Publication Items

Chambers Reinstated; Talking to Reporters No Longer a Federal Firing Offense? [1]

Teresa Chambers, who was fired by the Bush administration in 2004 for talking to the news media, has been reinstated by the Merit Systems Protection Board as chief of police for the National Park Service.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [3]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Chambers Reinstated; Talking to Reporters No Longer a Federal Firing Offense? [1]
Help Identify the Senator Whose "Secret Hold" Killed Whistleblower Bill [6]

Join open-government advocates (including journalists) in blowing the whistle on the anonymous senator who stopped the people's business in the final hours of the last Congress. Call senators, ask if they killed the bill, record your findings or track progress.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Help Identify the Senator Whose "Secret Hold" Killed Whistleblower Bill [6]
Sunlight Puts Up Cool New Lobbyist Registration Tracker [7]

Kudos to the Sunlight Foundation for taking lobbyist data to the next level. It's searchable by issue, by client, or by registrant. It is also highly current — being updated weekly.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Sunlight Puts Up Cool New Lobbyist Registration Tracker [7]
Obama Science Policy Legitimizes "Minders," PIO Interview Permissions [8]

Anonymous White House lawyers have blacked out all information about how the administration's science openness policy was arrived at, and are fighting in court against efforts to shed light on it.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [9]
Policy [10]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Obama Science Policy Legitimizes "Minders," PIO Interview Permissions [8]
Senate Passes Whistleblower Protection Bill; House Pending [11]

The bill (S 372) would beef up the weakened protections for federal whistleblowers against retaliation for revealing fraud, waste, and abuse.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Senate Passes Whistleblower Protection Bill; House Pending [11]
SLAPP Win: Court Awards Legal Fees to Filmmaker in Dole Case [12]

The makers of "Bananas!," which claimed that Dole's use of pesticides had caused harm to farm workers in Nicaragua, were awarded $200,000 in court costs and attorney fees.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [13]
Agriculture [14]
Activism [15]
Region:
South America [16]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about SLAPP Win: Court Awards Legal Fees to Filmmaker in Dole Case [12]
Groups Challenge Canada's Secrecy on Breeding Proposal for GM Salmon [17]

A coalition of some 60 environmental, fisheries, and consumer groups want to know whether the Canadian government is undertaking a risk assessment before allowing AquaBounty's genetically engineered eggs to be grown on Prince Edward Island.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [18]
Water & Oceans [19]
Technology [20]
Biodiversity [21]
Region:
Canada [22]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Groups Challenge Canada's Secrecy on Breeding Proposal for GM Salmon [17]
High Court Mulls Public's Right To Know of Threats to Its Safety [23]

In the case of Milner v. Navy, a Puget Sound resident and activist sought information that would identify the locations and potential blast ranges of explosive ordnance stored at Washington’s Naval Magazine Indian Island.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [24]
Military [25]
Government [4]
Disasters [26]
Activism [15]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about High Court Mulls Public's Right To Know of Threats to Its Safety [23]
Court OKs USDA Secrecy on Wolf Killings of Livestock [27]

The environmental groups' request for GPS information about where the introduced, protected Mexican grays had killed livestock was denied on grounds that data collected by Wildlife Service personnel visiting private ranch property is exempt from FOIA requests.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [18]
Government [4]
Biodiversity [21]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Court OKs USDA Secrecy on Wolf Killings of Livestock [27]
Earmark Database Now Covers Fiscal 2011 [28]

The downloadable, Zipped Excel spreadsheet, produced by Taxpayers for Common Sense, WashingtonWatch.com, and Taxpayers Against Earmarks, contains 39,294 requested earmarks, worth $130 billion.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Environmental Politics [29]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Earmark Database Now Covers Fiscal 2011 [28]

Pages