Freedom Village residents raise $106K toward Windmill Island Future Fund

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The residents of Freedom Village didnt just meet their goal, they exceeded it, by $6,073.

They were challenged by a couple of local philanthropists in the spring. The philanthropists would each put forth $100,000 to the Windmill Island Future Fund if the residents at Freedom Village could collectively put in $100,000 to the fund, totaling $300,000 of the overall $2.1 million goal.

The fundraising program at Freedom Village ended Monday and the final tally was $106,073.

I was sort of overwhelmed with the way it ended, said Gordon Van Wylen, a resident of the community and former president of Hope College who has also been involved in many community projects. There was a sense of excitement, gratitude and satisfaction in the Freedom Village community that we were able to make that kind of contribution to this important project.

When it became evident Windmill DeZwaan needed nearly $800,000 in repairs to remain operational, a committee was formed to look at the future of the citys popular tourist attraction and park. One major goal has been to make the park more accessible to Holland-area residents who have Holland addresses, whether they live in the city or not. A pedestrian pathway from the south and a bridge linking the island to Holland Charter Township have been discussed but will cost a significant amount of money. The fundraising goal was set at $2.1 million.

One of the reasons the Freedom Village residents jumped on board to donate was the prospect of a safe walking path to the park, Van Wylen said in a previous interview. Being the immediate neighbor to the park, many liked the idea of being able to walk there.

At Freedom Village, a total of 104 donations were made. Some people donated twice to reach the goal, Van Wylen said.

DeZwaan is undergoing repairs that should be completed by the end of the year. Donations can be made directly to the city of Holland or its fundraising partner, the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, cfhz.org.

Van Wylen hopes the fundraising at Freedom Village will be an inspiration to other organizations in the community to help the projects at Windmill Island Gardens move forward.

Follow this reporter on Facebook or Twitter, @SentinelNetty.

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Freedom Village residents raise $106K toward Windmill Island Future Fund

'Freedom Act' in House, Senate Would Amend 'Patriot Act'

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A new bill aims to tighten surveillance powers that are granted by the Patriot Act to the National Security Agency.

In a rare display of bipartisanship amid the government shutdown, Patriot Act author Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., is poised to introduce a bill to tighten surveillance powers that are granted by his 2001 law to the National Security Agency (NSA) with help from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

[READ: House Intelligence Chairman Considering NSA Reform Legislation]

Sensenbrenner and Leahy are circulating an outline of "The USA Freedom Act" to tighten Section 215 of the Patriot Act and end the NSA's bulk collection of U.S. phone call records, according to a copy of the outline obtained by The Hill.

If the bill were passed the NSA would only be allowed to collect data relevant to "an authorized investigation into international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities" of a foreign power, the outline stated. The bill would protect Americans from surveillance, requiring the NSA to discard online information about Americans and strengthen the prohibition against "reverse targeting" of Americans, which is a loophole to collect communications involving an American by monitoring the communications of a foreigner.

To reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the draft bill calls for the creation of a privacy advocate to argue civil liberties concerns and appeal court decisions.

Transparency is a big part of the draft bill, which would make public all FISC opinions issued after July 2003 that contain a significant construction or interpretation of law. It would also increase the ability of Internet and telecom companies to disclose information about government requests. Companies including Facebook and Yahoo sued the government in September for the right to publicly disclose the amount of user data requests those companies receive from the government.

[ALSO: PATRIOT Act and FISA Under Fire in Senate]

Leahy is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the bill will face opposition from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. She has proposed her own bill that adds oversight and transparency measures to NSA's programs, but would still preserve the surveillance.

The House will also be a difficult arena for the Freedom Act, where a proposed amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would have restricted the NSA's collection of phone records and metadata was narrowly defeated in July. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is also planning legislation to rebuild confidence in the NSA, but it might also leave the surveillance intact while adding transparency and oversight measures.

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'Freedom Act' in House, Senate Would Amend 'Patriot Act'

U.S. ranks fourth in Internet freedom as surveillance grows worldwide

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Internet freedom has declined in the United States over the past year as a result of its surveillance policies, reflecting a trend that appears to have caught on worldwide, according to a recently released study.

The study [PDF], conducted by Freedom House, gauged Internet freedom in 60 countries by tracking obstacles to access information online, limits on content, and violations of user rights. Among the issues cited in the report are government agencies' outright blocking of specific Internet content, surveillance measures, and legal and violent repercussions taken against those who use the Internet to criticize governing or religious bodies.

Iceland was the top-ranking nation on the list, which may not come as a surprise considering its recent role as a safe-haven for controversial Internet whistleblowers. Edward Snowden, for example, has recently expressed a desire for refuge in the country.

Estonia was the second-ranked country on the list, followed by Germany and the U.S., both of which received a score of 17 on Freedom House's scale of 1-to-100, which assigned points for higher rates of violations of Internet freedom. Australia, France, Japan, Hungary, Italy and the UK round out the top 10.

Despite its relatively high ranking, the U.S. showed a significant decline in overall Internet freedom as a result of the revelations of its surveillance capabilities and their impact on the global Internet, Freedom House explained.

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"While there is no evidence that the NSA surveillance programs were abused to suppress political speech, they have drawn strong condemnations at home and abroad for their wide-reaching infringements on privacy," the report says. "Since many large technology companies -- with millions of users around the world -- are based in the United States, the NSA was able to collect information on foreigners without having to go through the legal channels of the countries in which the targeted users were located."

However prevalent this trend may be in the U.S., it is also a sign of a much broader movement among international governments of all kinds. In 35 out of the 60 countries examined, Freedom House marked increases in the sophistication of communications monitoring technology, the scope of the people monitored, and the enactment of laws enabling the government to spy on its citizens.

Russia, for example, has increased its surveillance capabilities significantly since the Arab Spring began in late 2010, going as far as legalizing the government's wiretapping of opposing political parties, the report says.

The report also included the caveat that the problem is likely more common than its research reflects.

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U.S. ranks fourth in Internet freedom as surveillance grows worldwide