I feel sorry for the reporter and the paper. He is not aware of FOIA steps reporters use and methods to get government agencies act quicker. I have a FOIA request that is three years old and I am still waiting to hear from the US Department of Transportation. If my request was important enough to me I could have had a response in days not years. You just need to know how to work the system. Almost every major paper has staff that knows what to do.