Amid the uproar over the 38 Studios deal, Linc went on DePetro's radio show in July — big year, John! — and suggested that Schilling faked the blood that famously soaked his sock during the Red Sox's epic march to a World Series title in 2004.
It was a silly mistake. After all, it's quite obvious that Curt has little trouble drawing blood: look what he's doing to Rhode Island taxpayers right now.
BURCHFIELD, ZAMBARANO, DOUGLAS
North Providence Town Council members Joseph Burchfield, John A. Zambarano, and Raymond L. Douglas III were indicted on corruption charges in August. And that alone is turkey-worthy.
But it was the cheap, small-time feel of their operation that really dampens the mood around the Thanksgiving table.
Here in little Rhody, we expect big things out of our Underworld. Mob boss Raymond Patriarca lorded over all of New England. Former House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau, just out of prison, pleaded guilty in a nearly $1 million corruption scheme involving corporate heavyweights CVS and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
The work of Messrs. Burchfield, Ciresi, and Imondi was, perhaps, best captured in the sad little tale at the center of a New York Times piece on Rhody’s Three Stooges: a tawdry attempt to shake down the owner of Olneyville New York System wiener restaurant, who just wanted to stay open an hour later, for all of $5,000.
Come on, fellas. The wiener guy?
CHARLES MOREAU
Central Falls Mayor Charles Moreau's tale of corruption had its own small-time elements.
But at the center of it all was a pricey contract to board up foreclosed houses in one of the state's most poverty-stricken cities — a contract for one of the mayor's oldest friends, Michael Bouthillette.
The Providence Journal reported in April that the city placed liens totaling $2.1 million on the empty homes, to be paid off by the owners when the buildings were sold — and pocketed by the mayor's pal.
That means Bouthillette was charging more than $10,000 per house — dwarfing the board-up costs in other Rhode Island cities and earning his buddy, the mayor, a big, fat turkey.
NARRAGANSETT POLICE DEPARTMENT
Let 'em squawk. Even if it sounds ugly.
That's the First Amendment, more or less. And it got rough treatment in Narragansett this summer when Themistocles Faraone and Michael Handrigan were charged under the state's "cyberstalking" statute after posting vulgar comments about a pair of public figures — a former town councilman and a former candidate for town council — on Craigslist's "rants and raves" page.
This was nasty stuff. But it wasn't stalking. As the Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union noted in a letter to the police department, crude comments are "part and parcel of the rough and tumble of the World Wide Web." And attempting to police that rough-and-tumble can only send a chill through the body politic.
The charges were eventually dropped. But not before the Narragansett cops earned a plump turkey.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE – RHODE ISLAND
The National Organization for Marriage — Rhode Island's attempts to block same-sex marriage here are fowl enough. But the group gets a turkey, this year, for its attempt to gut Rhode Island's campaign finance laws.
