WJAR-TV's Larry Estepa, a 30-year veteran of the news business and a familiar face in Rhode Island, is leaving to take a job in Atlanta.

The veteran reporter and anchor at Channel 10, who was feted with a going-away party this week, will work his last shifts over the weekend. Estepa has the day off and couldn't be reached for comment. He is reportedly taking a gig involving a family-owned radio network based in Atlanta.

His WJAR bio describes him this way:

Larry Estepa returned to NBC 10 in 1999. You may remember him from his days as an anchor and reporter at WJAR in the 1980s.

 

Larry started co-anchoring with Meredith Vieira in 1979. He also helped debut the 7:00 NewsWatch in 1980 and eventually co-anchored the 6:00 NewsWatch with Doug White in the mid-80s. He now covers southeastern Massachusetts for NBC 10 News.

 

Larry has spent 30 years in television news as a reporter, anchor, news director, managing editor and assistant news director in cities as small as Binghamton, N.Y., and as large as Dallas.

 

After anchoring and reporting in Dallas for eight years, Larry was lured back to Southern New England as the main anchor at WLNE from 1994-1998 prior to his eventual return to NBC 10.

 

During his career, Larry has won three Emmy awards, the most recent as "Best Anchor in New England" in 1995. He also was honored with two Katie Awards (the Texas equivalent of the Emmy), the Tom Phillips/UPI Award for reporting and the Radio Television News Director's Award for reporting.

 

Larry has covered some of the world's most fascinating people and events during his career: the pope's two visits to America, the Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter presidential campaigns, the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1992 and 1996, the Claus von Bulow trials, the Northridge, Calif., earthquake, the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, the Branch Davidians standoff in Waco, Texas, and the first launch of the space shuttle after the Challenger disaster.

 

Larry serves on the President's Council for the San Miguel School and on the National Conference for Community and Justice's Board of Advisers. He helps raise funds for the Women's Resource Center and he chairs the station's diversity council.

While other factors may well be involved in Estepa's decision to leave Rhode Island, he has  seemingly run into something of a ceiling at Channel 10, with Gene Valicenti having claimed the anchor role formerly held by Doug White, and with the return of Dan Jaehnig, to work with Patrice Wood in anchoring the 5 o'clock newscast.

Craftland, the annual celebration of locally made holiday gifts, opens with a party this evening:

Craftland celebrates all kinds of sparkly handmade objects and the sparkly people who make them. A seasonal retail boutique located in Providence, RI, the store is open each year in December and sells handmade goods by artists and crafters from around the country. Not only do sales support local and national artists, but 5% of our proceeds benefit local non-profit The Steel Yard.

 

Open through December 22nd, Craftland will feature the work of over 150 artists. This year's space is at 235 Westminster Street in the former location of Lupo's rock club, across from Tazza. (Wait till you see Craftland's tribute to the infamous Lupo's dead rock star portraits!)

 

Please join us for our opening night party THIS FRIDAY November 30th, from 5-9pm featuring great food, drink, goodie bags to the first 300 customers - and of course boatloads of fresh quality crafts!! Also: CRAFT:zine will be showing off some cool LED projects and The Steel Yard will host live demonstrations and a celebrity Santa!

Other weekend events of note:

-- There's a fundraiser and trunk sale this Sunday, December 2, from 4-7 PM, at the Plant, 60 Valley St., Unit 7, to try to help talented local designer Karen Beebe get to Japan.

-- Tonight, from 7-9 PM in the Metcalf Dining Hall, 30 Waterman St., RISD folks are presenting Project Apron, a design-a-thon and fashion show to fight hunger in Rhode Island.

-- In conjuction with World AIDS Day, ace AIDS researcher Annie De Groot sends word of a 1 pm symposium tomorrow at Starr Auditorium, MacMillan Auditorium, Brown University, near the Science Library. There will also be benefit at 6:30 tomorrow evening, at the Federal Reserve, to benefit GAIA, the Global Alliance to Immunize Against AIDS. Local artists Bunny Harvey and Mary Sipp Green will be featured.

-- Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, the Washington correspondent for the Atlantic, and the author of Prisoners: A Muslim & A Jew Across the Middle East Divide, will speak Sunday, at 7:30 PM, at Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Avenue, Providence. The talk i($18) s sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island.

Steve Peoples reports today:

The state will spend more than $60 million on a new Training School that will open in the spring. Taxpayers will be paying off the related debt for the next 18 years.

But there are indications that the facility may be overcrowded the day it opens.

In 2003, I reported on the debate over the future of the new Training School. While some of the site details changed, then-Senate President William Irons, while not necessarily a perfect messenger, nailed a big piece of the outcome:

Irons notes that there have been times in the past when state projects have been moved forward just to get them done and taxpayers have been left on the hook to deal with the problems. Now, two years after the legislature allocated $60 million for a new training school, "the final [site] decision comes out of nowhere." If things aren’t done correctly, Irons says, the state "could be back in the same mess we’re in now."

Following growing gripes about this week's CNN-YouTube debate, Dan Kennedy has some good thoughts:

Following Wednesday night's CNN/YouTube debate, it was revealed that retired general Keith Kerr, a gay man who asked the candidates a pointed question about why they oppose letting openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military, was a prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton's. And that turned out to be only the most notable of what conservative blogger Michelle Malkin is calling Democratic "plants."

