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Feds Put Data on Contractor Misdeeds Off-Limits to Public

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.

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Maryland Legislature Threatens Law Clinic For Defending Chesapeake Bay

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.

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New Move Afoot To Let Taxpayers Read CRS Reports They Pay For

A proposed bill would give the public better access to information about members' personal financial information, travel and gift reports, funding earmarks, committee work and reports, recorded floor votes, lobbyist registration and disclosure, and political contributions.

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"Postal Service as Giant Battery? A Plan for Cashing In"

"By trading oil for batteries, the struggling U.S. Postal Service could transform its fleet vehicles into overnight moneymakers that deliver much more than the daily mail. The cash-strapped agency has the potential to earn millions by storing and stabilizing some of the nation’s grid energy in mail trucks during off-peak hours."

Source: SolveClimate, 04/07/2010

MD: "Easing of Storm-Water Pollution Rules Approved"

"An O'Malley administration proposal to ease Maryland's stringent new storm-water pollution rules won legislative approval [Monday] night, capping a fierce debate over whether the Chesapeake Bay would suffer from giving developers more time and leeway in having to clamp down on rainfall washing off their building projects."

Source: Baltimore Sun, 04/07/2010

"Lyondell Leaves Kalamazoo Poisoned as Bankruptcies Mar Cleanups"

"Environmentalist Jeff Spoelstra says an 80-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River that runs through toxin-laced land in southwestern Michigan was on its way to becoming safe again. ...Then, in January 2009, Lyondell Chemical Co. filed for bankruptcy protection. The Houston-based petrochemical giant argued in court that as it reorganized, it could avoid what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said were about $2.5 billion in cleanup costs...."

Source: Bloomberg, 04/07/2010

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