In this week’s roundup, we highlight the latest from MuckRock, federal FOIA lawsuits, and the plight of Illinois’s child wards.

In this week’s FOIA roundup, we highlight how COVID-19 is still delaying transparency in cities across America, even as its needed more than ever. Plus helpful resources for fighting for transparency from our friends at the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and the FOIA Project.

In this week’s news, an increase in FOIA lawsuits last year, some cases to watch, the public records process in the Middle East, another award to nominate someone (or yourself) for, and proposals to improve FOIA administration.

Sue Long, co-founder of Syracuse’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse and The FOIA Project, is one of the field’s legends. She has been pulling databases out of agencies since they were stored on tape reels — and well before data journalism was a hot trend. She shares her advice to other requesters as well as how she accidentally found herself as a FOIA pioneer