Will Weatherly
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 […]
Single-payer is better for businesses, says one expert
Dr. James Cowan has seen how health insurance works from multiple angles and both sides of the pond, consulting for the National Health Service, the United Kingdom’s public health-care system, to serving as an expert for the health-care insurer Aetna here in the United States. Now acting as an advisor for the Rhode Island Health […]
Raimondo’s pension cuts benefited hedge funds more than RI, says Brown
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Brown attacked pension cuts for state employees dating back to Governor Raimondo’s previous role as state treasurer at a town-hall style “Restore Our Pensions” event at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence on Monday evening. The event came mere hours after WPRI published polling results showing Brown lagging behind in name […]
Medicare for All would save RI money—and here’s the math
Would health care in Rhode Island cost less if everyone had access to it? The question, brought to the national stage in arguments surrounding Sen. Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All plan, came to Rhode Island repeatedly this week, whether it was when Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Brown announced his own Medicare for All plan, or in […]
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 […]
Matt Brown calls for “Medicare for All”
Democratic candidate for Governor Matt Brown announced last Friday that he supports a “Medicare for All” plan for Rhode Island, which will both counter Gov. Raimondo’s Medicaid cuts and “save Rhode Island money every year,” he said in a press release. “If people lose a job, they lose their health care. Small businesses pay so […]
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 […]
Blockchain has a far-right past. Does it have a future in Rhode Island?
Here is a list of some of the figures who have shown interest in bitcoin cryptocurrency and its associated “blockchain” technology: white nationalist Richard Spencer, who called bitcoin “the currency of the alt right.” Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has had private meetings with cryptocurrency investors. Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder and libertarian […]
Raimondo says her incentives spur job growth; EPI isn’t so sure
Governor Raimondo’s support for corporate incentives have become a contentious frontline in the race for governor. Both Democratic candidate Matt Brown and Republican candidate Allan Fung have attacked her commerce incentive programs (such as the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit) according to a report in the Providence Journal on Tuesday. The article shows Gov. Raimondo […]
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, […]
RI faces an expansive income gap, according to EPI report
A report released by the Economic Progress Institute (EPI) on Thursday put a spotlight on income inequality in Rhode Island, declaring that the country has entered a “new Gilded Age.” According to the study’s findings, the top 1 percent of Rhode Island residents earned 18.2 times more than the rest of the state, according to […]
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 […]
An early win for Kerwin
Kat Kerwin, one of Providence’s youngest candidates for city council, has perhaps already won the Ward 12 seat—by default. The deadline for candidates to file required nomination signatures with the Board of Canvassers in order to appear on the ballot in September came and went Monday afternoon. Ward 12 Councilman Terrence Hassett confirmed he had […]
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 […]
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