Rhode Island Politics

Tax-Lien Reform Reintroduced in the House

By Carroll Andrew Morse | January 5, 2006 | Comments Off on Tax-Lien Reform Reintroduced in the House

The bill making it more difficult for the government to sell a house out from under its owner without the owner knowing it was re-introduced to the RI House yesterday. Representatives Joseph Almeida (D-Providence), Grace Diaz (D-Providence) and Thomas Slater (D-Providence) introduced House Bill 6704 which, if passed, would make 3 major changes to the…

Patrick Lynch and Open Meetings in Rhode Island

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 28, 2005 |

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch is unhappy with the Projo‘s coverage of his office’s March 2005 advisory opinion concerning open forums and school committee meetings. In the opinion, the AG’s office stated that school committee members should not respond to public comments made during school committee open forums because substantive responses, in some circumstances,…

The Upcoming Public Sector Financial Implosion

By | December 27, 2005 | Comments Off on The Upcoming Public Sector Financial Implosion

Ed Achorn of the ProJo discusses the looming transparency of public sector financial obligations to be required under the new accounting rules: Taxpayers in Rhode Island — and nationwide — will soon be learning some very unpleasant facts of life about debts the politicians have been running up in their name for many years, in…

Yet Another Madeline Walker Coincidence

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 20, 2005 |

According to Providence Probate Court Judge John Martinelli, cases similar to the case of Madeline Walker, the 81 year old Providence woman evicted from her home for failing to pay a sewer bill, are more common than they should be…At a Providence Probate Court hearing yesterday, Judge John Martinelli looked out into the packed courtroom…

Setting Some Things Straight

By Justin Katz | December 20, 2005 |

Although this isn’t something that I expected ever to write, the coming year’s Republican primary in Rhode Island is already a subject for blazing passions. That, in itself, strikes me as a healthy turn of events. Still, I remind commenters that Anchor Rising will insist that their conversations be civil. I should also clarify my…

A Madeline Walker Irony — or Coincidence — or Something Worse

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 19, 2005 |

Madeline Walker is the elderly Providence resident who lost her home for failing to pay a $500 sewer bill. A law proposed in the legislature earlier this year would have given Ms. Walker and others in similar situations a better chance to learn that their houses were being sold out from under them. House bill…

Toward a Non-Pixelated Movement

By Justin Katz | December 16, 2005 |

Believe me that I tried, as the comments on the Laffey Photoshop controversy trickled in yesterday, to convince myself that I was making a flaw out of a quirk. Believe me, too, that I’m not altogether happy about the contrast between these posts and the more substantive ones that others are publishing around them. Nonetheless,…

A Crack in the Machine?

By Justin Katz | December 15, 2005 |

Yeah, I know, it’s silly and not a little suspicious that such a thing would become a news story at all. Still… Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey has apparently been making some revisionist history — digitally removing a one-time political ally turned foe from all images on his Web site. The photos remain, but the…

Re: Rhode Island’s Retrograde Fiscal Culture

By Justin Katz | November 30, 2005 | Comments Off on Re: Rhode Island’s Retrograde Fiscal Culture

Andrew puts his post about Rhode Island’s fiscal position relative to its neighbors in the “Rhode Island Economy” category, but the issue is at least as political and cultural as it is economic. Over years of patchwork research, I’ve found that Rhode Island always tops Massachusetts in all the wrong ways. It takes bad or…

Providence GOP Hosts Media Celebrities

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 21, 2005 | Comments Off on Providence GOP Hosts Media Celebrities

Tireless Providence Republican Party Chairman Dave Talan passes along an announcement of what promises to be interesting panel discussion & straw poll he’s put together for Tuesday evening… PROVIDENCE REPUBLICAN PARTY GENERAL MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 @ 7:00 P.M. THE COLUMBUS THEATRE (270 Broadway – In Federal Hill) Featuring a special panel on “How The…