A Look at Part of Johnsburg’s Freedom of Information Fight with Maggie Haney
The Village of Johnsburg posted a press release attacking Mary Haney and her husband for the cost of replying to Freedom of Information requests. It showed up a day after Haney, running for Village...
View ArticleCitizens/Media Can Get Public Officials’ Arrest Records
The bunny slope is right in front of where one may eat at Galena’s Chestnut Mountain. Our family went to Galena mid-week and, besides seeing skiers on Spring Break for the first time at Chestnut Ridge,...
View ArticleSuit Seeking to Force Keith Nygren to Follow Attorney General’s FOIA...
Pete Gonigam is seen here with Yvonne Barnes. First Electric Newspaper Editor Pete Gonigam filed a Freedom of Information request with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department seeking documents about...
View ArticleReply to Freedom of Information Request for Authorization to Use Sheriff’s...
Ten days ago, I filed a Freedom of Information request with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department asking the following question: “Under the FOIA I request all documents that authorize Andy Zinke to...
View ArticleMcHenry County College Refuses to Tell How Many Social Security Numbers Were...
A while ago, I filed a Freedom of Information request with McHenry County College with regard to the security breach by software vendor Ellucian. Among other things, I asked for documents that would...
View ArticleClosing In on the Number Involved in McHenry County College Security Security...
As you might imagine, when I learned that McHenry County College software vendor Ellucian had sent Social Security numbers and other personal information to three junior colleges which MCC refused to...
View ArticleJudge Meyer Rules Nygren & Leist Get Attorney for Zinke DEA Investigation...
The masthead of the First Electric Newspaper Judge Thomas Meyer ruled Friday morning that McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren and his legal affairs officer Don Leist will have an appointed attorney to...
View ArticleBianchi to Represent Nygren in Zinke Exoneration Freedom of Information Case
Lou Bianchi Keith Nygren That was my takeaway from the hearing in Judge Thomas Meyer’s courtroom today. To put it in terms contained in the law book and an Illinois Supreme Court ruling, the lawyer for...
View ArticleSheriff Has No Policy about Who Can Fill Up at County Expense
There have been reports that vehicle appearing not to be owned by McHenry County have been filling their tanks at the Sheriff’s Department filling station. I decided to ask if there were any policy...
View ArticleNo Rule Against Fixing Private Vehicles in McHenry County Sheriff’s Garage
Gus Philpott published this picture of a new sign in front of the Sheriff’s Department’s garage on his Woodstock Advocate. Over the years there have been reports of private cars having their oil...
View ArticleNunda Township Road Commissioner Hiding Audit of Senior Bus Services
McHenry County Auditor Pam Palmer conducted an audit of the grant to the Nunda Township Road Commissioner for Senior Bus Service. Since County government was responsible for awarding the money, it...
View ArticleChicago Police Department Reticent to Provide Misbehaving Officer’s Photo
Jennifer Martin, who lost her job as a Chicago Police Officer because she ran license plates for a friend. When the neighbor across the way from the castle in Fox River Grove got irritated by people...
View ArticleAlthoff Comments on FOIA Modification Bill She Sponsored
From State Senator Pam Althoff: In response to recent e-mails and phone calls I have received regarding my yes vote on House Bill 3796, I would like to explain why this legislation, will in fact,...
View ArticleZinke Exoneration Summary Reported by First Electric Newspaper
Andy Zinke The First Electric Newspaper’s Editor, Pete Gonigam, got half a loaf in response to this Freedom of Information request and suit yesterday. Gonigam sought a report prepared by Donald Leist...
View ArticleFirst Electric Newspaper Awarded $5,000 for Sheriff Keith Nygren’s FOIA...
As I pointed out earlier, First Electric Newspaper’s Pete Gonigam’s article of Judge Thomas Meyer’s ruling in his Freedom of Information Suit against Keith Nygren’s Sheriff’s Office is a must read....
View ArticleGoverntment-Financed Non-Profits Should Be Subject to FOIA
Where was the Chicago Sun-Times in the 1970’s when I introduced a bill to require that all not-for-profit corporations which obtained a majority of its funding from government be subject to the Freedom...
View ArticlePayment for Zinke FOI Case Near
Andy Zinke When former Sheriff Keith Nygren refused to release his report exonerating his Undersheriff Andy Zinke in his dealings with an executive of Rita Corporation, First Electric Newspaper...
View ArticleZielinski on FOIA
A press release from Grafton Township Assessor Al Zielinski: Grafton Township Assessor Laments a Return to Acrimony. Al Zielinski HUNTLEY, IL (August 21, 2015) – “Maybe there’s something in the water...
View ArticleTransparency – Following the Money
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an article yesterday that took three years to write. It was about how UNO, the charter school outfit backed by House Speaker Mike Madigan, spent money provided by governments....
View Article“Sunshine Activist” Cal Skinner
Back in 2007, less than two years after McHenry County Blog was founded, State Sunshine and Open Records interviewed me on my experiences with the Freedom of Information Act. With Jack Franks’ Freedom...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....