The title of this post is a phrase that’s struck me as peculiar ever since I first spotted it on a comic book that had found its way into my childhood collection, somehow. Does it indicate that it was the second time the two characters had been together? Or had they been together in some…
Watching the employment statistics, as presented by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from month to month, offers an interesting perspective on how people can develop different understandings of objective reality. Tracing the unemployment rate, one might think Rhode Island is undergoing a strong recovery. In January 2010, it was 11.9%, and for years…
While I don’t expect to change his final assessment, I’d like to correct a misunderstanding in Thomas Kolodziejczak’s letter in today’s Providence Journal, “Katz’s rightist ravings.” Responding to an op-ed of mine from the previous Saturday (“Apathy, fear as R.I. dusk turns to night”), Mr. Kolodziejczak paraphrases that I meant to suggest “that nearly 20…
Suzanne bates has another state-payroll-related investigative report on the Ocean State Current, this one covering a job titled “community living assistant.” These are high-school-educated employees with average regular pay below $36,000, who’ve been able to triple their pay with overtime and other salary enhancements, topping out near $130,000. Their job entails helping the residents of…
The way property taxes work, in Rhode Island, revaluations are little more than a way of redistributing the tax burden, and in Providence, a shift from taxing buildings to taxing land has repercussions for a number of recent issues, from the Superman Building to legislation affecting the entire state. Continue reading on the Ocean State…
This afternoon, Ken Block released the following interesting analysis of the 2012 election results for District 4. Reform advocate urges Fox and Senate President Paiva-Weed to respect the voice of Rhode Islanders and let bills eliminating Master Lever come to vote (PROVIDENCE, RI 4/10/13) Businessman Ken Block, who has been a leading advocate for the…
Amidst the political noise of news on marriage, immigration, and guns, Phil Marcelo has an informative article in today’s Providence Journal highlighting the fact that the State of Rhode Island is going to have to pay to maintain its ObamaCare health benefits exchange when federal dollars run out. That’s an issue that I raised last…
With reference to the (regrettable) comments that Mike Riley made to the police on that Fateful Night, WPRI’s Ted Nesi tweeted a couple of days ago, Riley’s comments are still no match for Senator Ciccone’s immortal words, “You think you got pension problems now?” http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/polit… No match, indeed. (For those who might have missed it,…
The job listings for “institutional attendants (psychiatric)” positions in the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals (BHDDH) offer a salary in the mid-$30,000s, and payroll information available through the RIOpenGov project of the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity suggests top regular pay in the low-$40,000s. In 2010 and 2011, however, almost…
A quick update study from the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity finds that legislative proposals at the state level to increase the minimum wage to $8.25 per hour would cost workers in the state 432 jobs, measured against last year’s $7.40 per hour rate. Even worse would be the proposal suggested by U.S. Congressmen…
The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity has posted state payroll information to its transparency Web site, RIOpenGov.org. The site lists all state employees by name, department, and division, and presents their pay, including overtime, for the years 2010 and 2011. The Ocean State Current drew some attention to this data last week, with reports…
It’s a MIRACLE! … almost 900,000 have dropped their claim to the taxpayer-funded benefits rather than undergo a new medical test as part of the Coalition welfare reforms. … Another 837,000 who did take the test were found to be fit to work immediately, and a further 367,300 were judged able to do some level…
— Pope Francis — Why do you look for the living among the dead? Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness…and that is where death is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive! — Pope Benedict XVI — We have to…
Because Providence Journal staff writer Lynn Arditi never made any attempt, of which I’m aware, to contact me or anybody associated with the Ocean State Current while writing her article,”Overtime reports inflated, say R.I. officials,” a few moments of a Saturday morning are justified for response. In the article, the Projo reports on the payroll…
For many months, Rhode Island has been exchanging places with two other states for worst, second worst, and third worst official unemployment rate in the United States. February marked the milestone of Rhode Island’s breaking free from the dance. The Ocean State’s 9.4% unemployment rate tied with North Carolina for fifth worst, behind California, Nevada,…
In a statement provided to the Ocean State Current, Dr. Dan Harrop of Providence announces that he has decided to bring his campaign for chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party to a close.
