This is the newsletter published by the Sunlight Foundation, a great band of literal do-gooders working to bring more transparency to our governments, which I believe is one of the major objectives of this list.<br><br>Note especially: <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Sunshine Review’s </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Transparency_Checklist" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">ten-point transparency checklist</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. <br>
<br>-tom johnson<br></span></span><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">SR Wiki Writers</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sunshinereview@samadamsalliance.org">sunshinereview@samadamsalliance.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 10:32 AM<br>Subject: Sunshine Review Weekly<br>To: SR Wiki Writers Subscriber <<a href="mailto:tom@jtjohnson.com">tom@jtjohnson.com</a>><br><br><br>
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<p><i>(Mailing list information, including unsubscription instructions,
is located at the end of this message.)</i><br></p>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 24pt;">Sunshine Review Weekly</span></b></span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<div style="margin: 7.5pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">elcome to Sunshine Review Weekly, an informative communication to keep you apprised of current events in the world of Sunshine Review wikying.</span></b></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sunshine Review Wiki Community Update:</span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">On March 2, 2009, the city of </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Carbondale%2C_Illinois" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#1b57b1">Carbondale, Illinois</font></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> introduced their new website (</span><a href="http://www.explorecarbondale.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">www.explorecarbondale.com</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">). According to the Mayor of Carbondale, their “Citizen Access page contains helpful information about the long standing policies on open government.” The City also stated that they used Sunshine Review as an “online resource guide” for the development of their new website. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Carbondale</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> is the only government in Illinois to have successfully satisfied Sunshine Review’s </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Transparency_Checklist" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">ten-point transparency checklist</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Carbondale</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;"> even added their checkbook register online based on Sunshine Review’s suggestion. Of greater noteworthiness, is the fact that your wiki contributions have given Sunshine Review the muscle to influence local government into creating greater access and transparency for all its citizens. That’s a
win-win for everyone. </span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Sunshine Review’s </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Transparency_Checklist" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">ten-point transparency checklist</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;"> has quickly become the standard in which all levels of government should be measured against. Job well done!</span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Collaborative Project of the Month:</span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The focus of March is creating stub articles for school districts across the United States. Please visit the project page for more information: </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunshine_Review:School_district_stubs_project" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">Sunshine Review:School district stubs project</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">This week focus</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">: Oklahoma school districts. Create 5 stub articles to help us achieve our goals!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Let’s face it. We all have friends, family and neighbors who complain about government, but don’t do anything other than complain. Reviewing and evaluating your own local school district is a terrific way to help make public access to local government better. Better access creates better transparency. Better transparency creates better government. Better government creates a better use of taxpayer’s dollars. Why wouldn’t anyone want to write wikis?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If you know anyone who may be interested in becoming a content contributor for the Sunshine Review wiki, please encourage them to contact Kristin McMurray: <a href="mailto:kristinpedia@sunshinereview.org" target="_blank">kristinpedia@sunshinereview.org</a>.</span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 68.95pt;"> <img alt="" width="114" height="91"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 90pt;">K</span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">ristinpedia’s Korner</span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Wiki Tip of the week:</span></b></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If you were working on a wiki page a while back, and want to add some more to it but can't remember how to find it, try checking your contributions. You can do this by:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Log in. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Click "my contributions" in the upper right hand corner beside "log out".</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">You will see a list of all of the contributions you have ever made. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Wednesday Wiki Webinars</span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 2.4pt 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;">Wiki writing is easy, fun and very rewarding. </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><a title="Sunshine Review:Webinars" href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunshine_Review:Webinars" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#1b57b1">Webinars</font></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> are offered every Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. CST. If you'd like to participate in a </span><a title="Sunshine Review:Webinars" href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunshine_Review:Webinars" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#1b57b1">training webinar</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;"> send an e-mail to: <a href="mailto:kristinpedia@sunshinereview.org" target="_blank">kristinpedia@sunshinereview.org</a>.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To learn more about how to get started, visit our </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Getting_Started_on_Sunshine_Review" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">Getting Started on Sunshine Review</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> page.</span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Important Dates to Note:</span></b></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">There’s just a few days left to enter the </span></b></span><b><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);"><a href="http://www.samadamsalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=910:about-the-sammies&catid=1:latest-news" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">Sammies</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);"> contest (deadline is March 20, 2009). Two award categories stick out specifically for Sunshine Review wiki writers: </span></span></b></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li style="margin: 7.5pt 0in; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Sunshine Award:</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Use your state's open records laws to uncover government corruption, waste or malfeasance. Hint: FOIA is your best friend: $5,000 prize!</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 7.5pt 0in; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Best Sunshine Review Wikiteer Contributor: </span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">an award for contributors to Sam wikis - </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.ballotpedia.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#1b57b1">Ballotpedia</font></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://www.judgepedia.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#1b57b1">Judgepedia</font></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">, and </span><a href="http://www.sunshinereview.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#1b57b1">Sunshine Review</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> - who has created and maintained the most accurate, comprehensive, and encyclopedic page or portal. $1,000 cash prize!</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Don’t miss out on a great opportunity to showcase your commitment to government transparency. The </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.samadamsalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=910:about-the-sammies&catid=1:latest-news" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">Sammies</font></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> have 9 categories, check them out and </span><a href="http://www.samadamsalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=910:about-the-sammies&catid=1:latest-news" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">ENTER TODAY</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We Need Your Help!</span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Please help the </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunshine_Review:Community" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><font color="#800080">Sunshine Community</font></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> grow by forwarding this email to your friends and family and/or donate your status line on Facebook,. Encourage them to evaluate their school district, become a SR Wiki contributor, sign up for our newsletter, and help spread the word!</span></span></div>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>==========================================<br>J. T. Johnson<br>Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA<br><a href="http://www.analyticjournalism.com">www.analyticjournalism.com</a><br>
505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h)<br><a href="http://www.jtjohnson.com">http://www.jtjohnson.com</a> <a href="mailto:tom@jtjohnson.com">tom@jtjohnson.com</a><br><br>"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.<br>
To change something, build a new model that makes the<br>existing model obsolete."<br>-- Buckminster Fuller<br>==========================================<br>