Civil Beat tried to pursue stories about workers in unsafe conditions or denied workers’ compensation claims, but the state labor department says it’s too busy to answer questions.

The city decided to make the forms more easily available following a Civil Beat report earlier this week.

The records are now only available for inspection at Honolulu Hale and officials are charging for copies — even if that’s just taking photos with your phone.

Legal challenges from Hawaii’s police union have prevented the public release of the identities of almost 2,000 sworn officers.

Information on bad teachers, including details of misconduct and current status, is hard to get in Hawaii, despite a state law requiring its release.

The agency fought to keep the public from knowing what the Utah Transit Authority found during a study. So we got the records from Utah — in four days.

But state law requires disclosure of detailed information about a public employee’s job qualifications.

Eight months after we asked, the state wants big bucks for records pertaining to violence at an Arizona prison.

The department refuses to disclose portions of many of its policies to the public, including the one on use of force.