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RAIN 12/03: Weekend Update



New York Times 12/01/00
Indian lawyers: Feds lied in trial
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Indian-Money.html

Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal officials responsible for overseeing a $500
million system of trust accounts for American Indians lied in court and
cannot be trusted to handle reforms, lawyers for the Indians told a federal
judge Friday.
A year ago, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled the government had
mismanaged the Indian accounts for more than a century. He gave the federal
government a final chance to correct problems in roughly 500,000 trust
accounts, which hold proceeds from oil wells and other uses of Indian land.
Lawyers for the Indians said in a Friday court filing that the federal
government missed its chance. The Indians said federal officials lied during
a trial last summer and cited court findings that federal officials have
continued to destroy records. They asked Lamberth to appoint a ``special
master'' with the power to force the government to make necessary changes.


Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 12/01/00
Researcher sentenced for selling Wynette's medical records
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20001201wynette.asp

by Joe Mandak
Associated Press
A former medical researcher who sold late country music superstar Tammy
Wynette's medical records to supermarket tabloids yesterday was sentenced to
six months in federal prison and six months of home detention.
William A. Cox, 35, a former UPMC Health System employee, pleaded guilty in
August to a federal charge of wire fraud for accessing Wynette's confidential
medical files -- which he then sold to the National Enquirer and the Star.



Sun-Sentinel 12/01/00
Grumbling starts over law that requires meetings and documents to be public
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/daily/detail/0,1136,36000000000135990,00.html

by Karla Schuster
TALLAHASSEE -- The world watched live as millions of ballots were counted by
hand, as the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments, as the state elections
canvassing board signed and certified the presidential election results.
What the public didn't see or hear was how the two Republican leaders of
Florida's Legislature decided to convene a special panel to consider if
lawmakers should intervene in the election dispute, or to join Texas Gov.
George Bush's lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Those decisions were made in private, but perfectly legal, phone calls
between House Speaker Tom Feeney and Senate President John McKay.



Baltimore Sun 12/01/00
Court records proposal decried
Some warn curbs on computer files could hinder safety
http://www.sunspot.net/content/news/story?section=news-maryland-sun&pagename=s

tory&storyid=1150520203750

by Eric Siegel and Gail Gibson
Proposed restrictions on public access to computerized state court records
could seriously hinder background checks on bank tellers who handle money,
nannies who care for children and tenants who might live next door.
Users of the state's centralized database of court records say that the
information they now get electronically to do those kinds of checks has long
been considered public in courthouses across the state and should continue to
be available over the Internet.
Without continued access through the Internet, available for $50 a year,
users would have to travel from courthouse to courthouse around the state to
get criminal information - a process they say would be more costly and
time-consuming and less thorough.



Editor & Publisher Online 12/01/00
Daily Nebraskan continues fight for student records
University resists push for disciplinary information
http://www.mediainfo.com/ephome/news/newshtm/stories/120100n1.htm

by Christopher Stango
The Daily Nebraskan student newspaper at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
won a round Wednesday in its fight for the release of the school's
disciplinary records. The newspaper first asked for the records earlier this
fall, but school officials, citing student confidentiality, refused.
Under pressure from the newspaper, the university's Office of Judicial
Affairs released this week the number and nature of disciplinary cases from
this semester, but did not reveal the names of students found guilty of
violent or sexual crimes.



Village Voice 11/29/00
Seize and Resist
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0048/anderson.shtml

by Melissa Anderson
The AIDS activist revolution-if not always televised-was at least
video-recorded. The Guggenheim's "Fever in the Archive" showcases video work
from the last 15 years, ranging from documents of collective political action
(1989's Target City Hall, which captures an ACT UP demo) to the hushed,
personal ruminations of those living with AIDS (Stuart Gaffney's Virus, from
1994). Chronicling not only the output of late-'80s and early-'90s New
York-based activist media groups, such as WAVE (Women's AIDS Video
Enterprise) and DIVA TV (Damned Interfering Video Activist Television), but
also smaller, more artistic collaborations (Phil Zwickler and David
Wojnarowicz's provocative Fear of Disclosure, from 1989), the series is an
invaluable repository of images reflecting the urgency of AIDS activism at
its most visible.



