As I write in this week's Phoenix, it will be surprising if the increasingly visible Steve Laffey doesn't run for governor in 2010:

Laffey, a member of the local steering committee for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, has been turning up at GOP events in recent months, including a May 24 joint fundraiser of the South Kingstown and Narragansett Republican town committees.

Someone who wrote a letter earlier this week to the ProJo thinks so (he also thinks that Cianci got railroaded):

Obviously, the people of Providence and Rhode Island did not appreciate Mayor Cianci’s tremendous talents — especially Judge Torres, who sent Mayor Cianci literally “up the river,” as the cliché goes.

True story: N4N, who has never landed a foul ball through many years of attending professional baseball games, had a premonition that his catch would come during Monday's Sox game against the Cleveland Indians.

It was a beautiful night, it was great to have the chance to welcome back Trot, and to cheer Youk's insider-the-park home run, and my seat in rightfield box 95 was well-suited for grabbing an errant baseball.

It was wholly predictable that those scribes staking out Fort Dix or the Coolidge House in Boston would get little from the newly freed Buddy Cianci other than a fleeting glimpse of the former Providence mayor.

Some of this comes down to herd reporting. Still, the reporters had to be there, I suppose. Buddy is news, and even with his absence of comment -- beyond a quick hello -- he would probably have been disappointed if no cameras were there to greet him.

N4N always looks forward to reading Edward Achorn's Tuesday op-ed column in the ProJo. While I don't agree with everything he says, his writing is clean, sharply focused, and he always has a strong point of view. Maybe I'm imagining it, but he seems to have focused more criticism on President Bush and other Republicans after, as part of a 2005 profile, I rapped him for being too single-minded in his criticism of Dems.

It figures that a day after Linc Chafee expresses possible interest in running for state general treasurer the ProJo has a piece in which he mentions the possibility of staying out of politics. To the ex-senator's critics, this will be further evidence of his Hamlet persona, although, to be fair, it's so early concerning 2010 that just about everyone is keeping their options wide open.

Former US Senator Linc Chafee might run for the general treasurer's office in 2010.

While he remains undecided about his future political plans, Chafee told N4N this morning that the treasurer's office is among those he's considering, along with governor and mayor of Providence. "It's still a long way away," he noted.

Tax subsidies for development projects in Providence have been a contentious subject in recent years. Edward Mazze, a professor of business administration at URI, took on the "let's-make-a-deal state" with a smart op-ed in Saturday's ProJo.

In particular, Mazze calls for a hard look at the reality and rhetoric of fostering business in the state:

This question is worth contemplating as we head into the Memorial Day weekend.

For many of those who grew up during the Vietnam War era, the subsequent elimination of the draft was a welcome development. Yet the advent of the all-voluntary military has allowed most Americans to remain very tuned out as the war in Iraq goes on and on.

I agree with Toby that there are better ways of handling Thayer Street's purported parking-noise issues than to clamp down on motorcyclists. Not to totally dismiss the concern of those driving this, but this also seems to smack a bit of the nanny state increasingly coming to small town Providence. Could you imagine a city like San Francisco trying to do such a thing?

Longtime RI broadcaster Ron St. Pierre, who maintains friendly ties with former Providence Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr., asserts that Buddy has "no bitterness" about his lengthy stay in federal prison and will have "no agenda" upon his return to Providence.

While some have speculated that Buddy, who is considered likely to take up a talk-show perch -- perhaps as colleagues with St.

Tyler and Allison's excellent Taqueria Pacifica at AS220 has posted a few tables on the sidewalk outside its Empire Street location in Providence, making for excellent people-watching on these beautiful spring days. Take in the view while chowing on one of the TP's superb Joesadilla, a kind of chicken quesadilla, with the optional guacamole and hot sauce for full effect.

As we know, Curt Schilling had his hands full even without offering some chin music to A-Rod last night. The first series loss for the Sox in about a month is not a big deal in and of itself, yet Schill's recent performance is cause for concern. The big fella was somewhat testy when challenged on it this morning on WEEI.

The Sox will remain in strong shape if Beckett maintains something close to his early-season form, and if Schill can pitch a little bit better.

Earlier this week, WPRO AM's Dan Yorke took on Lincoln Chafee, one of his favorite bete noires, using the former senator's commencement address at URI last Sunday as a metaphor for, as Yorke and other critics view it, Chafee's fecklessness. The offense? The phrase "Go waste, young man" -- a message, the talk-show host said, at odds with what young people should be hearing.