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HOT!: Catch the latest Florida open government news with The Florida Sunshine Review ...
Open records and meetings links, resources.
Many Web links are born to die. Even if that should happen with those below, this list can still be of value.
Obtain the story by trying the headline or keywords in a search engine for another link, check the online archives or back issues of the news organization involved, or use Lexis-Nexis or other commercial databases that might be available to you or through your local public library.
June 29, 2008
Records roll out:
 E-mails: *Leslie Williams of the Naples Daily News on protest letters and e-mails pouring into Gov. Charlie Crist regarding a plan to put Allegator Alley up for rent (*free registration required) …
Nurse licensing records with the Florida Department of Health, police report: Molly Moorhead of the St. Petersburg Times about a Pasco-Hernando Community College instructor whose fraudulent nursing license was discovered after an online check by the college revealed her license number belonged to someone else …
Impact fees report: Nicholas Azzara of the Bradenton Herald on the struggle to track millions of dollars in impact fees for new roads collected from developers. The story includes a link to 39-page PDF report …
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report: Patty Pensa of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on five Palm Beach County hospitals cited for denying ER care ..
Federal Trade Commission statistics: Jacob Schneider of The Tampa Tribune on tips to help the elderly avoid identity theft scams. The story says Florida residents reported more than 50,000 cases of fraud or identity theft last year and lost an average of more than $2,000 per case ...
Florida Sunshine Review:
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Todd Ruger: Sarasota Sheriff’s Office settles Sunshine Law lawsuit, required to undergo training and pay $15,613 in legal fees …
Lakeland Ledger editorial page: Cloudiness on how to keep electronic communications records can lead to abuse and controversy regarding public officials …
St. Petersburg Times, by Dave DeCamp: Records of county commission candidate withheld in Pasco County due to law exemption …
Sarasota Herald Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Judge asked to order volunteer government board members to turn over computer e-mails in ongoing lawsuit over alleged Sunshine Law violations in Venice …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: E-mail training is insufficient for elected and appointed officials in Venice …
Tampa Bay Business Journal: Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation upgrades its online services …
June 15, 2008
Records in play:
FBI scam statistics, foreclosure records: Duane Marsteller and Brian Neill of the Bradenton Herald on how “rescue scams" are resulting in troubled homeowners signing away their rights to their own properties …
Tax revenue statistics on Seminole Tribe operations: John Holland of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on how Seminole Tribe gambling operations are thriving while Broward County is struggling...
Court files, dockets: Chris Tisch of the St. Petersburg Times on how post-conviction motions by prisoners are clogging Tampa Bay area courts ...
Utility records: Pedro Morales of the Fort Myers News-Press on how Southwest Florida utility companies are losing big money from customers not paying their fees …
Florida Sunshine Review:
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Open records case with Venice City Council draws national attention on freedom of information front …
Daytona Beach News-Journal: Gelber earns First Amendment award from First Amendment Foundation …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, column by Eric Ernst: Laws don’t take sides on public records at Venice City Council …
June 13, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Judge says Venice City Council members must hand over home PCs for retrieval of government-business e-mail …
ABC Action News.com: Florida Attorney General’s Office launches new Web site on most wanted fugitives …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Todd Ruger: Sarasota County arrests posted online ask a judge to rule that recorded telephone conversations of jail inmates are not public record …
Florida Times-Union editorial: Public records prices from Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office fall after newspaper inquiries …
Orlando Sentinel editorial: Attorney General McCollum’s “sunshine" advocate has an important role to play…
Florida Times-Union, by Paul Pinkham: Duval State Attorney Harry Shorstein changes policy on copying files sought by outside agencies …
Tallahassee Democrat, by Nic Corbett: Leon grand jury selection held in private …
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, by Matt Blumenfeld: Cape Coral conversations before meeting cloud open meetings mandate …
June 4, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: City of Venice promises to stop deleting records in open government case …
The Tampa Tribune, by Ray Reyes: Florida Attorney General’s Office launches new Web site on most wanted fugitives …
St. Petersburg Times, by Jonathan Abel: Attorneys for Nick Bollea, Hulk Hogan’s son, file lawsuit asking a judge to rule that recorded telephone conversations of jail inmates are not public record …
June 3, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
Florida Times-Union editorial: City attorneys should seek attorney general’s opinion on legality of local ordinance allowing higher-than-usual costs for public records copies from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office …
Fort Myers News-Press, by Paul Flemming: Florida Attorney General’s Office appoints new attorney to focus on open government issues …
June 1, 2008
Leno may not get to meet Tallahassee’s best-known 101-year-old driver: Sometimes individual records aren’t public but the statistics derived from them are. Gerald Ensley of the Tallahassee Democrat proves the point in this story about 101-year-old Tallahassee driver Lillian Cox who has been invited to join Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show" but probably won’t go because of recent heart problems. Says the story: “Cox drives her 1984 Cadillac de Ville on short trips around Tallahassee. She never drives at night and admitted her family wants her to quit driving." The story also notes the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles cannot release information about individual drivers (at least not much) but would provide stats showing 11,218 people age 95 and over in Florida still have driving privileges whether they use them or not.
Records rewind:
Foreclosure records, property appraisals: Dick Hogan of the Fort Myers News-Press on how foreclosures are wrecking havoc with the budgets of homeowner groups in Lee County ...
Civil lawsuit: Elliott Jones of the Vero Beach Press-Journal on sexual harassment lawsuit by a former female employee at the Vero Beach office of the 19th Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office ...
Internal affairs report, police personnel file: Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on an internal affairs investigation in Coral Springs that concluded one police officer meant to embarrass or intimidate another during a traffic stop …
State campaign finance records: Adam C. Smith of the St. Petersburg Times about the role of Democratic Party rabble-rouser Jon Ausman in resolving the bitter dispute over Florida’s votes in the Democratic presidential primary …
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