Providence

A dog in the circus

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Governing Circus

By Justin Katz | July 26, 2021 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk about the politics of the day, with things that should be easy proving difficult and things that would have to be difficult being passed off as easy.

Policeman

Elorza and Paré don’t seem to see the cliff they’re walking along.

By Justin Katz | July 26, 2021 |

Having not seen video of the incident, nobody should be assuming that Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and his public safety commissioner, Steven Paré, are exaggerating when they say, as Steph Machado reports for WPRI, that these officers used excessive force: The arrests of the two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old took place in the early hours…

Racial conflict fist as a green light

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Municipal and School Officials Build Toward Race War

By Justin Katz | July 20, 2021 |

Critical race theory is all the rage, and John DePetro and Justin Katz worry about RI government efforts to stoke it into conflict.

Don't Think, Don't Ask, Pay Tax, Vote for Us

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Politics Becomes All

By Justin Katz | July 13, 2021 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss how everything is becoming political narrative, not serving and protecting the people, in Rhode Island.

A medical mask on the sidewalk

The governor keeps the pandemic going.

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

As Ian Donnis tweeted earlier, I was in Providence this afternoon at the Public’s Radio studio for an all-too-brief conversation with National Education Association of Rhode Island director Bob Walsh about the obstacles to improvement of Rhode Island’s education system. Arriving a bit early, I walked around the area, and it struck me that the…

Map of best and worst run U.S. cities

Where Providence is run poorly is where it matters (and Warwick, too).

By Justin Katz | June 25, 2021 |

On first look, Rhode Islanders might not be inclined to despair that our capital city ranks 89 among 150 cities reviewed for on the WalletHub list of “2021’s Best- & Worst-Run Cities in America.”  Our state has been run so poorly for so long that being (roughly) middle-of-the-pack on a list is something of a…

Jorge Elorza speaks at a Pride event

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Privileged in Rhode Island

By Justin Katz | June 21, 2021 |

This week, John and Justin discuss the special interests who get special privileges in the Ocean State.

Cut roots on a wall

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Systemic Avoidance of Root Causes

By Justin Katz | June 14, 2021 |

This week, John and Justin discuss homelessness, gun crime, and the common theme that activists and politicians don’t want to touch the real problems behind them both.

Children in tug of war

Weingarten gave the game away with her call for elected school boards.

By Justin Katz | May 24, 2021 |

Not a lot of time is required to understand how collective bargaining is supposed to work.  In the private sector, management has incentive to increase profits and squeeze savings out of workers, so employees coordinate their efforts so they have leverage as a group to protect their own interests.  Given that they are bound together…

Scene of the shooting

Majority of People Injured in Thursday’s Gang Shooting Were Known to Police

By Justin Katz | May 18, 2021 |

When a bunch of gang members already on the authorities’ radar engage in perhaps the largest mass shooting in Providence history with illegal guns two months after city police announce the end of their gang-member database, perhaps more gun control isn’t the missing ingredient.