Patrick Laverty
I’ve asked before, why does the state’s redistricting process need to be done this way? The state hires an outside consultant who takes some of the data, draws a map, shows it to some people, gets feedback, draws another map and the process continues until finally a few of them agree that they’ve created a…
Warwick’s Rob Cote has been leading the charge for a car tax revolt in the state. He has brought up the inequities in the law with things like being taxed at the full clean value of a car, in spite of its mileage and condition. If you have a 2005 Honda Accord, you will be…
It seems the recent blackout of many popular web sites caused some SOPA/PIPA supporters to change their tune. We even had Senator Reed and Congressman Cicilline come out against the bills, after they’d previously been non-committal. Senator Whitehouse still supports the bill that he is sponsoring, but says he is willing to make changes. I…
Monique’s post today about her attempt to get in touch with State Rep Charlene Lima via email made me think that it’s pretty interesting that Reps and Senators don’t want to be bothered by non-constituents. Last June, Jim Hummel came to the same conclusion, with Rep. Lima again the poster child for this type of…
This should be an interesting weekend in football as we’re down to the final four teams trying to become NFL champions. The Patriots will play the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants will take on the San Francisco 49ers. However, yesterday at a campaign fundraiser in San Francisco, Vice President Joe Biden didn’t make…
Two stories in the Providence Journal lately have me lamenting more of the same in Rhode Island. More of lack of strong leadership and more disregard for the people and the spirit of law. Last Thursday, they reported that Senators Paiva-Weed, Ruggerio and Goodwin were invited to the Senate Presidents Forum in Key West. The…
Sometimes during the week, I see or read various things that I think about posting, but I can’t imagine more than a sentence or two about it, so I drop it. Finally I figured, why not save them up and put them all together once a week. I think Marc did this a few weeks…
State Senator Beth Moura (R – Cumberland/Lincoln) put out a press release calling for a forum with top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federal governmentally backed financial entities that securitize mortgages for the servicing banks. Moura’s allegation is that Fannie and Freddie aren’t working with many distressed Rhode Island homeowners to refinance…
Sometimes, it isn’t too bad being a nerd or a geek. Or as I guess as some geeks refer to themselves, a g33k. It’s nice because when the news picks up a story that includes the discussion of DNS servers and IP addresses, I can more easily pick up on what they’re trying to say…
Today’s Providence Journal had an interesting story about Lillian Turnipseed, a Providence teacher coach. She is a teacher with 38 years of classroom experience, so it would be natural to believe that she would be a great candidate to tutor new teachers. She is one of Rhode Island’s 17 “induction coaches” responsible for helping the…