FEMA

The city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- one of the worst-hit areas by this summer's massive floods -- is now refusing to make public the flood-damage information detailing the government subsidies homeowners should receive to repair their homes. The assistant city attorney says those records belong to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as apparent rationale for keeping the data from the public, despite the fact that the city itself mailed the homeowners their assessments.

The Advocate [Baton Rouge] must pay more than $200,000 to receive documents it requested related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s post-hurricane contracts, according to the agency.

FEMA said it would only provide the records if the newspaper pays the fee. The approximately $209,990 is what FEMA determined it would cost to research and compile the more than two million documents that the agency deemed The Advocate is asking for in its request.

I'm sensing a pattern.... The Associated Press reports that FEMA's fake press conference in October wasn’t a first: "A Homeland Security public affairs official acted like a reporter asking questions during a briefing in San Antonio in January 2006."

The Washington Post reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director of external communications was denied a post as senior spokesman for Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell yesterday, becoming the highest-ranking casualty of a fake news conference staged by FEMA last week to publicize its response to California's devastating wildfires.