Little Rhody got blasted by a snowstorm yesterday, apparently getting "blasted by bombogenesis". I snapped a few photos of Federal Hill covered in snow so that I'll have something to remember it by in July when I'm sweaty and miserable.
The legend is back. Narragansett Beer is once again available in finer Ocean State bars and packies. It's no longer brewed in Rhode Island, but hey, that's alright. Please note that I do not condone getting parrots drunk.
So how is it? Not bad at all.
I've put photos taken last Saturday from Lincoln Woods in Lincoln up on my Flickr site for your perusal.
The Providence Journal (registration required) reports that Providence police detectives arrested two women at two separate massage parlors in the city, charging them with "permitting massages to be given without a license" - a misdemeanor. One of the ladies was also charged with "maintaining a common nuisance".
The detectives paid for massages, and made the busts when solicited for sexual favors above and beyond a therapeutic massage.
So, I hear you ask, why wasn't anyone arrested for solicitation of prostitution? The answer will surprise you: prostitution is not illegal in Rhode Island as long as it is conducted indoors. You would think this fact would create fabulous Nevada style resorts, but no, instead, it simply creates dingy downtown massage parlors staffed by illegal immigrants.
Clearly, an enterprising entrepreneur could exploit this legal loophole and create something along the lines of those working girl ranches in Nevada in Providence. Who will put up the million dollars required for "the Quahog ranch"? Rhode Island is already an "adult entertainment" destination, with several famous strip clubs so large, they service entire tour buses of customers before nine in the morning (the Foxy Lady and their "legs and eggs" breakfast), so why not go the extra mile and deliver what people are really looking for? Get all the proper licenses, hire elligible workers, and recoup that million dollars in no time flat. Men from Massachusetts will be spending all their free time and money at a place like this, so the first one to do it right can clean the hell up.
The Providence Journal (registration required) is reporting that local police, aided by drug sniffing dogs, shut down Narragansett high school to search for drugs on the premises. Their haul consisted of a small bag of marijuana and a pipe taken from a student's car.
I'm all for scaring the hell out of teenagers by searching for drugs, and I don't think rich towns like Narragansett should get a pass, but good lord, why not try this in Providence or Central Falls? I guarantee they'll come up with more than a dime bag of grass.
Congratulations to Rhode Island for the wettest October in recorded history. Last night, our rivers swelled and dams flexed to bursting as another inch and a half of rain fell in one night. The entire state is dark, damp and cold.
I've got nothing but love for it, since we're all about the trees, grass, ponds, rivers and lakes. On the downside, there are 30,000 people in Rhode Island without power, and there's been yet more flooded streets and basements. Even better, or worse, there's more to come as the remnants of hurricane Wilma make their way to the north.
The Providence Journal (login required) reports that Johnston police responded to a 911 call and found 40 year old Michael C. Welch confronting them with a drawn katana, reportedly screaming "just kill me!" at the befuddled cops.
Miraculously, Welch got a grip on his surroundings and dropped his weapon before the police ventilated him, and all ended relatively peacefully. Where the hell are the people from the Institute For The Study And Practice of Nonviolence when someone needs them, anyway?
They're three weeks old now, but what the heck, I took pictures of the Cliff Walk in Newport. This was the last weekend of dry weather we've had in the past three weeks, with more rain scheduled for this weekend.
I can't complain about getting too much of the wet stuff, though. I would hate it if Rhode Island looked like Arizona.
Two people were shot during a craps game at Lockwood Plaza on Prairie Avenue, the heart of Providence's ghetto. For one of the victims, 32 year old Noel Osborne, this latest bullet marked the 11th time he's been shot.
Nothing says fall like picking apples, and I've put a set of photos from Sunset Orchards in Scituate up on Flickr. Now, to find a way to get all of these apples into pie ...
Underdog is here! Or almost here, at least. The Providence Journal (registration required) reports that Rhode Island is the "overwhelming favorite" for Disney to film their new live action Underdog movie, a "megabudget" film set to release in 2007, in Rhode Island.
Hollywood on the Woonasquatucket, eh?
This is a quintessentially Providence scene: notice the police officer listening to someone talking to him, all the while with a poker face and a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee (click on "original size" to really make out the coffee - but be warned, the file is rather big).
When I walked by and snapped the photo, he turned abruptly and hollered, "is everything alright there, buddy?" to which I replied, "I'm fine, sir!". I guess saying, "I'm just photoblogging Rhode Island" wouldn't make any sense to The Man, now would it? Hell naw!
