Quick Read

RIDOH Director Nicole Alexander-Scott

Dr. Alexander-Scott is out in the Department of Health.

By Justin Katz | January 13, 2022 |

Not a lot of details have been provided, but Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott has given her two-week notice to leave her job: Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, will stay on for two weeks during the search for new leadership, McKee said. She will then act as a…

Reporters taking notes

At the intersection of COVID and politics, omissions proliferate.

By Justin Katz | January 13, 2022 |

How does a news organization publish an entire article, by WPRI’s Steph Machado, with associated television news clip, about a tug-of-war between the mayor of Providence and the city council over vaccine mandates for police and not mention crime in the city? The deadline is Friday for all city workers to get at least one…

"Your Vote Is Your Voice" sign

Black Rhode Islanders should recognize how much Harrison Tuttle’s ideology hurts them.

By Justin Katz | January 12, 2022 |

Harrison Tuttle is not merely another run-of-the-mill progressive with all of the approved leftist views.  He’s also the director of the Black Lives Matter Political Action Committee in Rhode Island.  So, when he takes a position on an issue, one would expect him to do so in light of the interests of black people. His…

RI's "extreme" sea level map.

Aren’t there any standards for checking a politician’s environmental claims?

By Justin Katz | January 12, 2022 |

As a follow-up to Tolly Taylor’s sea-level scare addressed in this space yesterday, WPRI handed editorial control over Democrat Senator from Rhode Island Sheldon Whitehouse, whom the reporter permits to claim without context that Rhode Island will see nine to 12 feet of sea level rise by the end of this century. Seriously, don’t the…

Racial conflict fist as a green light

The First Circuit rejected students’ claim of a Constitutional right to civics education.

By Justin Katz | January 12, 2022 |

Judge Denise Casper of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals made an important point while dismissing an appeal by Providence students seeking to assert a right to more-extensive civics education in public schools: Citing earlier cases, the First Circuit said no other court suggested teaching a specific subject was required by the constitution, save,…

U.S. Capitol Building

Accusations that the media was like Pravda were once exaggerations; no longer.

By Justin Katz | January 11, 2022 |

Jill Colvin’s Associated Press “article” about the hiccup Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas had with the Republican base over a comment related to January 6 may be the single best example I’ve seen of the mainstream media’s new approach.  It’s truly “the party line.”  For decades, conservatives have been bashing establishment news organizations by…

School girl in medical mask

McKee’s new school policy for COVID feels like backfilling.

By Justin Katz | January 11, 2022 |

Governor Dan McKee, along with the Rhode Island departments of health and education, implemented new guidelines for how schools handle COVID infections, yesterday.  Employees and students who have been vaccinated and boosted (depending on age) do not have to quarantine, even if they had close contact with somebody who tested positive.  Notably, the same applies…

STORMTOOLS graphic of Barrington with 3 feet sea rise

A little skepticism about sea-level scares is needed.

By Justin Katz | January 11, 2022 |

Have you ever seen a mainstream news report that treated scary environmental projections with even an iota of skepticism?  Consider Tolly Taylor’s report for WPRI, which bears the headline, “Parts of Barrington will be underwater by 2035, sea-level data shows.” The first paragraph of the story gives the impression that the headline is a bit…

Infectious bronchitis virus

Let’s be specific about what is creating students’ nightmarish days.

By Justin Katz | January 10, 2022 |

A reddit post by somebody claiming to be a student at a “specialized high school” in New York City has been getting a fair bit of attention.  (Note that the post has been edited, with some commentary found in earlier screen captures deleted.)  The student describes a school day during the Omicron surge as something…

Heritage chart of federal crimes and federal prisoners

Living is becoming a crime, while crime is becoming simply living.

By Justin Katz | January 10, 2022 |

Law and order is shifting in the United States.  On one hand, it seems as if our justice system is increasingly reluctant to hold criminals accountable, with sometimes tragic outcomes like the recent death of an East Greenwich teen in a car crash.  Increasing assaults on college students in Rhode Island’s capital city raise no…