Sunshine Week
We are featuring amazing examples of investigative journalism by our news media members that demonstrate the ideals of Sunshine Week in action!Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.
This year’s efforts are coordinated by Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project, Muckrock, Society of Professional Journalists, the Radio Television Digital News Association and a growing list of partners.
Sunshine Week is about the public’s right to know what its government is doing, and why.
Recent investigative and transparency reporting from MDDC members
During Sunshine Week, MDDC will feature important investigative pieces that show the power of local reporting and transparency in our communities. Please tag your own work with #SunshineWeek2024 to be part of the conversation.
- Management tries to solve problems at Altair Apartments, but is it enough? – Maggie Trovato – The Democrat Star
In August, everything came to a head at Altair Apartments. - Delaware’s Untold Role in the Opiod Crisis – Hannah Edelman – Delaware Online
- The opioid addiction crisis: How it started, who’s involved and what else you need to know
Opioids: In the last 20 years, they’ve spread through every corner of the country. - From patent to Percocet: How this powerful opioid got its start in Delaware
There are nearly 60 of them, added one by one to a file in her phone’s notes app. - How this Delaware woman made her fortune off opioids
They hosted the ribbon-cutting ceremony on a cloudy Thursday in October. - Timeline: How Percocet got its start in Delaware
Endo Pharmaceuticals and its flagship drug Percocet have played a major role in the deadly opioid epidemic.
- The opioid addiction crisis: How it started, who’s involved and what else you need to know
- Investigation: Where do inmates in Maryland prisons go as they finish their time? – Dwight A. Weingarten – The Herald-Mail Media
The Maryland department that oversees the state’s 13 correctional facilities showcases “local reentry agreements” with nearly half the state’s counties, but an investigation into those memorandums show the overwhelming majority of state prisoners are staying put. - Recycling costs are mounting on Eastern Shore. Here’s how counties are handling it – Kristian Jaime – Delmarva Now
The mounting stress of plastic pollution, costs and other challenges have led Maryland Counties to double down on recycling programs as new laws could come to their aid. - 25 years after ‘shaken baby’ conviction, Baltimore County man once again tries to prove his innocence– Madeleine O’Neill – The Daily Record
He’s already convinced one court that he is not guilty of the charges - Westminster nonprofit discontinues youth programs after founder is investigated for alleged sexual solicitation of minor – Thomas Goodwin Smith – The Baltimore Sun
The Westminster-based nonprofit Together We Own It has terminated all youth programs and begun laying off staff as of April 6, after Carroll County Public Schools, the county commissioners and the county’s Department of Citizen Services canceled contracts with the group late last month. - Market House lease extension raises questions for project’s developer, Annapolis mayor – Rebecca Ritzel – Capital Gazette
Market House, a city-owned downtown Annapolis landmark, has been leased for another five years by a team that includes Mayor Gavin Buckley’s business partner. - Maryland State Police Disciplinary Action – Darcy Costello – The Baltimore Sun
- A Maryland trooper shared an offensive meme a week after police killed George Floyd. His punishment: retiring 3 years later.
On a Tuesday night in June 2020, a corporal in the Maryland State Police texted a meme to members of the task force he helped supervise. - Maryland State Police fired a Trooper of the Year over a ‘false report.’ He says investigators lied under oath.
When Maryland State Police honored Kashef Khan as its Trooper of the Year for performance “above and beyond” expectations, it called his work an example of the “highest standards” in law enforcement.
- A Maryland trooper shared an offensive meme a week after police killed George Floyd. His punishment: retiring 3 years later.
- How many MCPS families want to remove their students from LGBTQ+ class discussions? – Em Espey – McCo360
The volume of Montgomery County families asking to opt their elementary students out of classroom discussions on LGBTQ+ inclusive content became too overwhelming for schools to manage, the district alleged in legal documents. - Exclusive: BGE is quietly pushing to control Baltimore’s underground conduit system – Mark Reutter & Fern Shen – Baltimore Brew
- EXCLUSIVE: BGE is quietly pushing to control Baltimore’s underground conduit system – Mark Reutter
Baltimore Gas & Electric is working with the Scott administration to find a way to circumvent voters’ wishes and take control of the publicly owned conduit system. - DOCUMENTS: Charter amendment blocking sale of Baltimore’s conduits, and BGE’s proposal to end its franchise fees to the city – Mark Reutter Friday, January 13, Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) sent to city officials a draft document that would upend 120 years of governance of Baltimore’s cable system that routes electric, fiber-optic and telephone lines under city streets.
