Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Nationwide review finds patchwork, ‘broken’ systems for resolving open records disputes

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Dana Holladay-Hollifield has worked as a nurse in Alabama for years, but never was her pay as low as it was at Huntsville Hospital. She wondered what executives at the not-for-profit facility made, so she filed a public records request to find out. The hospital is governed by a public board, […]

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States have hodgepodge of cumbersome rules for enforcing sunshine laws

PHOENIX (AP) — A nationwide review of procedures by The Associated Press and CNHI News revealed a patchwork of complicated systems for resolving open government disputes that often put the burden of enforcing transparency laws on private citizens.  The review, timed to Sunshine Week, found that fewer than a third of states have offices that […]

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Officers weren’t told of threats to harm police, says RCMP ‘Freedom Convoy’ report`

An internal RCMP review of the force’s response to “Freedom Convoy” protests found that some officers at the scene of an Alberta blockade were unaware of threats to harm police until after the episode ended. The review report also describes “chaotic” efforts in early 2022 to mobilize officers in Ottawa, a lack of proper equipment, […]

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Ford promises to build as many jails as needed to keep criminals behind bars

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government will build as many jails as needed to keep criminals behind bars “for a long time.” Ford was asked about overcrowding in Ontario jails during a news conference on an unrelated announcement in Milton, Ont., this morning. Data obtained by The Canadian Press through freedom-of-information laws shows the […]

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Canadian town mourns ‘devastating loss’ of family killed in Nashville plane crash

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee identified those killed in a fiery small plane crash next to Interstate 40 on Monday as a family of five from Canada.  The pilot was Victor Dotsenko, 43, and the passengers were his wife Rimma, 39, and their three children, David, 12, Adam, 10, and Emma, 7, Metro […]

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Workers expressed concern over bowed beams, structural issues before Idaho hangar collapse killed 3

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Workers had expressed concerns about bending or bowed beams and structural issues before a steel airport hangar under construction in Idaho collapsed in January, killing three people and injuring nine others, a newspaper reported. Some employees told the site’s supervisor of their worries a day before the privately owned and partially […]

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Ontario jail inmate numbers spike in last year, now well over capacity, data shows

Ontario’s jails have seen a dramatic increase in the number of inmates over the past year with the majority of the facilities well over capacity, new data obtained by The Canadian Press shows. Meanwhile, an overwhelming number of inmates held – 81 per cent, the government said – are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent.  The […]

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Fact Focus: Claims Biden administration is secretly flying migrants into the country are unfounded

SAN DIEGO (AP) — In his Super Tuesday victory speech, former President Donald Trump elevated false information that had gone viral on social media, claiming the Biden administration secretly flew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the United States. Many post sharing the claim referred to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a […]

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Budget refusal will cause more access-to-information delays: N.S. info commissioner

Nova Scotia’s information commissioner says the province’s rejection of her appeal for more staff will leave citizen requests to access government documents languishing in a years-long wait-list. “I was disheartened and disappointed to learn we did not get any additional budgeted positions, despite our four-year-long backlog of cases to review,” Tricia Ralph said in a […]

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Army personnel file shows Maine reservist who killed 18 people received glowing reviews

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — An Army reservist responsible for the deadliest shooting in Maine history received a glowing review from his superiors even as some of his family members were growing increasingly worried about his mental health. The annual evaluation from April 2023 indicated Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, was “a consummate professional” who “excelled […]

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Cape Breton U tripled its international recruitment. Students say they pay the price.

Over the past five years, Navy Nguyen says she has watched thousands of international students arrive at Cape Breton University to find a town that was wholly unprepared for them. From 2019 to 2020, the school more than tripled its efforts to recruit international students, before being forced to scale back as incoming students couldn’t […]

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Mexico president’s son, presidential candidate denounce leak of phone numbers, say threats received

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The eldest son of Mexico’s president and the governing party’s presidential candidate said Saturday that their telephone numbers were published on social media and that they have received threats and insults. Both denounced the action. The incident came a day after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador disclosed the phone number of […]

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