Well, of course, it was incredibly stupid of CNN to do such a poor job of vetting the 5,000 or so videos that were submitted by YouTube users. And it certainly didn't help that Kerr was allowed to hector the candidates from the audience. His question was perfectly legitimate, but his Clinton affiliation should have disqualified him. (And it's too bad that Anderson Cooper is getting tainted by this. I thought he did an exceptionally good job of keeping the proceedings moving along while remaining substantive.)

But why is CNN deciding which videos to use in the first place? As my former Boston Phoenix colleague David Bernstein wrote after the first Democratic YouTube debate in July, CNN "pretty much created a TV show out of the free raw video materials, not entirely unlike an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos."

So let me repeat and expand on a suggestion I made back then: If CNN wants to harness the power of citizen media, then it should go all the way. Here's what I'd do:

• Have people upload videos in six or eight subject categories — the war in Iraq, terrorism, taxes, immigration, the environment, whatever.
• Subject those videos to light vetting to make sure none is tilted for or against a particular candidate, or is grotesquely offensive.
• Let the YouTube community vote on the best video in each category. Those are the questions that will be asked.

Such a system wouldn't be perfect. One problem, of course, is that the candidates would get to see the questions ahead of time. But so what? We should be looking for thoughtful answers rather than making these debates a test as to who can spit out the best instantaneous soundbites.

There's also the possibility that the process would be hijacked in some way. But I think that's a risk worth taking. Besides, how would that be any worse than letting people associated with Hillary Clinton's and John Edwards' campaigns ask questions, as CNN did?

"Score this one for the people," says the Boston Globe in an editorial today. Well, no. This was CNN's show from start to finish. Let the people decide — then we can celebrate.

The effort to curb medical malpractice liability in Rhode Island -- a cause backed by Governor Carcieri -- certainly wasn't helped by revelations this week about the latest wrong-site medical error at Rhode Island Hospital. According to our federal government, in fact, medical errors kill more than 40,000 people a year. Dr. David Gifford, director of the state Department of Health, appears on WNAC/WPRI-TV's Newsmakers to discuss the Rhode Island Hospital case and other health issues.

Also joining the show are Lieutenant Michael Morse, firefighter, author, and blogger extraordinaire, and Channel 12 investigative reporter Tim White, who discuss the problem of non-emergency calls to 911. Newsmakers is broadcast Sunday, at 5:30 am on Channel 12 and at 10 am on Fox Providence.

Morse, whose book, Rescuing Providence, recently hit the shelves, also talks about the arson problem posed by the foreclosure crisis. According to White, four Providence firefighters were recently injured while battling suspicous fires at troubled properties on Veazie Street.

Speaking of White, he had a good piece this week about the high-rated football team at St. Raphael's in Pawtucket, the alma mater of Mayor James Doyle and some other local and statwide pols, is getting preference for a public field in the city. A girl's soccer team from a public school has been edged out:

This fight has come up before, and now some public school parents are looking to file a lawsuit against the city of Pawtucket. They are saying putting a private school over the rights of a public school is a violation of basic consitutional rights.

St. Raphael's football team could very well be, the best in the state this year. So far, undefeated they could credit their success to practice. Practice on the city owned Dennis O'Brien field.

Public school parent Maggie Rogers says the girls soccer team at nearby public Jenks Middle School was told by the city they can't play there because St. Rays football practices on the field.

O'Brien field was renovated with tax money and is maintained by the city's Public Works department.

Head of the parks department, William Mulholland, wouldn't go on camera, but says St. Ray's does not pay for the field. But after decades of use, their permit is "grandfathered" in.

Tucked near the end of Greg Smith's story yesterday on Providence's new approach to funding a roving police patrol on heavy nightlife nights was this interesting info:

Assuming the roving detail works out, city officials and business people expect that it will be a precursor to serious consideration of a very controversial idea: later closing times for bars and nightclubs.

One school of thought has always held that if so many clubgoers did not spill out of the nightspots at the same time — most bars and clubs in the area have licenses allowing a closing time of 2 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights before holidays — the problems with rowdiness and traffic congestion would be alleviated.

“…We had to demonstrate that we had managed the existing business [at the 2 a.m. nightspots], before we could have a serious conversation about staggered and different closing times…,” Cicilline said Tuesday.

The creation of a permanent roving detail and requiring the bars and nightclubs to pay most of the cost is the recommendation of a coalition of government officials, business people and other downtown stakeholders called the Hospitality Resource Partnership. With the help of a California consultant, the city and the management district created the partnership in an effort to work through the tensions inherent in redeveloping Providence’s old central business district and the Jewelry District.

The Phoenix and the ProJo's David Brussat have been among the few lonely voices that have for years publicly called for later closing times as a way of alleviating Providence's seeming intractable nightlife issues. It's good to see movement on this from the city.

Offering proof positive that politics makes strange bedfellows, the December 12 visit to Rhode Island by leading conservative strategist Grover Norquist -- a benefit for the Ocean State Policy Research Institute -- is slated to take place at the Cuban Revolution in Olneyville! Holy black bean soup!

Maybe this (tickets run from $50 to $250 for a meet-and-greet) makes a little sense. The two-front Cuban Revolution was started, after all, by Ed Morabito, who worked as a key aide to former GOP Governor Lincoln Almond.

