Freedom of information legislation comprises laws that guarantee access to data held by the state. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions. Also variously referred to as open records or (especially in the United States) sunshine laws, governments are also typically bound by a duty to publish and promote openness. In many countries there are constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused if specific support legislation does not exist.

Over 90 countries around the world have implemented some form of such legislation. Sweden's Freedom of the Press Act of 1766 is the oldest in the world. Most freedom of information laws exclude the private sector from their jurisdiction. Information held by the private sector cannot be accessed as a legal right. This limitation entails serious implications because the private sector is performing many functions which were previously the domain of the public sector. As a result, information that was previously public is now within the private sector, and the private contractors cannot be forced to disclose information.

The Monkees were an American pop rock group that released music under its original incarnation between 1966 and 1970, with subsequent reunion albums and tours in the decades that followed. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1965 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which lasted 2 seasons from 1966-1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones. The band's music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner.

Tom Durkin (born 1950 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American sportscaster and public address announcer specializing in Thoroughbred horse racing. He was the race caller for NBC Sports from 1984 through 2010.

Durkin studied drama at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. In 1971, he was hired as a race caller at Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred races at county fairs in Wisconsin. He did this each summer through 1975 then the following year was employed by the Daily Racing Form as a call taker responsible for documenting the comments and statistics used in the official charts of the races at Cahokia Downs and Thistledown Racecourse. He went on to work as a race caller at Florida Downs in Oldsmar, Florida, Miles Park Race Track in Louisville, Kentucky, Quad City Downs in East Moline, Illinois, Balmoral Park Racetrack in Crete, Illinois, Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida, Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida and in 1990 was hired to call races at the New York Racing Association's Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

Wendell Tyrone Davis (born January 3, 1966 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the Chicago Bears for six seasons from 1988 to 1993. He was selected by the Bears in the 1st round (27th overall) in the 1988 NFL Draft. Davis was a two time All-American at Louisiana State University.

In his pro career, Davis played in 81 games, catching 207 receptions for 3,000 yards and 14 touchdowns. He is infamous for injuring both of his patellar tendons simultaneously while running a pass route on the Astroturf at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The injury forced him to miss the entire 1994 season. He did attempt a comeback with the Indianapolis Colts in 1995, but did not appear in a game.

In October 2009, Davis became the Assistant Wide Receivers Coach for the San Francisco 49ers under Head Coach Mike Singletary. Davis also owns a barbershop franchise, Big League Barbers, located in Riverwoods, Illinois.

John & Mary is a U.S. based folk music duo featuring John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey who have had a long-time close association with alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs.

John & Mary was formed by John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey soon after they first met in Buffalo, NY in December 1989. Lombardo, one of the founding members of 10,000 Maniacs and responsible for much of their early sound, had left the band in 1986 due to "creative and political" differences. The pair signed with Rykodisc in 1990 and recorded their first album Victory Gardens which was released in 1991, and were the opening act for the Maniacs on the Time Capsule Tour in late 1990. They followed up with their second release, The Weedkiller's Daughter, also on Rykodisc, in 1993.

Both joined (or re-joined) the Maniacs as full-time members in 1994 after Natalie Merchant's departure. The duo released two albums with the Maniacs, 1997's Love Among the Ruins, which contained a cover of the Roxy Music song "More Than This" that reached number 25 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, and 1999's The Earth Pressed Flat. Lombardo and Ramsey continued to perform occasionally as John & Mary between tours. After the death of the Maniacs' lead guitar player Rob Buck in December 2000, the Maniacs went on hiatus, following which, Ramsey was replaced with singer Oskar Saville from the Chicago-based band Rubygrass. Lombardo quit the group at the same time.