Yesterday's post includes a lot of information that I actually *didn't* need to use FOIA for, but instead came from lots of advanced Googling. For the 26th request of @foiaday.bsky.social, I'm trying to get deets about drugs and medication access behind bars.
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
It's been four weeks of @foiaday.bsky.social (can you believe??) and last night/early this morning/before I went to bed, I sent out roundup of the past week of requests (spanning everything from Pentagon loot boxes to Madonna to noisy aircraft) that have been filed.
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
for the morning crowd!
there was a bit of a scheduling mishap (blame 1/16/2026 vs 11/16/2026...) on my end, so friday, saturday and sunday's emails are all rolled up into a neat little weekend digest. it'll be good reading over some coffee during tomorrow's federal holiday!
for the #foia night owls, a new and belated @foiaday.bsky.social!
we've covered some good ground and are requesting records on all your most fave topics, in no particular order:
1. banned books behind bars,
2. rabies
3. Chicago's snow plow naming contest
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Trying to figure out what to FOIA? Here's literally 30 different ideas in this thread.
If you subscribe to @foiaday.bsky.social (which is free!!!), I'll send you ideas daily or weekly, based on what I'm actually filing as a journalist, throughout 2026!
buttondown.com/foiaday
and, finally, request 12, which was for complaints and feedback filed with the National Park Service about Un-American signage. (Department of the Interior)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 011 is for records relating to official board business expenses from one of the best municipal corporations around. (McPier, or the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, as well as the LA Tourism and Convention Board)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 010 was for bear-related records (bear down!) and financial records, including conflict of interest and disclosure forms. (Illinois Department of Natural Resources)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 009 is for records relating to Slack and GovSlack, the client used by many government contractors and federal agencies to comply with security protocols while still having custom emoji. (VA, DoD, MBTA)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 008 is for all things Chicagwa, the hyped-up-then-gone-in-a-flash PR campaign about Chicago's tap water. (Chicago Office of the Mayor and Chicago Department of Water Management)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request double-oh-seven is for code enforcement records from the city of Naperville, including codes violated and reports called in on one's neighbor or business. (City of Naperville)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 006 was for records about my dog (selfish, I know), who was surrendered to Chicago's dog pound and ergo has public records generated about him. (Chicago Animal Care and Control!)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 005 was part of our first weekly roundup! I requested for police and public safety budgets and expenditures for every public university in Illinois (nine-ish of them).
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 004 was for blocked users on accounts operated by mayoral offices across the country (Chicago, NYC, LA, Boston, DC, and technically I did put the White House in there, though we'll get to that on 1/20/2026 for a super special reason I'll expand on later.)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 003 was for AI chatbot police use in three different Illinois policing agencies (Chicago Police, Illinois State Police and the Cook County Sheriff's Office)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
Request 001 and 002 were for:
- all digital media on the International Space Station (NASA)
- all rejected custom vanity plates in the past five years (Illinois Secretary of State's Office)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
It's officially week two of @foiaday.bsky.social, and we published our weekly roundup (along with request no. 12) tonight.
Here's a thread of everything I've (@camrodriguez.bsky.social) requested so far. 🧵🔎
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
folks i am the now only person in possession of the 24 karat gold labubu (the full list of explicit, illegible, and rejected license plates from the secretary of state's office for the past five years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
more deets tonight/tomorrow on the list. context: buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
tonight on @foiaday.bsky.social, we ask the question: whatever happened to chicagwa?
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
beat back the Sunday Scaries with a stick by reading about some records requests that won't even be processed for another 12-24 hours! 🤪
today's request: filing to see who's blocked on official mayoral social accounts. (is your mayor listed? statistically, maybe!)
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
request number three of foiaday asks a very fun question: what happens when you mix policing with ai chatbots?
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
no worries! just shared deets via the support form.
okay, server issues mitigated! read more about a raunchy illinois dmv video that's inspired today's request, plus a throwback to one of my *first* records requests to kick off this foia-filled year.
buttondown.com/foiaday/arch...
hey folks! ironically, it seems like the first issue might not go out on time tonight (probably later tonight). @buttondown.com is having some server issues!