And as I wrote before, Norquist's appearance is quite a score for OSPRI, so it's no wonder that its leader, William J. Felkner, is pumped. As he recently wrote:

There are only two weeks left to the Holiday Freedom Celebration Dinner, hosted by the Ocean State Policy Research Institute. The featured speaker for the event will be Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).  Please order your tickets today.

 

You may have seen Grover on last night's Presidential You Tube Debate asking the candidates to take the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. He founded ATR in 1985 at the request of President Reagan. Since 1986, ATR has sponsored the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written promise by legislators and candidates for office that commits them to oppose any effort to increase the federal income taxes on individuals and businesses. 

 

Ocean State Policy Research Institute has taken the lead in protecting taxpayers in Rhode Island and is particularly focused on effective and efficient government.  OSPRI also continues the reform movement by sponsoring The Thursday Meeting - RI's version of Grover's Wednesday Meeting.

 

Please join us for an evening of drinks, dinner and stimulating discussion when our fellow "Counter Revolutionaries" meet at the Cuban Revolution restaurant on the evening of December 12th at 60 Valley Street in Providence.

 

Kindly RSVP by December 5, 2007. 

Still, the idea of Republicans gathering in a place inspired by Fidel Castro, hard by one of the main battlegrounds over gentrification in Providence, is rather odd (although it was a Democrat, John F. Kennedy, who seemed most energetic in trying to kill Fidel).

Some people in south Florida don't take kindly to the concept of Rhode Islanders having their arroz con pollo wraps in a place named for Castro. Emiliano Antunez, a Latino activist in the Sunshine State, wrote the following in 2005 (and don't even get the people on the Lots of Noise forum going):

Fidel Castro is not an aging hipster, he is a murderous thug who has sent thousands of people to their death. Castro is also a thief who pilfered private property (starting with his own mothers’ farm) and “intervened” in businesses both large and small. Che Guevara has been resurrected as a saintly historical figure when in reality “El Che” murdered dozens of people with his own hand (maybe that’s why the Bolivians shipped Che’s severed hands to Fidel, because they thought he might have use for them). If Che would have lived and realized his “dream,” millions more human beings would now be living under tyranny in impoverished conditions.  

I’m sure Cuban exiles and refugees based on their experiences could come up with a few items of their own to include in the Cuban Revolution’s menu selection, in order to make it more in tune with reality. Like “Lead Laden Flank Steak of Young Cuban Firing Squad Victim,” “Tender Caribbean Water Poached Cuban Infant Plucked from The Arms of His Dead Mother from the Wreckage of the 13th of March Tugboat,” “MIG Smoked Brothers to The Rescue Pilot,” or “Rafter Fed Atlantic Tiger Shark.”  

The Cuban Revolution is not some groovy abstraction; it has caused real death, torn real families apart, and confiscated people’s very real private property (including restaurants). It’s ironic that people would open an establishment in a quasi-capitalist location, idolizing another place where private property is non-existent. The owners ultimately have the right to name their restaurant whatever they please; the last thing we need is the state-backed PC police to step in with their own brand of totalitarian oppression. But those offended by the name “Cuban Revolution” can make a conscious choice not to patronize their establishment and to politely ask anyone who will listen not to do so either.

But the Rhode Island Republican Party and its supporters need to branch out, so maybe this is one way to do it.

Like P&J and their peers at Brown, Rhode Island College students really like Obama.

But as Steven Stark writes this week in the Phoenix, Hillary will be tough to beat if she claims New Hampshire.

Clinton currently holds about a 20-point lead in most national polls, which should give her some security. After all, one has to go back to 1972, when George McGovern bested early leader Edmund Muskie, to find a race in which a front-runner blew such a large lead going into the primaries. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen again. But it does mean, despite Clinton’s well-publicized recent travails — specifically her sub-par debate performance in late October and some narrowing opinion polls in Iowa and New Hampshire — that it’s unlikely.

Clinton does, however, have two Achilles’s heels. The first is that an unusually large number of voters just don’t like her, raising the possibility that, if an opponent could galvanize all the anti-Clinton voters on his behalf, he might have a chance of upsetting her.

The second is that, if she had to rank all 50 states in which she’d like to be tested first, Clinton would probably put Iowa last. There’s a bit of a culture clash between New York, Clinton’s designated home, and Iowa — which is one reason Rudy Giuliani has, by and large, stayed away from the Hawkeye State. Clinton’s husband didn’t even run there in 1992, conceding Iowa to favorite son Tom Harkin, so she has had to build her organization from scratch. And Barack Obama is a senator from a neighboring state, which, on paper at least, should be a huge advantage — even though the press seldom mentions it. (Although Clinton grew up in Illinois, it’s not the same as representing it in an elected national body.)

Most important, Iowa is not a primary contest but a caucus state, so level of participation is far lower than in an ordinary primary. That’s bad news for Clinton, since her voters tend to be poorer than Obama’s more upper-middle-class constituency and, historically, poorer voters don’t vote in as great numbers. All things being equal, her voters in Iowa are simply less likely to turn out.

In truth, however, should Clinton lose that state, it’s not at all clear that she would then go on to lose New Hampshire five days later. There’s a long history of candidates losing Iowa and coming back to win New Hampshire — such as Ronald Reagan against George Bush the elder in 1980.

And New Hampshire is, after all, a primary state where Clinton should do better — though the participation of independents in that Democratic primary could skew that, since she polls better among registered Democrats.

