Laufton Ascencao on how progressives can win campaigns
He may not have the Democratic Party’s endorsement, but Laufton Ascencao, running for state representative in District 68 (Bristol, Warren), knows exactly how to win races despite tall odds. He told me one of his first political litmus tests was during his time in Pittsburgh in 2013. There, while doing college organizing for the Obama […]
Providence, Central Falls sue Jeff Sessions and Justice Department
The cities of Providence and Central Falls—and in a separate suit, the state of Rhode Island—are taking the Department of Justice and US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to court over its manipulation of federal grant funds to support the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agenda. The grant in dispute is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice […]
Deya Garcia runs to advocate for a neglected neighborhood
Sitting in The Lunch Box, a Dominican restaurant on Park Avenue in Cranston, Democratic candidate for Providence city council Deya Garcia (Ward 8, Reservoir and West End) shows me pictures of flowers. Her neighbors have dug in chayote, a kind of squash plant usually reserved for humid climates, and gave Garcia tips on how to […]
Providence students tell their stories with their public art
A new piece of public art on the side of Empire Loan, at the corner of Broad and Somerset streets in Providence, is a bit of an optical illusion. Incorporating sculptural elements on a chain-link fence, spray-painted designs on the asphalt, and a mural on the building’s side, the piece comes together only when one […]
Spicer claims Cohen doesn’t have info against Trump during sparse book-signing
I had time to ask Sean Spicer, the former press secretary under President Trump for six months last year, exactly one question during his book signing at a Middletown Barnes and Noble on Friday. I asked: “This week, reports were released saying that Michael Cohen testifies that Donald Trump knew about a meeting of campaign […]
Warwick wants to charge students for riding the bus, playing sports
In an effort to balance its budget, Warwick wants to charge students $1 to take the bus to and from school as well as a fee to participate in after school sports. But because these cost-cutting moves flout state law, the local school committee is seeking the approval of the state Department of Education to […]
Hundreds march as UNAP begins 3-day strike
The sound outside of Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence was deafening on Monday afternoon as hundreds of nurses and other members of Local 5098 of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) began their three-day strike for a fairer contract. The union’s previous contract with the hospital ended on June 30. Both […]
Providence DSA co-chair on electoral strategy and the movement’s rising star
After what might be considered a 35-year slow burn for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the past year—and especially the last month—has seen the DSA’s flame burn fast and bright. The group gained almost 17,000 dues-paying members in the first 10 months of the Trump presidency. In New York City, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken […]
Hotel workers to picket Omni hotel for affordable health care
Organizers and workers from Local 26 are picketing the Omni Providence hotel on Friday afternoon to call for fairer access to affordable health care for hotel workers. Omni’s contract with the union expired at the end of this January, and the hotel has been in negotiations for a renewed deal since this May. Jonah Zinn, […]
Council Ordinance Committee rejects Fane Tower zoning change
After an extensive public hearing Wednesday night, the Providence Council Ordinance Committee voted three to one, with one member abstaining, to recommend the full council deny the zoning amendment necessary for the 600-foot Fane Tower proposed for Route 195 redevelopment land located in the Jewelry District. The proposal had been previously shot down by the […]
Jewelry District garage gets public funding for private parking spaces
Construction is underway on a new parking garage in downtown Providence, Providence Business News reports, and while the project is publicly-funded most of the parking spaces will be for private use. 900 of the structure’s proposed 1250 spaces will be dedicated to tenants at Wexford Science & Technology’s innovation center under construction in the neighborhood. […]
Candidates for Ward 1 and Ward 12 square off
In one of the first opportunities for both city council incumbents and their challengers to be grilled by the public this campaign season, candidates from Ward 1 and Ward 12 (encompassing Downtown, Smith Hill, and Fox Point, among other neighborhoods) met at the Pavilion at Grace Episcopal Church in Providence this Tuesday during a Q&A […]
Progressive activists seek Providence City Council seats
The uproar in Rhode Island’s Democratic Party might also be seen in Providence City Council campaigns this summer as several new, progressive candidates are running races far to the left of longtime incumbents—often with the claim that the establishment has been largely absent from their constituents’ neighborhoods. Kat Kerwin Few are more pointed with this […]
Justice Gaines announces her run for Providence City Council
At one of the coziest campaign kickoffs in recent memory, Justice Ameer Gaines announced her bid for Providence City Council for Ward 1, encompassing the Fox Point, Wayland, and Downtown neighborhoods. A well-regarded local activist, Gaines promises to be one of the most progressive candidates running for a municipal seat in the city. She has […]
AG to NK: you must go to court before selling former Wickford library
Though North Kingstown voters overwhelmingly approved at an April special election selling the Old Library/Town Hall Annex building on Brown Street in Wickford, and the Town Council has signed off on the sale, for $100,000, to be developed into a restaurant/event center, residents still might be stuck with the property Caleb Chadsey donated to the […]
Henrietta White-Holder, Linda Finn Receive Red Bandana Awards
The Red Bandana Fund is pleased to announce two local advocates, Henrietta White-Holder and Linda Finn, as the 2018 recipients of the Red Bandana Award! The Award, the sixth annual, honors individuals and groups whose work embodies the spirit and work of Richard Walton, a longtime Rhode Island activist who died in 2012. The awards […]
Two cheers for speed cameras, but not three
There has been a well publicized backlash against Providence speed cameras placed in school zones ticketing those going at least 11 mph over the speed limit. But the anger is not because there is so much speeding in school zones, it is because their were so many tickets! The apparent sense of entitlement that some motorists feel to speed […]
Giarrusso missed vote on bump stock bill
When East Greenwich legislator Anthony Giarrusso was asked about a ban on assault weapons, he talked about a bill banning bump stocks. But when it came time to vote for the bill that bans bump stocks, Giarrusso wasn’t there. “This is my sixth session and the first time any major bill was considered on the […]
Caleb Chadsey bequeathed a library, NK Town Council wants a restaurant
When Caleb Chadsey died, in 1894, he left $10,000 and a parcel of property in the heart of Wickford to the town of North Kingstown for the purposes of creating a community library. And there, at 55 Brown St., is where the local library stood until 1975, when a bigger one was built a few […]
Giarrusso, Caldwell hold impromptu debate over gun legislation via email
The first debate of the campaign to represent East Greenwich in the state House of Representatives happened via email. It was between Republican Anthony Giarrusso, the current occupant of the District 30 seat, and Democratic challenger Justine Caldwell. It largely concerned gun legislation at the State House, but also touched on the so-called War on […]
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