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RAIN 09/26 (Part 1) : Painted Ladies and Iowa records



Dallas Morning News 9/24/00
Painted Ladies
World War II group working to preserve plane nose art
http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/176568_noseart_24tex..html

By Debbie L. Jensen
Special contributor to The Dallas Morning News
MIDLAND - Retired Air Force Col. Gordon Schafer will never forget Flamin'
Mamie. The B-24 bomber he co-piloted in World War II was named for the
alluring woman painted reclining on one side of its nose. The crew even made
up a song about her, and to this day, the 80-year-old Mr. Schafer can recall
some of the lyrics.
"Flamin' Mamie, she's a real live girl, hottest baby in town," he sang more
than 50 years after learning the tune.


Des Moines Register 9/25/00
80% of school districts ignore requests for public records
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4780932/12452901.html

By John McCormick
Four out of five Iowa school districts ignored a citizen's request for public
information about the districts - a request that was made as part of a test
by Iowa newspapers of compliance with the state's public-records law.
A Des Moines woman, Marilyn Hauk, asked for the information on behalf of a
group of 13 newspapers. She listed her home address and signed her name in a
letter to each school superintendent.
In the letter, Hauk asked for a copy of the superintendent's employment
contract and a summary of the districtwide achievement-test scores in
reading, math and science for students in grades 4, 8 and 11.


Burlington Hawkeye 9/25/00
Officials deny public access
http://www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/ln25095.html

by Craig T. Neises
Danville School District Superintendent Steve McAllister is provided with
rent-free, district-owned housing which, if he ever leaves the district, must
be vacated within seven days of his last day of work.
Burlington Superintendent Steve Swanson has a $200,000 life insurance policy
paid by the School Board. Keokuk Superintendent Jane Babcock is entitled to
365 days of accumulated sick leave.
Central Lee Superintendent Joe Crozier is allowed time, without loss of pay,
to attend college classes during the summertime.


Mason Globe-Gazette 9/25/00
Pursuit of open records is frustrating
http://www.globegazette.com/news/2000/092000/week4/25/Ni3.shtml

By Deb Nicklay
I expected some things to happen when I walked into City Hall at Charles City
as a member of the Iowa Freedom of Information audit team.
As a journalist of many years, I knew that when I asked for a city
administrator's expense report, officials would question the reason for the
request.
I also expected some resistance when I asked to review police incident
reports.


Mason City Globe-Gazette
Globe gets 83% of requested records
http://www.globegazette.com/news/2000/092000/week4/25/Ni3.shtml

by Deb Nicklay
Globe-Gazette staff members obtained 83 percent of the public records they
requested during the Iowa Freedom of Information Audit on April 24-25.
As other audit team members found across the state, police incident reports
and concealed weapons permits were difficult to obtain.
Globe personnel audited eight counties. Only two counties - Mitchell and
Hancock - released all the records requested. Those counties include the
Osage and Garner police departments.


Quad City Times 9/25/00
Police flout access laws
http://www.qctimes.com/local/story4.html

by Tom Saul
Law enforcement agencies in the Quad-City region are the most likely arm of
government to deny citizens access to information that state law says should
be a matter of public record.
During seven of 18 visits to police and sheriff's departments,
representatives sent by the Quad-City Times were told they had no right to
see criminal incident reports or records of those who hold concealed weapons
permits.
In another three cases, access to the information was allowed, but the
visitors were either told they had to pay unusually high fees for access,
were not allowed to make copies or had to submit to questioning about why
they wanted information. In one case, a visitor was told she had to submit a
detailed written explanation of what she wanted the information for.


Cedar Rapids Gazette 9/25/00
Linn sheriff cites privacy concerns
http://www.gazetteonline.com/GCDA/article/1,1098,6198,00.html?curlocation=12

By Rick Smith
CEDAR RAPIDS -- No sheriff in Iowa is more willing to talk to the news media
than Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller. One of his daughters is a TV newswoman
in Texas.
Zeller, though, was still resisting the notion last week that he was bound by
the state open records law to make public a list of those he's given
concealed weapons' permits.
"Why does The Gazette, why does anybody? . . ," Zeller asked. "Just pick a
person, any old person. Mr. USA guy comes along and wanted that. Why should I
give it to him? And what is his intent? That's why some of the sheriffs said,
'Tell us why you want it? If it's for a legitimate reason, then . . .."'


Des Moines Register 9/25/00
Information on crimes often denied
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788998/12452614.html

by John McCormick
National surveys show crime concerns many Americans, yet trying to learn
about criminal activity - or even who has a permit to carry a handgun - is
difficult in many Iowa cities and counties.
Public records held by local law enforcement agencies were those least likely
to be available for inspection by the public, an investigation by 13 Iowa
newspapers found.
Forty-two percent of the state's sheriff departments provided access to the
names of people in the county who have obtained permits to carry concealed
guns. Fifty-eight percent of police departments made incident reports
available.


Des Moines Register 9/25/00
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4780932/12453542.html

by Dave DeValois
Ankeny, Ia. - Ankeny police needed information on a missing teen-age girl and
asked Ankeny's Kirkendall Public Library staff for help.
The 16-year-old girl's parents told police she was seen in the company of an
older man, and she often used the Internet on the library's computers.
"We had some real concerns that the girl had been making contact with someone
through the Internet. There was some reason to believe they would rendezvous
somewhere," said Ankeny Police Chief Paul Scranton.
Police asked the library for the girl's Internet computer records, book
circulation records and access to any employees who may have talked to her.


Des Moines Register 9/25/00
Libraries struggle over pornography
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4780932/12453543.html

by Dave DeValois
Ankeny, Ia. - Kirkendall Public Library's policies ensure that what a patron
looks at on the Internet remains confidential.
Employees at Kirkendall, and libraries throughout Iowa, struggle over what to
do when a patron's Internet page has pornographic images.
Monitoring Internet sites on computers in public libraries is a hot issue in
Iowa. A failed bill in the 2000 Legislature proposed cutting off state aid
unless a library used filtering software to reduce access of Internet porn
sites.
A Webster City man last month asked for a recall of the city's library board
because members refused to install anti-porn software.


Washington Times 9/25/00
Lawyer's calls eyed in e-mail probe
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2000925222653.htm

by Jerry Seper
A House committee is investigating 1998 telephone calls made to the White
House by an attorney representing Northrup Grumman Corp. after the firm was
told its workers had been threatened over their discovery that thousands of
e-mail messages sought by a federal grand jury were missing.
House Government Reform Committee investigators want to know if two calls by
Washington lawyer Earl J. Silbert contradict sworn testimony by White House
officials who said they were unaware of the threats and were not told of the
seriousness of the e-mail problem until 1999.




Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Virginia

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