But as long as Clinton wins New Hampshire, she is likely to remain the front-runner and go on to win South Carolina on January 26 and wrap up the nomination on Super Tuesday 10 days later. Conversely, both Obama and John Edwards must finish ahead of Clinton in Iowa to remain viable. And they probably have to win one of the other two big January contests, too, in order to seriously challenge the front-runner. Again, it’s not impossible. But it won’t be easy.

Speaking of the local TV market, industry publication TV Newsday has a report on what it sees as an increasingly competitive landscape in the Providence area. The story is registration required, but N4N will make most of it available for the benefit of my dear readers, along with my standard disclosure (I'm an unpaid weekly guest on WPRI/WNAC-TV's Newsmakers):

For years, Providence television has long been dominated by WJAR, the NBC affiliate.

 

But a series of ownership changes in Rhode Island’s only market (DMA 52) over the past year and a half has some thinking that changes in the market pecking order may follow as rivals crank up the programming and propaganda.

 

The ownership upheaval started with WJAR itself. NBCU sold the station along with three others elsewhere to Media General for $600 million in 2006.

 

Then, earlier this year, Kevin O’Brien’s Global Broadcasting bought WLNE from Freedom Communications for $14 million with the promise to shake things up.

 

Finally, Four Points Media, backed by the Cerberus private equity firm, is purchasing WLWC from CBS as part of a four-station, $185 million deal and is already operating the CW affiliate under a local marketing agreement as it awaits the closing. (The FCC approved the Four Points’ acquisition just last week.)

 

The market’s other major player is hometown LIN Television. It owns the CBS affiliate, WPRI, and runs the Fox affiliate, WNAC, under an LMA.

 

“Back in the '70s, this was a one-station market and channel 10 [WJAR] was the standard against which everyone else measured,” says Ed Valenti, a partner in the Providence-based ad agency PriMedia, whose decades-long career in the market included a stint as WJAR’s regional sales manager.

“From my perspective, that’s not the case anymore,” he says. “The competition for eyeballs is extremely keen.”

 

No station is more acutely aware of that than WJAR itself, whose status as a powerhouse dates back to its inception in 1949 when it debuted as RhodeIsland’s first television station.

 

Currently, WJAR’s stiffest competition is being posed by LIN’s CBS-Fox virtual duopoly, which, according to General Manager Jay Howell, has experienced record ratings growth following LIN’s investment of “millions and millions of dollars” on staff, including a dedicated Internet reporter; equipment such as the helicopter and radar; and sales. “We have worked hard to build this brand,” Howell says.

 

Lisa Churchville, WJAR’s general manager and president, says that while the station has weathered challenges over the years, the station’s legacy and life-long NBC affiliation pays off with viewers, even as revitalized competitors emerge.

 

And WJAR viewers won’t be jarred by the ownership change, Churchill promises.

Rather, the station in 2008 will continue to hone its newscasts, provide more content via the Web and hopefully recover some of the primetime audiences lost to competitors thanks to the upcoming summer Olympics and election coverage.

 

“Overall, it’s predictable, dependable and reliable,” Churchville says.

 

Indeed, Churchville doesn’t dispute WPRI and WNAC’s gains in viewers, particularly since WNAC is the only station in the market that offers news at 10 p.m. “The fact is that those stations combined run a lot of hours of Eyewitness News,” Churchville says.

 

Churchill does, however, take exception with comparing those two stations combined ratings with WJAR’s.

 

“You look at the news dominance and there is no question that your viewers in Rhode Island and New Bedford [Massachusetts, which is included in the market] are getting their news from NBC 10,” she says. The ratings confirm Churchville’s assertion, but also indicate that the others may be starting to gain ground at certain times.

 

For its 11 o’clock newscast, WJAR posted a 8.8 rating/18 share in May 2007, the same as in May 2006.

  

But No. 2 WPRI was able to grow its numbers from 5.6/11 in 2006 to 6.2/12 in 2007, and WLNE, while still under the Freedom regime, went from 1.8/4 to 2.9/6.

 

Steve Doerr, who just finished his first month as WLNE’s vice president and general manager, says the new owner/management is determined to debunk viewers’ perceptions that the station lacks consistency and is Massachusetts-focused (the station is licensed to New Bedford).

 

“We’re going to effect change immediately,” he said.

 

Doerr is investing in news and sales efforts, while looking for ways to differentiate the station from its competitors.

 

The station has already expanded its morning newscast by an hour each weekday, and has created a buzz by hiring as its chief political analyst Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, who, after serving as Providence’s mayor for 21 years, spent nearly five years in federal prison for corruption.

 

The station also plans to beef up its 24-hour Rhode Island News Channel on cable.

 

“We’re looking to create a product that people can rely on and not change every time the wind blows,” Doerr says.

 

“We think there’s an opportunity in this market and we’re looking for different ways to exploit it."

Via Beloblog:

ABC 6 WLNE today announced Allison Alexander, who most recently anchored morning and noon newscasts at the Cleveland CBS affiliate, as the new anchor for the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Her appointment takes effect Jan. 1.

Stephen Doerr, ABC 6 vice president and general manager, said in a statement that Alexander "is one of the brightest, most talented journalists working in local media."

"I am delighted to be joining WLNE, one of the fastest-growing, most innovative news organizations in the business," Alexander said in the statement.

