East Providence

A prison warden hides his keys behind his back during a fire

Days of Reckoning for the Salt of RI’s Earth

By Justin Katz | April 11, 2024 |

The point can’t be stressed enough that Rhode Islanders should understand the Washington Bridge debacle as a representative lesson on our state government.  For that reason, not the least, Mark Patinkin’s conversations with local affected business owners is an article to print and review periodically in the future.  Restauranteurs and venue owners bought and built…

A water drop and ripples

Notice that McKee’s snafu attempt to meet with businesses in East Providence failed because he didn’t want to cross the bridge.

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2024 |

This incident, highlighted by John DePetro, is a few weeks old, at this point, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.  Democrat Governor Dan McKee and Democrat East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva were supposed to meet with businesses affected by the Washington Bridge closure.  DaSilva has been adamant that people should not avoid his city out of…

A road inspector sleeps on his car

In Rhode Island, government is a natural disaster.

By Justin Katz | February 7, 2024 |

Yes, yes, words get thrown around in state-level politics, but there’s an important lesson in East Providence City Council President Bob Rodericks’s letter asking Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee to declare a state of emergency over the closure of the Washington Bridge between East Providence and Providence: … East Providence is impacted more than any…

An old man contemplates a pit expanding to consume a city

Politics This Week: Distracted by Disaster

By Justin Katz | February 5, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz lament the lack of focus on the basics in RI government and media.

Children dance near a burning RI State House

Politics This Week: RI Bridges Falling Down

By Justin Katz | January 29, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz wonder whether Rhode Island can withstand deterioration with its current leadership.

A traffic camera

Here’s what I wonder about East Providence school zone ticket cameras.

By Justin Katz | January 14, 2022 |

For seven weeks, East Providence sent warnings instead of tickets to drivers who went more than 11 miles per hour over the speed limit in school zones.  The system issued 69,528 such warnings, in fact, which works out to about 1,420 per day. The cameras have only been snagging drivers for actual $50 tickets for…

For the Kids or For the Money?

By Patrick Laverty | December 16, 2012 |

First of all, if you do a job for an agreed-upon price, you should get paid for doing the job. However, I think the coaches at East Providence High School are handling this the wrong way. In Saturday’s Providence Journal was a story about the EP varsity sports coaches walking out on the kids due…

Big Finance Likes Totalitarianism, but Democracy Requires Hard Lessons

By Justin Katz | January 3, 2012 |

I’ll admit that I don’t have much new to say about the continuing activities of the state-appointed budget commission now ruling East Providence: The state-appointed budget commission overseeing the city’s finances convened for the first time Wednesday, chose Michael O’Keefe, a former state budget director, as its president, and established its first priority: improving the…

East Providence Headed for a Fiscal Overseer?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 11, 2011 |

Ted Nesi of WPRI-TV (CBS 12) is reporting that Chafee administration is close to applying the state’s municipal fiscal stabilization law to the City of East Providence. According to the WPRI report, East Providence wouldn’t go immediately into receivership, as Central Falls did, but would have a fiscal overseer appointed for them by the state.…

Can We Please Deduct $142,000 from East Providence’s State Aid for the Next Two Years?

By Monique Chartier | June 25, 2011 |

It’s already a lot that we send money for the salaries of municipal and school staffers who actually, you know, come in and work. To send money for someone to involuntarily “sit home, eating ice cream sandwiches” for absolutely no reason is a bit much. The East Providence School Committee decided to keep School Superintendent…