Welcome to the Sunlight Blogger Round-up. Each week, we will be giving you a look at what is happening in the world of Sunlight on the state and local level. Have a tip for good local news or blogs? Get in touch with us in the comments.

Enjoy our pioneer round-up!

• Open Records’ Joshua Meyer in Wisconsin blogged about how state government rules on Open Meetings provide lessons in Federalism. He discussed Alabama Mayor Tony Kennon’s refusal of video recording public meetings and how this hinders transparency in a democratically elected government. Read his blog here.
• Commissioner Greg Hartmann of Cincinnati said that Hamilton County should not allow its employees to fund overtly political groups such as Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati. See Carl Weiser’s take on Politics Extra, and find the rest of the story here .
• On the Kentucky Open Government Blog, Terry Anderson wrote about the city of Salyersville among those cited by the state’s attorney general for violations in open records cases. The attorney general found that the city undermined the Open Records Act when it refused a request for employee payroll records.
• Diana Lopez of the Sunshine Review Blog in Virginia takes a look at the pros and cons of transparency, inspired by an article in The Guardian. Lopez’s suggestion? Though there may be negative consequences, it is always better to provide people with information so that they can empower themselves.