Ever since Bess Eaton went away, little slices of Canada have replaced them all over Rhode Island. I dig Tim Horton's, but damn, Bess Eaton was a pretty unique chain. A Bible verse on every doughnut? What was that all about? I put pictures of our trip to Tim Horton's on route 2 in Warwick up on Flickr. Nora's folks love it when she brings a dozen doughnuts from the exotic wilds of Rhode Island back to Quincy on Sundays, and who could blame them? Everyone loves a good sour cream doughnut from time to time.
Incidentally, I don't know if anyone else calls Tim Horton's "the Canadian embassy", but it just fits. I hope this doesn't mean there will be a string of hippies piling into them trying to seek asylum.
The Providence Journal (registration required) details the arrest of John E. Curran at his home in Exeter. Curran is charged with selling snake oil to genuinely sick people, and practicing medicine without a license.
I await a spirited rebuttal from alternative medicine advocates.
Bristol celebrates its 325th anniversary of existence this Sunday. Although Bristol started out as a part of Massachusetts, it's almost impossible to imagine Rhode Island without it now. Could you imagine Rhode Island whout Colt state park? Or the Mt. Hope bridge? What about Roger Williams University? And last, but by no means least, the nations's oldest Fourth of July celebration? It's unthinkable! Bristol is one of the finest towns in all of southern New England. Happy birthday, Bristol!
A 16 year old girl was shot in the right buttock in Wanskuck last night. Apparently, there has been a communal failure to properly study, much less practice, nonviolence, and we, the community, demand answers!
Actually we don't, but it would be nice to see the police arrest the culprit.
Oh sure, the original on top of the state house is awe inspiring, but let's give some love to the replica ruling over the food court at the Warwick Mall, shall we? Clearly, no one shall every challenge the sovereignity or dignity of this food court's Burger King or Panda Express, which is how Roger Williams would want it.
The brawling at Kennedy Plaza has continued, and the police have dutifully arrested eight students (five from Mount Pleasant, and three from Central) and charged them with criminal trespassing. As I spectulated earlier, the origins of the fracas, which turned into two afternoons of rioting, was sparked by geography: the East side dissing the South side. A classic! The Providence Journal (registration required) has more.
In a very Rhode Islandesque twist, Providence police on scene to keep the peace on Friday were joined by "Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence". We'll see how this works out, to be sure. Their website claims to have "reduced arrests in the Kennedy Plaza bus interchange by 95%", but oddly, makes no claim to have helped reduce crime in Kennedy Plaza by any corresponding amount (the ProJo police log, infrequently run as it is, suggests that no corresponding drop in crime accompanies this reduction in arrests).
They also claim to have:
I cannot see how anyone could make, much less accept, the first claim with a straight face. How could the Institute possibly quantify the number of acts of retaliatory violence prevented by their saintly presence? Is this information offered by potential criminals themselves ("I was about to shoot that motherfucker, but then the The Institute for the Study and Practice of Non-Violence showed me the way to peace!")? How did they quantify the first claim? Exit interviews? Anonymous tips? There's no way to determine their impact on preventing "retaliatory violence" in raw numbers or as a percentage of retaliatory violence in the city. And to be sure, there have been some recent high profile revenge killings in the city of late. Similarly, when revenge killings occur, are we to hold the Institute culpable for failures? Taking responsibility for "success" would also infer culpability for "failure", but realistically, they can take neither credit nor blame for something beyond their direct control.
The second claim is more straightforward, yet is not as impressive as it perhaps sounds. Providence does not have the generic community tensions that, for example, Crown Heights has. Recently, there were fears of tensions simmering between the city's (relatively small) Cambodian and black communities after a recent murder, but these fears appeared to be more smoke than fire. What impact the institute has had on reducing or eliminating these nascent tensions is unknown.
And lastly, not to sound like a Republican (which I am), but how much are they costing us? They mention a $99,200 grant from the Department of Health and Human services secured by our RINO Senator Lincoln Chaffee, but they do not mention what the state of Rhode Island or the city of Providence have donated. Fine words and work, to be sure, but is it worth the money?
