Only in Rhode Island…

Man hiding money behind his back with his fingers crossed.

Politics This Week: Tales from the Everything’s Personal State

By Justin Katz | April 25, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss how personal relations, feelings, and drama pervade Rhode Island government in every aspect.

Biker on a dirty ATV.

Politics This Week: Hidden Emails, DUI Skeletons, Bikers Gone Wild

By Justin Katz | April 11, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the mysterious ways in which Rhode Island government runs poorly.

Providence, Rhode Island, USA park and skyline.

Politics This Week: Blame, Budgets, and Bailouts

By Justin Katz | April 3, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz walk through the latest comedies in Rhode Island politics and discuss the characters who have been stealing the spotlight.

Things We Read Today This Weekend, 6

By Justin Katz | September 9, 2012 |

First, scroll down and read Monique’s postings on Rep. Spencer Dickinson. Then… The topics of hope and hopelessness pervaded this weekend’s readings, from absurd labor rules in schools, to the likely outcome of Make It Happen, to Spencer Dickinson’s insider view, and then to Sandra Fluke.

When I Grow Up, I Wanna Be a Crony

By Marc Comtois | August 24, 2012 |

I can’t confirm if this was filmed in Rhode Island or not (h/t): “I’m gonna fight for MY piece of the taxpayer pie.” “What’s a crony?” “It’s like having a best friend who gives you other people’s stuff.” “We take care of our friends.” “We get to spend taxpayer money any way we want.” “Why…

Headlines

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 24, 2012 |

From Erika Niedowski of the Associated Press: “38 Studios lays off entire staff“. From a staff report from the Valley Breeze: “Woonsocket tax bill killed by full House“.

Mental Illness: Rhode Island Ranks Highest

By Monique Chartier | October 6, 2011 |

Must. Resist. Wisecracks. And. Speculative. Correlations. ( Via the Sacramento Bee.) A new report providing state-by-state analyses of the prevalence of any mental illness including serious mental illness (SMI) reveals significant variation across the country. For example, among adults aged 18 or older, the rate of serious mental illness in the past year ranged from…

Rhode Island Once Again Makes the Wrong End of a National Ranking. But This Time, Who Can Blame Us?

By Monique Chartier | December 13, 2010 |

Between the bad roads and the bad politics, no wonder: The study says about 30 million Americans admit to driving drunk every year, according to a new federal study, and 10 million say they drove while impaired by illicit drugs. Remarkably, those numbers are down from about five years ago. Rhode Island was found to…

Johnny Wraps is Rhode Island

By Marc Comtois | May 24, 2010 |

THIS really is Rhode Island, isn’t it? Dirty lawyer brother of medium city mayor makes contacts in prison thanks to his past links with organized crime. A friend from the camp gave him the names of two inmates who would take care of him: Rex Cunningham and Blind Eddie. Cunningham, a tough-guy from Springfield, Mass.,…