Warwick

Fire report

Is somebody trying to make the fire at the speaker’s law office go away?

By Justin Katz | June 8, 2021 |

John DePetro writes that he’s in communication with a federal officer who claims Rhode Island and Warwick fire officials have been providing misleading information: According to a Federal officer, the Rhode Island Fire Marshall’s office mislead Federal officials as to the suspicious fire May 11 at the law office of House Speaker Joe Shekarchi. The…

Mike Stenhouse and Gayle Corrigan on In the Dugout

Gayle Corrigan explains the roots of the Warwick firefighter overtime scandal.

By Justin Katz | May 14, 2021 |

She was the first guest on Mike Stenhouse’s In the Dugout show, yesterday, followed by Andrew Bostom on RI Department of Health, saying that the data suggests Rhode Island should be wide open, right now. As a little bit of an editorial comment, having spent a few days looking at vaccine data, I do wonder if…

Warwick’s Pension Numbers Serve as National Example

By Marc Comtois | May 30, 2012 |

The local efforts by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity to shine a light on the pension mess have brought national attention: A locally published interview with a member of the national pension task force, assembled by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, has caused a stir in Warwick, puzzling the Mayor,…

Warwick Police & Fire Pensions Only 22% Funded

By Monique Chartier | May 22, 2012 |

… according to actuary results released a couple of hours ago by Councilman Joseph Solomon. According to the city’s professional actuaries, Warwick’s largest pension plan is just 22.3 percent funded and, as of June 30, 2011, had a staggering liability of $242,127,650. Police and Fire I is not the city’s only pension plan, but it…

How Private is Your Property?

By Marc Comtois | March 8, 2012 |

If your lucky, you don’t have to deal with “that house” in your neighborhood. You know, the one with the two or three beat up cars in the driveway (or on the lawn) and the hayfield instead of a lawn. It doesn’t look good and brings the appearance of the rest of the neighborhood down.…

Warwick Government Makes Itself Jump Through Hoops, Taxpayers Pay

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2012 |

It’s true: the City of Warwick charges the School Department to get multiple building permits for work being done in school buildings that the City itself owns. From today’s Warwick Beacon: School Committee Chair Beth Furtado said, for example, if there were six projects being conducted on one building, instead of getting one permit for…

Chafee’s Role in Warwick’s Pension Mess

By Marc Comtois | November 26, 2011 |

In a GoLocalProv story that reiterates much of what I wrote about back in April, Russel J. Moore also explains the mess that Warwick’s pension system is in and also traces it back to then-Mayor Lincoln Chafee: Governor Chafee has been an outspoken advocate for municipal pension reform. But several of the issues in Warwick,…

Car Tax Evaluation Committee: Typical?

By Marc Comtois | October 28, 2011 |

Warwick Car Tax Revolt leader Rob Cote has done a great service to the citizens of Warwick and the state by keeping the heat on our elected officials regarding the car tax. Further to that end, he decided to drop in on the annual Car Tax Evaluation Committee meeting, buried somewhere in the State House…

Point of Order, Mr. Chairman – Did the Committee Actually Vote on This Caruolo Action Litigation?

By Monique Chartier | August 5, 2011 |

So last week, the Warwick School Committee became a James McLaughlin Award recipient by filing suit against the city to obtain $6.2 million in additional revenue for the school department. (We should take note of a matter that is undoubtedly completely unrelated: the Warwick teachers contract expires at the end of this month.) A potential…

Clueless: Warwick School Committee Files a Caruolo

By Monique Chartier | August 2, 2011 |

The Providence Journal reported this development on the very day (i.e., yesterday) that a Rhode Island municipality was thrown into bankruptcy. With no clear answer from the state on whether communities that cut funding to their school districts last year have to restore some of that money, the Warwick School Committee is suing the city…