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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.
October 27, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
 Northwest Daily News, by Dusty Ricketts: Fort Walton Beach to address Sunshine Law violations and revisit 125 development projects …
Tampa Tribune, guest column by Charles Davis: Elected officials give public the slip by using private e-mail accounts …
Boston Globe, by Coleman M. Herman: Public records should be public but aren’t always in Massachusetts (note Florida reference in this piece) …
Bradenton Herald, by Executive Editor Joan Krauter: Bulletin boards sufficient to announce meeting, Spring Hill fire district attorney says …
October 22, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
Fort Myers News-Press, by Bill Cotterell: Special open government panel urges law that would require the state to reveal its personal records on citizens …
Central Florida Future, by Stephanie Wilken: Open government experts say University of Central Florida impeachment process regarding Student Government Association senator may have violated state Sunshine Law …
October 21, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
Northwest Florida Daily News, by Dusty Ricketts: City of Fort Walton Beach violated Sunshine Law for seven years …
The Associated Press: Florida’s Commission on Open Government to discuss recommendations for the governor …
October 19, 2008
Reform school alumni recount severe beatings, rapes: Some public documents can remain relevant for decades – even from a century ago. Miami Herald reporter Carol Marbin Miller illustrates the point in this story about the horrific secrets regarding vicious beatings and rapes over the years at the Florida State Reform School for young offenders. This is a disturbing story. Here’s an excerpt: “On Tuesday, about a half-dozen alumni will return to what is now called the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys to confront the most painful chapter of their troubled lives. The White House Boys, as a group of grown men now call themselves – kept one of the institution's most shameful secrets for half a century: what was done to them inside a squat, dark, cinder-block building called The White House. There, they say, guards beat them ferociously with a lash, some dozens of times. Some men say they also were sexually abused in a crawl space below the dining hall they call the ``rape room.'' The state is dedicating a memorial to those who suffered at a formal ceremony at the Marianna campus. Among the historic documents drawn upon for this story: PDF links to a report documenting beatings with a leather strap in 1911, a grand jury report on abuses from 1914 and a Senate committee’s 1903 hearing on troubles at the school.
October 15, 2008
Records reload:
Police dispatch records: Cristina Silva of the St. Petersburg Times on how plice have been called twice over the last year to St. Pete City Council member Jeff Danner’s house regarding domestic disputes ...
Invoice records: Kara Kenney of the WBBH NBC-2 in Fort Myers on how much an internal investigation into Lee County Manager Don Stilwell cost taxpayers ...
School enrollment counts: Kathy Bushouse of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on how enrollment dropped in Broward County public schools for the fourth straight year, leading to some important seismic shifts for the school system ...
Florida Department of Law Enforcement mid-year crime statistics: Lise Fisher of the Gainesville Sun on the latest state crime statistics that showed an overall crime increase for Florida during the first six months of 2008...
October 13, 2008
Records shout outs:
Federal campaign contributions: Mary Cristobal of the Central Florida Future, the University of Central Florida student newspaper, on presidential campaign donations made by UCF students, faculty and staff. Barrack Obama had raised the most at the time of this story, a nice campus enterprise piece ...
Internal memoes: Mike Deeson of Tampa Bay Channel 10 on a Pasco County utility customer system approved in 2005 but still isn’t up and running three years later ...
Gun confiscation records: Henry Pierson Curtis of the Orlando Sentinel on how police are confiscating tons of guns from criminals since a federal ban on assault weapons expired ...
IRS tax lien: Bruce Ritchie of the Tallahassee Democrat on the Florida Police Benevolent Association accusing Leon County Commissioner Ed Depuy of being a hypocrite for criticizing a challenger for his debts when records show DePuy had a tax lien of his own in 1986 ...
Florida Auditor General’s Office audit: Christopher O’Donnell of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune about an audit critical of Manatee County School District safety practices in screening workers ...
October 11, 2008
Borrowers Betrayed: Prepare to pick your jaw off the floor if you read these pieces from the Miami Herald. Reporters Jack Dolan, Rob Barry and Matthew Haggman tapped a variety of licensing, regulation and criminal records to uncover a series of stunning breakdowns regarding how the Florida Office of Financial Regulation allowed ex-convicts to become mortgage professionals and rip-off the public despite complaints to the agency. “Since 2000, regulators failed to weed out people with criminal histories, monitor scam operations and discipline crooked brokers, a Miami Herald investigation found.” The criminals licensed by the agency went on to fraud the public out of nearly $85 million, the story says. The agency head has since resigned and the Legislature is lining up to make changes to better protect the public from repeats. This is multi-media in fine form, with revealing stories, video, slide shows, graphics and more spread across a three-part presentation.
Florida Sunshine Review:
Hernando Today, by Tony Holt: Residents complain of Sunshine Law violation for being left out of Spring Hill Fire Department union negotiations …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Sunshine Law dominates at debate for Venice City Council elections …
Hernando Today, by Tony Holt: Bulletin boards sufficient to announce meeting, Spring Hill fire district attorney says …
October 6, 2008
Florida Sunshine Review:
Beaches Leader, by Kathy Hartman: Sunshine Law is “garbage,” outgoing St. Johns County Commissioner says …
Naples Daily News, by Liam Dillon: Public-private roles raise questions on Ave Maria boards …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Sarasota activist Anthony Lorenzo faults Venice meeting at city manager’s house …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Top administrators meeting at interim Venice city manager’s house raises public meetings flag …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kathy Silverberg: Sunshine is simply doing public’s business in public …
Pensacola News-Journal, by Jamie Page: Public gets first chance to speak before Community Maritime Park Associates at meeting …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Judge says Venice officials must pay e-mail experts to retrieve e-mails from their personal computers in ongoing open government lawsuit …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Kim Hackett: Judge sets trail date for open government lawsuit involving nine current and former Venice city officials …
Naples Daily News, by Jenna Buzzacco: Union, bus driver sue Collier School Board members, saying they violated Sunshine Law …
WTBO Channel 8, by Steve Andrews:Lowry Park Zoo turns over records after threat of lawsuit …
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