Justin Katz
See now, even if one agrees with the dubious proposition that the film industry is particularly worth attracting to Rhode Island, this method of creating incentive is simply wrong: To qualify for the tax credits, a company has to spend a minimum of $300,000 on production costs that were “directly attributable to activity within the…
It would be a shame if this leap-day story were to be washed away in the wave of cycling news: Rhode Island employers last month shed an estimated 1,700 jobs and the state unemployment rate in January climbed to 5.7 percent, the highest since 1995, according to a government jobs report to be released today.…
Last week’s stunner was a feeling of agreement with Bob Kerr: No summits, no rigorous testing of teachers, can restore what has been lost in too many schools — the basic respect for learning and for the place a teacher holds in making good things possible. Until we can reverse the damage done before some…
Layer upon layer, that is. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if Rhode Island’s elected officers would seek to solve our problems by relinquishing control rather than expanding their influence? Consider legislation that Representative Gregory Schadone (D, North Providence) proposed this week: The “Small Business Revolving Loan and Credit Enhancement Fund Act” would offer partial, low-cost loans…
Wielding their new cost-free weapon, radicals continue to attack Christians in Canada: Catholic Insight, a Canadian magazine known for its fidelity to Church teachings, has been targeted by the Canadian Human Rights Commission for publishing articles deemed offensive to homosexuals. The commission has been investigating the Toronto-based publication since homosexual activist Rob Wells, a member…
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…