- Scott confirms talks with BGE amid more criticism of his conduit plan – Mark Reutter
Mayor Brandon Scott has confirmed that his administration is “in discussions” with BGE as a second former Baltimore mayor condemned the plan to transfer financial control of the city’s underground conduit system to the electric company. - EXCLUSIVE: Staff report says BGE conduit deal is not in city’s best interests – Mark Reutter
Calling the proposed agreement with BGE “completely lopsided in all aspects,” the Baltimore conduit division has quietly written a scathing response to Mayor Brandon Scott’s plan to end the franchise fees paid by the utility in favor of promised investments in the underground system. - BGE offers more money to clinch conduit deal as City Council announces a hearing.– Mark Reutter
BGE has upped the ante in its bid to win functional control of Baltimore’s conduit system – a 700-mile underground transmission system that voters said three months ago should remain in public hands. - Scott administration releases conduit agreement reached with BGE – Mark Reutter & Fern Shen
A day after the City Council formed an investigative committee to review the deal that the Scott administration is negotiating with BGE over management of the city’s underground conduits, Mayor Brandon Scott released what he describes as “the next iteration” of the agreement. - Conduit deal with BGE decried by lawmakers and questioned by Comcast and other users. – Mark Reutter & Fern Shen
A dozen users of Baltimore’s conduit system are asking that Mayor Brandon Scott respond to their concerns before signing a deal that would turn over future conduit improvements to Baltimore Gas & Electric. - Robocalls and texts of unclear origin are the latest feature of Baltimore’s conduit fight – Fern Shen & Mark Reutter
The seemingly obscure issue of who should control Baltimore’s underground conduits has moved from in-your-face factional fighting at City Hall to a burst of anonymous phone calls and texts reaching across the city. - Documents show Scott administration backed away from demanding minority participation and oversight of BGE conduit funds – Mark Reutter
Minority and women’s business participation goals for tens of millions of dollars in future contracts: Not applicable. - Once impassioned, the battle over the BGE conduit deal peters out amid peals of laughter – Mark Reutter
There it was back on the agenda . . . the issue that had sparked open City Hall warfare between Mayor Brandon Scott on one side and City Council President Nick Mosby and Comptroller Bill Henry on the other: - BGE’s conduit financing memo should be made public, the PSC says – Fern Shen
An internal memo related to the conduit deal that Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) struck with Mayor Brandon Scott earlier this year must be made public, Maryland regulators have ruled.
- EXCLUSIVE: BGE is quietly pushing to control Baltimore’s underground conduit system – Mark Reutter
- Court docs: From sex trade to boosting, couple made hundreds of thousands – Melissa Steele – Cape Gazette
For more than nine years, federal officials say, a couple with access to homes in the greater Lewes and Rehoboth areas used those properties to run a lucrative sex trafficking operation in Sussex County and into Maryland. And when their main social media advertising source was shut down, investigators say the two developed a theft ring that brought in even more cash. - Former Allora employees allege delayed, short paychecks amid restaurant group’s growth – Morgan Simpson & Phil Davis – Baltimore Business Journal
The restaurant group behind Allora has announced several high-profile expansions in recent months, including into the new City House Charles development in Mount Vernon and in the Alexander Brown building downtown. - Heart disease: Black Baltimore’s number one killer – Megan Sayles – AFRO News
In the United States, the scourge of coronary heart disease (CHD) devours a staggering $108 billion in annual health care costs, according to a recent Deloitte analysis. - More Than a Year Later, Friends of Library Chapters Having Trouble Turning the Page– Suzanne Pollak
Silver Spring Friends of the Library (FOL) voted to dissolve two months ago and currently is in the process of doing so. - Contracted out: How Maryland school districts do business – Local News Network Staff – Capital News Service
Maryland’s school districts are required by law to tell the state how they spend their money — and the Local News Network at the University of Maryland took a close look at that data. The records include every business or individual contractor that got $25,000 or more from a school district in a single fiscal year. - Gambling on Campus – Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism Staff – Capital News Service
As states legalize sports betting, universities weigh risks to students, rewards for athletic department budgets - New investigation shows few campuses have rules restricting sports betting. – Ross O’Keefe
