I reported last year about the massive recall of about 900,000 Power Sweep electric blowers manufactured by Toro that had a bad habit of firing pieces of broken plastic at high velocity. The Consumer Product Safety Commission described 28 minor injuries from the defective blowers. I wanted to know more about what the CPSC considers a “minor” injury, so in December, I filed a Freedom of Information Act for all reports of injuries related to the Power Sweep blowers.

I got the records last week, about four months after I asked for them. They consist mainly of documents called consumer contact reports, from Toro, and the names and addresses of most of the consumers have been redacted. The CPSC said exemptions in FOIA and another federal law enabled them to withhold “portions of the records that identify injured persons, persons treating them and other consumers…” There are also letters from consumers, some of them identifiable. Altogether, the records do support the assertion that these were minor injuries, although the exploding blowers certainly gave their users an alarming experience.

(March 23, 2006, Neal Goldman, Woodland Hills, Calif.) I’ve used it no more than a dozen times and when I turned it on a few days ago, the motor started up and about 2-3 seconds later it just exploded for no apparent reason.

(Dec. 5, 2006) I am extremely disappointed with the Power Sweep. Today, I turned it on and the plastic blew off everywhere, hitting me in the face and cutting me on my chin and other places.

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The Federal Aviation Administration wanted to keep details on bird strikes at airports secret. But U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said no way. So starting Friday, the FAA will post more of its 19-year-old data on aircraft-animal collisions than it ever has before.

Here’s how LaHood explains the decision in his blog:

There’s nothing amiss about the FAA wanting to keep this information under wraps. Reporting bird-strikes is a voluntary activity on the part of pilots and airlines; the FAA simply reasoned that knowing the data would be made public might lead to reduced reporting of incidents.

In the end, however, the Department of Transportation is, among other things, a safety agency. Public disclosure is our job. The sea change in government transparency is beginning, and we are happy to be a part of it.

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In my Sunday column I described how the state Revenue Department had revoked the sales tax permit for Margaret Marie Palmer, whose business was the Minnesota Auction House of Foreston. That was all correct, but I learned today that an auction in the same location, with the same phone number, and almost the same name, was very much in business. This was the place selling the garden statues, the trombone, etc. that I referred to.

The Auction House of Foreston is alive and well, owner Sheila Geist told me. She used to work with Palmer, but no longer does, and doesn’t know how to reach her. I had left a message on Geist’s phone last week, but she did not return the call. She explained that she has gotten so many calls from the tax authorities and others looking for Palmer that she doesn’t bother. Nevertheless, she wanted to get the word out that despite what I had written, no one should confuse Palmer’s former business, the Minnesota Auction House of Foreston, with her enterprise, the Auction House of Foreston. I told her I would alert Whistleblower readers about this fact. And so I have.

Some of you may wonder why Whistleblower uses this blog to opine about public records and government secrecy. What does that have to do with investigating tips from regular folks who say they’re getting a raw deal?

Everything.

Over the past year, Whistleblower has sifted through hundreds of tips to keep this blog, startribune.com and the paper humming with your stories about injustices and screw-ups large and small. I’ve also sought out stories that hold government accountable: exploring how well it enforces the conduct of professionals, businesses and individuals, how our election system works, how government spends your money.

Finally, I’ve kept a close eye on public records disputes and policies. Because without them, I don’t know how I would do this job. Not only do they force government to reveal what it’s doing and thinking. They also enable reporters to ask better questions of their sources, and depositions, interrogatories and affidavits give a voice to people not willing or able to speak directly to us.

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