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Independence Day Weekend brought to you by these lobbyists and political associations

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Whether itā€™s at the ballpark or the beach, setting off fireworks or firing up the grill, Floridians will celebrate the July 4th holiday in style. The National Retail Federation predicts Americans will spend $71.34 per household on average on food for barbecues. The organization ā€”Ā which has conducted its annual Independence Day survey since 2003 ā€”Ā estimates 65 percent of Americans plan to attend a cookout, barbecue or picnic this holiday weekend. Hosting the barbecue this weekend? Then you better stock up…

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‘War on public records,’ warns top scribe Carol Marbin Miller

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There is a war on against Florida’s open records law and the press and public are losing, investigative reporter Carol Marbin MillerĀ warned newspaper journalistsĀ Friday. Marbin Miller, a senior investigative reporter at the Miami Herald and former investigative reporter at the St. Petersburg Times, called for action at the annual awards luncheon of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors meeting at the Westin Hotel in Lake Mary. She warned the Florida Legislature is brazenly passing far too many exemptions; and government…

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Pam Bondi’s office can’t resolve Twitter public record question

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A list of everyone who has blocked, or been blocked by, anĀ elected official on Twitter might be a public record, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s office. Then again, maybe not. “The question presented …Ā involves mixed questions of law and fact that this office cannot resolve,” said an informal Attorney General’s advisory opinion issued last week. The opinion was requested by Gainesville City AttorneyĀ Nicolle Shalley. She wanted to know “whether a list or record of accounts which have been blocked…

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Pam Bondi goes to Nevada

Drawing on lessons learned after a nightclub massacre last year in Orlando, Attorney General Pam Bondi and members of her

Wilton Simpson urges contractors to study updated public records law

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Make sure you understand the law. Thatā€™s the message Sen. Wilton Simpson sent to the business community Monday. In a memo to business leaders, the Trilby Republican said businesses that have contracts with local or state government ā€œneed to understand the change that was made to the public records law.ā€ Under a new law signed by Gov. Rick Scott in March, a person seeking records dealing with contract services can no longer make the request directly of the contractor. Instead,…

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Florida Supreme Court: Board must pay in public records case

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Florida government agencies that lose lawsuits filed by people seeking access to public records will have to pay plaintiffs’ attorney fees, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a Jacksonville-based case. And it doesn’t matter if the agency didn’t know it was breaking Florida’s public records laws when it denied or limited access to records, the court ruled. “This is really important,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the open government watchdog group First Amendment Foundation. “It’s not a penalty. They…

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Obtaining police emails can take months, cost thousands

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When the editor of a gay-oriented newspaper in Florida requested records that he thought should be public, he cast a wide net, asking that the email of every employee of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office be searched for specific gay slurs over a five-month period. The sheriff’s office initially told Jason Parsley that his request would cost $399,000, take four years and require the hiring of a dedicated staffer. The response set off a public-records marathon that lasted nearly a…

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Jack Latvala bill to shield law enforcement info advances in Florida Senate Committee

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Clearwater GOPĀ state Sen.Ā Jack Latvala’s expansive and controversial bill that would exempt the employment history of police officers from public records disclosure sailed through the Senate Criminal Justice Committee this afternoon. Latvia said the legislation isĀ needed after he learned thatĀ a Clearwater man who requested an employment application of a Clearwater police officer was able to unearth information about the officer that hadn’t been redacted. “It brought to mind that there are some other pieces of information that could be used to…

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