03/16/08

Sunshine Week 2008

2008: For the Public

In August 2007, Brian Bakst in Minneapolis used FOI requests to obtain e-mails from and to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's office in the days after the Minneapolis bridge collapse. The resulting story gave AP’s audience a unique window into the governor’s office reaction to the tragedy.

Aug. 10, 2007

AP Exclusive: E-mails capture Minn. governor's office responding to bridge collapse

By BRIAN BAKST
Associated Press Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Thirteen minutes after the interstate bridge collapsed during rush hour, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief spokesman shot out a message saying there "may be cars in the Mississippi River.

"Both directions on 35W. Helicopter says it's a devastating scene," Brian McClung told other top staff in the brief e-mail he sent at 6:18 p.m. on Aug. 1. McClung's note conveying a radio report was the first of a flurry of e-mails showing Pawlenty's staff's businesslike response.

The Associated Press obtained the messages through a request under Minnesota's public records law. None of the e-mails were sent to or from Pawlenty himself, but were widely shared among top staff.

After McClung's alert, the staff grasped for details and urgently requested updates from the state Department of Transportation in dozens of e-mails the night of the collapse and in the days following.

Less than an hour after the collapse, Pawlenty's schedule had been cleared for the next day.

"The bridge will consume us (and appropriately so) for the next few days," Chief of Staff Matt Kramer wrote the morning after the disaster, the death toll for which had reached at least seven Friday with several people still missing.

Staff filled Pawlenty's schedule with network TV interviews and kept apprised of the response from his political rivals, taking note of a Democratic senator's criticism of the Republican governor for vetoing a transportation bill. They closely tracked federal legislation for $250 million in emergency reconstruction aid, and discussed a gathering of national Republican leaders roughly a year before the Twin Cities hosts the Republican National Convention.

Two days after the collapse, Kramer was seeking answers on how to get the bridge replaced. He pressed for information on how a bridge advances through permits and authorization, asking if an executive order or other action by the governor might accelerate construction.

Later e-mails showed he wanted a point person to handle legislative proposals, briefings and all other duties on the the demolition and replacement of the I-35W bridge, a role Pawlenty said in a radio interview Friday that he had assigned to his deputy chief of staff, Bob Schroeder.

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In June 2007, Jeff Latzke in Oklahoma City used a FOIA request to get the scoop that football players at the University of Oklahoma were given two nutritional supplements banned by the NCAA. Media interest in AP’s story led the school to put out a news release the next day to explain the supplements the players were given. Jeff has used a number of FOIA requests to get information involving rules violations at the university, which tends not to release such information unless a FOIA is filed.

June 14, 2007

Oklahoma identifies supplements given to football players

By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The University of Oklahoma identified two drinks containing amino acids as the impermissible nutritional supplements it provided to football players last season, resulting in a secondary violation of NCAA rules.

In a fact sheet released Thursday night, the university said it gave players Cytomax and Endurox R4, which it identified as "ready-to-drink health supplements." Oklahoma said both supplements "are permissible substances for NCAA student-athletes to ingest, although it is impermissible for NCAA members to provide the products to student-athletes."

NCAA bylaws allow schools to provide "only nonmuscle-building nutritional supplements" that give athletes additional calories or electrolytes. Schools aren't allowed to give athletes products containing amino acids.

California-based CytoSport makes several products under the Cytomax name, including the sports drink that it sent to Oklahoma. The university said it ordered the correct product, but instead received one that contained amino acids.

CytoSport vice president for corporate development Bobbie White said the company changed its formula several months ago to remove amino acids but inadvertently sent Oklahoma the original formula with amino acids.

"We were sending it to our other channels but not to them, and it was inadvertently shipped to OU. When CytoSport was notified of that product error, we immediately replaced Cytomax with the new product, new label that did not contain amino acids," White said.

"Everyone did the right thing. The University of Oklahoma did the right thing when they caught it and stopped it, and CytoSport did the right thing when they brought it back and replaced it."

White said CytoSport removed the amino acid L-glutamine from the drink to make it comply entirely with NCAA guidelines. White said L-glutamine "is not a banned substance by any of the governing bodies other than the NCAA. They're the only ones that don't want those amino acids in products at the athletic level for coaches to give to their students."

White said dozens of colleges and universities use CytoSport products.

Telephone messages left at the New Jersey office of PacificHealth Laboratories Inc., the maker of Endurox R4, after business hours Thursday were not immediately returned. The company's Web site describes the Endurox R4 Recovery Drink as a product that helps speed muscle glycogen replenishment, rebuild muscle protein after exercise, reduce post-exercise muscle damage and reduce muscle stress.

Oklahoma's report said that the football team's strength staff failed to check the ingredients on the second product to see it contained an impermissible substance.

