The fight for open government extends even to small cities and ...

... and 'regular guys'

The Associated Press
March 12, 2005

EDITOR'S NOTE - The week of March 13 has been declared Sunshine Week by media organizations and other groups pressing for government access, contending information is being withheld more often by officials who cite post-Sept. 11 security concerns. This is the first of a two-part series examining the use of the Freedom of Information Act by U.S. citizens, and the government's willingness to make its records available.

<snip> And it's happening across the country. To a Virginia homeowner seeking plans for a gas pipeline near his home. To Wyoming politicians worried about local dams. To an environmental group that wants the studies on 100-year floods and dam failures in a Southwest river canyon.

All asked for records, and all were turned down

Behind the rejections is a transformation of the nation's Freedom of Information Act - a federal law that allows public access to government reports, documents and other records. That freedom is supposed to be balanced by the needs of national defense and privacy, and government officials argue that America's war on terror has made a new, more closely guarded approach necessary. <snip>

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050312/APN/503120711&cachetime=3&template=dateline

about Newspapers joining with others to try to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act. Try to make the time shorter for records to be released, etc.

I'm glad to see this. It's a start. Good push back to that Caligula we have in the WH...