Bloggers take up some of the news slack

With the ProJo bleeding news jobs, blogs and bloggers have a more important role to play in Rhode Island.

Yesterday's Sunday ProJo had some good stories, including Jennifer Jordan's report on the state's shrinking support for higher education and Mike Stanton's dispatch on John Cicilline and his $75,000 bad check. Yet with fewer staffers, Rhode Island's statewide daily will do less and less.

So here's to the left and the right of the Rhode Island blogosphere, which continue to flesh out news and views hereabouts.

RI's Future's Matt, for example, has an on-point critique of the City of Providence's questionable development approach for the waterfront along Allens Avenue.

[T]he most interesting thing to come out of the meeting was evidence that the city's mixed-use vision has been driving away industrial businesses who have wanted to locate on Allens Ave:

     However it turns out, this debate has already cost the city business, said commercial real estate agent Frank Jacques, who has been trying to market the 12-acre lot at 434 Allens Ave.

    He said that in the last year, he had two businesses lined up — "written offers, with deposits" — looking to use the property, before they both pulled out.

    The zoning debate is what made them run, he said.

    "The comments we received, unsolicited, is that they didn't want to get embroiled in the debate we're having right now — rezoning."

And over at Anchor, Andrew has long-form interviews with GOP congressional candidates Mark Zaccaria and Jon Scott.

Andrew concluded part of his exchange by pointing to the utility of the blogosphere in a democracy. He's exactly right.