Sunshine Week Archives - Granite Grok

COLQUHOUN: The Ongoing Fight for Open Government in New Hampshire

March 12, 2026 Laura Colquhoun

For many years, I heard references to “Sunshine Week” without understanding what it truly represented. I assumed it was simply a New Hampshire expression signaling the arrival of spring. Only later did I learn that it stands for something far more significant, something that has become personally very important to me. When I purchased my … Read more

ORTOLANO: The Black Boxes Weren’t a Mistake – Nashua’s Legal Office Approved the Redactions

March 5, 2026 Laurie Ortolano

The black box redactions on Nashua’s Performing Arts Center legal invoices were not a mistake. They were reviewed and approved by the City’s Legal Office. When I wrote last week about Nashua’s “Epstein-style” redactions, I left open the possibility that the City might claim error. Maybe someone inexperienced had over-redacted. Maybe a clerk panicked. Maybe … Read more

ORTOLANO: The Black Box Defense – Epstein-Style Redactions on Nashua’s Arts Center Legal Bills

March 1, 2026 Laurie Ortolano

I filed a straightforward Right-to-Know request asking for the invoice supporting a $33,614 payment to McLane Middleton, the law firm hired to defend the three shell corporations created by the City of Nashua to construct and manage the Nashua Performing Arts Center. What I received in response did not look like transparency. It looked like … Read more

ORTOLANO: Sunshine Week and the Shadows Over Nashua’s Performing Arts Center

February 27, 2026 Laurie Ortolano

Each March, Sunshine Week reminds Americans that open government is not optional; it is foundational and well-regarded in New Hampshire as a Constitutional right. The public has a right to know how its money is spent and how its officials conduct business. Yet here in Nashua, one of the city’s largest public projects was structured … Read more

Democrat Rep. Jan Schmidt’s Effort to Restrict Access to Public Records Gets Crushed

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020 Beth Scaer

NH State Rep Jan Schmidt was the sole sponsor for two House bills to restrict access to public records, HB 1170, ‘Adding a definition of “reasonably described” to the right-to-know law’, and HB 1307, ‘Relative to the cost of production of records under the right-to-know law’.

Sunshine Week Should Be About Government and Media Transparency

March 18, 2020 Steve MacDonald

March 15th to March 21st is Sunshine week. It is an annual affair designed to focus on protecting, expanding, ensuring transparency from the American Government. An ideal we live for and work to protect. But what about media transparency?