Celebrated Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme found himself in hot water for accidentally bringing a loaded firearm to the airport on more than one occasion, according to his FBI file.

Heading to New Orleans for #ONA2019 and not sure what to wear in Louisiana in the fall? Well, you’re in luck. The Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had their annual conference in NOLA in 1972, and their official publication, “The Grapevine,” has you covered. Literally.

In a Federal Bureau of Intelligence bulletin dated May 30th, 2019, the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office warned that it was “Very Likely” that “Fringe Political Conspiracy Theories” such as Pizzagate and QAnon would eventually motivate its adherents to violence. Somewhat surprisingly, the bulletin later goes on to concede that the conspiratorial mindset underpinning such theories may be influenced by “the illegal, antidemocratic, or harmful activities by high level government officials and political elites” - also known as actual conspiracies.

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Residents and visitors of Illinois will soon become part of a statewide data analysis effort that will allow traffic planners to observe and study individual and group travel patterns within the state.

For more than two years, Detroit has been employing facial recognition technology. Last week, Rep. Rashida Tlaib brought it to national attention when she called the city out for its use of the system.

Sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan, Racine, Wisconsin lays claim to inventing the hairdryer and garbage disposal. With Milwaukee to its north and Chicago to its south, the town is tapping into that legacy as the first municipality with fewer than 100,000 residents to be chosen for the Smart Cities Readiness Challenge.

We looked at five cities and the steps and policies that are bringing new technology to city hall.

In this week’s FOIA round-up, we take a look at experiments with transparency in Florida, Oregon, and Wisconsin that have recently hit road bumps.

A star quarterback’s career almost cut short over a case of fecal misidentification, a questionable profit center for departments of motor vehicles, and the citizen gripes behind a brewing Rhode Island bike war. All in a week’s work for public records.

Every year, federal agencies tasked with responding to Freedom of Information Act requests are required to provide annual reports capturing the work that they did that year. Help us read them.

In this week’s FOIA round-up, we take a look at the news on schools brought to you by public records: UNC fight to hide sexual misconduct, employee terminations in Illinois, UMichigan’s lengthy court fight, and the racial breakdown of Seattle school recess.

Irregular billing, rapidly increasing water and sewer rates, overflowing sewage - despite efforts to address the issues, residents throughout DeKalb County, Georgia remain dissatisfied and overcharged. Are you one of them? Let us know.

The Department of Watershed Management provides water service to more than 700 thousand people in DeKalb County, Georgia. Many of them have suffered the system’s failures in the last decade. Are you one of them? Let us know.