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Housing First proves successful, especially with chronic cases

Homelessness
Take homeless people whose lives are a mess — even addicts, alcoholics, and schizophrenics who won't take their meds — and give them their own apartments, without requiring that they clean up first, get a job, or "behave."

By MARION DAVIS | December 17, 2008

20 reasons the Earth will be glad to see Bush go

As our 43rd president scrambles to screw further with Mother Nature, a look at the ways our planet will be better off under Obama
The planet Earth usually tries to stay out of politics. It doesn't endorse candidates. It doesn't run attack ads. It doesn't even register as a lobbyist.

By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 19, 2008

Changing the DC climate

Meet Obama's Green Dream Team
The past eight years have been marked by alternating feckless inactivity and outright hostility toward the environment.

By MIKE MILIARD | December 18, 2008

’Tis the season to buy local

Tips for keeping your holiday gift-giving bucks in the ocean state
Frog and Toad, an idiosyncratic gift store on Providence’s East Side, is your quintessential mom and pop shop.

By IAN DONNIS | December 12, 2008

Culture crunch

From Trinity Rep to Festival Ballet to Gallery Z, the creative community strives to overcome economic challenges
"Since the market crash," says Curt Columbus, artistic director of Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, "we've watched our ticket sales, which had been doing well, hit a wall. Almost like a cartoon animal — splat. Then we started pushing the discount ticket sales and things started to move again."

By GREG COOK | December 03, 2008

Advocates renew challenge to punitive probation practices

Violations
At the conclusion of its 2008 session, the General Assembly passed a bill that would have reformed state criminal justice procedure for probationers charged with new crimes.

By ARIEL WERNER | December 03, 2008

Former editorial writer says his last column got spiked

As The ProJo Turns
An unidentified editorial writer was among those laid off when the Providence Journal eliminated 30 news jobs in October.

By IAN DONNIS | December 03, 2008

Downsizing the Mob

State Police superintendent Brendan Doherty discusses the fade of OC in RI
The arrest of 17 people last week as part of "Operation Mobbed Up" — as well as the subsequent discovery in East Providence of human remains thought to be those of Joseph "Joe Onions" Scanlon — put front and center the bygone days of the Rhode Island Mob.

By IAN DONNIS | November 26, 2008

Expert: Expanding wind power could unhinge insects

Unintended Consequences
Last spring, a red tail hawk was hit and killed by Rhode Island's one functioning wind turbine at Portsmouth Abbey School. Brother Joseph Byron says the bird was the first animal fatality he has seen since the 241-foot-high structure started producing 660 kilowatts in March 2006.

By STEVEN STYCOS | November 25, 2008

Buy Nothing Day: A good cause for tough times

Consumerism
During the 11 previous years in which Buy Nothing Day has been staged in Rhode Island, there have been economic downturns and times when the national economy was humming.

By IAN DONNIS | November 25, 2008

Give thanks to those who fight for civil liberties

A quarter-century ago, Dan Donnelly, a friend and fellow plaintiff in an unsuccessful challenge of a religious holiday display on public property in Pawtucket, wondered who could possibly lead the local chapter of the ACLU in constitutionally challenged Rhode Island.
Rights + Reasons

By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | November 25, 2008

Down and out at Thanksgiving

Social needs are rising across Rhode Island, and things will get worse before they get better
In a time of widespread layoffs, decimated retirement accounts, and uncertainty about the fallout of the ongoing fiscal crisis, downsized requests for help are a sign of the times.

By IAN DONNIS | November 24, 2008

Unchecked power and secrecy — not gays — are the church’s problem

Vatican Myopia
Presenting more evidence that it just doesn't get it, the Vatican recently issued new so-called, "psychological screening guidelines" to weed out priest candidates with "psychopathic disorders," but only those related to sexual misconduct — specifically homosexuality.

By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | November 19, 2008

Mister Sister picks up where Miko left off

Sex In The City
When Miko Exoticwear on Wickenden Street closed its doors for good this summer, Providence lost a local landmark.

By AMY LITTLEFIELD | November 19, 2008

Heslin's rise: A change of the guard, but to what effect?

As The ProJo Turns
Thomas E. Heslin, the Providence Journal's new executive editor — like his storied predecessor — bridges two distinctly different journalistic eras.

By IAN DONNIS | November 19, 2008

A self-help guide for the uninsured

Where to turn if you need health-care and don't have coverage
For the vast majority of Rhode Islanders — the insured — health-care is something you get when you need it. Feeling sick? Call the doctor. Slip and fall? Go to the emergency room or an urgent-care center. Need surgery? It's not fun, but it's covered.

By MARION DAVIS | November 19, 2008