sunday's right to know round up

Right to Know requests meet with many a 'no' Allentown Morning Call - Allentown,PA,USA

First of a two-day series Poll finds public information often kept private by police, municipalities despite law.

Teri Henning, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said part of the reason for the less-than-perfect open records response is that in Pennsylvania, unlike many other states, the burden is on the requester of information to prove that what they are asking for is considered public information.

Making a mockery of right to know The Union Leader - Manchester,NH,USA

DON'T LOOK NOW, citizens of New Hampshire, but some of your elected public officials are making a mockery of your Right to Know law.

People in the Newfound Area School District have been told by their school board that the details of Superintendent John Graziano's sudden departure will be made available to them — in 50 years.

Fifty years. That is for how long the school board voted to seal the minutes of the two meetings it had last January regarding Graziano's fate. According to the Laconia Citizen, the day after the second meeting, Graziano was asked to empty his office and return his keys.

According to the minutes of a later meeting, the board sealed minutes of the two January meetings because the details "could potentially damage John Graziano."

And yet the board has subsequently praised Graziano for exemplary performance and, on May 9, said it wished to "dispel any public misconception that may have been created during this process that there was any wrongdoing or anything less than a completely professional performance on the part of Dr. Graziano."

Right-to-know law in Pennsylvania Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA

An Associated Press survey, in which Inquirer reporters participated, of 700 agences across the state showed, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. In government agencies across the state, officials routinely block timely access and, contary to the law, demand to know who seeks the information and for what purposes. [much more here]

Not all comply with residents' right to know (just a short blurb, today's print edition of the Altoona Mirror has the full article) Salem, Oregon's Statesman Journal reminds you that it's generally a bad idea for students to sleep with their teachers.