Providence
Alex Cannon is the Republican candidate in the race for the open Rhode Island Senate seat representing the East Side of Providence, but progressive journalist Steve Ahlquist conducted a lengthy, interesting, and fair interview with him on Uprise RI. Cannon, who hails from Las Vegas, Nevada, and arrived in Rhode Island in 2017, describes himself as…
Yesterday, I wondered why the plight and complaints of Providence middle school teacher Ramona Bessinger weren’t of more concern to teachers, parents, the community, the union, and Rhode Islanders generally. Today, the Wall Street Journal editorial board has proven that somebody actually cares, giving their editorial the sharp headline, “Education Horror Show, Continued.” (Search the headline…
William Jacobson reports on Legal Insurrection that while Providence middle school teacher was at an inquiry alleging that she had permitted some students out of her classroom during a practice lockdown, students wrote threatening notes on her classroom’s whiteboard and tweeted pictures at them. One of the images showed a student at the board, but Jacobson speculates…
I started college in 1993, and I remember people older than me who had gone to urban campuses talking about the dangerousness of the cities — muggings, assaults, break-ins. Those things can always happen as random events, but by the mid-’90s, it kind of seemed like they were largely a thing of the past. Unfortunately,…
The mainstream media — represented for this post by Brian Amaral of the Boston Globe — may not know what is to blame for the increase in violent crime across the country, but they sure know who: In 2019, a Rhode Island man released from a life crack-dealing sentence under the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform…
Providence middle school teacher Ramona Bessinger shared on her Facebook page a Planned Parenthood poster that she was “encouraged to post” in her classroom last school year. Here’s the main body of the text: Beyond the Birds and the Bees is a sexuality education program for high schoolers that is science-based, sex-positive, and affirming to…
Thus, John DePetro is keeping an eye on the folks at the heart of the scandal with the Sayles Street police response: One of the main players in the Providence Sayles street melee was arrested in Cranston for dealing drugs with children in the house. Alynezea Quaranta was one of the main contributors to the…
John DePetro and Justin Katz review multiple ways state and local government seem not to be acting as one would expect competent professionals to act.
My latest article for Accuracy in Media does some digging into what’s going on with critical race theory (CRT)–style curricula and teacher training in Providence schools: Congressional Republicans scored a victory for racial harmony in the American classroom with the passage of Senator Tom Cotton’s “Stop CRT Act“. Whether the legislation will actually halt the promotion of critical race theory…
John DePetro and Justin Katz take on unprecedented developments in RI government and politics.