The Hartford Courant has been trying to get access to death certificates related to the victims in the Newtown shootings last December. However, despite these documents being public documents subject to Freedom of Information law, the local town clerks in Newtown have refused to release them. Until this week. CLICK HERE to read a piece from The Hartford Courant about why this is significant.

The Connecticut Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists voted to appoint four journalists to the Connecticut task force on public information and privacy, created by the state legislature as part of the Newtown public records legislation this month.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Chris Hunn at the New Haven Register has been working on a long-term project about athletic budgets for 30 public schools in the Greater New Haven area.
He requested all the budgets earlier this year under the Freedom of Information Act, and
he found out who is the highest paid athletic director, what coaches get paid in each district and what it costs to use a pay-for-play program.
READ HIS FULL STORY HERE

By Hugh McQuaid

Newtown families get copies of the legislation in the Senate chamber as the bill is introduced after 1 a.m. Christine Stuart/CT News Junkie

The General Assembly approved a bill Wednesday morning that blocks public release of crime scene photos of murder victims, including the 26 Newtown victims.
The bill made its way through the both chambers of the legislature in less than an hour, with less than 24 hours before the close of the session. More than 100 lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation.

Read more here.