ABC 6 said that Alexander has won an Edward R. Murrow award for reporting and has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press. She graduated from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, ABC 6 said.

She and her husband, Craig, will move to Providence next month.

How the appointment affects the anchor line-up -- and what form the evening newscasts will take -- was not clear. Doerr said the station is sorting through assignments.

NBC 10 recently added Dan Jaehnig, who worked at 10 before spending five years at Fox 25 on Boston, to co-anchor its 5 p.m. news and report weeknights for the 11 p.m. news.

Kudos and congrats to the ProJo's Cynthia Needham, who has landed the State House assignment vacated when Elizabeth Gudrais decamped for Harvard Magazine.

Needham, a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, is an experienced scribe at the ProJo, having taken on a variety of assignments since covering the Blackstone Valley earlier in her tenure.

As Needham joins Steve Peoples and the redoutable Kathy Gregg, the ProJo's State House bureau will be at full strength when legislative action resumes in early January.

In response to yesterday's statement from the ACLU, the gov's office released this announcement:

Governor Donald L. Carcieri’s office today issued the following statement affirming that the Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS) is fully in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and with a 1997 consent agreement requiring that the state make available language interpretation services for those seeking welfare and other benefits.

 

“Governor Carcieri is confident that the Department of Human Services will continue to provide access to the appropriate language interpretation services, as required by federal law and by the 1997 consent agreement,” Carcieri press secretary Jeff Neal said. “This issue was examined in depth as the state prepared its plans to reduce the size of the state workforce. The state was convinced that we could reduce the number of language interpreters – especially those translating less commonly encountered languages – while continuing to provide the appropriate translation options through existing contracts with outside language interpretation services.”

 

“In particular, the Department of Human Services has a number of translators on staff to provide interpretation services for Rhode Islanders seeking benefits,” Neal continued. “Interpreters employed directly by the state are used to translate for the most commonly used foreign languages, such as Spanish.  Because of the high volume of Spanish speakers, it makes economic and logistical sense for the state to directly retain employees who can provide those translation services.”

 

“The same cannot be said, however, for much less commonly encountered foreign languages such as Hmong and Cambodian,” Neal said. “Even before the recent reduction in force was announced, no state department or agency retained enough interpreters to translate for each and every language that might be encountered.  Instead, the Department of Human Services has for years used pre-approved language interpretation services – such as the International Institute – to provide translation services for individuals speaking less commonly encountered foreign languages. To this day, nobody has complained about that policy.”

 

“We understand that the ACLU, in light of the recent decision to reduce the size of the state workforce to address the state’s looming budget crisis, would prefer that the state retain language interpreters who can translate for less commonly encountered languages,” Neal said. “Unfortunately, hiring and retaining additional interpreters to translate for less commonly encountered languages simply does not make sense for the department, for state government or for Rhode Island taxpayers. Language interpretation services for people speaking Hmong and Cambodian can be provided through outside translation services just as they have long been provided for people speaking for Russian, Hungarian and many other languages.”

AS220, the nonprofit arts bastion, doubled its downtown footprint with its Dreyfus Hotel project. If everything goes according to plan, AS220 will again double its presence when it pursues a project in the Washington Street property (once home to the Providence Phoenix) anchored by the former Cogens Printing operation.

Artistic director Bert Crenca says the new project, which is envisioned for a mix of residential and retail uses, is intended to help counter some of the gentrification and upscale development taking place in downtown Providence. It is hoped that individually owned quirky busineses will take up some of the retail space.

(In a related note, Dan Barbarisi reports today on the clash between some residents of the Cosmopolitan and the relocated Murphy's Deli. We've made our views known about these sorts of conflicts, which became more common as well-heeled types have moved into the Jewelry District over the last 10 or 20 years.)

AS220's anticipated new development is located next to the site of what has been planned as a Sierra Suites Hotel.

Two longtime Belo Corporation executives have been named to head the newspaper group recently spun-off by the Dallas-based outfit (h/t Romenesko):

Robert W. Decherd, Belo's chairman and chief executive, will assume the role of chairman, president and CEO of the newspaper company, as previously announced. He will also serve as nonexecutive chairman of Belo, the television company.

James M. Moroney III will become executive vice president of the newspaper company, with oversight responsibility for papers including The News, The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., and the Providence (R.I.) Journal.

Mr. Moroney will continue to serve as publisher and CEO of The News , and he will replace Mr. Decherd on the board of The Providence Journal Co. Mr. Moroney will also join Belo Corp.'s board of directors after the spinoff.

"Jim has done an outstanding job as publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News since he assumed the position in 2001," Mr. Decherd said. "He has been a driving force in leading numerous transformational initiatives that have improved Belo's newspaper products and operations."

Skip Cass will also serve as executive vice president of the newspaper company after the spinoff, in the same role he now has overseeing Belo's companywide Internet, business development and technology activities.

Mr. Moroney and Mr. Cass will both report to Mr. Decherd.

-- The CNN-YouTube format was terrific, with a broad array of strong and pointed questions. Anderson Cooper did a stellar job in moderating and in keeping the candidates on point.

-- Yet anyone watching the first 25 minutes or so would have been led to believe that immigration is the most important issue facing the country. What a crock. Yes, secure borders are important, but it defies reason to think that Al Qaeda hasn't struck in the US again because of the Bush administration. I'd put more credence in Greg Palast's theory that the president's removal of US forces from Saudi Arabia -- something we don't hear much about in the media -- is a bigger factor.

