Happy Sunshine Week from the Sunshine State!

“Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public's right to know,” according to the Sunshine Week Web site.

So, here’s a little taste of sunshine while we prepare, like many other publications, some pieces on the importance open government:

• WARNING! Low Visibility Conditions: Reportedly, 200,000 public records requests remain unanswered and some of them are 15-years old!
• Partly Sunny: Meanwhile, a FOIA upgrade has been proposed by Sens. Leahy (D - Vt.) and Cornyn (R - Texas) which targets so-called (b)(3) exemptions.
• Partly Cloudy: And all over the nation, public officials are learning that their text messages from official phones and e-mail from government accounts are a matter of public record.

More news after the jump.