Providence

A girl peaks out from under bedcovers

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Woke and the Awakening

By Justin Katz | January 10, 2022 |

John and Justin talk about who is woke, awake, asleep, and awakening in Rhode Island politics.

A hooded man in shadows

Providence murder mysteries can be solved if you use the word, “gangs.”

By Justin Katz | December 13, 2021 |

Nobody should feel encouraged by statements from Democrat Mayor Jorge Elorza or the other Democrats who run the city after another shooting in Providence on Saturday night.  Elorza may claim to “understand that our community needs and deserves to feel safe,” but that isn’t possible when authorities refuse to be clear about what’s going on.…

Whiteboard harassment of Ramona Bessinger

How is the Rhode Island Foundation permitted to push racist policies in Providence schools?

By Justin Katz | December 11, 2021 |

Lean back a moment and clear your eyes.  If you’re older than thirty, recall lessons you learned when you were young — that it is always wrong to discriminate against people based entirely on the color of their skin.  Now read this short paragraph: One of the [Providence school] district’s current incentives, which will continue…

Casual office planning meeting

Politics This Week with John DePetro: PR Bumbling All Around

By Justin Katz | November 30, 2021 |

John and Justin discuss local, state, and national stories with which the messaging is going all wrong.

A man with a bullet mask

Some keywords are strangely missing from news about increased shootings in Providence.

By Justin Katz | November 30, 2021 |

According to a chart published as part of WPRI’s report on the increase in victims of shootings in Providence, the city has regressed nearly to its 2015 level after steadily falling until 2020.  The number hit a low of 35 in 2019 and then more than doubled in 2020 and has increased from that point…

A water drop and ripples

Fining the contractor for Providence’s Small Business Saturday street closure seems like a cover-up.

By Justin Katz | November 30, 2021 |

This is just a little too neat and tidy a resolution to the story of government incompetence in Providence mentioned in this space yesterday: The construction company responsible for the closure of a Providence street lined with small businesses during one of the busiest shopping days of the year has been fined for working without…

A water drop and ripples

Here’s the detail that shows how badly Providence government is managed.

By Justin Katz | November 29, 2021 |

Businesses on Hope Street in Providence were all prepared for one of their biggest days for sales: small business Saturday.  Oops: Providence Water crews closed a portion of the street early Saturday morning and part of the afternoon for utility work. The construction has been happening for some time, but business owners, like Asher Schofield…

A Providence neighborhood through a Statehouse window

Don’t trust politicians who don’t ask “why” about housing before they proclaim a solution.

By Justin Katz | November 24, 2021 |

Right from the beginning, an op-ed in the Boston Globe by RI Political Co-Op progressive candidate Lenny Cioe gives off warning signals: In many neighborhoods near colleges like Providence College, Johnson and Wales, and Brown University, predatory real estate companies are jacking up rents and forcing out families in favor of high-paying students. And that’s…

Valrie Ranglin-Brown tweets about the Johns Hopkins report

Weird how every insight other than the testimony of vested interests in the system turns out to be suspicious to the vested interests.

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2021 |

Putting aside the insinuation of bad faith on the part of people with whom she disagrees, Providence English teacher Valrie Ranglin-Brown — sister of Rhode Island Representative Marcia Ranglin-Vassell (D, Providence) — makes a point well worth considering: The John Hopkins Report on Providence Schools is truly not reflective of our schools. Its goal was…

A man with his head in a washing machine

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Government Hides Its Dirty Laundry

By Justin Katz | November 15, 2021 |

John and Justin talk about times in which government should just air politicians’ thinking and mistakes.