Washington Post 12/1/00
Md. Lawmakers oppose court access limits
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8791-2000Dec1.html

by Daniel LeDuc and Lori Montgomery
Maryland's top legislative leaders said yesterday that they would strongly
oppose proposals by the state's judiciary to place new limits on public
access to court records.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's) and House
Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. (D-Allegany) said that if necessary they will
champion legislation to override guidelines restricting public access to
court files and demanding that those seeking the information explain why they
want it.
The proposals come at a time when Miller and Taylor said Maryland lawmakers
have been trying to open the courts to the public. The proposed guidelines,
Miller said, show that Chief Judge Robert Bell "is going diametrically in the
other way."
The two legislative leaders made their comments at a meeting with Washington
Post editors and reporters.
The court administrative office's Records Committee plans a public hearing
Dec. 13 on the proposed rules. The Court of Appeals, Maryland's highest
court, will make the decision next year.



Kansas City Star 12/01/00
Judge voids subpoena seeking bookstore's sales records
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/printer.pat,business/3774f482.b30,.html

by Dan Margolies
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena seeking customer sales records from
one of the Borders bookstores in Johnson County.
U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum, in a one-paragraph order handed down
Tuesday, granted Borders' motion to void the subpoena, which was issued by
the Drug Enforcement Administration in mid-September.
The case is sealed, but lawyers for Borders confirmed Thursday that Lungstrum
had granted the bookseller's motion.
"Borders is very gratified that its First Amendment rights and those of its
customers have been vindicated," said Jerry Wolf, one of Borders' lawyers.
"We're pleased with the result."



Charleston Gazette 12/2/00
Police ordered to open records
Rules sets standard on how information is subject to review
http://www.wvgazette.com/news/News/2000120141/

Associated Press
The state Supreme Court on Friday ruled that State Police may be compelled to
produce personnel and other documents in a police brutality case, setting a
standard on how law enforcement records are subject to review.
In a unanimous decision, the court authorized the opening of records in
litigation and ruled that circuit judges may review law enforcement documents
and delete confidential information not related to a lawsuit. The judge would
decide whether to make records public.
Attorneys for both sides praised the ruling.
"We want State Police as an organization to say we're going to investigate
and we're going to stop misconduct and we're going to make information
available,'' said Mary Ellen Griffith, a Princeton lawyer who represents a
couple suing police over an alleged beating in May 1999.



Charleston Gazette 12/02/00
Clifford frustrated by lack of access to records
http://www.wvgazette.com/news/Other+News/2000120146/

by Chris Schnaars
Kanawha County prosecutor-elect Mike Clifford does not expect his employees
to sign waivers to release medical, physical and mental records and to agree
to be on probation for a year.
"I don't want medical records, " Clifford said. "I don't have time to look at
medical records."
Clifford was visibly angry when asked about the six-page application forms
circulated to prosecutor's office employees earlier this week. He said he
sent the forms to try to get more information on his employees because he is
getting no cooperation from prosecutor Bill Forbes.
"I had had some difficulties because we're not permitted or welcome in the
prosecutor's office, and employees in the prosecutor's office have been
discouraged from talking to my team," Clifford said.
"We have had no access at all to any employees of that office or to the
personnel records of the employees of that office."



Las Vegas Review-Journal 12/02/00
County ordered to yield records
Commissioners found in civil contempt over cell phone documents
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Dec-02-Sat-2000/news/14949819.html

by A.D. Hopkins
District Judge Mark Denton on Friday found Clark County in civil contempt for
failing to produce cellular telephone records sought for three years by the
Las Vegas Review-Journal under Nevada's public records law.
"If those records are not produced within 30 days ... then the sum of $500
will be due for each day of non-compliance," Denton wrote. The court will
subpoena duplicate records from the telephone company if the county continues
to drag its feet, he said.



