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RAIN 01/14: Weekend Update Part 1



Chicago Sun-Times 01/12/01
Personal e-mail finds unintended audience
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/col12.html

by Susan Dodge
Higher Education Reporter
The power of e-mail became all too apparent Thursday to the president of 
Columbia College. 
An e-mail by Warrick Carter, president of the college in the Loop since 
September, was accidentally forwarded to hundreds of faculty and staff, 
raising questions about whether he and others concealed that fact that he had 
been laid off from the Walt Disney Co. before being hired at Columbia. 
Carter, 57, has a four-year contract with Columbia and an annual salary of 
$250,000. 
He sent an e-mail Thursday morning to a Georgia mortgage company, explaining 
that he had been laid off from Disney. He sent a copy to his e-mail address 
at Columbia. A glitch in the internal e-mail system at Columbia allowed 
hundreds of faculty and staff at Columbia to get the e-mail as well. 




CNSNews.com 01/11/01
Lawsuit seeks gun buy-back records
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200101\CUL2001011

1b.html

by Gene J. Koprowski
Chicago (CNSNews.com) - A libertarian activist in Illinois is filing a 
lawsuit this week against Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan, charging 
violations of the Freedom of Information Act as part of an alleged, ongoing 
cover-up of a "badly mismanaged" government gun buy-back operation.
The plaintiff is Matt Beauchamp, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Chicago 
and last year's Libertarian Party nominee in Illinois' Fifth Congressional 
District. His suit is being filed in the county court here Friday.
The case stems from a 1999 gun buy-back, sponsored by the Cook County 
sheriff, as part of the local gun control policy agenda. During September of 
1999, the county sheriff urged local citizens to turn in old firearms in 
exchange for $50. No questions asked. The idea was that the buy-back would 
encourage criminals -- or would-be criminals -- to turn over their weapons, 
without liability or possible prosecution.




The Wichita Eagle 01/12/01
Eagle, KWCH fight to open homicide files
http://web.wichitaeagle.com/content/wichitaeagle/2001/01/12/localnews/motion01

11_txt.htm

by Tim Potter
The Wichita Eagle and KWCH, Channel 12, filed a court motion Thursday to 
remove a judge's seal of documents on last month's two quadruple homicides. 
The motion argues that the documents -- including copies of emergency 
dispatch tapes, Emergency Medical Service records and police crime reports -- 
could be released to better inform the public, without jeopardizing fair 
trials. 
The district attorney's office and defense lawyers disagree. 
The motion has been set for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. next Friday before 
District Judge Clark Owens, who ordered the seal. 




The Irish Times 01/12/01
Monday ruling on Lawlor contempt case
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2001/0112/courts1.htm

The High Court will rule on Monday whether Dublin West TD Mr Liam Lawlor is 
in contempt of court orders. 
This would be because of his failure to provide the Flood tribunal with full 
discovery of documents and financial records and failing to answer its 
questions on his financial affairs. 
A finding that he is in contempt could lead to him being fined and/or 
imprisoned. 
Tribunal counsel said yesterday it was not credible for Mr Lawlor to assert 
he had no recollection about where £2.5 million had come from and urged that 
he be found in contempt. 
The tribunal also claimed that many of the documents given by Mr Lawlor to it 
related to matters which it was already aware of. Mr Lawlor knew this. 




ABCNews .com 01/12/01
Labs to check e-mail for security breaches
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20010112_694.html

Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) _ The Department of Energy plans to start inspecting 
all electronic mail entering or leaving four national laboratories, in a 
pilot program designed to prevent spying. DOE officials issued a notice 
Monday establishing the "Electronic Mail Analysis Capability." 




