Record-high temperatures are forecast throughout the week around the region, with thermometer readings of 70 degrees and above likely.
The timing couldn't be better: It's Sunshine Week.
Of course, the annual observance of Sunshine Week has nothing to do with the weather. Sunshine Week "is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information," according to the website sunshineweek.org. Entities that regularly participate in the event include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits and schools -- and anyone else interested in the public's right to know.
We think it's safe to that if the principles of Sunshine Week were regularly ignored, our democracy would effectively collapse. A Lakeland, Fla., man named Joel Chandler apparently feels the same way. As the winner of the 2012 Sunshine Week Local Hero Award, Chandler has filed more than two dozen open records lawsuits during the last four years, resulting in the release of school, police, prison and medical examiner records.
Chandler, who leads FOGWatch (Florida Open Government Watch), has a simple reason for doing what he does. "Our government serves at the pleasure of the governed and functions best when citizens know what is being done in their name and at their expense," he says on sunshineweek.org.
ADVERTISEMENT
He's right. We should also hope that governments across this great nation can appreciate that very message.