State Journal-Register 12/02/00
Internet aids in collection of historic Lincoln items
http://www.sj-r.com/news/00/12/02/c.htm

By Doug Pokorski
The Internet is helping state librarians add to Illinois' collection of
historic items relating to Abraham Lincoln, and it's helping them track down
parts of that collection that were missing for more than half a century.
Speakers Friday addressed the role of the Internet and other modern
technology in studying Lincoln at a session of the 21st annual Illinois
History Symposium, hosted by the Illinois State Historical Society.
Kim Bauer, curator of the Henry Horner Lincoln Collection at the Illinois
State Historical Library, said online auctions have become a significant
source of material for new acquisitions for the collection.
"In the past 41/2 years I have purchased over 250 items for the (Horner)
collection and for the library's (general) collection," Bauer said.



Salt Lake Tribune 12/02/00
The Deseret Alphabet died with Brigham Young
There was one letter for every sound and only one sound for every letter
http://www.sltrib.com/12022000/saturday/49761.htm

by Vania Grandi
Associated Press
After leading thousands of Mormons on a grueling trek across the country to
the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, prophet Brigham Young declared the area "a good
place to make saints." He then set to work creating Zion in preparation for
Christ's return to earth.
Convinced residents of his utopian world needed an easier way to write
English, Young poured thousands of dollars into developing the Deseret
alphabet, despite more pressing needs like growing crops and building homes.
"He just wanted to perfect the language and spent a lot of money to do it,"
said Ronald G. Watt, senior archivist for The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. "That's what visionary men do. They take an idea and run
with it."



Nashua Telegraph 12/03/00
Father seeks sanctions for erased Net records
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?UID=360036876&SectionID=25&SubSectionI

D=354&ArticleID=22036

J.M. Hirsch
Associated Press
CONCORD (AP) - Records of Internet usage by Exeter school district pupils
apparently have been deleted, despite a judge's order that they be made
public, according to court records.
James Knight, a father of four whose children attended Exeter schools until
recently, won a legal battle against the district last month when a judge
ordered officials to give him copies of the schools' Internet history logs.
Knight, 44, wanted the logs so he could check whether school officials are
doing enough to keep pupils away from the Web's seedy side. He filed the suit
after educators decided to use spot checks by teachers instead of filtering
programs.



Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 12/03/00
Openness, privacy at odds
Supreme Court rulings have kept many public officials guessing on files
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/dec00/secret03120200.asp

by Amy Rinard
Fearing a flood of lawsuits after confusing Supreme Court rulings on the
state's open records law, cautious municipal attorneys throughout Wisconsin
are trying to protect the privacy rights of nearly everyone mentioned in
public documents by delaying and even refusing the release of those records.
The situation has gotten so bad - with the public and news reporters facing a
battle over nearly every request for once easily obtained public records -
that a state blue ribbon task force on privacy has recommended that the
Legislature amend the open records law to clarify that such precautions by
municipal officials are unnecessary.
In its report to Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, the 24-member task force established
to recommend steps the state can take to ensure people's privacy rights said
the court's ruling:



Roanoke Times 12/03/00
Software firm cites e-mail for suit, probe
Roanoke company claims ex-employee took source code
http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story103599.html

by Tad Dickens
On the surface, it seems like an innocuous enough e-mail from one employee to
another:
"Corbett - could you possibly burn me a cd of everything in
file:\\library\users\rquackenbush
cd ? I'm finally getting around to reducing the amount of data that I'm
storing on library ...
"Thanks,
-Rich"
But in civil lawsuits filed in Roanoke Circuit Court, a Roanoke software firm
says it's more than a friendly request. Meridium Inc. claims that the Aug. 25
e-mail and others in the company system support its contention that a former
employee, Richard Quackenbush, stole some of its source codes, trade secrets
crucial to its operations.



