Request 020 — 1/20/2026

I’ve listened to so much Madonna lately (related)

Happy Tuesday, it’s foiaday! And holy smokes, it’s cold in Chicago!

I complained about this last week, but I’m about to get more annoying about it this week. Chicago’s slated to have an ambient temp of -10 on Friday (ambient. ambient!!!!), so… good luck to my building’s old pipes.

We are so, so close to the end of month one! That’s absolutely nuts! Yesterday, I sent out week three’s update of foiaday, including a rundown of all the lovely requests filed in the past week + some of the documents I’ve gotten back so far.

I included a survey about how returned documents should be presented or disseminated (big word for Elmo) out to y’all. If you missed it, here it is again!

If you read yesterday’s email, you’d probably think that today I’d be filing something about Donald Trump’s first term.

That’s reasonable! But unfortunately, we’re in a time of year that brings out a very unreasonable side of me: the Winter Olympics season.

And nothing made me sob like a baby, other than seeing old pictures of Louie, like last week, when I was watching U.S. National Champion Amber Glenn make the Olympic team for the first time in her career. 😭

Sooooo — let’s request some records on the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships, which were hosted in St. Louis, Missouri. :)

If there's a coworker or friend you think would benefit from this newsletter, feel free to forward it to them! If they subscribe, they'll also get a link to a template for the tracker I like to use to keep tabs on requests I've filed.

Subscribe now

I’ve never filed a records request in Missouri, which refers to their records request laws as the Sunshine Law. (Much nicer and more creative than the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.)

The tournament was largely spearheaded by the St. Louis Sports Commission in partnership with U.S. Figure Skating, both of which are private nonprofit organizations — not governmental, and not subject to FOIA.

From what I can tell, the facility the tournament was hosted at (the Enterprise Center) is also private. No longer subject to FOIA.

So! Where to start?

Maybe this press release from the Commission, which names a few different organizations that worked in partnership to make the event possible.

Nice! So we have:

• Explore St. Louis (state-appointed tourism board)

• St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (obvious!)

On top of that, I’m pulling from some great reporting from STLPR about some of the economic and local impacts that the event promises.

When it comes to economic impact, the STL Partnership, aka the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, is a public body that is a city-county collab, so it should cover good ground.

The event spanned January 4 to 11, with the brunt between the 7th and the 11th so we’ll expand it a smidge to include the day prior and the day after.

So. Let’s go on a small fishing expedition and start with the cops:

- A list, data or documents to show overtime pay and costs between January 1 and January 14, 2026. Please include data in a machine readable format, like a .xlsx or .csv/.tsv file, if possible.

- A list, data or documents to show vacation or time-off requests between January 3 to 12, 2026. Please include data in a machine readable format, like a .xlsx or .csv/.tsv file, if possible. 

- A list or log of all calls made from or dispatched to 1401 Clark Ave St Louis, Missouri 63103 (Enterprise Center) between January 2 and January 13, 2026. Please include fields about the date and time of the call, the priority level, the call type or classification, and any additional data or metadata connected to the call.

- The most recent records retention schedule for the department, which includes a list of documents kept by the agency and for how long each record is retained. Please release this in a .pdf if possible.

We’ve got a solid mix in there, including 911 calls, overtime pay, plus time off and vacay requests (either for people who hate figure skating or love figure skating, take your pick).

On top of that, let’s grab economic-development-related documents:

- All documents, memos, releases or reports showing the economic impact of the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships on St. Louis city and county. Please release documents as a .pdf.

- Any RFQ/RFPs, bids, contracts, MOUs or other agreements between STL Partnership and U.S. Figure Skating or the St. Louis Sports Commission related to the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships.

- The most recent records retention schedule for STL Partnership, which includes a list of documents kept by the agency and for how long each record is retained. Please release this in a .pdf if possible.

Aaaaaand tourism related documents. Some are a little broad. I’ll put the onus on the agency to let me know it’s unduly burdensome:

- Documents, memos, releases or reports related to the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships. Please release documents as a .pdf.

- Any RFQ/RFPs, bids, contracts, MOUs or other agreements between Explore St. Louis and U.S. Figure Skating or the St. Louis Sports Commission related to the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships.

- The most recent records retention schedule for Explore St. Louis, which includes a list of documents kept by the agency and for how long each record is retained. Please release this in a .pdf if possible.

Bonus! Let’s request one more. The FCC takes complaints from viewers about broadcasts, and I wonder if anyone harbored any issues with NBC’s broadcast of the Championships. Without hyperbole, some FCC complaints are absolutely banana sandwich wild, like these for the Tokyo Olympics:

While others are probably more reasonable…

So, let’s request complaints:

All complaints received regarding the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships on NBC from January 1, 2026, until January 20, 2026. Please release documents as a .pdf and redact any PII about the complainant.

For some cool related reading, I’d check out this great interactive analysis of the urban geography of St. Louis’s sports arenas by Mizzou geography professor Doug Hurt.

I’ve been to STL quite a few times in the past five to ten years by Amtrak, and you’re immediately greeted by the looming footprint of the Enterprise Center when you arrive. (One of these days, I’ll catch a game inside!)

Also. Please, please, watch Amber Glenn’s short program, set to Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”, which has such excellent skating it makes me smile to watch every second.

Anyway — I cannot wait until the Olympics.

Cam