-- Despite the variety of questions, President Bush, conveniently enough for the candidates, went unmentioned, as did global warming -- which, as Bill Maher likes to note, is a greater threat to the US than illegal immigration.

-- The first 25 minutes or so offered some good political theater, with Romney and Giuliani trading what were obviously well-rehearsed lines of attack (Rudy referring to illegals having helped to care for the grounds at Romney's home, Thompson making a veiled reference to Giuliani's Bernie Kerik problem, etc.). On the whole, I thought that Romney came off as too contrived and too calculating, although Giuliani's already considerable issues for GOP voters are getting worse.

-- Thompson said overturning Roe v. Wade should be a top priority. Can you say "pander," Fred?

-- Huckabee was arguably the big winner of the night.

Matt just beat me to the punch in reporting what has become widely known in Providence -- that John Kelly, the CEO of Meeting Street School, the chief of the Providence Zoning Board, and a former in-house lawyer for Buff Chace's Cornish Associates -- is in the mayoral mix for 2010. Kelly has formed a political organization for the purpose of fundraising, and been working to build a war chest.

With the news that John Kelly, CEO of Meeting St. School, had a fundraiser on November 18th that all but declared his candidacy for Mayor of Providence at the East Side home of prominent Democratic Party donor, Paul Moran, I figured I would continue our ongoing speculation  about who will compete in the 2010 race for Mayor of Providence (alphabetical order after Cicilline):

• David Cicilline incumbent (d) - Probably running for Governor, but assured re-election if he runs again for Mayor.
• Frank Caprio (d) - The General Treasurer and former Senate finance chairman who has good relations in the Latino community and who can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars pretty easily might easily take out a crowded field if he jumps out of the Governor's race and into this race.
• Lincoln Chafee (r or i) - Word has it that if he runs for anything, it will be Mayor of his new city, Providence. While his numbers in Ward 1, 2, 3 and 5 would likely be high, Chafee would have real problems in the Black and Latino wards of the city. 
• Rep. Steve Costantino or Rep. Gordon Fox (d) - Expect the person who is not going to succeed Bill Murphy as Speaker in 2010 to run for Mayor. It looks to be Costantino now. If so, Costantino can surely raise lots of money through his experience on House Finance, but will face tough questions about underfunding Providence schools when he controlled the purse strings.
• Jim DeRentis (d) - This executive vice president of Bank Rhode Island would have great fundraising prowess and solid name recognition in the West Broadway and East Side communities.
• Dean Esserman (d) - The current Providence police chief has moved mountains in reforming one of the nation's most troubled police departments.  Running on the police reform issue alone could move Esserman to the front of the pack quickly.   
• Terry Hassett (d) - Ward 12 Councilman (Smith Hill) and current City Council majority leader. An extremely outgoing and likeable elected official, his fate might likely be determined by his first few years in power in the Council and what he and Mancini can accomplish regarding economic development, a living wage ordinance and resizing of the City Council.
• Kevin Jackson (d) - Jackson has great relationships in Providence's communities of color because of his advocacy and his years supporting youth sports opportunities.  However, the popular Ward 3 councilman (Mt. Hope, Summit) would have to increase his name recognition and his fundraising capacity if he were to make a run. 
• John Kelly (d) - (see above) A prolific fundraiser for Meeting St. school, Kelly would go after the East Side and growing young professional vote in the city.  He is currently chair of the Providence Zoning Board.
• Sen. Juan Pichardo (d) - Represents South Providence and the West End and, like Tavares, has a strong Latino base and an affability to win over non-Latino voters. Challenges for him would be fundraising the dollars to run a city-wide campaign.
• Mike Solomon - This Ward 5 Councilman won a huge victory over incumbent Councilman Patrick Butler in 2006 and represents the highest turnout ward in the City besides the East Side.  He also has high name recognition because of his family's political history and his neighborhood activism in Olneyville (he owns Wes' Rib House). 
• Angel Taveras (d) - Ran for Congress in 2000 against Langevin, Coyne-McCoy and McAllister and finished a respectable third. Currently, a Providence attorney and the chair of the RI John Edwards campaign as well as a new Providence Housing Court judge. He is a top-tier candidate. He would likely get 20% of the total vote just from the Latino community if he is the only Latino in the race.
• Cliff Wood (d) - Ward 2 Councilman (East Side) who easily disposed of incumbent Rita Williams in 2006. He would count on the East Side and young, artsy scene for his base and would talk about his experience as a cabinet level aide in the Cicilline administration.

UPDATE: A little housekeeping.

Although I should have noted that this House district includes just a part of Warwick, the central point -- about the sclerotic nature of our civic life -- remains on-target.

. . . .

As we now know, Democrat Frank Ferri easily outpaced Republican Jonathan Wheeler in the Warwick special election yesterday to fill the House seat vacated by Peter Ginaitt. The triumph by Ferri, who is openly gay, is a victory for progressives and it offers further proof that sexual orientation is not a huge deal even in a state where many elected officials are social conservatives.

N4N was curious about the broader meaning of this result, so let's do a media scan:

Cynthia Needham in the ProJo:

Many of the voters who came out for Ferri used words like “trust” and “honesty” in describing why they voted for the Democrat.

