Justin Katz
I’ll confess: I’m as curious as anybody about commentary related to myself and things in which I’m involved, which is why I found myself standing in the Middletown Barnes & Noble in my dirty carpentry garb a couple of hours ago flipping to the index of Steve Laffey’s just-released book, Primary Mistake: How the Washington…
My purpose with last night’s post from the parking lot, now that I’m able to do it, was to convey my gut reaction to the experience. Having slept on it, I think I can better articulate what was bothering me. The truth is that some of the requests from the teachers raised worthwhile questions, even…
Under the headline “Hiring plans looking up in Providence area“: More than 4 of every 10 Providence-area employers plan to maintain their current staffing, while few plan to cut their payrolls in the fourth quarter, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. The study showed that from next month to December, 43 percent plan…
As an add-on to my recent column about the effects of occupational licensing on competition, I wanted to note an article from Sunday’s Projo that doesn’t appear to be available online: Pharmacists, barbers, electricians, elevator mechanics, massage therapists, travel agents, landscape architects, acupuncturists, fire alarm installers, auctioneers. All those occupations, and lots more, are licensed…
In response to tonight’s post from the minivan in the Tiverton High School parking lot, the usual suspects will declare that I’m writing to script. My sympathizers will respond as if what I say is just common knowledge. But I have to admit that I was a little surprised at the comportment of the audience…
After years of bringing my garbage to the town dump in Portsmouth, I actually rather enjoyed not having to go farther than the end of my driveway when I moved to Tiverton. The glow wore off the experience of deceptively free trash collection when my one non-construction-grade barrel was demolished during pickup. Being a believer…
The movement of the Tiverton School Committee meeting from the library to the auditorium at least seems merited tonight. In that sense, I’m not alone. Inasmuch as I’ve no evidence that I’m the only plain ol’ interested citizen in the audience, I may prove to be alone in another, perhaps more important sense. Perhaps it…
Montalbano’s public statement gives the impression that he thinks $12,000 is a reasonable fine for a minor paperwork error: I am pleased to have reached a resolution of this matter that is fair and just. The finding of the Ethics Commission in this case – that I failed to complete my paperwork – accurately reflects…
… becomes probably the last person in Rhode Island to admit the obvious: Resolving months of legal back and forth, state Senate President Joseph Montalbano today settled the ethics case against him for a $12,000 civil penalty. … Montalbano was accused of engaging in a conflict of interest by voting to put a casino proposal…