In case you ended up spending most of Sunday outdoors soaking up the springlike weather -- and why wouldn't you? --  here is a brief rundown of The Telegraph's contributions to Sunshine Week in The Sunday Telegraph.  

• The results of a national audit of community emergency management plans.

• The results of a local audit of eight communities in Greater Nashua.

• A column by the editor on the importance of Sunshine Week.

Here are the opening paragraphs of each with links to the full articles:

Access law not always followed 

By KIRSTEN B. MITCHELL / Special to The Telegraph   

Twenty years ago, in the wake of the world’s greatest chemical plant catastrophe in Bhopal, India, Congress passed a law requiring every community to develop, update and make public plans for action in cases of chemical or hazardous materials spills.

Congress made its intention clear in naming the law the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. And it didn’t just say the public had a right to see the plan; it directed each planning committee to annually notify the public that the plan had been updated and was available.

Yet when hundreds of officials across the nation were asked recently to see these Comprehensive Emergency Response Plans (CERPs) for their communities – including several in Greater Nashua – the answer was “no” more than one-third of the time, and one-fifth provided only partial reports.

Click here for the full story.

Locally, access is a mixed bag

By STEVE BODNAR / Telegraph Staff

What would happen if you walked into your local town hall and asked for a copy of the public document that details your community’s plan of action in case of a hazardous material spill?

Well, it depends on the community.

If you live in Amherst, Brookline or Hudson, you would be able to get it; if you live in Hollis, Litchfield, Merrimack, Milford or Nashua, you might not.

Click here for the full story.

Why public access matters to everyone

By NICK PAPPAS / Editor-in-Chief 

Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to report that thousands of homeowners in Nashua were paying too much – or too little – in property taxes.

Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to publish a series of articles based on the inspection records of 188 day care centers in southern New Hampshire, including the posting of each and every inspection report on our Web site.

Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to report on the travel practices of a former superintendent of schools that ultimately led to her suspension and later a termination settlement with the city.

Think access to public records is of interest only to journalists?

Well, think again.

Click here for the full story.

To get a sense how other news organizations observed the start of Sunshine Week, you can go here.