ROBERT STEINBUCH: Freedom still ain't free | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A public records dispute in Osceola highlights delays and missing documents under Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act. Sally Wilson, former mayor of Osceola until the end of 2022, says council packets posted since February 2024 have lacked more than 100 approved resolutions and ordinances. One item she cites is Ordinance 2024-07, tied to a tax-abatement that may indicate a vote to raise the U.S. Steel/Big River Steel expansion revenue bond from $3 billion to $3.75 billion. After a Sept. 23 FOIA request, the city provided a folder salvaged from a “hacked” old website, but the link initially didn’t work. By Sept. 30, only nine documents and 11 emails were produced, leaving 44 items unaccounted for.