Patrick Laverty

Re: Providence Journal Lowers The Boom On Us Freeloaders Tuesday

By Patrick Laverty | February 27, 2012 |

I started this as a comment to Monique’s post, but then decided to move it up. I bet with my wife yesterday that the ProJo’s paywall will only accelerate the decline. The ProJo likes to say “But the NY Times did it” but that’s like me trying to hit a baseball like Kevin Youkilis and…

Give ‘Em What They Want

By Patrick Laverty | February 26, 2012 |

Former Central Falls Mayor Thomas Lazieh has asked State Receiver Robert Flanders to leave his post in the city. State lawmakers have submitted a bill that will attempt to limit what a receiver can actually do. City Council member Patrick J. Szlashta thanked citizens and elected officials for turning out Friday for a discussion of…

“It’s an abuse of power”

By Patrick Laverty | February 25, 2012 |

“It’s an abuse of power,” said Frank Flynn, President of the RI Federation of Teachers (RIFT?). He’s referring to a situation in Woonsocket where the school committee gave notice to all school department employees that they could be laid off this year, similar to what Providence did last year. Now, I agree that it is…

You Don’t Like Your Politicians Much, Do You?

By Patrick Laverty | February 25, 2012 |

Wow, more than a few of our elected leaders can’t be too thrilled with the results of a recent Brown University poll. For starters, just when you thought that David Cicilline’s numbers couldn’t get much worse than the 17% approval rating that he put up last year, he did get worse in this, an election…

Cicilline Playing the Blame Game

By Patrick Laverty | February 21, 2012 |

On 630wpro.com, David Cicilline tries the old “wasn’t me” argument with regard to Providence’s finances. Cicilline told the WPRO Morning News with Tara Granahan and Andrew Gobeil that he did not put the “outrageous” cost of living increases for retirees in place Ok, so he has a point there. He didn’t sign a decree to…

Nine Years Ago Tonight

By Patrick Laverty | February 20, 2012 |

Today marks nine years since The Station fire happened in West Warwick where 100 people died and many others are permanently injured both physically and mentally. With a state the size of Rhode Island, it seems that everyone knows someone that was directly affected by this tragedy. Even if you didn’t know anyone affected, try…

A Week of Thoughts

By Patrick Laverty | February 18, 2012 |

A couple things about this story where the Institute for International Sport can’t account for a few hundred thousand dollars that it got from the state in the form of a legislative grant. When Kathy Gregg is calling, chances are that it isn’t going to end well for you. Second, if this money was given…

Chafee Proposes Funding Cuts to RI PBS

By Patrick Laverty | February 17, 2012 |

Ok, I’m one of the first to admit that the Governor’s proposed budget is worth even less than the paper it is written on and it’s extremely possible that the Assembly treats this idea similar to the “broadening and lowering” of a year ago. In Chafee’s budget proposal, he suggests cutting the television channel’s funding…

Eliminate Political Parties in RI

By Patrick Laverty | February 13, 2012 |

We’ve finally gotten there, it’s time to fully eliminate political parties in RI. I’ve long advocated for this as the whole party system is extremely antiquated anyway. The only real purpose they served was in a time when it was very hard to disseminate information to everyone, where farmers could be miles separated from their…

The More Things Change…

By Patrick Laverty | February 12, 2012 |

I don’t think that I can add much to the story in Sunday’s Providence Journal about what looks like an attempt at “pay for play“. Sam Zurier, the Councilman from Providence’s Second Ward (East Side) is alleged to have been trying to shake down a couple of constituents for a campaign donation after he got…