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HOT!: Catch the latest Florida open government news with The Florida Sunshine Review ...
Open records and meetings links, resources.
June 28, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
 Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV and Media General win hearing before judge can seal documents …
Palm Beach Post, by Susan Spencer-Wendel: Forty-one cases super sealed in Palm Beach County courts since 2001 …
St. Petersburg Times, by Chris Tisch: Pinellas court clerk says court files sealed in error, sets new policy …
June 27, 2006
Special report: Fires and Money: Audits, budgets and various public records factor into this four-month investigation by Joel Moroney and Mary Ann Husty of the Fort Myers News-Press on Lee County’s fractured system of independent fire departments. Ending that system would offer taxpayers a potential savings of up to $100 million a year, the story says. The $218 million that Lee County taxpayers will spend this year for the independent fire departments is $86 million more than neighboring Charlotte and Collier counties combined. This multi-day special report features more than two dozen links to stories, pictures and multi-media examining fire department finances and potential mergers and consolidations. The staff contacted more than 30 fire departments across the state to put Lee’s situation into context. Executive editor Kate Marymont explains why the newspaper spent so much time and effort on this issue.
Records roll call:
Veto messages: Bill Kaczor of The Associated Press on bills Gov. Jeb Bush signed and vetoed from the Legislature …
Letter to the governor: *Kristen Reed of the Orlando Sentinel takes a closer look at Flagler County State Attorney John Tanner (*free registration required) …
Federal court records: Jane Musgrave of the Palm Beach Post on how music downloads hit sour notes for the ordinary folks being sued because of them (*free registration required) …
Florida Sunshine Review:
*Naples Daily News, by Kristen Zambo: Lee County Sheriff’s Office won’t investigate who shared with the press audio recordings of interviews with man suspected in killings (*free registration required)…
St. Petersburg Times editorial: Law must protect personal data from the wrong people …
June 25, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
Hernando Today editorial: Governor’s veto on public records bill is another blow to your access of public information …
Palm Beach Post, by Alan Gomez: Bush’s veto of open records bill disappoints freedom of information advocates …
Florida Today editorial: Bush betrayed the public with veto of public records bill …
June 22, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
Associated Press, by Bill Kaczor: Bush vetoes public records bill that would require prompt response to public records requests …
*Orlando Sentinel: Bush’s signature extends Earnhardt law of that blocks people from inspecting autopsy photos (*free registration required) …
June 20, 2006
Gallagher admits fault for failed marriage: Public records can factor prominently in political campaigns. Divorce records from 1979 drive this story by Michael Fechter of The Tampa Tribune about past marital mistakes and marijuana use by Republican governor candidate Tom Gallagher. Among the documents obtained by the Tribune is a deposition from a woman who said she had a relationship with Gallagher while he was married. Gallagher, 62, the state’s chief financial officer, acknowledged he made mistakes in his first marriage but said he is a changed man. Responding to a cocaine reference in the documents, Gallagher said he never used cocaine but had used marijuana. The Tribune story notes that because “of its age and because no children were involved, most of the Gallagher divorce file has been destroyed. The Tribune obtained portions of the file in April under a condition that it not identify the source providing them.” The story includes a PDF link to excerpts of the file. The public records handbook covers divorce files on Page 130.
Records reveal girl left in peril: Child protection team records and a Florida Department of Children and Families audit obtained by Amy Williams of the Fort Myers News-Press help reveal investigators wanted 13-year-old Michelle Fontanez out of her home before her brutal killing in February. Her stepfather, Alberto Hernandez, faces first-degree murder and rape charges in the case. A social worker recommended "that Michelle be removed from the home based on Michelle's disclosures of sexual abuse by Mr. Hernandez, (and) that Michelle expressed extreme hatred for her mother because the mother did not believe her when she disclosed the sexual abuse." The story also includes findings from a troublesome audit regarding the state’s handling of the case.