Rachael Frazier, who bundled up her young daughter and headed to John Greene Elementary School, said she voted for Ferri because he impressed her by calling her on numerous occasions and speaking with her at length about the environment, something she calls a priority.

“I really like his campaign and how he’s doing things,” Frazier said.

It was that message of connecting with constituents that resonated with voters yesterday, more so than Wheeler’s promise of fiscal reform, or Pisaturo’s pledge of experience.

Matt Jerzyk/RI Future:

Needless to say, this election has been a wake-up call for those who said that a progressive can't take on the Democratic and the Republican establishment and come out on top.

Russell J. Moore in the Warwick Beacon:

More than anything, Ferri’s organizational skills may have been the factor that carried the day. Ferri had approximately 100 campaign workers. Ladouceur had a much smaller group, approximately 20 volunteers, and Thompson had even less.

 

Ferri shared similar stances on the issues as his opponents, and none of the candidates offered many detailed specifics on how they would implement their agendas. All three candidates vowed to foster economic development, maintain the environment, find ways to decrease health care costs and keep taxes low.

 

But it was Ferri who had the organization to get his message out. He had the full-fledged support of the members of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, which contains 35 families that live in the district (he serves as its treasurer), the National Education Alliance, environmental groups and the gay community, a small but devoted and hard-working special interest group. 

These are all valid points. However, what most strikes me is how the nearly 20 percent turnout (with Ferri taking 53 percent of the vote, or 896 tallies) was, according to Needham, "unusually heavy for a special election."

Warwick is Rhode Island's second-largest city, and you can win a legislative election with 900 votes?

That's pretty pathetic.

Clean Elections might not be a perfect solution, but something needs to be done to stimulate more interest in our civic life.

Former ProJo scribe Elizabeth Gudrais and Brian Boyd of the Standard Times of New Bedford send word about a gathering tonight (7:30) of the Association of Young Journalists at Three Sisters coffee shop, 1074 Hope St., Providence. Because the local chapter of AYJ has lost or is about to lose a few board members, the group is looking to get new people involved.

With the Angels having bulked up with the addition of Torii Hunter and Jon Garland -- moves that might be a prelude to the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera -- trade talks about Venezuelan native Johan Santana, one of the top pitchers in the bigs, are intensifying. The Twins are reportedly requesting that Jacoby Ellsbury be included in any deal for Santana.

N4N doesn't like the idea of Santana winding up with the Yankees, but I don't think we should give up Jacoby.

Boston.com has a poll on this question:

If the Twins insist on the Red Sox including center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury in a trade for lefthanded starter Johan Santana, should Theo pull the trigger on a deal?
No. Jacoby Ellsbury is a potential superstar and a vital part of the future of Red Sox baseball. He's just too valuable to include in a deal for Santana.
	79.2%
Yes, let Jacoby go. Having Santana in the rotation, and signing him to a long-term deal, would make the Sox unstoppable for years to come. And the Sox have Coco to play in center.
	20.8%
Total votes: 1872

The headline on this post is deliberately tongue-in-cheek since, considering the reflexive antipathy held by some for the American Civil Liberties Union, there are clearly those who will see this news release (below) as part of some kind of liberal ACLU conspiracy. Yet aren't those who mistakenly call it "a technicality" when a criminal defendant gets off because of an investigative or legal lapse the same ones who should support the rule of law?

Less than two weeks after Governor Donald Carcieri announced layoffs of four interpreters from the Department of Human Services (DHS), the RI ACLU today revealed that DHS is bound by a consent agreement with the federal government to “schedule interpreters or bilingual staff when necessary” to communicate with clients who have limited English proficiency (LEP), and to have procedures in place “permitting timely and effective telephone communication between LEP persons and DHS staff.”

 

The layoff of all three staff interpreters for the Southeast Asian community, as well as one of only two Portuguese interpreters, raises serious questions about the Department’s ability to comply with the agreement, the ACLU said today. The ACLU also said that recent public comments of the Governor objecting to any state-funded interpreters at the agency casts doubt on his commitment to acting in accordance with federal civil rights laws on the subject.

 

The 1997 agreement between DHS and the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services addressed complaints alleging that DHS’ inadequate services for LEP clients violated federal civil rights laws. The agreement requires DHS to abide by a number of obligations in addition to those noted above, including training of DHS managers and staff on LEP issues, and displaying notices in various languages in DHS offices about clients’ rights to interpreter services.

      

Last month, the Governor publicly railed against the availability of state-funded language interpreters to help people in the courts and other state agencies, and particularly at DHS. At the time, twenty-two organizations criticized the Governor’s statements for “feed[ing] into the xenophobic atmosphere that permeates the immigration debate in our state.”

      

RI ACLU executive director Steven Brown said today: “Although the Governor has since acknowledged the state’s legal obligation to provide court interpreters, he failed to note that, for decades, federal law has also required the state to supply interpreters in other administrative settings, including for clients at DHS. Interpreters are required in order to ensure that non-English speakers have equal access, in a timely manner, to the critical benefits offered by that agency. His comments make light of both the consent agreement, which he never acknowledged but has a legal obligation to abide by, and the civil rights law underlying it. Aiming his layoffs at the Southeast Asian community seems particularly cruel, since many members of that community are here as refugees, often after having helped the United States military, at great risk to themselves, in the Vietnam War."

