We must be over the border....
Former U.S. Senator and Governor Lincoln Chafee, who slipped quietly out of the State House in January, made a big splash Thursday in local politics by announcing he may run for president in 2016. Chafee made his announcement on his website Chafee2016.com and in a news release in which he said he was announcing the formation of an exploratory committee to consider a run as the Democratic Party nominee. Chafee, a former Republican turned Independent turned Democrat, said he will spend the next few months in New Hampshire, Iowa and other key battleground states, asking voters whether his “independent thinking and fresh ideas for the future” are what is needed in the 2016 presidential campaign.GoLocalProv has more details on his background:
Former Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, 53, of East Providence, has waived federal indictment and is expected to plead guilty in federal court to a three-count Information charging him with wire fraud, bribery and filing a false tax return. The charges stem from former Speaker Fox’s theft of $108,000 donated by campaign supporters to pay for personal expenses; his acceptance of a $52,000 bribe to advocate and move for issuance of a liquor license for an East Side restaurant while serving as Vice-Chairman of the City of Providence Board of Licenses in 2008; and his failure to account for these illegal sources of income on his tax returns....News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England Via News 10:
Stories of the Good Buddy and the Bad Buddy are legion, and legend. He moved rivers. He took bribes. He built a mall. He was accused of raping a woman at gunpoint in law school. He championed WaterFire, the festive floating bonfires on downtown rivers. He assaulted a guy and tried to jab a lit cigarette in his eye while a police bodyguard stood by. He raised a city’s self-esteem. He turned City Hall into a cesspool. The judge who sentenced him to five years in prison, for running City Hall as a criminal enterprise, called him Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (The ever witty Buddy cracked, “He didn’t give me two [expletive] paychecks.”) He belongs to that great American pantheon of rogues whose corruption was tolerated because of their populist appeal to voters and the perception that they “got things done” — Boss Tweed, Huey Long, James Michael Curley, Edwin Edwards.... A city is like a woman you make love to, he once said. But he was an unfaithful lover.Yet Buddy remains a beloved figure because he was larger than life, a superb retail politician, and the man who transformed Providence from a dying industrial city into the jewel of New England.
Police had a very visible presence Wednesday at schools in Cranston, Johnston and Warwick. Officers will be present all day after a letter threatening beheadings at the elementary schools in the three communities was received by the Johnston Police Department on Tuesday. Police said the handwritten letter was one page, and it is being analyzed at the state crime lab at the University of Rhode Island. Police departments said they would cover every school in the three communities. "When these threats come in, we take them very serious. But at the same time, we don't want these threats to disrupt our daily life, including important work that they do here educating students," Cranston Police Col. Michael Winquist said. The police presence calmed the fears of some parents.
In his first act as Mayor of Providence, Buddy resigned in 1984 after being convicted of assaulting his wife’s alleged paramour with a fire log and lit cigarette. (Seriously.) Buddy had a comeback but in 2002 was convicted of running a criminal enterprise, namely, Providence City Hall. Cianci was found not guilty of 26 specific criminal charges. The only charge on which he was convicted was RICO conspiracy.... He can win. He absolutely can win. And that would not be a bad thing for Providence, which has been in a funk since Buddy went to the Big House.That prediction appears to be coming true, as a Providence Journal / News 12 poll shows Buddy in the lead running as an Independent:
This is the Tailgate of a Chevy 4X4. I took the Pic just a few hours ago Riverside Rhode Island. Started jawin’ with the owner, another riled Redneck with plenty to say bout Government.
Some Rhode Island lawmakers...are again taking aim at gun control. No fewer that nine bills are now being considered - from banning assault style weapons; to boosting sales tax on ammunition; and, limiting gun clips to no more than ten rounds. "People do have the right to own a gun. I believe in that. But I think there's also a new type of responsibility that has to come with controlling a gun and the guns that go out into the street," said State Rep. Joe Almeida (D) Providence, who sponsored three of the bills. Gun owner's rights advocates are already firing back. "We're in an election year and there is an element of this that is obviously election year antics," said State Rep. Mike Chippendale (R) Foster.The arrogance of the politically powerful is demonstrated in this response by Democratic State Senator Josh Miller and an unidentified compatriot (added -- apparently a photographer accompanying Miller) to a question regarding the pending legislation. Miller describes himself as "[o]ne of the true "left of center" Democrats of the R.I. State Senate." The questioner, Dan Bidondi, has a radio show and is affilated with Alex Jones' InfoWars. Here's the video:
On the day after state and federal investigators raided his State House office and home, House Speaker Gordon D. Fox has announced his intention to resign as speaker. He issued this statement:“The Rhode Island House of Representatives is an institution that I deeply respect and serving my constituents has been a major part of my life for the past 22 years. I will not let yesterday’s events distract my colleagues from addressing the challenges facing Rhode Island.” “Because of the respect I have for all members of the House of Representatives, I am resigning as Speaker. The process of governing must continue and the transition of leadership must be conducted in an orderly manner.”
Exeter, Rhode Island has certified a recall election of all four Democratic Town Council members....
One thing you have to remember about Obamacare is that much of the financial pain, such as steep penalties, is back ended so that by the time people wake up to reality, the law has been operating for years and it's too late. Here's yet another...
My home State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations has provided much material for Legal Insurrection over the years, including the dispute as to the name itself. Splitting the year between Ithaca and Rhode Island provided me with the distinction of having Patrick Kennedy and Maurice...
Maybe we can sell the Superman Building to Detroit...
Father-daughter dances, currently banned in Cranston, Rhode Island after the ACLU and a single mother threatened to sue under the state anti-discrimination law, are one step closer to reinstatement. The Rhode Island Senate has approved language amending the law to allow single-sex events if comparable events are...
There was a lock down of the University of Rhode Island campus in Kingston today after reports of a possible gunman on campus. Lockdown lifted at URI Kingston campus; police say no evidence of shooter The Providence Journal had live coverage including a Twitter map showing locked-down students tweeting...
Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate in the country, it's crushed by unsustainable public sector salaries and pensions which are protected by union control of the legislature and politicians at every level, it is one of only two states losing population and may lose one...
Currently, the Ocean State is "the most anti-free-market, anti-family, and anti-jobs state in the entire country."...
