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IAN DONNIS

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As RI struggles, entrepreneur sees promise

Techwatch
The revelation that Rhode Island faces a $300 million-plus deficit for the current year is just the latest bit of dire economic news about the state.

By: IAN DONNIS | November 12, 2008

Mod on the move

Obama supporter Lincoln Chafee talks about the post-election landscape
The Brown University class being taught this semester by Lincoln Chafee, the Republican US senator-turned-independent supporter of Barack Obama, has an up-to-the-moment title: “Whither America.”

By: IAN DONNIS | November 05, 2008

At the Biltmore, exultation and ecstasy over Obama’s win

Talking politics
Shortly before 9:30 pm on Tuesday, a huge roar went up among the Democratic crowd packing the 17th floor ballroom at the Providence Biltmore.

By: IAN DONNIS | November 05, 2008

Luke’s Record Exchange will spring back to life

Retail Rebound
When Luke T. Renchan announced in March that his landmark record shop, Luke’s Record Exchange in Pawtucket, was closing after 29 years in business, it was a sad and not very unsurprising story.

By: IAN DONNIS | October 29, 2008

RI ’08: Prelude to 2010

In a national year of change, stasis is likely to prevail at the General Assembly
During a national election season in which “change” remains the dominant motif, Rhode Island politics is locked in a holding pattern marked by a Democratic stranglehold on state and federal offices.

By: IAN DONNIS | October 31, 2008

Bioneers to push quest for green jobs

Environment
Taking up a new way of doing things isn’t easy in the best of times, so it’s no surprise that the ongoing fiscal crisis complicates efforts to promote the so-called green economy.

By: IAN DONNIS | October 22, 2008

Norman Mailer’s ‘White Negro’ gets the treatment

Action speaks!
Long before suburban kids began digging Dr. Dre and Tupac, an earlier generation of young white people venerated the jazz and swing music of the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s.

By: IAN DONNIS | October 15, 2008

Avant-oompah!

Mixing old and new, Providence’s What Cheer? Brigade takes a stand against pre-fabricated culture
Unexpected and improbable spontaneity is a trademark for What Cheer?, one of a number of groups that blend punk rock ethos with the mobility of marching bands

By: IAN DONNIS | October 09, 2008

Barbarisi assigned to the Sox; more changes coming

As The ProJo Turns
In a locally unorthodox move, the Providence Journal is reassigning Dan Barbarisi, its well-regarded Providence City Hall reporter, to cover the Red Sox.

By: IAN DONNIS | October 09, 2008

Why Rhode Island is hurting

Bad days are here, and there is little in the past to make the future seem hopeful
If the nation’s fiscal crisis confirms that Rhode Island isn’t alone in facing serious economic woes, the state doesn’t suffer from a lack of other challenges.

By: IAN DONNIS | October 02, 2008

Journal job cuts: Practical or self-destructive?

As The ProJo Turns
When John Hill sought his first mortgage as a young reporter, his banker told him, “Oh, you’ll be fine — you work at the Journal .”

By: IAN DONNIS | October 02, 2008

Man and machine

John Maeda talks about technology — and his quest to understand RISD
Leave it to John Maeda, the Rhode Island School of Design’s new president, to invoke the long-term value of art at a time when global financial markets are gripped by uncertainty.

By: IAN DONNIS | September 24, 2008

Activists pitch green jobs as a win-win for Rhode Island

Clean Energy
With global warming looming and the US economy in a mess, environmentalists have a simple answer for promoting environmental protection and economic development.

By: IAN DONNIS | September 25, 2008

McCain’s crooked talk on torture

Critics, including a local former army interrogator, say he’s trying to play both sides of the issue
It might surprise some that McCain’s record in opposing torture and the Bush administration’s terror-war approach is more complicated than his comments suggest.

By: IAN DONNIS | September 18, 2008