Justin Katz
It was a minor thing, but I opted for a detour, on my way through Newport after work, yesterday, to avoid some movie filming off Bellevue, and it seemed parking in the neighborhood was somewhat more tight than usual. I can well imagine, that is to say, how the Hollywoodsters could disrupt a town for…
A sharp-eyed reader points out the following mention of yet another comparative list for which Rhode Island is to the extreme on the wrong end, asking “Why does everything cost more in Rhode Island?” (emphasis added): In 2007, according to the National Association of State Budgeting Officers, states spent $44 billion in tax dollars on…
This press release put out by Immigrants United the General Assembly, announcing a campaign of legislation, is a jaw-dropper: -(2008 – H7967), by Representative Segal, which ensures a person’s race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or lack of English language proficiency shall not constitute reasonable grounds for the police to inquire into a person’s immigration status.…
So I’m at the Tea Party event hosted by the Portsmouth Republicans. So far, Steve Coaty and Mayor Laffey have spoken. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get set up in time to catch some of Laffey’s pithy phrases, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing them around the state over the next few years.) The striking thing —…
I finally managed to take a look at the Providence Journal story about the abysmal math scores of Rhode Island’s high-school students, and I have to say that I think Dan Yorke‘s show may be underrepresenting the problem. The woman from the Department of Education whom he was in the process of interviewing when I…
Why do our legislators have such difficulty seeing the problem with bills like this: Already successful in securing enactment of legislation to increase the level of hearing aid coverage in health insurance policies, Rep. Robert B. Jacquard (D-Dist. 17, Cranston) has introduced a bill aimed at assisting more hearing-impaired citizens. Under Representative Jacquard’s bill, health…
Mark Shea pens some gospel truth: 1:11 Blessed are those who Believe, for they shall say, “Yes We Can!” 1:12 Blessed are those who say, “Yes We Can!” for they shall audaciously Hope. 1:13 Blessed are those who Hope, for they shall speak of Change. 1:14 Blessed are those who speak of Change, for they…
Marc’s already mentioned RIGOP Chairman Gio Cicione’s op-ed in yesterday’s Providence Journal, but two related points are worth making. First, Gio reins in his argument a bit more than is accurate. This is dead-on: We face a choice between a centrally planned economy run by and raided by the leadership on Smith Hill, or an…
Is it me, or is there just something fundamentally bizarre about this construct: The pressure comes as the authority is already having trouble carrying a large influx of riders. More Rhode Islanders are taking the bus since the spike in gas prices that began after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Public transportation provides a reasonable check…
So what are the odds of this becoming law? Amending state law to clearly prohibit strikes is the task force’s first recommendation. If Carcieri supports the plan as expected, he would have to ask lawmakers to submit the bill to the General Assembly for a vote. Officials at the state Department of Education researched tougher…