BrianHull

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras delivers the annual State of the City address. As expected , Mayor Angel Taveras said the state of the city is not so good. “Providence is in peril,” said the mayor of the capital city to lead into the annual State of the City speech. And, as he reiterated throughout his 20 minute address, it’s up to retirees and tax-exempt landowners to save it. The city is still $22.5 million short of being fiscally solvent this year and – short of raising property taxes... Read Full Story

Everyone knows what the state of the city is. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras has already sounded the alarm loudly. But nonetheless, he’ll still deliver the annual speech tonight at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. The state of the city is, of course, disastrous. Rhode Island’s capital city is on the brink of bankruptcy and could literally run out of operating funds by June. Taveras, a progressive Democrat, has trimmed the deficit by shrinking the city staff and through tough... Read Full Story

A new poll of 714 Rhode Island Voters indicates overwhelming support for medical marijuana, compassion centers, and decriminalization of less than one ounce of the plant.  The medical marijuana law, gone unused by Rep. Bob Watson (if he were to qualify) garnered support of 72%, including a whopping 82% of Dems, 61% GOP, and 57% of those beloved Seniors that every politician craves.  Only 30% of people over 65 were opposed.  With that support, it should be no surprise that support for the... Read Full Story

Everyone is certain to remember the controversy surrounding the 38 Studios   $75 million loan guarantee deal.  I, for one, was concerned about the tepid clawback provisions in the deal that would let 38 Studios off with a $400,000 fine if it didn’t create 400 jobs in the state.  In any case, Kingdoms of Amalur was released this week, and it has been receiving stellar reviews from all over the country.  Case in point is this glowing review from the New York Times. Kingdoms of Amalur... Read Full Story

Recent talk continues about the state buying a troubled asset, the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls.  The thinking is that the state could purchase the outlandishly overvalued prison, refinance it, and operate a modest profit margin while saving the bondholders on Wall Street.  Naturally, such a deal would take decades, if ever, to pay off.  As is, a scheduled increase in finance payments should bankrupt the prison within a few years.  Like many such large projects, the income is... Read Full Story

As Rhode Islanders continue to struggle in this tough economy ,  U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will host a community dinner in Narragansett this Sunday, to listen to local residents’ concerns and take questions.  Sheldon will discuss his fight to support Rhode Island small businesses, preserve Social Security and Medicare benefits, and implement the “ Buffett Rule ” to make sure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes. Sheldon Whitehouse Hosts a Community Dinner in... Read Full Story

First, let me apologize that I’m not addressing this in the comments of the original post . I simply am not able to participate in the discussion on the threads.  However,  I am pleased to see the amount of intelligent discussion that took place. In particular, there was some back-and-forth about unregulated capitalism, what constitutes it, etc.  There is one very important point I want to stress on this.  It’s the crux of my argument. I made the point that I’m not trained as an economist... Read Full Story

History is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. It is also a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. History tells a people where they’ve been and what they’ve been; where they are and what they are. History tells a people where they still must go and what they still must be. The relationship of history to the people is the same as the relationship of a mother to her child. ~ Dr. John Henrik Clarke Conscious memory is... Read Full Story

A group of students attending Brown University are publicly calling on the Brown Corporation to increase its monetary contributions to the City of Providence. Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. , students will speak in front of the University’s historic Van Wickle Gates, announcing the beginning of their campaign to convince Brown to reconsider its current fiscal relationship with the Providence community. “We’re doing this because Brown’s part of this community, too,” said Becca Rast, a sophomore... Read Full Story

From the Educate Providence website : Providence, like the rest of the country, faces significant challenges in ensuring that all of its children and youth have access to educational options that enable them to succeed in school and life. With shrinking budgets for school systems, increasing economic hardships and a fragmentation of the public and private systems that support children and families, we need new models and strategies to prepare children for their futures. A new consensus is... Read Full Story