Thank God it's Monday. You don't hear that often, but after everything that happened to me last week on the records front, I want a fresh start.

I confess I don't like House Bill 122, though I'm trying to remember the arguments in favor of it. The bill passed the House last week, but it's still just a problem for another day.

Last week, I received word from the Ogden Records Board that it denied my appeal for certain employment records related to former police officer Ken Hammond. Ogden does not subscribe to the State Records Committee appeal system, so The Tribune has to file suit against the city if it wants to pursue this further. My bosses have not given me an indication the newspaper will do that.

The board's denial, a copy of which is attached below, probably ensures the pending criminal and civil court cases against Hammond will be the only vehicles for learning details of his time on the police force.

To ensure I would be beaten down by three levels of government, the feds sought to crush my spirits, too. The Mine Safety and Health Administration sent me a copy of a 2001 report about the Martin County Coal impoundment failure, which was one of my first FOIA requests to Obama Administration. The problem is: I asked for the 2003 report — which the government (now under two presidents) has been withholding from release.

And I'm not the only who had problems last week. Check out this article about meetings in Highland. In my experience, when one member of a governing body complains about transparency issues with the rest of the board, there's some kind of problem.

— NC

OgdenRecordsReviewBoardDecision.pdf

Labels: Crime, FOIA, GRAMA, Legislature, Obama, Open and Public Meetings Act