Justin Katz
Patrick lays on the charm in the public-media negotiation process with the Tiverton school committee: Union spokesman Patrick Crowley replied, “It’s unfortunate that the School Committee has not taken the time to do the math accurately, and in addition to our mediation request we’re going to suggest that they get math remediation as well.” Yup,…
I’ve been meaning to note the chutzpa of retired state employee Robert Davis’s recent letter to the Providence Journal: Why is The Journal so preoccupied with the money that state workers make? Recent articles have explored who is the highest-paid state worker and how much overtime is being paid, as if the state workers were…
Shame on the Burrillville teachers for striking. As the people — especially parents — of that town are discovering, there is no better example of the teachers’ unions’ profoundly unreasonable power than their failure to obey the law and decline to strike. The district should fire anybody who doesn’t show up for work tomorrow, and…
During a recess, one of the school committee members, a man to whom I frequently wave as he walks his dog by my house, came over to ask what brought me out this evening. For the time being, it’s probably to the good that my answer was simply “to become more involved” (with a reference…
… They actually managed to delay me by involving my extended family in the plot. My brother-in-law’s mother-in-law is moving, and we claimed her washing machine; of course, it had to be taken this evening (of course). But they are too tricky by half, because they moved the school committee meeting from the high school…
I feel as if I should be speaking up about the town fees that are rapidly increasing before my eyes, but I really haven’t done my homework on them. I present as an extenuating circumstance the vast learning curve: Tiverton has a lengthy planning document. There’s a massive spreadsheet for the budget. There are countless…
My decision to attend this week’s town council meeting was not a reaction to Ed Achorn’s latest Projo column, but it could have been: LOCAL OFFICIALS in Rhode Island talk a good game about financial woes, but they act as if they have money to burn. And they will keep on doing it — as…
[Whispering.] I’ve infiltrated a Tiverton Town Council meeting. They attempted to delay me by placing a slow-driving woman in my path, but I persevered. I expected an attempt to drive me away with boredom, but they inadvisably postponed the actual meeting to make way for professional interviews for labor counsel. No doubt, however, they’ll follow…
A short while ago, Congressman Langevin, speaking to Dan Yorke, did me the favor of reminding me why I’ve ceased to listen to politicians’ public performances. I think I could just about hear the sound a ballpoint pen makes against yellow legal-pad paper as he checked off each item on his talking-points list (multiple times).…
Hot on the heels of news that gun crimes are up since Britain banned guns comes this controversy: The database, which goes live next year, is to contain details of every one of the 11 million children in the country, listing their name, address and gender, as well as contact details for their GP, school…