Providence
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…
This week, John and Justin discuss the special interests who get special privileges in the Ocean State.
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.
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…
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.
Diana Lozowski breaks down the causes of Providence schools’ lamentable performance, on the latest Rhody Reporter. At the end of the day, she puts the blame on all of us who have allowed this to happen by the way we vote.
DePetro caught up with Mack on the streets of Providence while covering the recent spate of shootings there, and it’s a must-watch five minutes. DePetro was respectful, but really pressed Mack on her beliefs about what’s going on in Providence and the effects of her own public statements. In a nutshell, to Tiara Mack, violence…
Not only are pension bonds a bad idea in principle, but Rhode Island has a sharp recent case study for reference. Yet, Dan McGowan reports for the Boston Globe that Providence “Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration is planning to ask state lawmakers to allow the city to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars through a pension obligation bond,” avoiding…
For their weekly conversation, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss Governor Daniel McKee avoiding the underlying problems at Zambarano, the media ignoring the underlying violence of BLM rallies, Providence ignoring the underlying issues with public safety, and the implications of fundraising results from Congressmen James Langevin and David Cicilline.
Along the defund-the-police line, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza recently released the results of a Walmart-family-funded study concluding that a “prevention-first approach” to public safety would “create a healthier, safer, and more just Providence,” but residents might wonder what “prevention-first” really means. Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré has lauded Eugene, Oregon’s CAHOOTS program, which stands for…