The bottom of today's ProJo carries a notice indicating how the daily newsstand price of Rhode Island's dominant daily has climbed to 75 cents, the first such increase in 18 years. Considering the woes of the newspaper industry, this decision was certainly not made lightly.

The problem for newspapers is not that fewer people are reading them.

My most memorable baseball memory -- as with many enthusiasts -- is that of attending my first professional game. Dad and I sat way in the upper deck at Shea Stadium, not long after the Miracle season of 1969, and it was incredibly exciting. We seemed to be up in the stratosphere, yet the grass, far below, had that lustrous green that signifies baseball, and the whole experience was enthralling.

To the surprise of no one, some of the angry white men of Rhode Island are using the ongoing immigration debate to drop more of the insightful bon mots for which they have become known.

Fellows with a bit more panache know that the velvet glove is stronger than the rhetorical hammer.

Yesterday's New York Times profiled one such individual, illustrator Al Jaffee, who, at 87, continues to draw Mad magazine's signature back inside cover fold-ins -- a role he has performed since 1964.

You've got to love how Chafee's new book, Against the Tide, is being released tomorrow -- on April Fool's Day.

Darrell West had a review in yesterday's Sunday ProJo:

In meetings with the administration, Chafee describes Bush as being “ruled by emotion” and having a “juvenile streak” that he found unpresidential.

Early on during the war in Iraq, there was talk of how Americans officers were checking out The Battle of Algiers, a movie about the Algerian insurgency against the French in the 1950s, for clues about the politics of insurgency and counter-insurgency. Not that it seems to have helped much. Anyway, the Watson Institute at Brown is screening the movie tomorrow.

Immigration is fast becoming the latest incarnation of the casino story -- the kind of thing that's going to wind up on the front of the ProJo more days than not.

Speaking today while taping Newsmakers, Joe Trillo said Governor Carcieri's immigration crackdown could save the state a lot of money. Guest panelist Jen Lawless disagreed, contending that the state shouldn't tackle a complicated situation that has, thus far, eluded a new federal approach.

With much attention devoted to Governor Caricieri's immigration plan, not to mention the budget, it's easy to forget about some of the other big issues facing us. One such case is global warming.

According to a report issued earlier this week by Environment Rhode Island and Clean Water Action:

The authors found that global warming emissions in Rhode Island are still drastically far from reaching the voluntary reduction goals set in 2001 when the New England governors agreed to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, 10% below by 2020, and 75-85% below 2001 levels by 2050.

Besides Frank J. Williams, Representatives Art Handy (D-Cranston) and Joe Trillo (R-Warwick) also appear on Newsmakers this weekend (Sunday, 5:30 am on Channel 12, 10 am on Fox 64), for a discussion of the state budget and Handy's much-discussed proposal.

You can expect where this comes down: Handy says his plan would benefit most Rhode Islanders and slightly diminish the bite of property taxes, while Trillo says Rhode Islanders are already overtaxed and that any further tax hikes should be avoided.

This is tonight:

We invite you to join with Ocean State Action Fund as we celebrate 20 years of coalition building, organizing and leading for change!

6:00 - 8:00 pm at Local 121

Washington Street Providence

Keynote by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

and honoring

While Rhode Island sometimes seems like a horror show -- what with the budget meltdown, high property taxes, big hair, and any number of other problems -- the Ocean State has a historic link to two great horror writers, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. "I am Providence" Lovecraft.

Lovecraft will be celebrated this weekend, and Bill Rodriguez offers a preview in this week's Phoenix:

Frank J. Williams, chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, who wields enormous power and has a lifetime appointment, maintains that sufficient measures are in place to hold him accountable. He made the statement during a taping this morning of WPRI/WNAC-TV's Newsmakers.

I noted that electing judges, as is the case in some other states, seems like a flawed process, but that two of the most powerful men in state government -- House Speaker William J.

Governor Carcieri entered a long-running debate about the value of the early-education program Head Start this week. Here's what he said in a story yesterday by the ProJo's Steve Peoples:

“Show me empirical evidence that Head Start has done anything,” he said. “I think it’s been the biggest waste of money, frankly.

Another black eye for the press, this time the Los Angeles Times, via The Smoking Gun:

MARCH 26--Last week's bombshell Los Angeles Times report claiming that the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur in the lobby of a Manhattan recording studio was carried out by associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs and that the rap impresario knew of the plot beforehand was based largely on fabricated FBI reports, The Smoking Gun has learned.

John McCain's key to cultivating positive press? His sense of detatched irony, of course, writes Neal Gabler in yesterday's NYT:

The candidates who are dead serious about politics, even wonkish, get abused by the press for it. Mr. McCain the ironist gets heaps of affection. In this race, though, it has forced some press contortions.

Matt takes a look at the front of today's ProJo's State House tax-issue coverage and sees a not-so-subtle division:

Anyone notice the stark contrast on the front page of today's BeloJo?

In one corner we have MEN IN SUITS who are longtime advocates for lowering taxes on the richest millionaires and corporate tycoons at the expense of health care and child care!