Citadel Broadcasting, the owner of WPRO AM and 790 the Score, has announced two moves:

The Imus in the Morning Show will return to Providence on Monday December 3, 2007 from 6A – 10A on 790 AM, The Score.

 

“Imus has always had a loyal audience in Rhode Island.  I am very pleased that he will be on 790 AM The Score,” said Barbara Haynes, General Manager of Citadel Broadcasting Company in Providence. “Imus was very successful in New York on a radio station with a format similar to 790 AM The Score, broadcasting Imus in the morning followed by sports talk and sports play by play.  I am sure he will bring that same success to 790 AM The Score.”

The station also announced "that market veteran Ron St Pierre is the Program Director for 790 AM 99.7 FM The Score." 

Ron has been in radio management and on air in Providence for almost 30 years. During the past ten years at Citadel Broadcasting Company, St.Pierre has worked for 630 WPRO AM and 790 AM 99.7 FM The Score. Ron was the first Program Director of The Score when it was launched in 1997 and was the Program Director who first brought the “Imus in the Morning” broadcast to Providence.  

 

“Ron is a very accomplished radio professional and he knows what Rhode Island listeners want from their favorite radio station and radio personalities,” said Barbara Haynes, General Manager of Citadel Broadcasting Company in Providence. “I look forward to the success that Ron’s leadership will bring to 790 AM and 99.7 The Score."

As the Phoenix's David Bernstein recently noted, it's big business and China that stand to make the greatest impact in reducing the threat of global warming. Yet a regional report card by environmental advocates in New England and Canada gives Rhode Island a measly C+ for the state's effforts to preclude this looming enviro-catastrophe:

Over the past year Rhode Island made improvements in reducing global warming pollution from the electricity sector by joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and implementing for the first time an efficiency program for the state's natural gas users. 

 

However, the report card made clear that much more can be done. In particular, Rhode Island needs a comprehensive and enforceable plan to achieve pollution reductions on the order of 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. To achieve those kinds of reductions Rhode Island must get serious about reducing emissions from the transportation sector-- the largest contributor to global warming pollution in the state.

 

"While we have made some progress, Rhode Island needs solutions as big as the problem global warming presents," said Denise Parrillo, Campaign Organizer from Clean Water Action. "It's time we legislate 80% reductions in global warming pollution by the year 2050.  These are the reductions scientists say are necessary."

 

The Report Card not only gauges how well the states and provinces are implementing global warming policies but also whether or not they are on track to meet the 2010 pollution reduction target. Rhode Island is failing, according to emissions data.  If Rhode Island is to stabilize and then decrease its amount of carbon dioxide pollution, stronger and more comprehensive legislation must be passed.

 

"Rhode Island's score reflects real steps to reduce global warming pollution but also the need for broader action across the board, especially in the transportation sector, if we are to achieve the goals set by the Governors and avert the devastating impacts climate change will have on the state's coast and inland environment," said Cynthia Giles, Director of the Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island Advocacy Center.  

 

 There is growing public support for legislation calling for more action. On November 5, 2007, hundreds of Rhode Islanders flocked to Roger William Park Zoo for the kick off of the GO BIG little rhody campaign, which calls for 80% reductions in global warming pollution by 2050.

 

"Rhode Island needs a comprehensive plan to fight global warming that matches what climate scientists say we must do avoid the worst impacts of global warming," said Matt Auten, Advocate with Environment Rhode Island. "That's why more than 25 organizations and hundreds of Rhode Islanders have joined the GO BIG little rhody campaign to mandate 80% reductions by 2050."

 

Rhode Island's policy grade of a C+ ties it with Newfoundland and Labrador.  Quebec received a B+, the region's highest grade.  New Hampshire received the lowest, a C-.

 

The state received a C+ last year and a B- in 2005.

 

In June of this year, all of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers recommitted to the 2001 regional climate agreement The agreement outlines global warming policies the states and provinces should be implementing and commits the region to the following goals:

 

        Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2010

        Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10% below 1990 levels by 2020.

        Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75-85% in the long-term.

Is it really news, as Kathy Gregg reports today, that Governor Carcieri loves talk radio? I suppose so, given how "the memo" encouraged him to go around the ProJo in communicating with the public. The bottom line, as noted in fewer words by Linda Levin and Darrell West, is that while talkers generate political discussion, they don't tend to have a broad impact on elections.

Talk radio is where the voters are,” says Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine. “So right there, by being on talk radio, you get to the part of the population … that is the true electorate.”

With Carcieri barred by term-limits from running for reelection, former GOP chairman Kehew sees another possible impetus: his approval ratings plunged from 59 percent in January to 44 percent in the last Brown University poll in September. “Maybe that’s why he’s going on the radio. He thinks he needs to sharpen that image up.”

Others — including Linda Lotridge Levin, chairwoman of the University of Rhode Island journalism department — question the wisdom of relying too heavily on one medium.

“What he is doing is preaching to the choir. The choir likes him and he doesn’t have to deal with any tough questions. Good public relations? Yes. Good government? Not necessarily,” observes Levin, who has a new book out on Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 1940s-era master of radio as a medium to soothe and inform a worried public.

“Talk radio listeners tend to be older and more conservative in their political views,” says Brown University political science Prof. Darrell West, so for Carcieri “talk radio is a good way to rally the base. But the governor cannot reach the full cross-section of voters through radio.”

As Democrat