Progress Report: State of Local Media; At Last, Three-Way Debate; Energy Politics; Dems on Doherty Gets Little Press
Every progressive – indeed every Rhode Islander, if not all Americans! – owe it to themselves to spend some time reading Providence Monthly’s awesome feature on the state of journalism in Rhode Island. The magazine put together a group of the best and brightest reporters we’ve got here in the Ocean State who kicked around [...]
38 Studios Shoe Drops
This afternoon, Governor Chafee announced the state would be pursuing legal action against not only the officers of 38 Studios, but also the financial advisors and the EDC staff who put the deal together. I highly recommend reading the actual complaint, but here is the part that stands out for me: The undisclosed risks included [...]
Progress Report: Plastic Bags in Barrington; Offshore Wind Farm off Block Island, Cub Scouts in Cranston; Patch, SRIN
Congratulations to Barrington for becoming the first town in Rhode Island to ban plastic grocery bags, and here’s hoping many more municipalities follow suit; such restrictions serve as a great aid in cleaning up Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island’s greatest natural asset. Speaking of firsts, the first offshore wind farm in the United States, which should [...]
Bad Time to Announce A Free-To-Play Copernicus
Thanks to WPRI.com reporter Ted Nesi’s Twitter pontifications, we’ve learned from Boston Magazine‘s Jason Schwartz that 38 Studios had planned to release their flagship game (codenamed “Project Copernicus“) under the “freemium” model of gaming (a portmanteau of “free” and “premium”, referring to the dual use of free and premium accounts, dominant in tech-savvy South Korea). It’s [...]
Progress Report: Religious Symbols on Public Property in RI, Curt Schilling’s Fib, Local Journalism
There is a major and potentially very ugly battle brewing in the Ocean State that has nothing to do with tax rates, struggling cities or bankrupt ballplayers: I’m talking about religious symbols on public property, and it’s getting out of control. The most recent example (which you learned about first from RI Future), a cross [...]
Progress Report: Woonsocket Needs Money, Not a Receiver
The state budget commission appointed to help Woonsocket with its finances says it needs a supplemental property tax in order to make ends meet this year. Such a tax would need to be approved by the General Assembly, but the House won’t vote on it until it has the support of the Woonsocket delegation, which [...]
No Reckoning: The RI Corruption Video Game
This morning, former Red Sox Pitcher Curt Schilling blamed the State of Rhode Island for the failure of his video game company. According to the Providence Journal, he blamed the state for not giving him more tax breaks. Additionally, the Journal reported, Schilling has lost “33 pounds in the past 45 days, which he calls [...]
RI Progress Report: Schilling Speaks, Woonsocket Asks for State Help, Senator Kerry’s Yacht Back in Newport
The Providence Journal wins the exclusive first interview with Curt Schilling … and guess what: 38 Studios’ collapse wasn’t his fault, it was Chafee’s fault for scaring away investors by telling the public that the company didn’t have any money. If only Chafee could have scared away the state from investing way back when…. And, [...]
RI Progress Report: 38 Studios, Woonsocket Race To Bankruptcy
38 Studios laid off all of its employees yesterday … I guess Curt Schilling and Linc Chafee will be completing Copernicus by themselves. Speaking of going bankrupt, Woonsocket’s supplemental tax increase failed to win approval in the House yesterday afternoon after Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, a Woonsocket Democrat, stymied its passage. “The end came suddenly, with [...]
RI Progress Report: Curt Schilling, 38 Studios Turned Don Carcieri Into a Fool and Linc Chafee Into a Leader
So much for the prospect of 38 Studios taking advantage of film and TV (and evidently video game?) tax credits … it turns out that because Big Schill registered his company in Deleware – no doubt for tax purposes – that he isn’t eligible for tax relief in Rhode Island, reports Ted Nesi. Note to [...]
Even the Winners are Losers in 38 Studios Fallout
With all of the financial trouble coming out of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, quite a number of Rhode Islanders are probably justified in saying “I told you so.” And probably another bunch aren’t justified, but are saying it anyways. But here’s the thing, beyond the “things worked out the way I said they would” factor, [...]
38 Studios Debacle: RI’s Own Green Monster
Curt Schilling was a magnificent baseball player for a number of years. He was instrumental in removing the Curse of the Bambino for the Red Sox, and who can ever forget the ‘Bloody Sock’? Great stuff indeed. While it is evident that Mr. Schilling displayed significant talent on the diamond, his recent exploration into the [...]
Stokes Pushed Too Hard for 38 Studios Deal
Expect Keith Stokes to lose his job as executive director of the state Economic Development Corporation over the debacle with 38 Studios. In fact, he ought to offer his resignation, if he hasn’t already. He pushed for the hugely risky deal and even begged at least one lawmaker not to propose legislation that would have [...]
Hard to Tell Who Knew of 38 Studios Deal
Rhode Island is hyperfocused on Curt Schilling. But unlike eight years ago when he heroically hurled us to a World Series victory, this time we have to rely on his business – not athletic – acumen. His video game company, 38 Studios, was given a taxpayer guaranteed $75 million loan to move from Massachusetts to [...]
38 Studios and the ‘Job Creator’ Logic
Word started buzzing around the State House just prior to Gov. Chafee making his historic executive order recognizing same sex marriages from other states – but the rumors weren’t about marriage equality, they were about 38 Studios. By the end of the day, Bill Rappleye of Channel 10 broke what very well could become the [...]
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