Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 1, 2008 GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG

...and it's YOU!

Or, at least it could be!

Web site helps watch actions of government

Wouldn't it be great if there was a Web site allowing anyone in Illinois to read public notices from hundreds of newspapers around the state? For free?

Starting today, there is such an online site. It's known as Public Notice Illinois (PNI).

Newspapers throughout the state, including The Southern Illinoisan, will help people hold their governments and courts accountable. A new Web site, www.PublicNoticeIllinois.com, offers unprecedented public access to financial statements by school boards, election notices by drainage districts, notices of home foreclosures and legal name changes - for example.

The newspapers' new Web site, www.PublicNoticeIllinois.com, can be searched by keyword, by date or by newspaper community.

Dennis DeRossett, publisher of The Southern Illinoisan, explained, "Illinois newspapers have taken a huge stride in getting maximum exposure to legal notices through PNI. Combining both the newspapers' readership and online audiences gives unprecedented access to this information in the most cost-effective manner."

Notices are first published in Illinois newspapers and then uploaded to the Web site, according to a prepared statement by the Illinois Press Association.

Web users can search the notices in one convenient location 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Nearly 100,000 notices are available already, providing both local and statewide exposure for those who purchase public notices and greater public access to all public notices in Illinois.

The site is managed and paid for by the Illinois Press Association, which has 600 daily and weekly newspapers as members. It is the nation's largest state newspaper association.

- The Illinois Press Association contributed to this report.