Oklahoma spokesman Kenny Mossman said he didn't know how much of the supplements athletes were given by the football team's strength staff, nor for how long the supplements were used.

The university's report to the Big 12 indicated the violation occurred in fall 2006, but Oklahoma said the unused Endurox was not returned until April 17 _ more than three months after the Sooners' season ended with a Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State. The violation was reported April 23 and revealed in documents received through an open records request by The Associated Press this week.

Oklahoma self-reported the violation along with three others and said that they were "deemed to be secondary violations by the NCAA." Secondary violations are less severe than major violations and carry lesser penalties.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions last year penalized Oklahoma for a major infraction when former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff made nearly 600 impermissible calls to recruits. In April, Oklahoma again appeared before the infractions committee on allegations of major infractions that resulted in starting quarterback Rhett Bomar being kicked off the football team.

NCAA spokeswoman Gail Dent said in an e-mail that "the NCAA does not endorse, support nor recommend any supplement product, and encourages student-athletes to rely on food for their nutritional needs, and to avoid supplement use."

However, 89 percent of Division I-A respondents to a 2005 survey of NCAA member schools said that they provide nutritional supplements to student-athletes. Only 21 percent of Division II members and 15 percent of Division III members reported supplying supplements in the survey, which is taken every two years. The most recent data available is from 2005.

Budgets for nutritional supplements varied from less than $1,000 to more than $75,000 among Division I-A schools that participated in the survey. About 43 percent of schools spent less than $15,000, while about 29 percent spent over $50,000.

The Big 12 Conference does not have a policy on nutritional supplements beyond what the NCAA recommends, spokesman Bob Burda said.

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In March 2007, John O'Connor in Springfield, Ill., scoured a list of state pay increases he received through an FOI request to report that the wife of the Illinois Senate president had received a state job promotion and $70,000 raise about the time the two were married. Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration created a special salary class just for her position in order to give her the hefty raise.

April 9, 2007

AP Exclusive: Senate president's wife got $70,000 raise from state

By JOHN O'CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Soon to marry one of Illinois' most powerful politicians, Lorrie Rickman Stone was promoted to a new state job in September 2005.

Two months later, she wed Senate President Emil Jones. And two months after that, her salary had soared by nearly $70,000.

The Blagojevich administration created a special salary class for her position alone, so the psychologist -- now Lorrie Rickman Jones -- saw her pay rise from $116,460 to $186,000, a 60 percent increase, The Associated Press found after a review of state documents.

Her raise took effect two weeks before the new job classification was officially created and 4 1/2 months before the classification received final legislative approval.

Jones' job as mental health director involves a budget of more than $700 million and supervising 10 state facilities chiefs responsible for 3,000 employees -- larger than most agencies under the governor, the administration said.

She makes more than the governor or the agency director and is among the agency's two-dozen highest-paid employees -- all physicians.

In an e-mailed statement, a department spokesman said Jones' salary was "commensurate with the experience and education required to fulfill the significant responsibilities that go with the job."

DHS argued the salary increase simply gave Jones, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology, the same pay as her predecessor, a physician.

But the agency used a separate process to approve Jones' pay and despite arguing she deserved the same salary, didn't pay her the full amount initially. She got a 30 percent raise, to $151,000, when she took the promotion and then received a 23 percent bump four months later.

Emil Jones, a Chicago Democrat and Gov. Rod Blagojevich's most ardent legislative ally, declined to be interviewed. Spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer said the senator had nothing to do with his wife's promotion or raise.

"Dr. Jones is an accomplished professional," Davidsmeyer said.

Lorrie Rickman Jones did not respond to a request through a spokesman for comment.

State law limits the amount of money ordinarily paid to employees, but the Department of Human Services wanted to give Jones more. To do that, the agency proposed a special job category that applied only to her.

The administration asked the Civil Service Commission to approve the new classification, arguing that it was necessary to attract high-quality candidates for a demanding job. But Jones was already in the job.

The commission voted on Sept. 15, 2005, but its OK didn't take effect until Oct. 1, according to commission documents and officials. DHS insists it took effect Sept. 15, and that's when the agency officially raised her salary from $9,705 a month to $12,605.

She didn't get the money, however, until mid-October, when DHS put an extra $3,000 in her check as pay retroactive to Sept. 15.

State law prohibits back pay for work already performed.

Jones received another raise in mid-January, to $15,500 a month. The department says that raise merely reflected the formal decision of the Legislature's bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to allow her new job category and salary to take effect.

But the department does not explain why, if it was awaiting the committee's action, Jones had been given one raise already.

Instead of creating a new job category, the department could have sought a waiver from the usual salary limits, as it did for her predecessor, Dr. Christopher Fichtner. That could have led to discussion of who would get the special salary and whether she deserved it.

DHS spokesman Tom Green said a one-time salary waiver wouldn't have addressed long-term problems of recruiting top talent to the post in the future.

