Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis
Dave Fisher, campaign manager for congressional candidate Abel Collins and former editor at ecoRI.org, announced on a new blog today that he plans to run for mayor of Woonsocket. The site is called Dave Fisher for Mayor of Woonsocket. “I really believe we can stop the downward slide of the city of Woonsocket by providing …
So, any of you that follow me on Twitter, or have the distinguished honor of being my “friend” on Facebook, probably already know that Feb. 26 was my first day as a beat reporter in the Rhode Island General Assembly for the fine web publication that you are now reading. You also probably know that …
For those who want a female president, the easiest vote is for Hillary Clinton. For those who someone to the left of Hillary Clinton, there’s Bernie Sanders. And for those who want a female president and someone to the left of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there’s Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president. Stein, …
Continue reading “POTUS candidate Jill Stein to visit RI in August”
Hey there, guys and gals. I was just having a coffee cabinet and some dynamites, thinking about yesterday’s SCORI decision in the Woonsocket and Pawtucket School Committee’s case to alter and accelerate school funding for these two cities, when it occurred to me that I should reach out to you all because, who knows better …
Continue reading “Are you there, General Assembly? It’s me, Woonsocket…”
As was reported by Jim Baron in The Woonsocket Call, newly elected House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello visited Woonsocket recently. While I only became aware of his visit after the fact, and was disappointingly not invited to the Rotary Club luncheon that he addressed, I should like to address the Speaker through this most public of …
Continue reading “Mattiello visits Woonsocket, but his tax-cutting agenda won’t help city”
. Monday Dec 9, 2013 North Kingstown, RI – Good morning, Ocean State. This is Bob Plain, editor and publisher of the RI Future blog podcasting to you from The Hideaway on the banks of the Mattatuxet River behind the Shady Lea Mill in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. It’s Monday, December 9th, and there is …
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) boom-and- bust cycle continued in Woonsocket this month, but not all local grocers benefit to the same degree. Woonsocket is home to two supermarkets. A Price Rite – which traffics in highly discounted groceries – and a Shaw’s – which is operates a bit more in the middle-class price …
Continue reading “Woonsocket Supermarkets On The First Of The Month”
If you didn’t know that local conservatives were going to take to Fox “News” to exploit Ken Block’s food stamp fraud report, I would like to bet you that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. Then, maybe we can go double or nothing on whether or not the days will get longer until late June, …
Continue reading “Fox “News” And The War On Woonsocket’s Poor”
This past week, the House Labor committee heard from “Ban the Box” supporters, including a short film to illustrate the challenge of finding employment, and a new life, with a criminal past. The film (available here) makes the case for House Bill H5507, known as “Ban the Box.” This piece of legislation removes that question, …
Continue reading “Move RI Beyond the Box: Stop Job Discrimination”
While I might not agree with where Ken Block invests his energy and determination, I certainly have a lot of respect for his energy and determination. Even after I compared him to PT Barnum and likened his SNAP fraud investigation to Anthony Gemma’s voter fraud investigation, he still took the time to write an essay …
Continue reading “Ken Block: Why Progressive RI Should Agree With Me”
A recent article in The Washington Post on the effects the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has on Woonsocket has once again placed the federal program in Rhode Island’s sights. Though the article is an indictment of our collapsed economy, a single part of the article focusing on the family’s finances seems to have caught …
I was curious how the game of EDC board membership chicken between Gov. Chafee and George Nee was going to play out. Was Chafee going to raise the stakes by demanding, rather than simply asking for, Nee’s resignation (a win for the media and loss for all other parties involved: labor, the governor, the people …
This week, both the House and Senate finance committees considered legislation that would reduce the corporate income tax from 9 percent to 7 percent over the next three years. The move, as always, is touted as a way to make Rhode Island’s business climate more competitive with our neighboring states’. While Rhode Island’s corporate tax …
Continue reading “Do RI Corporations Really Need A Tax Break?”
Even when wage theft is reported in Rhode Island, it isn’t always prosecuted, says Patrick Pierce who lost $1,000 when he didn’t get paid construction for a job he found on Craigslist His employer, he told Dave Fisher last night at the State House, had already been extradited from Florida to Rhode Island on similar …
Continue reading “Some Wage Theft Doesn’t Get Prosecuted In RI”
Now that the election is behind us, let’s take a look at the combined expenditures in Rhode Island’s Congressional races. We all know that a lot of money gets spent on federal elections — according to the Federal Election Commission, the total expenditures for Rhode Island’s Congressional races this year was a whopping $9,760,162 — …
Continue reading “What’s Your Vote Worth? Depends on the Candidate”
There’s a lot of good news for progressive candidates for Congress in Brown’s new poll that came out today. The biggest is probably that Abel Collins, an independent running for the second congressional district, garnered high enough support to be included in WJAR’s debate. Collins campaign manager Dave Fisher said he “absolutely” thought his candidate …
Continue reading “Brown Poll: Good News For Progressive Candidates”
Congressional candidate Abel Collins will be participating in the CD2 debate tonight. Well, sort of. The Collins campaign will either livestream their candidates responses to the debate questions immediately after WPRI’s portion ends at 8 p.m. or it will release a You Tube video of their responses to the questions later that evening. Either way, …
Continue reading “Collins to Participate in Debate, Via RI Future”
As I’ve argued here, outside of being a member of a major political party, there’s no good reason why WPRI would include Mike Riley in its CD2 debate and not Abel Collins. Unlike the ultra-conservative Riley, Collins espouses some pretty mainstream ideas. The independent wants citizens more involved in their government and corporations to be …
Continue reading “More McCarthyism from Mean-Spirited Mike Riley”
Just nine days after a narrow defeat to local firefighter Stephen Casey in September’s Democratic primary, Woonsocket representative Jon Brien announced — without a whiff of humility — that he would be running a write-in campaign to retain his seat in the General Assembly. Brien claimed that administrative errors by the Board of Canvassers sent …
Continue reading “Sour Grapes: Jon Brien is Wrong for Woonsocket”
The trees are budding, the grass is growing and the bees are buzzing. What better way to kick off Spring than to recognize Earth Day and slip in a mid-week sip? We hope to see you tonight from 7 to 9pm for our monthly gathering at Wild Colonial. This month’s DL program will RING IN …
Continue reading “Ring in Spring with Green at Drinking Liberally Tonight”