Justin Katz
Of course, it’s always more pleasant to have surpluses, rather than use them, which is a question that the Newport school department is facing: Last week, Supt. John Ambrogi proposed hiking school spending 2.12 percent next year to $38.5 million. But the budget would require the city to increase its education appropriation by 5 percent,…
And another columnist turns her attention to the odd disconnectedness of Rhode Island budgetary practices, this time Lifebeat-section writer Rita Lussier: Not that I had time for any of this. I didn’t and I don’t. But I decided to carve out an hour or so to try to learn something while I stood there at…
In her post this afternoon, Monique didn’t quote my favorite unionist quotations in that article about the governor’s proposal to require presigning public hearings on public contracts (emphasis added): “I’m halfway decent at reading tea leaves and I’m pretty clear that this budget article is about putting pressure on public officials not to give decent,…
I have to admit to being a bit confused by David’s comments to my post about Rhode Island’s lost jobs. I pointed out that Rhode Island hadn’t gained jobs, as expected, over the last year, but lost them, including in the construction industry. With a slate of laws in mind that would attract low-end and…
Reading about Iran Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq makes me wonder for whom he’s routing in the American election, this year: In tone and body language, Ahmadinejad’s message during his visit was clear. The United States does not belong in Iraq; Iran does. Iran can and will help in the reconstruction of Iraq, a…
There go those fascist terrorists again: Three seven-figure dream homes went up in flames early yesterday in a Seattle suburb, apparently set by eco-terrorists who left a sign mocking the builders’ claims that the 4,000-plus-square-foot houses were environmentally friendly. The sign – a sheet marked with spray paint – bore the initials ELF, for Earth…
Well, they’ve done the study, and the results are nothing if not surprising: Here’s one simple way to keep your children healthy: Ban the bedroom TV. By some estimates, half of American children have a television in their bedroom; one study of third-graders put the number at 70 percent. And a growing body of research…
Has anybody else picked up on something curious in coverage of the Providence Newspaper Guild Follies? Chelsea Clinton, in town to campaign for her mother, was squired around by US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. And US Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee in 2004, turned up as a surprise guest about a third…
Greg offered a rousing comment to my post on abandoned rules changes that oughtn’t be allowed to slip into unnoticed into the archives: Simply the serious THREAT of a picket and demonstration killed this, people. Think about that the next time you’re just too busy to take an hour out of your lives for the…