Just scanned two oversized family artifacts at the Cranston Public Library in 3 minutes. I love libraries.

Can confirm: roads are bad. Please stay safe.

Towards the end of this story, there's a line that suggests grocery stores are going to suffer because of Trump's cuts to SNAP, and quotes the grocery industry lobbyist saying the cuts will translate to billions of lost sales. But grocery store financial docs show that sales are up.

NPR@npr.org · 2d ago

SNAP, also known as food stamps, has seen a rapid and consistent participation decline since last July. The drop comes as the program faces historic cuts and changes. n.pr/4w5XSc9

Two days of unmarked helicopters hovering over our neighborhood. Gentle suggestion to @amtrak.com : a heads up would’ve reduced some anxiety among our neighbors.

This stadium story is crazy in its complexity. I so appreciate the reporting and am still having trouble following it. We’re going to need some PPT slides or something. RI taxpayers are spending $116 million, but Rosemawr made $20 million.

How Pawtucket stadium deal insiders hid their key backer: ‘Mr. Big’

When the deal was in trouble in 2023, project leaders turned to a wealthy businessman whose identity has remained a secret for years.

wpri.com

See a problem. Build a bench.

This is the thing I've realized this week. No longer will I feed the narrative of Rhode Island negativity. It's not being jaded or cynical; that's what comes from being hurt and disappointed.

Gradon@gradontripp.bsky.social · 5d ago

Call me jaded (I’m starting to feel like a real Rhode Islander!), but I can’t imagine McKee having the spine (or existing political standing) to not do The Most Rhode Island Thing.

Does anyone remember an article about different kinds of currency in different places -- i.e. old money versus new money versus political relationships, etc.? I thought it was Richard Florida but my quick googling has not resulted in anything.

Bruce Springsteen accepts the ACLU Ralph Ellison Award for Defenders of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Arts, Business, Science, and Sports — and performs "Streets of Minneapolis" — at the ACLU Biennial Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

Bruce Springsteen Accepts the ACLU Ralph Ellison Award

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

youtu.be

Holy hells. This report is an incredible overview of how private equity is targeting healthcare. The Rhode Island case study, beginning on page 16, is a page turner.

Hollowed Out - How Private Equity Destabilized Safety-Net Hospitals in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.pdf | Powered by Box

georgetown.app.box.com

But what does this MEAN?

Will Zombie Funds Unlock New Secondaries Market?

Clearing private equity’s oldest funds will require buyers willing to underwrite mixed portfolios, troubled assets and uncertain exit paths.

themiddlemarket.com

Follow the money, always.

WPRI 12@wpri12.bsky.social · 7d ago

NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard has been revealed as one of the long-hidden investors behind Rhode Island's controversial, taxpayer-funded soccer project. Details from Target 12's @elisherman.bsky.social & @timwhiteri.bsky.social, @pablo.show and @truth.bsky.social: https://www.wpri.com/?p=3105506 

We need to rip money right out of politics. Yeah, that’s an idealistic thing to say and a hard thing to do. So what. Until political donations no longer matter, this grossness will continue.

We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day, right?

Public trust is broken not by the blatant corruption case but the wink and the nod, the check, the lack of self awareness.

Ted Nesi@tednesi.bsky.social · last wk.

TARGET 12: Four JNC members who provided key votes Tuesday to advance Shekarchi's judgeship bid have given him $30,000+ in campaign donations One of the four says he saw no reason to disclose or recuse John Marion and Steve Frias among those crying foul www.wpri.com/target-12/sh...

Perhaps we the people of Rhode Island should write our own code of ethics.

Wow. I so hope Pentair will keep investing in the Rhode Island facility and jobs.

Ted Nesi@tednesi.bsky.social · last wk.

NEW: One of RI's most prominent companies has been sold Taco Group, the Cranston-based HVAC firm owned by well-known businessman John Hazen White Jr., announced a $1.4 billion deal today to be acquired by Pentair of London/Minnesota www.wpri.com/business-new...

I'm still really angry with Rhode Island. I don't want to be quiet or calm. I don't want to wait for the process to unfold. I don't want to "take it for what it is." I want change. I want the people who expect the trust of their neighbors to hold themselves to the highest ethical standards.

I am infuriated beyond words. Literally sputtering with outrage.

Patrick Anderson@waveelection.bsky.social · last wk.

In his ruling Judge Licht mentions former lawmakers who "served with great distinction as some of Rhode Island's finest jurists," including his uncle former Gov. Frank Licht. Read the whole decision at end of the story👇 www.providencejournal.com/story/news/p...

Rhode Island, I love you, but you have gone too far today. I need you to care about ethics and fairness.

Patrick Anderson@waveelection.bsky.social · last wk.

Superior Court judge rules that revolving door law does not apply to Supreme Court, clearing way for Shekarchi. Ethics Commission may appeal. "We will carefully review the Superior Court’s decision and then... make a decision as to next steps" www.providencejournal.com/story/news/p...

Come on out for our next First Wednesday meet-up, to discuss small-scale, missing middle real estate development, community wealth-building, and more!

Leo: If creating awkward moments in social situations was a crime you would be public enemy number one.

Anyone interested in used editions of these Learn to Read Latin texts? (The workbooks have been written in.)

It's telling for a private equity fund to describe its returns as "muscular," no?

Save us from fragile men.

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 2w ago

Um wut

Is it me or are the "prove you're a human" tests (already really weird) becoming weirder?

Wendell Berry's 17 principles for a local economy, which he articulated in 1994, are as relevant as ever.

Wendell Berry's Tenets for a Local Economy - Schumacher Center for a New Economics

In 1994, Wendell Berry delivered a talk at the 23rd annual meeting of the Northern Plains Resource Council. Included in his remarks was a list of enduring principles for communities seeking “to cohere...

centerforneweconomics.org

"When private companies do decide to serve small budgets, they tend to exploit them. Dollar stores take advantage of food deserts. Payday loan apps...sell cash-strapped people their own paycheck a few days early. Rent-to-own stores sneakily charge 3 times retail,..."

The Housing Act Trades Affordability for Builder Profits

Op-ed: The ROAD to Housing Act – which just became law without Trump's signature – won't deliver real affordability because it rests on two faulty economic assumptions.

nextcity.org

We're reading Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery, an important study on economic and community history that remains ever-relevant to RI, by @sethrockman.bsky.social. Join us Sept. 10 at @symposiumbooks.bsky.social for an event with the author! localreturn.org/event/book-c...