The Oracle 01/12/01
Lawyer sues for more records in U. South Florida discrimination lawsuit
http://news.excite.com/news/uw/010111/university-172

by Patty Kim
(U-WIRE) TAMPA, Fla. -- Jonathan Alpert, attorney for the eight former 
women's basketball players with racial discrimination lawsuits against the 
University of South Florida, filed yet another lawsuit Monday to access 
public records related to the case. 
Alpert is requesting e-mails from former women's basketball coach Jerry Ann 
Winters dating back to 1996, taped conversations Winters made, written memos 
and other records related to his clients. He said once he reviews the 
documents, he is determined to uncover what the university knew and when. 
"I've been asking for access to those public records since Nov. 2," Alpert 
said. 



Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 01/12/01
Meetings, documents to be more open, county judge says
http://www.ardemgaz.com/week/Fri/nwa/A1nwreorganize12.html

by Kirstan Conley
BENTONVILLE -- Benton County Judge Gary Black announced that he takes full 
responsibility for his mistakes and promised to make Quorum Court documents 
routinely available to the public and the press.
Black's statement, at the Quorum Court's first meeting this year, comes after 
he and other elected officials faced harsh criticism for drafting and 
revising the county budget in closed-door meetings. Justices of the peace and 
taxpayers criticized Black, former County Judge Travis Harp and other budget 
committee members for raising elected officials' salaries in the 2001 budget 
without informing the public.



The Press of Atlantic City 01/11/01
Atlantic County scans records into computers
http://www.pressplus.com/atlantic/979220494.html

by Marsha Gilbert
MAYS LANDING - Rows and rows of books - some with browning, crumbling pages - 
one day will be obsolete as more county clerk's offices scan information into 
computers. 
The Atlantic County Clerk's Office is one of six counties that has received 
certification from the State's Records Committee for its method of preserving 
information with a new image-processing system, said Albin Wagner, chief of 
the bureau of Records Management for the Division of Archives and Records 
Management. 
The other counties are Burlington, Cape May, Middlesex, Monmouth and 
Gloucester. 
Several others are in the process of installing systems or working to meet 
the committee's standards, Wagner said. 




The Wichita Eagle 01/11/01
Sealed records stop probe of EMS delay
http://web.wichitaeagle.com/content/wichitaeagle/2001/01/12/localnews/ems0111_

txt.htm

by Tim Potter
Officials can't yet review paramedics' apparent delay in treating a quadruple 
homicide victim last month because a court order sealed records related to 
the criminal investigation, a Sedgwick County spokeswoman said. 
Any review would be pending a lifting of the seal, the county said Thursday 
in a news release. 
It would be up to the court to decide whether any findings could be made 
public, said Kristi Zukovich, the spokeswoman. 



St. Petersburg Times 01/12/01
Contractor vows to put the EDC out of business
http://www.sptimes.com/News/011201/Citrus/Contractor_vows_to_pu.shtml

by Bridget Hall Grumet
CRYSTAL RIVER -- After publicly attacking the Economic Development Council in 
several paid newspaper advertisements in recent weeks, contractor Scott Adams 
came to Thursday's council meeting announcing his intention to shut down the 
group. 
Adams believes that the council, a public-private organization that receives 
county funding to promote business growth, has violated the state public 
records law by failing to name a records custodian. 
He also charged that the council has helped certain businesses skirt the 
permitting process, while refusing to help him fight the county over required 
permits that he believes his logging business does not need. 
Adams said he has been gathering evidence of those and other "dirty deeds," 
and plans to file a lawsuit that would seek to stop county funding of the 
council. 




WVEC.com 01/11/01 (Thanks to Michele Trader of Newport News for this story)
Mishandled checks give all document shredding companies a bad name 
http://www.wvec.com/news/local/shredded_checks_folo.htm

Taylor Document Management Company, based in Norfolk, shreds and stores 
thousands of pounds of paper each month. Confidentiality is key and the staff 
goes through intensive security checks and drug screening.
"Information today is very important to us," said document specialist Bill 
Valos. "It's bank account numbers, social security numbers, a lot more people 
trying to take advantage of other people. That's one of the things our 
clients are trying to protect themselves from."