The New Zealand Herald 12/04/00
Privacy breach brings payout
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=163083&thesection=news&thes

ubsection=general

by Cathy Aronson
A Fiji Indian student will be paid a five-figure sum by Health Waikato
because she was disowned by her family when a nurse told a relative she had
had an abortion.
Privacy Commissioner Bruce Slane had been investigating a complaint since
last year and said a settlement had been made.
This is the second settlement over a privacy issue. Mr Slane said a
similar-sized settlement was reached this year in a complaint involving
another hospital which had breached the Health Information Privacy Code.
He said the settlements underlined the importance of health agencies ensuring
their practices complied with the code.



Fort Worth Star-Telegram 12/02/00
New Director named for Bush Library
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/doc/1047/1:STATE75/1:STATE751202100.html

Associated Press
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- A retired Air Force colonel and adviser to former
president George Bush has been named director of the Bush Presidential
Library and Museum.
Douglas Menarchik now heads the Center for Defense Leadership and Management
Program at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
He will replace the library's first director, David Alsobrook, who had been
with the project since it began in 1993. Alsobrook has taken on the job of
forming the library of President Clinton in Little Rock, Ark.
U.S. Archivist John W. Carlin, who along with Bush chose the new director,
said Menarchik will bring many abilities to the library.



Miami Herald 12/03/00
Consultant tries to put Lyric in best light
Chicago man tackles work with passion
http://www.herald.com/content/today/news/dade/ncent/digdocs/059354.htm

by Draeger Martinez
When Jim Handley started maintenance, cleanup and preservation work on the
Lyric Theater in Overtown last fall, he began by spending one week each month
at the theater. Sounds easy -- until you consider Handley was commuting from
his native Chicago.
By this past October, Handley had relocated to Miami for six months, so he
could also provide programming and make sure the historic theater meets all
of Miami's safety codes and license requirements.
``This is a project that is a passion for me,'' said Handley, 56. ``I want to
make sure this theater is run right so that this can really become a part of
the Miami arts community. And I want to train someone who can take this up
after I leave, who can keep it running right.''



Bergen Record 12/02/00
Whitman plan will put cameras in 5,000 police cars
http://www.bergen.com/region/camds200012025.htm

by Daniel Sforza
Governor Whitman on Friday announced a plan to equip all municipal police
cars with video cameras, saying the technology will "help both citizens and
police."
Whitman said the funds will come from a "variety of sources" and will be
included in the 2001 state budget. The cameras, to be phased in over three
years, will be installed in 5,000 police cars, she said.
"These cameras will help both citizens and the police in all our communities
and enable us to make sure justice is served throughout our state," Whitman
said at a conference of minority and women business owners.



The Age 12/04/00
China unearths Japanese 'germ war' papers
http://www.theage.com.au/news/2000/12/04/FFXDGXXN9GC.html

by John Schauble
China Correspondent
Beijing
China claims to have found documentary evidence of Japanese germ warfare
experiments in occupied China during World War II.
The documentation refers to experiments carried out on animals and humans
between September, 1931, and August, 1940, in the puppet state of Manchuria.
"The scripts are records of the biological feature study on and virulence
test of anthrax bacillus," Ma Jiayu, head of bacteria research at north-east
China's Harbin Medical Sciences University, told the official People's Daily
newspaper.



Las Vegas Review-Journal 12/03/00
Editorial: A futile, contemptuous defiance
Judge holds county in civil contempt over cell phone records
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Dec-03-Sun-2000/opinion/14952800.html

Will anybody at the county now step forward and assume responsibility for the
unfathomable arrogance and obstinateness that led officials to thumb their
noses at the state Supreme Court and Nevada public records law?
On Friday, District Judge Mark Denton found Clark County in civil contempt
for failing to produce billing records from taxpayer-funded cell phones
issued to commissioners and other top officials. The ruling will cost the
county -- read: taxpayers -- $500 a day if the documents are not made
available within 30 days.





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

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