Florida Sunshine Review:
*Miami Herald, by Patrick Danner and Dan Christensen: Judges to rule on legality of secret court docket in Broward County (*free registration required) …
St. Petersburg Times, by Curtis Krueger, Steve Hohlgren and Rebecca Catalanello: Court cases kept out of the public record in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Broward …
St. Petersburg Times, by Kris Hundley and Alex Leary: Gun owners welcome anonymity to come with July 1 closing of concealed weapons information …
*Miami Herald, by Jack Dolan and Scott Hiaasen: A 172-hour search for payroll documents underscores the difficulty of researching public records of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (*free registration required)…
St. Petersburg Times, by Elena Lesley: Yankeetown mayor dumped records, residents say …
June 16, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
*Miami Herald editorial: Abolish the secret docket for Broward County courts (*free registration required) …
St. Petersburg Times editorial: Stop secret dockets in Broward, Pinellas and anywhere else in the state where they exist …
June 15, 2006
High-profile names on secret cases list: Sometimes it takes a lawsuit to make records become public as they should be. Civil court information forced open by a Miami Herald lawsuit drives this story by Herald reporters Patrick Danner and Dan Christensen about cases with high-profile names hidden on a secret docket in Broward County. A founding partner in a Miami law firm, a former presidential speech writer and another lawyer involved in Broward’s biggest law firm are among those with cases on the secret docket. At least 100 cases have appeared on the docket since 2001, with nearly half of them divorces. Notes the story: “Keeping cases off the public docket goes against the basic tenet that courts should be open to the public. What's more, the high-profile names on the list raise the question of whether some people get special treatment.” Case files can be sealed by law under certain circumstances, but judges are not authorized to remove references to the cases on the public document, the story says. It’s unclear why the cases were taken off the docket, a practice that a federal appeals court has deemed unconstitutional. Broward County Circuit Court Clerk Howard Forman said his office only removes cases from public view when ordered by a judge. The Herald received the case numbers and party names. The public records handbook profiles civil court files on Page 82.
Florida Sunshine Review:
*Miami Herald, by Patrick Danner and Dan Christensen: Florida Attorney General Charles Crist will investigate why there is not a trace of more than 100 court cases on the public record in Broward County (*free registration required) …
Bradenton Herald, by Nicholas Azzara: Manatee County court clerk makes court files available via the Web to the parties involved …
June 12, 2006
Records show majority of callers can't get through to state's child support hotline: Public records can help bring context to public frustrations. Bill Hirschman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewed Florida Child Enforcement Hotline call records to show that "almost nine in 10 callers needing help fail to get past a busy signal.” The hotline is the place where people are expected to go when seeking urgent aid with updates on pending court cases, help for delinquent support payments or just general information. Callers dialed the hotline operated by the Florida Department of Revenue 8.7 million times last year. About 170 department agents work the call center at peak hours. “But this year, the number of calls to the hotline shot up to at least 2 million every month -- 2.7 million in March and overwhelmed the system. Of the 2.2 million calls in April, 1.9 million dialers got a busy signal and hung up,” notes the story. The piece explains what the department is trying to do about it.
Seawall builder has troubled job record: Bridget Hall Grumet of the St. Petersburg Times tapped criminal records, contracting records and occupational licensing records for this story about the troubled job record of the contractor who built the new sea wall at New Port Richey’s Main Street Landing. Donald M. Hughes, owner of Hughes Marine Construction, performed the work without a state or county license as a general contractor, a building contractor or a residential contractor, the story said. Hughes did have an occupational license. The story also recounts two cases in which Hughes took money for jobs that were not done. The public records handbook profiles Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation records on Page 172, occupational licenses on Page 302 and criminal court records on Page 103.
Records roll out:
Grand jury report: Dwayne Robinson of the Palm Beach Post on a scathing grand jury report that is stoking racial tensions in Belle Glade …
Court records: *Henry Pierson Curtis of the Orlando Sentinel examines how the state’s new deadly force law is handled in a variety of ways (*free registration required) …
Florida Elections Commission report: *Kathleen Fordyce of the Miami Herald on Florida Elections Commission charges of election violations against Cutler Bay council member Peggy Bell and two city residents (*free registration required) …
Community Redevelopment Agency financial records: William Cooper Jr. of the Palm Beach Post on how the Community Redevelopment Agency in Rivieria Beach has spent nearly $1 million for consultants and has put its budget in the red …
Florida Sunshine Review:
*Miami Herald, by Amy Sherman: Broward court clerk prepares to make more public records available on the Internet (*free registration required) …
June 8, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
Palm Beach Post, by Dara Kam: Bush signs bill to make the names of concealed weapons license holders secret …
St. Petersburg Times, by Alex Leary: Open government advocates decry governor’s decision on allowing concealed weapons license information to be concealed from the public …
June 3, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
The Tampa Tribune, by Ellen Gedalius: Tampa Tribune sues Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau in seeking bid details made in efforts to bring the 2008 Republican National Convention to Tampa …
St. Petersburg Times editorial: The public deserves the facts about Tampa pitch for National Republican Convention …
*Vero Beach Press-Journal, guest column by Barbara Petersen: Court made bad call on Sunshine Law in the case of Florida vs. Ronald Mercer (*free registration required) …
*Vero Beach Press-Journal, guest column by Peter Seed: Court made good call on Sunshine Law in the case of Florida vs. Ronald Mercer (*free registration required) …
June 1, 2006
Florida Sunshine Review:
Charlotte Sun Herald, by George McGuinn: North Port city resolution on public records contradicts state statutes …
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, by Joe Kollin: Broward courthouse documents are going digital and will be online eventually …
*Orlando Sentinel, by Tanya Perez-Brennan: Sunshine law complaint lodged against Deltona city commissioner (*free registration required)…
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