Justin Katz

A Problem of Scope

By Justin Katz | April 27, 2008 |

John McDaid rightly tweaks me for my overly hasty reaction to Berkshire Advisors’ audit of the Portsmouth school district. The report is thorough, thoughtful, and likely enlightening for employees of the district… within its scope. In large part, my complaint still stands. Indeed, John begins a related post on his own blog thus: There is…

What a Crock

By Justin Katz | April 26, 2008 |

Pat Crowley’s complaints about a letter that Governor Carcieri apparently sent to Bob Walsh, Crowley’s NEA boss, are transparently two-faced in so many ways that I won’t enumerate them. Simply put, the idea that Walsh would respond otherwise than with the mind-numbing reply that Crowley publishes is laughable. It is, let’s just say, improbable that…

Feinting Round One

By Justin Katz | April 26, 2008 |

Surely, I’ve become too apt to be suspicious, but something in this labor rep’s reaction to the supplemental budget — in conjunction with the legislators’ “yelling and screaming” during debate of it — reminds me that this was merely the preface: “It’s devastating,” said Dennis Grilli, head of the largest state employees union, Council 94.…

You Have Been Warned

By Justin Katz | April 25, 2008 |

URI professor Tom Mather is officially warning Rhode Islanders that Lyme disease–bearing ticks will be especially prominent this year: Based on his research of the tick population last year, University of Rhode Island professor Tom Mather predicts the number of ticks infected with Lyme disease will be unusually high this year, requiring extra caution from…

Why Should a Study Focus on the Underlying Problem?

By Justin Katz | April 25, 2008 |

Here’s the laugh line from Jill Rodrigues’s Sakonnet Times story on the professional study that concluded — shockingly — that the Portsmouth school system needs more money: Although much of that money is spent on salaries and benefits, the consultants did not weigh in on contract provisions and their impacts on the district. Reading some…

Being Lazy Makes Them Money

By Justin Katz | April 25, 2008 |

There’s something very Rhode Island about this proposed legislation: A bill filed recently in the state Senate would forbid all vehicles with more than two axles from driving over the Sakonnet River (Route 24) and Pawtucket (I-95) bridges. While the 22-ton limit on both bridges would remain in effect, Senate bill S 2891 would ban…

Making the Bad Worse

By Justin Katz | April 25, 2008 |

Deroy Murdock is unremittingly critical of government subsidization and mandates related to ethanol: Poor Haitians rioted last week outside Port-au-Prince’s presidential palace, forcing Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis’s April 12 ouster. Haitians are sick and tired of food prices that are 40 percent higher than last summer’s. Some have resorted to eating cookies made of…

Stealing Lunch Money

By Justin Katz | April 24, 2008 |

Well, the first mistake was treating the government like a free-food delivery service: The director of the city’s summer lunch program[, Jane Shugrue,] has been fired and the entire administrative staff will not be brought back after a state audit found that the program falsely claimed it had served far more lunches than it actually…

Woe Is the Early Retiree

By Justin Katz | April 24, 2008 |

Steve Peoples’s story, which Marc mentioned earlier, of the likely mass retirement of public workers wishing to retain the current healthcare deal for retirees emanates cognitive dissonance. How are readers expected to react to this: Sheila Ellis waited for nearly an hour inside the stuffy reception area of the state retirement office yesterday afternoon. And…

Out of the Mud

By Justin Katz | April 24, 2008 |

Although the details are sparse, thus far, I hope the pending settlement of all lawsuits related to the soil pollution down the hill from me brings the matter to a close that protects everybody involved, and helps those whose health has suffered. It’s certainly been a tragedy of history’s reach into the present. I continue…