College students are in the highest risk group for problem gambling, yet universities have been slow to create policies, educational programs or restrictions on sports betting, according to a survey by The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland. - Colleges’ betting agreements are often hidden from the public. – Shane Connuck & Blake Townsend
College campuses increasingly are striking deals with sports betting companies eager to promote their brands in stadiums, on radio broadcasts and on athletic department websites — places where they can be seen and heard by students. But the terms of those agreements are opaque despite the high-dollar and societal stakes. - At University of Colorado, a betting playbook aims its pitch at students – Josh Caplan & Shane Connuck
PointsBet, a Denver-based sports betting company that is a corporate sponsor of the University of Colorado Boulder’s athletics program, says it is pitching its brand to alums in Colorado and other states where fans are old enough to bet legally. - Towson University is trying to get ahead of the lure of sports betting – Julian Esau Basena & Derek Ohringer
When Towson University students pick up their phones on campus and open a designated app, they may see an ad seeking to teach them about responsible gambling. - On game day, sports betting is the new normal for some Colorado fans
- Moore appointee to Stadium Authority board has troubled financial past – William F. Zorzi – Maryland Matters
One of Gov. Wes Moore’s appointees to the board of the Maryland Stadium Authority – an agency charged with overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars in projects and leases – has a troubled 35-year financial history that includes a $7.2 million personal bankruptcy and scores of lawsuits filed against her for unpaid debts, records show. - Tax sale nightmare: How an unpaid bill can cost Baltimore homeowners thousands, or even their homes – Nick Thieme & Sophie Kasakove – The Baltimore Banner
Arnita Owens-Phillips had always promised herself one thing: She would hold onto her simple brick rowhome in East Baltimore. - 6 key takeaways from The Baltimore Banner’s tax sale investigation – Sophie Kasakove & Nick Thieme – The Baltimore Banner
In the city of Baltimore, the consequences of a missed property tax bill can ripple through families and communities. - How Baltimore property tax sales work: an illustrated guide – Laila Milevski – The Baltimore Banner
The city mails Roger his property tax bill on July 1. - How to protect your home from a tax sale – Sophie Kasakove & Nick Thieme – The Baltimore Banner
In Baltimore City, one missed property tax bill can quickly land a home in a tax sale, forcing homeowners, often low-income and elderly, to come up with thousands of dollars to pay off third-party lienholders or face the loss of their homes. - How a small group of investors turned distressed Baltimore neighborhoods into profit centers – Sophie Kasakove & Nick Thieme – The Baltimore Banner.
Homeowners across Baltimore are scrambling to respond to a threatening letter they received last month: If they don’t pay their past-due property taxes, the letters said, their tax debt could be sold at the city’s annual tax lien sale. - Delaware agencies paid out more than $3M in 3 years for injuries by police. Here’s why – Xerxes Wilson – Delaware Online
In the past three years, Delaware’s four largest police departments have quietly paid out more than $3.2 million in legal settlements to people who claimed physical harm by police, according to a review of agreements turned over through state public records law. - A Delaware Online investigation pieced together the series of missteps by 911 employees and Delaware State Police’s handling of the incident. – Isabel Hughes – Delaware News Journal
The call came in just as the school day was about to end. - He was cited for giving police the finger. Video shows troopers knew charge wouldn’t stand – Xerxes Wilson – Delaware News Journal
Dash camera footage shows Delaware State Police officers conspiring to manufacture a traffic charge for a man who flipped them off as well as the officers musing on video about locking the man up, impounding his dog and having the state take guardianship of his child. - State police paid to end middle-finger traffic ticket lawsuit. Were officers disciplined? – Xerxes Wilson – Delaware News Journal
The Delaware State Police officers who issued a ticket to a man who flipped them off were not disciplined by state police leadership for the citation that cost the department $50,000 in a court judgment earlier this year. - Delaware has a chance to step toward meaningful police reform. We must take it – A News Journal Editorial
