The Missouri Sunshine Coalition will celebrate national Sunshine Week by hosting a public forum on March 15 to educate citizens on how they can hold government officials accountable.
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Missouri Sunshine Day
March 15, 5-6:30 p.m. at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, Columbia
5 p.m.
Welcome and presentation to Sunshine Heroes: Jim Robertson, president, Missouri Sunshine Coalition
5:20 p.m.
Fundamentals of Missouri’s Open Meetings and Records law
Presenter: Jonathan Groves
5:50 p.m.
Resources for open records
Presenter: David Herzog
6:10 p.m.
Public records and campaign disclosure
Julie Allen, Missouri Ethics Commission
6:30 p.m.
A review of selected case studies
Presenter: Jean Maneke
7:00 p.m.
Adjourn
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Complete news release below.
FROM: Missouri Press Flash News! Service
TO: News Desk
Note: This Flash News! item is being distributed by Missouri Press Service. MPS is not the source of the news. If you need further information or verification, contact the person listed in the news release.
Missouri Sunshine Coalition
802 Locust Street
Columbia, MO 65201
Phone 573-449-4167
www.missourisunshine.org
Feb. 29, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact MSC President Jim Robertson, 573-815-1707
Coalition to name ‘Sunshine Heroes,’ host government transparency forum in Columbia
The Missouri Sunshine Coalition will celebrate national Sunshine Week by hosting a public forum to educate citizens on how they can hold government officials accountable.
A refresher on the Missouri Sunshine Law and state ethics rules could not come at a better time, with election year politics in full swing and the good-government landscape clouded by the recent Missouri Supreme Court decision to strike down a 2010 ethics law.
Meanwhile, the coalition will recognize Galina and Mitchell Davis as Sunshine Heroes. Mitchell Davis is a chiropractic doctor in St. Louis, and Galina Davis serves as his assistant. They successfully challenged a St. Louis Police Department policy that charged around $6 to view a daily accident report. Their lawsuit led to a court ruling last year that said the public has a right to inspect accident reports at no cost.
Please see the attached agenda for details about the event. The basics are:
WHAT: Missouri Sunshine Coalition "Sunshine Week" forum
WHEN: Thursday March 15, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, 499 S. Ninth St., on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Missouri Sunshine Coalition: The coalition is a nonprofit founded in 2009 to advocate for openness and transparency in government at all levels. The coalition is part of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. More information is available at (http://missourisunshine.org/index.html)
Sunshine Week: Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know. The American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sponsor the event. More information is available at http://www.sunshineweek.org/Home.aspx
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