exposure
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/article/equal_exposure/5475/

Published: March 18, 2008

Taxpayer-funded salaries are public information and the people have the right to see what anybody who works for the government makes.

Some readers have criticized this newspaper for its inclusion of an online database of Prince William County teacher salaries on our Web site. Some of the criticisms have focused on the fact that any teacher’s name and salary can be found.

Local officials prefer clouds to sunshine
By Christian Trejbal
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/trejbal/wb/154807

Sunshine Week, the special time of year when we reflect on the importance of open government for a free society, begins today.

During the last 12 months, lawmakers great and small sought new ways to prevent Americans from knowing what government does in their name. Sure, there were some victories for the public, but secrecy remained distressingly popular.

http://www.examiner.com/printa-1285117~Why_wait_to_let_the_sun_shine,_Hillary?.html
Editorial
Why wait to let the sun shine, Hillary?
The Washington DC Examiner Newspaper
2008-03-18 08:00:00.0
Current rank: # 2,513 of 9,532


WASHINGTON -

Open-government promises too often fade into secrecy
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/03/open-government.html#more

When candidates are seeking your vote, they can be counted on to mouth civics-book pieties about the public's right to know what's going on in government. They promise to hold meetings in the open, make government records readily available and generally end excessive secrecy.

The three leading contenders for the presidency are no exception:

Editorial: The Adventures of [REDACTED]
Government censors take on a classic.
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/xp-154789

The Freedom of Information Act empowers citizens to demand government documents. Curious people have found terrible government abuses and wonderful government successes.

Yet too many elected officials prefer secrecy. They whittle away at the public's right to know, exempting certain types of information for FOIA.

Article published Mar 16, 2008
Bring on the Sunshine
Our View
One of the most frustrating aspects of fighting for more open government is the topic's lack of sex appeal.

It's simply boring. To most people, it simply doesn't matter.

That is, until you need something, until the fact that Virginia's Freedom of Information law shields the facts that are important to you.

Teacher salaries and public record
Published: March 17, 2008
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/article/teacher_salaries_and_public_record/5447/

One of the Prince William County school system’s main budget complaints in this and past years has been that teacher’s salaries are not competitive with surrounding jurisdictions.