Hundreds of confidential government documents have turned up in trash bags and garbage bins instead of being shredded as required by law, according to a Pinellas County audit. ...more

November 7, 2008

After hundreds of veterans' claims documents were found recently in paper bins, waiting to be shredded, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs is considering widespread changes to its policies to better protect VA records. ...more

November 4, 2008

A review this week of 57 regional offices of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has turned up nearly 500 benefit claim records that were set to be destroyed, agency officials said Friday. ...more

October 25, 2008

The Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating how benefit claims documents nearly got destroyed at four regional offices, including Bay Pines Health Care System in St. Petersburg. ...more

October 24, 2008

The Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating how benefit claims documents nearly got destroyed at four regional offices, including Bay Pines Health Care System in St. Petersburg. ...more

October 23, 2008

The three workers fired in Highlands County's Office of Management and Budget for "inappropriate" use of their instant messages lost their bid to win their jobs back on appeal. ...more

August 21, 2008

Thursday morning, Highlands County Administrator Michael Wright heard the appeals of the three county employees fired earlier this year for what officials termed "inappropriate" and personal messages sent on their county instant message service. ...more

August 15, 2008

University of Florida officials sent letters Tuesday to 11,300 current and former students informing them that the university mistakenly posted their names, addresses and Social Security numbers online. ...more

June 11, 2008

University of Florida officials sent letters to 11,300 current and former students informing them that the university mistakenly posted their names, addresses and Social Security numbers online. The university used the student information between 2003 and 2005, but it remained posted unsecured online until a routine audit revealed the breach, UF officials announced Tuesday. The information has since been removed. ...more

June 10, 2008

SEBRING — By accident, a routine financial audit of expenditures for the 9-1-1 emergency call system uncovered voluminous sexually explicit messages sent between three Highlands County employees in the budget department. The sexually explicit messages, all public-record documents open to public inspection, led to the firings Monday morning of: Treasa Handley, former coordinator of non ad-valorem assessments; Jared Lee, former budget analyst; and Christine Edwards, former budget technician. ...more

January 30, 2008