News

Colo. Springs Utilities: Effectiveness of scrubber test system will not be shared

From The Gazette:  How well did a test version of the $156 million Neumann Systems Group pollution scrubbers work on the downtown Colorado Springs power plant? Colorado Springs Utilities won't say publicly. Though the performance of the scrubbers has serious implications for air quality in the region and the future of the power plant, Utilities says performance data from the pilot system is a trade secret and can't be disclosed. Utilities is "prohibited from releasing this data" because it contains "trade secrets, and/or confidential and financial information," said Christian Nelson, a Utilities spokesman. Visit The Gazette for more ...

The case of the missing emails

From The Complete Colorado:  By Todd Shepherd  I don’t know about you, but I get a minimum of 50 emails a day. I don’t have to send anything out, I don’t have to let anyone know if I’m at work or not, I’m going to get at least 50 emails a day: News alerts, calendar alerts, email newsletters, and then of course, people generating new messages to me. Which is why I found it so odd, when recently I used the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) to request emails for a couple of government officials, and they told me they ...

FOLLOWING THE MONEY 2014 – How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data

Every year, state governments spend tens of billions of dollars through contracts for goods and services, subsidies to encourage economic development, and other expenditures. Accountability and public scrutiny are necessary to ensure that the public ...

W.Va. Supreme Court allows fee for FOIA records searches

The state Supreme Court has ruled that government agencies can charge an hourly fee for locating public documents requested under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The court ruled 4-1 in a decision released Thursday. The justices overtu ...

In Montana, Government transparency improves

Montana is one of the most improved states in transparency and online access to government spending information, a study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund showed. The report, released this week, gave Montana a transparency s ...

WVA State Auidtor claims transparency grade unfair

West Virginia got an unfair grade on a national survey of transparency in government spending websites in the 50 states, state auditor Glen Gainer said Thursday. A report released this week by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group gave the state&rs ...

Wisc State Auditor: Kudos due as state leaps on transparency index

Wisconsin received an A- when it comes to government spending transparency, according to “Following the Money 2014: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” the fifth annual report of its kind by the ...

Tech Industry Applauds Senate DATA Act Passage

The United States Senate approved an amended version of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 994) today by unanimous consent. Advocates expect the landmark open data legislation, known as the DATA Act, to earn swift approval in the U.S ...