The Providence Journal (registration required) reports that a massive brawl erupted in downtown Providence on Thursday, when a startingly large number of high school students clashed in Kennedy Plaza. A mob of what police estimated to be as many as 300 high school students, some armed with rocks and bottles, were making their way up to College Hill before being dispersed by the police. 8 of the students were arrested, and the rest apparently scattered after the police arrived. What the hell could possibly have sparked this riot? Geographic rivalry? Insane. I'm amazed that the state police didn't show up en masse in riot gear to quell this disturbance, especially since Kennedy Plaza is in the heart of the business district.
Hope high school is, hands down, the worst high school in the state, and it is currently administered by a triumvirate instead of a single principal. I suppose someone thought it would be an even better idea to get two more people involved instead of finding one extremely competent administrator. That's just how city governments in Rhode Island work. Doubtlessly, there will be a million police downtown tomorrow when school gets out. It's also a safe bet to predict that, in an effort to avoid antagonizing "community leaders", the Providence police department will let this violent fracas slide and opt for "further dialogue" with Hope students and whatever authority figures around that are passing for their parents instead of sending the little thugs through the judicial system. Call me a cynic, but that's the approach we seem to always take here in the bluest city in the bluest little state in the union.
Providence police have busted "the good looking bandit" (registration required). This guy was responsible for a crime spree on the East Side, often robbing store owners of relatively miniscule amounts of money. In what is becoming de rigeur during Chief Dean Esserman's tenure, there was a medium-high profile press conference to show the public that the police are doing their jobs. The Providence Journal is attentive to the dog and pony shows, which is no surprise since they've been generally supportive of city government during Mayor Cicilline's administration.
A photo of the former Engle Tire and Providence Auto Ignition Service on the corner of Broadway and the service road parallel to route 95.
There is a fair amount of pressure to convert this property into a Dunkin' Donuts, while others want an upscale supermarket for urban hipsters (think Trader Joe's ), while others hope a pharmacy will fill the void. Since DePasquale's pharmacy on Broadway went out of business, this is a suggestion that actually might make sense, but only time will tell. Art In Ruins has more on this newly abandoned property on the fringe of Federal Hill. The future development of this property will almost certainly be a harbinger of the future of Federal Hill.
I only hope it's not another hip little cafe: Broadway's got a few too many of those already.
Little Compton is a beautiful town, one of the last old fashioned New England towns in the state. This tiny town is, however, justifiably famous in Rhode Island for being the birthplace of the Rhode Island Red chicken in 1854. The Rhode Island Red is a champion egg layer, and is well known locally for its brown, delicious eggs.
Quahog.org has a fine article on the Rhode Island Red, and a picture of the memorial in Little Compton (the village of Adamsville) devoted to our state bird, the biggest little chicken in America.
Fresh photos from Tiverton and Little Compton over on Flickr. Nora and I bought some sweet corn, took some pictures, and had a good time all around.
So, you ask, if Del's frozen lemonade is the unoffical state drink, what is the official state drink? Why, that would be coffee milk.
People outside southeastern New England tend to be baffled by coffee milk, and dairy executives are baffled when they see that Rhode Island is the only state where coffee, not vanilla, is the top selling ice cream flavor. The state loves it, and after a contentious debate in the state legislature, coffee milk defeated Del's in the bruising fight to become the official state beverage. Cynics might say that the time and money spent arguing over something so trivial would be better spent addressing Rhode Island's seemingly innumerable problems, but good lord people, have you ever had coffee milk? It's delicious!
A shot of the Providence Fruit and Produce Company Warehouse building on Harris Avenue, shot from underneath the highway. The property is currently owned by the state, and they have been entertaining bids for the property for a few years without takers.
Art In Ruins has a summary with nearly two dozen photos.
Lisa Griffis has a fine set of photos of Woonsocket over on Flickr. This photo is an artifact of the city's Quebecois heritage.
Last Saturday was probably the last time I'll visit Block Island this year. Or will it? I think a fall or winter visit would be relaxing. I grew up in a tourist town, and you get to know more about a place when there aren't throngs of visitors.
At any rate, it would behoove me to start a series of photos of other places in Rhode Island, starting with Providence. I suspect I'll start out with Federal Hill, and branch out from there.
Coffee milk is the state beverage of Rhode Island, winning the honor after months (or was it years?) of legislative debate. However, when it's a blazing hot August day at the beach, nothing refreshes quite like the unofficial state beverage of the Ocean State: Del's.
Why, just look how refreshed the exotic brunette in the photo is after digging into the citrusy goodness of a Del's