Further to their convention (meeting?) last week which culminated in a very close election for chair and an honest process error, the RIGOP just released the following statement, entitled as above. Warwick: Last night the Credentials Committee of the Rhode Island Republican Party met to hear a petition to disqualify both the process and some…
The State of Rhode Island spent $89.6 million on employee overtime in 2011, according to payroll data acquired by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. The free-market think tank will make the individual payroll data for fiscal years 2011 and 2010 available next week through an interactive transparency Web site. The average overtime payments…
From the time she took a job with the State of Rhode Island in 1979 to 2011, Judith Andrade had worked her way up to regular pay of $37,091 as a laundry worker at Eleanor Slater Hospital. According to payroll data collected by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity she actually took home $76,320…
Philip Marcelo of the Projo has just tweeted that…Outgoing #RI GOP chair @markzaccaria confirms @DanHarrop challenging party’s decision to award chairmanship to @RIGOPMarkSmiley.(Yesterday, the State GOP issued a press release, stating that the discrepancy between the number of delegates registered to vote and the number of votes counted on Thursday night had been resolved and…
Three Same Sex Marriage Bill to be Voted on this Week; Broad and Narrow Protections for Religious Freedom All Still Alive in Committee
Three same-sex marriage bills have been posted for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on this Tuesday, S0038 and H5015A which would authorize same sex marriage by statute, and S0708 which calls for a referendum on the issue. One or more of them could reach the Senate floor by Thursday (see item #7 from Ian Donnis)….
The House Finance Committee’s 38 Studios Dilemma
The Rhode Island House of Representatives Finance Committee has a bigger-than-usual open-government dilemma on its hands. Yesterday, the Finance Committee heard three separate bills for dealing with bond payments to 38 Studios (see bills 1A, 1B, and 1C here). There is also a fourth option available — take no further legislative action and pay off…
So What Shall We Call The Proposed State Bank?
That is correct; Kim Kalunian at WPRO reports that a bill … submitted by Rep. Charlene Lima (D-Cranston) would create a Rhode Island state bank. The bill would establish a Rhode Island state bank to “protect the financial welfare and economic vitality of the citizens” and create jobs. The state bank would have the same…
The “Gun Safety Package”
Here is a link the General Assembly press release on the 9 bills to be introduced, labeled as the “gun safety package”. The two items likely to be most controversial are…Gun Control and Safe Firearms Act: This bill bans the manufacture, sale, purchase or possession of semi-automatic assault weapons after July 1, 2013. It also…
Coming up in Committee: All of the Economic Development Corporation Bills Being Heard on Tuesday, April 9
1G. H5746: Limits the Economic Development Corporation’s total liability for loans, bonds, guarantees and other financing instruments to $1B, unless a larger amount is authorized by a General Assembly joint resolution. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 9) 1F. H5268: Caps EDC loan guarantees to any one entity at $10M. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 9) 1E. H5745:…
BREAKING: One Bombing Suspect Dead, Another Possibly Surrounded in Watertown MA
A press release from the Middlesex County (MA) District Attorney, via Reuters, has information on everything that’s been confirmed as of 5AM, related to last night’s murder of an MIT…
Socking It To the Insurance Co or To The Insured? Rhode Island Has the Highest Number of Health Insurance Mandates
To set the stage: This Wall Street Journal summary map indicates that Rhode Island has the seventh highest per capita health-care spending. In filings Monday, Blue Cross Blue Shield of…
And When I Ran
Reflections the night of the Boston Marathon explosions. And when I first learned my legs I ran to see how fast they could go And when my friends called games…
Spring into Summer Conference at Portsmouth Institute
With spring more or less undeniably having arrived, we’re coming up on one of my favorite weekends of the year. This year, the Portsmouth Institute‘s annual conference is June 7-9,…
A Local Focus on Apathy and Fear
My essay on apathy and fear in Rhode Island is in today’s Providence Journal. From the version that Anchor Rising readers may have already read on the American Spectator’s site,…
Property Tax Assessments
Based on some Twitter chatter this morning, I learned that the property tax assessment letters are going out today in Providence. The citizens of our capital city are learning what…
