My Saturday column: wpri.com/?p=2138000

This announcement ends the yearslong search for a permanent director since Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott stepped down in January 2022.
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NEWSMAKERS: Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore Gregg Amore joins Tim White + me to discuss cleaning the voter rolls, key legislation - and doubts about lawmakers OK'ing his $60 million State Archives bond question

Watch online now - tonight/Sunday on TV - or get the pod: wpri.com/news/newsmaker…

NEW: The US Department of Justice is investigating Providence's Newcomer Academy, a new school that launched in September for recent immigrants with interrupted schooling

The students aren't getting proper English language development, the DOJ says
bostonglobe.com/2024/05/10/met…

Quite a story out of Woonsocket from Eli Sherman Tim White

Ex-Mayor LBH is accused of inflating commercial property values for years to keep rates down on residential owners (aka voters)

Now she's gone and the bill is coming due - and it's not pretty wpri.com/target-12/tax-…

RI House lawmakers have voted to pass a bill to reform the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) - by a count of 58-14. It will now head to the Senate.

Background: wpri.com/news/politics/… WPRI 12

The city is already poised to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in revenue after one property owner got its assessment lowered, with other major taxpayers also fighting for reductions, writes Eli Sherman and Tim White
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NEW: “There’s going to be a tax increase, there’s no doubt about it.”

Woonsocket residents are facing a tax hike this year as officials begin to acknowledge the city has been overcharging commercial taxpayers for years (w/Tim White) wpri.com/target-12/tax-…

Paychecks are delayed for Steward employees after the company’s president said Bank of America had a processing error. Steward filed for bankruptcy on Monday
wpri.com/target-12/payc…

Good news that the Beacon newspapers are staying in local hands - kudos on the deal and good luck to Joy Fox

Also must tip my cap once again to the amazing run of Rhody newspaperman John Howell, who has been running those papers for *a half-century*! warwickonline.com/stories/fox-to…

A new R.I. Senate bill sponsored by state Sen. Dawn Euer and supported by Secretary of State Gregg Amore would codify a process into law for reporting and looking over suspected fraud on candidates’ nomination papers.

Hearing is tomorrow.

wpri.com/news/politics/…

WPRI 12

Heads up: Tony Petrarca WPRI currently talking live on WPRI 12 about the potential for a tornado to develop

Interesting nuance on the regional housing crisis from Jon Mitchell:

'The people moving to New Bedford are not like the affluent workers flooding to cities like Boston, but instead are the poorest renters being squeezed out of other markets, he said' newbedfordlight.org/south-coasts-h…

Former GOP rep appointed by ⁦Governor Dan McKee⁩ to the Ethics Commission

If Avedisian pays a $98 fine and stays out of trouble for the next six months, a judge has ruled he can get the charge wiped from his criminal record.

wpri.com/target-12/aved…

Talk about whipping a vote 👀

Striking comment via Avedisian's lawyer given the crime:

“When you’re in public service for a lot of years, sometimes it’s good to take your foot off the gas pedal, catch your breath, make sure you’re healthy, and make sure you’re getting your life going in the right direction”

BREAKING: The criminal case in the Scott Avedisian drive-thru hit-and-run has come to a close.
wpri.com/target-12/aved…

BREAKING: RIPTA's former CEO, Scott Avedisian, put an end to his criminal case after pleading no contest to failing to stop in an accident resulting in damage.

Only WPRI 12 was in court this morning.

NEW: Scott Avedisian has been sentenced to six months probation after pleading no contest to leaving the scene of an accident with damage.

The former RIPTA CEO resigned last month amid growing public scrutiny tied to the case (w/Tim White) wpri.com/target-12/aved…