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RAIN 10/22: Weekend Update Part 4



There are 9 stories in this posting.

Maine Today 10/21/01
Missing cash suggests towns need to change
http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/011021town_the.shtml

by Andy Kekacs
An audit report showing that Manchester is missing more than $212,000 in tax receipts from 1998 to 2000 is the latest in a string of alleged misappropriation of money in municipalities in central Maine.
The problems suggest that the casual way of doing business in most Maine towns has to change.
Some of the amounts are minuscule.
In Fairfield, for example, former Police Chief Jean F. Pouliot took early retirement in 1999 after an investigation found he used a town credit card to buy such things as blue jeans, a clock radio, candy and cologne.



The Intelligencer 10/21/01
Groups aim to preserve the past with pictures
http://www.phillyburbs.com/intelligencerrecord/article1.asp?F_num=1335258

by Brian Callaway
QUAKERTOWN - The north side of West Broad Street used to look just like the south side - old brick buildings with Mom & Pop stores instead of the Quaker Village Shopping Plaza.
The Enchanted Expressions tattoo parlor at Broad and Main streets used to be a stop on The Tripper, the local trolley system that ran throughout the borough and out to Richlandtown.
And Park Avenue, now a residential enclave and home of the Quakertown High and Elementary schools, once lived up to its name. Lulu Park sat there, complete with a half-mile harness racing track and picnic area, from the end of the 19th century until the late 1930s.
With memories of those days fading, all that's left of many of these parts of the borough's history are pictures.



Bristol Press 10/21/01
City man keeps history of WTC construction
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2528134&BRD=1643&PAG=461&dept_id=10486&rfi=6

by Olivia L. Lawrence
BRISTOL -- Tom Hennessy, the keying system engineer who set up the first security system for the World Trade Center, has closely followed and documented its destiny over the last 30 years.
His archives present a stunning story of the World Trade Center construction and reveal how businesses like Emhart Corporation in New Britain -- often referred to as Corbin Key -- and Otis Elevator pushed the limits of technology when they snagged contracts on the project around 1970.
Area businesses were heavily involved with meeting the innovative needs of the record-breaking high-rise, Hennessy said. He still has charts of the internal workings of the towers' keying system he authored in consultation with New York's Port Authority security chief.



Columbus Dispatch 10/21/01
Hunting Valley, Ohio: Browns owner wants house plans kept secret
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/news/news01/oct01/902185.html

AP
HUNTING VALLEY, Ohio (AP) -- Cleveland Browns owner Al Lerner and the upscale community where he is building a home are trying to keep floor plans and security details secret.
The village has asked state Rep. Jim Trakas, R-Independence, to introduce a bill to keep architectural plans filed with building authorities from public view. Trakas has asked for a bill draft.
The village turned down a public-records request last month from The Plain Dealer of Cleveland for documents related to a 24-acre site where Lerner and his wife, Norma, are building a home.


Seattle Times 10/21/01
Personal Technology: What's that saying? Google can tell you
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134356677_ptgoogle21.html

by  James Coates
Chicago Tribune
A group of my co-workers got into an argument the other day over how to add a particular cliché to an article that one of them was writing. The question was this: Does one say "She went the whole nine yards" or "She went the last nine yards" when describing somebody who gave all they had to succeed at something?
After my colleagues' debate about which of those two phrases was correct bogged down, somebody said, "Let's ask Coates. Nobody uses more clichés than Coates does."



Seattle Times 10/21/01
Journalist teamwork finds public records aren't always public
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134356922_fancher21.html

by Mike Fancher
Few cities have competing daily newspapers these days, but press rivalry for exclusive stories is still intense. Every journalist loves a "scoop."
Despite that, 25 newspapers in the state teamed up with The Associated Press to produce "Washington: Your Right to Know," a public-service project that any one of them would be proud to call its own. The Seattle Times is publishing the stories, photos and graphics today through Tuesday.
The Times is especially privileged to print the series because we were unable to contribute to reporting it. The project was launched earlier this year, when we were still getting back to work after the newspaper strike.



Seattle Times 10/21/01
Some agencies charging more for documents than law allows
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134356867_rightcosts21m.html

by Kelly Kearsley
The Tacoma News Tribune
Local government agencies have put a price on public information - and it's not always cheap.
A statewide public-records audit by 25 newspapers and The Associated Press discovered that while most agencies don't charge anything for their records, some are making people pay much more than state law allows.
State law says agencies may charge for actual copying costs, an amount that should not exceed 15 cents per page. It also says people should not have to pay to inspect a record or to have someone find it for them.



Seattle Times 10/21/01
Your right to know: Public-record law often disregarded
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134356933_rightmain21m0.html

by Paula Lavigne Sullivan
The Tacoma News Tribune
When a woman entered the Grant County Sheriff's Department and asked for a list of registered sex offenders, a sergeant refused.
"I have no control over how it will be used," the sergeant said, giving an excuse that has no basis in law.
Either through ignorance or intent, the sergeant broke the law by refusing to release a document that the state's public-records disclosure law says should be available to anyone.
He was not alone.



The Vancouver Canadian 10/21/01
Access an issue for everyday citizens
http://www.openwashington.com/why.html

by Howard Buck
Lora Caine knows why citizens care about access to government records.
The self-taught activist, who lives on the suburban-rural divide of fast-growing Clark County, joined her neighbors in battling a proposed amphitheater that could lure 18,000 people to concerts, choking narrow roads and shattering tranquil evenings.
"If you have more information, you'll be able to ask the right questions, know what you're looking for, without acting the fool," Caine said.



Washington Post 10/21/01
OpEd: How adoption in America grew secret
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24915-2001Oct20.html

by Elizabeth J. Samuels
They've become a standard of news features, magazine articles and movie plots: thestories of men and women, adopted at birth, who decide to seek out their biological parents. The urge for reunion seems so elemental that a plethora of organizations has sprung up to assist adoptees in their search. Today, the Internet is replete with Web sites offering registries to help adoptees and their birth families find each other by matching up information such as dates and places of birth.
But many adoptees "in search" are not able to find information through these organizations or official state registry systems. Their only hope is access to original records, such as their unamended birth certificates. And this, unfortunately, is a source of information that remains largely closed to them, even though, as studies now show, most birth parents are open to being found.



Washington Post 10/19/01
Smithsonian gets Ivory Soap Archive
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18713-2001Oct18.html

by Jacqueline Trescott
This should clean up the Smithsonian.
The makers of Ivory Soap, one of the most recognized household products in America, are donating an extensive advertising collection to the Smithsonian Institution. The gifts coincide with the 120th anniversary of Ivory promotions by Procter and Gamble.
The collection is a bonanza for the Smithsonian because Ivory Soap is a product ingrained in the American consciousness, selling 40 billion bars since its introduction. It has been advertised with the instantly recognizable slogans "99 44/100% Pure" and "It Floats." As a cultural record, the advertising follows the history of plugs and jingles through magazines, radio and television. What's more, the artifacts have been carefully preserved by the company, which isn't always the case with corporate artifacts.



Manila Bulletin 10/21/01
Editorial: National Archives Day
http://www.mb.com.ph/OPED/2001-10/OE102106.asp

''TO foretell the future of the Filipino people,'' Dr. Jose P. Rizal wrote in his essay The Philippines A Century Hence, ''it is necessary to study their past.'' That past has been recorded in millions of historical documents, records, reports, books, etc., found today in our many archives.


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