Here's the word from the Gov:

Governor Donald L. Carcieri today issued an Executive Order authorizing that all employees represented by unions that have not ratified the co-share and plan design changes outlined in the Memorandum of Settlement shall enjoy the same health, vision, and dental plan benefits, as non-union Executive branch employees and as employees whose unions have negotiated and ratified agreements containing these cost-savings and will be contributing accordingly.

The ProJo has gotten around to deleting the back and forth among two commenters on its Politics blog that began when one of them said that recently deceased Newport denizen and GOP icon Eileen Slocum . . .

once referred to her half-white, half-black grandchildren as "my little pick-aninnies" and got away with it. These were the offspring of daughter, Beryl and her husband, Adam Clayton Powell III.

With about four hours until the trading deadline, Sox Nation watches and waits to see what happens with Manny and whether Boston can shed its recent identity as a team playing like a bunch of wet kittens.

As we know, the Angels and Yankees have taken decisive steps to improve their clubs, and the Rays still top the AL East.

Brown alum Anna Galland, formerly the gracious and good-humored local program director for the American Friends Service Committee, is now working for Moveon.org. Via the organization's outreach, she sent word of the following event:

The most important election in a generation is less than 100 days away.

In the aftermath of informational meetings held separately yesterday by the Providence Newspaper Guild and management at the Providence Journal, Guild members have "lots of questions" and "lots of concern" about the buyout announced earlier this week, Guild administrator Tim Schick tells me.

Rachael Bornstein is filling the legislative director role for US Representative Jim Langevin in his DC office, succeeding 10-year veteran Brian Daniels, a Warwick native, who plans to pursue an MBA at Yale. Daniels formerly worked for former US Representative Robert Weygand.

Bornstein, who hails from Maryland, comes from the office of US Representative Patrick J.

While expressing disappointment about today's departure of Jim Hummel, Stephen Doerr, WLNE-TV's general manager, says improving ratings at Channel 6 demonstrate the soundness of the station's direction under new management.

"I'm sorry to lose him, but I understand," Doerr told me a short time ago.

Neither Robin J. Costello or the office of US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy is in a rush to talk about it, but Costello is the latest press secretary for Kennedy to move on. Sources tell N4N that Costello, previously the communications director for Day One - the Sexual Assault & Trauma Resource Center, is taking a new gig with Warwick-based Plan USA

UPDATE: I've left a message for ABC6 news director B.J. Finnell, and will report on what he has to say if and when he gets back to me. I'm also trying to reach WLNE GM Stephen Doerr.

Here's some additional comment from Hummel:

The 13-year veteran of Channel 6 confirmed that he does not have another job immediately lined up, and that his departing in this fashion "has some people scratching their heads."

Speaking of TV, veteran newsman Jim Hummel, who has long been the best and most serious reporter at WLNE-TV (Channel 6), has left the station as of this morning.

A source says Hummel made the decision because his contract was up and he didn't like the direction of Channel 6 under new ownership. Besides being the station's chief reporter, Hummel has been known for his "You Paid for It!" segments.

It's not just newspapers that are having tough times these days. Local TV news is also losing eyeballs and money to the Internet. And some of what TV consultant Dick Kurlander cites in a letter to TVNewsday will be familiar to viewers and TV reporters far from his home in the South.

In my consulting travels around the country, and as a viewer here in Charlotte, N.

Count Seth Gitell surprised:

RNC Obama Parody Ad
Here’s the Republican National Committee’s attempt to satirize Barack Obama’s recent speech in Berlin. I didn’t think the GOP had it in them, but, if anything, the goofy house music and strobe lighting made me laugh. Who do they even have over at that operation that knows anything about European dance music?

Here in Rhode Island, we ink-stained wretches like to refer to the state and its picaresque characters as the gifts that keep on giving. Clearly, though, the national stage also has much to offer for future generations. Take a look at these details from yesterday's New York Times:

1) White House Predicts Bush Will Leave $482 Billion Deficit

From commenters on the ProJo's politics blog, reacting to Eileen Slocum's death:

Comments
wally pickford said:
I remember Eileen. She was the personification of women's liberation before women became liberated. With her inimitable, free-wheeling, I-beg-your-pardon style, packaged with authentic Waspish intonation, she charmed everyone within earshot.