Rogues, coming and going
Uncharacteristically silent upon his initial release last spring, following more than four years in federal prison, former Providence mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. didn’t take long to muster his skills as a super-self-promoter, attracting copious media coverage and landing gigs with WPRO-AM and ABC6 for good measure.
Operation Dollar Bill, the long-running federal probe of legislative influence-peddling, grinded forward, with a former House majority leader Gerard Martineau making a guilty plea on related charges, and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island agreeing to pay $20 million for its involvement in the investigation. As the year ends, the key question — of just how high this investigation will go — remains unanswered.
And just as when the year began, the war in Iraq remained abstract and distant for most Rhode Islanders, even with the intensifying 2008 presidential race and the drawing down of George W. Bush’s time in office.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@phx.com. Read his politics + media blog at thephoenix.com/notfornothing.
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