By CHRISTINE HEINRICHS
Mute Swans retain a mythic grip on people, touching the hearts of those who glimpse these graceful white birds gliding across a misty lake. Yet many now regard Mute Swans as unwanted invaders that trash fragile wetland and aquatic habitat and chase out other birds.
This dichotomy confounds wetlands managers, who want at least to control growing populations of Mute Swans, if not eliminate them entirely.
SEJ President Christy George relays her experience of federal agency access shutdown and how SEJ works to reverse the trend.
The good news: government for the first time is centralizing data about contractors at all federal agencies who were terminated, disbarred or suspended from a federal contract or grant. The bad news: taxpayers (and investigative reporters!) are not allowed to see it.
In the face of public outrage (and press coverage), the legislature partially backed down — but kept a requirement that the law clinic report to the legislature on whom it represented.
A bill to protect journalists and citizens against "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" suits has been introduced in Congress but is unlikely to go far unless more members get behind it.
