Providence

A boy makes faces at a group of happy children

Politics This Week: He Knows They Are, but What Is He?

By Justin Katz | November 19, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz evaluate the landscape for Democrat RI.

A heavy man races casually without competition

Politics This Week: Corruption Without Competition

By Justin Katz | October 15, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss ways in which corruption thrives without competitive elections.

Toys march out of the playroom

Politics This Week: Why Should They Stay?

By Justin Katz | September 23, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on politics in RI.

A girl walks through a haunted graveyard whistling

Politics This Week: Does Anything Really Matter in RI Politics?

By Justin Katz | September 3, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the relevance of local, state, and national political news.

A water drop and ripples

The yard sign connection to mail ballots is terrifying.

By Justin Katz | September 3, 2024 |

In the heat of the battle, political controversies over yard signs can become an almost comedic proxy for heated disagreements.  I’ve seen people in the heat of a busy campaign drop everything to do battle with people stealing the yard signs of the other side or placing their own signs on property where they aren’t…

A water drop and ripples

How are Providence school results not the biggest, most-ongoing story in Rhode Island?

By Justin Katz | August 22, 2024 |

I mean, look at this: The scores were abysmal to start; the goals were obviously fictitious when considered in the absence of a practical plan; and the final results are offensively bad.  If these results aren’t causing outrage, it’s because nobody in the Democrat establishment or news media wants to address the underlying problems, which…

Elites stand on a people pyramid

Politics This Week: Who RI Works For

By Justin Katz | August 5, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk about who benefits (and who doesn’t) from recent items in the news.

A water drop and ripples

I’m reevaluating Jorge Elorza’s in-your-face shouts at McKee.

By Justin Katz | July 25, 2024 |

When Elorza was mayor, it seemed embarrassing for him to take a public event as an opportunity to confront McKee, but his recent comments about public education in Providence, which formed the basis for the confrontation, suggest his emotions were well placed and genuine: “What we have now is a system that locks in place…

A water drop and ripples

The progressive version of community always needs villains.

By Justin Katz | July 5, 2024 |

I don’t want to make too much of it, but something seems off to me about Bill Bartholomew’s crusade against Providence businesses’ commandeering parking spaces to use for use in their valet parking service.  (I assume that means they’re the spaces right in front of the businesses, allowing cars to pull in and then be…

Special interests tug on a fraying rope in tug of war

Politics This Week: Special Interest Tug of War

By Justin Katz | June 24, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz look for the hidden dynamics of local politics.