Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

It’s Sunshine Week all across the country from March 16-22, and that is not meant to be a week to think about the weather. Instead, it’s a time to think about citizen access to government information, because, as many wise observers have noted throughout our history, government in the open is likely to be better and more responsive government. With Federal and state Freedom of Information laws, we’re on the right road but, like Maine roads in the spring, there are still plenty of bumps in the pavement.

Some websites mentioned today:
– www.maine.gov – the web site of Maine state government

– www.usa.gov – gateway to many federal agencies and information

– public.resource.org – a site which has posted much government information that would otherwise be difficult for citizens to access
– libremap.org – a site that contains much map and geodata information purchased from the government and posted for anyone to use

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Producer/host: Jim Campbell

Cell phones are everywhere, and are becoming powerful enough to let people carry their “digital lives” in their pockets. Some are beginning to wonder if that’s such a great idea, especially if a person gets stopped for running a stop sign or not wearing a seat belt and gets arrested. At that point, all your personal information may be the police officer’s as well as your own.
Seems we live in a digital world with laws that were made for a physical world, and the consequences can be unsettling.

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