For years now, since the start of our national conversation on social justice and racial equity, we have opined again and again on the need to speed police reforms in Delaware that will hold officers to greater account and compel our public safety community to greater transparency. - Lawmakers tried for years to increase Delaware police transparency. It’s finally been done – Isabel Hughes – Delaware News Journal
Two major police reform bills that passed the Delaware General Assembly in the final days of this year’s legislative session have been signed into law, culminating a years-long effort to make sweeping changes to police accountability and transparency statewide. - Nick Mosby violated city ethics law on gift solicitations – Mark Reutter – Baltimore Brew
The Baltimore Board of Ethics today ruled that Council President Nick Mosby violated ethics rules by accepting cash from “controlled donors” – persons doing business with the city – through the Mosby 2021 Trust, also known as the Mosby 2021 Defense Fund. - Baltimore Ethics Board: Don’t make a mockery of Maryland’s Public Information Act – David A. Plymyer – Baltimore Brew
A Baltimore City agency has once again denied the public access to information that it has the right to know. - Baltimore ordered to release Mosby legal defense fund donor names to The Brew – Fern Shen – Baltimore Brew
Responding to a complaint by The Brew, the Maryland Public Information Act Compliance Board has ordered Baltimore’s Board of Ethics to release the list of donors to a legal defense fund set up for City Council President Nick Mosby and his wife, former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. - Fighting the release of Mosby donor names is a bad look for the Scott administration – David Plymyer – Baltimore Brew
There is really only one takeaway from Acting City Solicitor Ebony Thompson’s statement that the city will appeal the decision by the Maryland Public Information Act Compliance Board ordering Baltimore’s Board of Ethics to turn over the unredacted list of donors to the Mosby 2021 Trust to the Baltimore Brew and Baltimore Sun. - Conflicts abound at an Ethics Board that relies on a political appointee for legal advice – Fern Shen & Mark Reutter – Baltimore Brew
Unprecedented is one way to describe the announcement by Baltimore’s top lawyer, Ebony Thompson, that she will fight a state order requiring the city’s Board of Ethics to release the names of donors to a legal defense fund set up for Nick Mosby, president of the City Council, and his wife, former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. - Acting City Solicitor has no authority to appeal a state order to release the Mosby donor names to media – David A. Plymyer – Baltimore Brew
Acting City Solicitor Ebony Thompson appears determined to create an unnecessary problem for herself. - Scott administration appeals state order to release Mosby legal defense fund donor names to the media– Fern Shen – Baltimore Brew
Baltimore’s Acting City Solicitor Ebony Thompson has made good on her vow to fight an order by the Maryland Public Information Act Compliance Board that the city release the names of the individuals who contributed to a legal defense fund for City Council President Nick Mosby and former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
2023: Access to Information from Public School Systems in MD, DE, and DC
Public education is in the news almost daily, and parents, teachers and even the system’s own administrators, are eager to learn more about what’s happening in their school systems. For 2023’s Sunshine Week, MDDC is offering a package of stories and graphics that examine what type of information the public school systems in D.C., and Maryland, and a sampling in Delaware, make available through their most public facing venue: their websites. It’s a mixed picture, as you might expect. Veteran reporter Miranda Spivack, working with MDDC board member Andy Schotz and MDDC administrator Sam Savage, evaluated 29 websites, to find out.
There will be a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 15, about the results of this project. The panelists will be moderated by Rebecca Snyder, Executive Director of MDDC The panel is free and open to the public. Register here.
2022: Implementing Anton’s Law in Maryland
With the passage of Anton’s Law in 2021, many details about internal police discipline could be released to the public. But so far, journalists, advocates and others seeking to find out more about how police agencies handle complaints about misconduct are learning that getting the records is proving to be, at best, a mixed experience.
2021: Agencies have patchwork approach to tracking public records requests
Led by Andy Schotz, editor of Bethesda Beat, and Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, MDDC’s public policy intern and UMD Merrill College of Journalism graduate student, MDDC conducted a one-month test of government agencies in Maryland. This project revealed a patchwork of approaches in how public records are tracked and how requests for access are filled.