International Herald Tribune 01/12/01
Leftist sides with Kohl in spy file government
The Interior Minister opposes using records against ex-chancellor
http://www.iht.com/articles/7304.html

by Roger Cohen
New York Times Service
Berlin -- Otto Schily, the German interior minister and a lawyer by training, 
has defended many people in his time, including members of the Red Army 
Faction revolutionary group. A doyen of the German left, he is not known for 
leaping to the defense of conservative rivals like former Chancellor Helmut 
Kohl. .So it was a surprise to find Mr. Schily spending much of an interview 
insisting on Mr. Kohl's "constitutional rights" even as he said Mr. Kohl had 
"violated the constitution" by accepting anonymous contributions to his 
Christian Democratic party while in office. .The events that led to this 
unlikely defense of a political opponent give it a typically German twist. 
.As chancellor from 1982 to 1998, Mr. Kohl accepted millions of dollars for 
his party without, as the law requires, naming the donors. At the same time, 
he was under surveillance by the East German security services, or Stasi. 




Croatia Today 01/12/01
Croatia freezes Tudjman Archives for 30 years
http://www.centraleurope.com/croatiatoday/news.php3?id=253320

by Reuters
ZAGREB, Jan 12, 2001 -- (Reuters) Croatia has decided to freeze for 30 years 
the archives containing tapes and transcripts of conversations between late 
President Franjo Tudjman and other state officials, the Vecernji List daily 
reported on Friday.
The report said the reformist coalition government, which took over from 
Tudjman's nationalists a year ago, had decided on Thursday that the material 
-- parts of which have already been leaked to the media -- should be kept in 
a safe at the national archive until 2031.





The Wichita Eagle 01/13/01
DA, public interest clash over records
http://web.wichitaeagle.com/content/wichitaeagle/2001/01/13/crimecourts/seal01

13_txt.htm

by Ron Sylvester
Authorities stirred mixed reactions when they sealed virtually every drop of 
information related to two quadruple homicides that shook Wichita shortly 
before Christmas. 
Some residents aren't bothered by court-ordered seals. 
"Nobody wants these guys to get off, if they're guilty," said east Wichita 
resident Phil Murray. "If sealing the information can do that, I'm for it." 
Others wonder if authorities are hampering their investigation by shutting 
out the public -- and whether all the secrecy is in the best interest of the 
community. 
"The more people know what's going on, the more people can work together and 
look out for each other," said June Bailey, who lives in west Wichita. 




San Antonio Express-News 01/12/01
City reinforces records battle
http://www.hearstnp.com/san_antonio/bea/news/stories/san/storypage.cfm?xla=sae

n&xlb=180&xlc=164956&xld=180

by Adolfo Pesquera
Having lost the first appeal in the city's effort to withhold Police 
Department "use-of-force" reports from the public, the city attorney this 
week received City Council approval to hire a legal expert to evaluate the 
city's chances of winning an appeal in the Texas Supreme Court. 
The council's decision Thursday was a formality because the firm of Wallace 
Jefferson has been active on the suit for weeks. 
The San Antonio Express-News sued two years ago in defense of the public's 
right to access government administrative records. 



St. Louis Post-Dispatch 01/12/01
Group wants court to oversee Clinton e-mail transfer to archives
http://www.postnet.com/postnet/News/wires.nsf/National/7DDDC241A4009190862569D

20074A53F?OpenDocument

by Greg Toppo
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A conservative legal group that has fought for access to 
thousands of lost Clinton administration e-mails wants a judge to oversee the 
transfer of the restored files to the National Archives after Clinton leaves 
office.
Judicial Watch has dogged Clinton with lawsuits throughout his two terms, 
most recently taking the administration to court to force production of the 
e-mails. The group on Friday asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to 
appoint a special master to oversee the transfer of the records to the 
archives.


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

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