"AUSTIN, Texas — The state has removed aerial-surveillance photos taken during severe floods from a public website. The decision comes after the El Paso Times earlier this month published a story with dozens of such photos showing apparent oil spills in different river systems over the past few years."
Jim Holzer, head of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), a post often called the FOIA Ombudsman, has decided to step down after less than a year on the job. Some Freedom of Information Act advocates are seeing this as a discouraging sign.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is not winning many awards for openness. A House subcommittee recently took up the complaint that Interior's Office of the Solicitor would not even honor the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ombudsman's office with a response to repeated letters.
"The nearly 88,000 acres were meant to be a gift, donated along with a $40 million endowment so that part of Maine’s pristine North Woods might be protected forever as a national park. But it’s not easy to give away a national park; Roxanne Quimby, the wealthy, polarizing co-founder of Burt’s Bees, has been trying for more than a decade. Her effort has bitterly divided this corner of New England, where shuttered paper mills have led to crippling unemployment and a shrinking population, and where distrust of the federal government runs as deep as the rivers and streams."
"The Senate voted on Tuesday to advance $1.1 billion in emergency financing to combat the mosquito-borne Zika virus — less than the $1.9 billion requested by the White House, and setting up a confrontation with House Republicans who have put forward a plan with just $622 million reallocated from other programs."
"After more than three months of fighting between the White House and Congress over emergency funding to combat the Zika virus, the Senate appears poised Tuesday to approve $1.1 billion for prevention and treatment programs to combat the mosquito-borne illness."
"U.S. EPA officials began discussing worrisome water quality test results found in Flint, Mich., in early 2015, according to emails released by the agency."
"Top Senate negotiators announced agreement Thursday on a $1.1 billion emergency funding measure to battle the Zika virus. That’s less than President Barack Obama’s $1.9 billion request, which has upset some senior Democrats."
"U.N. diplomats say Norway's former environment and development minister Erik Solheim has been chosen by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to head the U.N. environment agency."
Many local and state agencies, set up under a 1986 federal law to inform the public, are a great resource for stories at the local, state, and even national level. Some don't — often based on a fear that terrorists could use the information to harm people. Here's how to find yours.
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