Jones, 53, was in private practice before joining the department in January 2002. She served as a manager based at the Madden Mental Health Center in Hines, making $110,220, and later as a DHS deputy director, earning $116,460 starting in September 2003.

Emil Jones, 71, a state lawmaker since 1973, was married previously. His last wife, Patricia, died in December 2001.

The Department of Human Services provides health and prevention programs for people with physical and mental disabilities.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: John O'Connor has covered Illinois government and politics for The Associated Press since 1998.

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On Jan. 5, 2007, AP filed a request under Missouri's open records law that ultimately showed that Missouri nursing homes were hit with more than 1,500 fire safety violations in the past four years. AP's investigation, made in the wake of the group home fire that killed 11 people in late 2006, showed that about two-thirds of the state's roughly 635 licensed residential care facilities had been cited for at least one fire safety violation from 2003 through mid-December 2006. Additional open-records requests on this case produced other significant findings – that the state health department knew the owner of the group home (a convicted felon) had been involved in the home's operations despite a state law prohibiting felons from operating such facilities and that documents showed that top state regulators recommended the home's operators have their licenses revoked months before the fire. The recommendation was essentially ignored.

Jan. 9, 2007

AP Newsbreak: Most of Missouri residential group homes cited for fire violations

By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press Writer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- About two-thirds of Missouri's licensed residential care facilities were cited for at least one fire safety violation over the past four years, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The analysis of inspection citations provided by the Department of Health and Senior Services also found that the state's roughly 635 residential care facilities have been hit with more than 1,500 fire safety violations from 2003 through mid-December 2006.

The AP requested the database figures under the state's open records law following a Nov. 27 fire that killed 11 people at a home for the mentally ill and disabled.

Gov. Matt Blunt's administration expressed concern about the magnitude of violations revealed by the AP's request. Although it enters inspection citations into a database, the health department had not previously tallied the number of deficiencies cited on a statewide bases.

"The number of violations in the last several years is very alarming," Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said upon reviewing a summary of the citations. "When there's a violation of the fire regulations or codes, that's a missed opportunity of prevention. It's a missed opportunity to save a life."

More than half of the Missouri facilities cited for fire safety problems were repeat offenders, meaning they had citations in multiple years or in follow-up inspections during the same year.

Group homes were most commonly cited for violations involving fire drill requirements, fire alarm systems and "protection from hazards," which can include fire-and-smoke deterrent construction.

Comparing Missouri's fire safety violations at group homes to those in other states is difficult. In fact, what's considered a residential care facility varies widely from state-to-state. And unlike for nursing homes, the federal government does not dictate standards for group homes.

The Nov. 27 fire at the Anderson Guest House started in the attic and swept through the one-story building. State fire officials cited an electrical short or overload as a possible cause.

The facility had been cited for failing to conduct an annual fire inspection in 2000, but had not been cited for fire problems in more recent years. The three other facilities run by the same company all had received fire safety citations since 2003.

Since the fire, the departments of health and mental health have recommended various ways to strengthen the state's fire safety regulations for such group homes, including a sprinkler system mandate. More than half of the state's group homes currently lack sprinkler systems, including the Anderson facility that burned.

State inspectors check a wide variety of things, from a facility's fire safety to its patient care and food preparation. Facilities cannot renew their regular operating licenses as long as troubles linger, though they often are granted temporary permits.

Some long-term care administrators said the sheer number and general categories of fire safety violations made the problems appear worse than they are.

The Jolet Home in Kansas City, for example, had 22 fire safety violations from 2003-2006. Of the three most recent citations, one involved the way the facility reported its fire drills and another stemmed from an emergency light that didn't work when tested by an inspector _ though it had worked both before and after that when tested by the facility, said Ronald Thompson, the administrator of Jolet II Inc.

The other citation occurred because an inspector found old cigarette butts mixed with paper in a non-metal trash can, Thompson said Monday.

"It's not like there was a serious fire risk," said Thompson, adding that he believed his fire precautions are good. "Being the administrator of two buildings that aren't brand new, nobody worries more about fire than me."

At Page Manor in St. Louis, inspectors reported 27 fire safety violations over a three-year period, including the failure to have a smoke separation barrier between the floors of the three-story building or an automatic sprinkler system that covers the full facility.

But administrator Aneeqa Khan insisted Monday that the building has been equipped with sprinklers for years and does have smoke-resistant construction. She, too, describes her fire safety preparations as good.

State Sen. Jack Goodman, who represents the Anderson area, plans to sponsor legislation enhancing the state's oversight of long-term care facilities. He was surprised when told there had been 1,571 fire safety violations over four years.

"It's possible that high numbers of first-time offenses means the state's doing a good job, but if we're seeing repeat violations without any consequences, I'm very concerned about that," said Goodman.