Jim Hummel

As RI liquor stores continue to suffer losses, legislators & MADD debate tax free days Take a ride down Route 6 in Seekonk and the sign is tough to ignore. Huge red letters just outside one package store proclaim: “No sales tax on alcohol in Mass.” If you live near the state line — and […]

Save the Bay’s Jonathan Stone turns up heat on polluter The mission seemed pretty straightforward. Three years ago, a new company called Rhode Island Recycled Metals set up shop on land adjacent to theProvidenceRiveralongAllens Avenue. In the summer of 2009, it had purchased the Juliett 484, known to most simply as The Russian Sub. The […]

Prov School Dept releases hold on high school wrestlers after educator goes public It has been an amazing transformation over the past three seasons: The Hope High School wrestling team began the year confident it would be in the hunt for a Division 2 state title — something that was unthinkable just a few years […]

Budget trimming decision leads to state squandering resources It is prime real estate, in a place where parking spots are a coveted perk: the lower lot adjacent to the Rhode Island State House, where the majority of state representatives and senators are assigned a spot. But it is not the easiest place to maneuver. And […]

Charter School head cited for chaining emergency exits while children in class’ It is just after 7 a.m. and students are starting to arrive for the day at the New England Laborer’s Construction Career Academy in Cranston. The charter school was created 10 years ago and rents space in a converted jewelry manufacturing building across […]

RI D.O.T. points finger at contractor in Barrignton Bridge debaucle. Contractor says delays, cost overages cuased by D.O.T.’s lack of initiative For years, motorists in the East Bay wondered if the new Barrington Bridge would ever be finished. After all, it was years behind schedule and more than double the original $10 million cost. In […]

Fall River Mayor Flanagan faces potential recall, after promoting Michael Coogan, a man facing charges in Rhode Island for allegations of doing business as an unlicensed contractor Fall River Mayor William Flanagan won his first re-election bid by a comfortable margin in November, after admitting during the campaign he had made some mistakes in his […]

As we head into 2012, the Hummel Report brings you new information on some of the investigations from 2011, and in one case a story we first brought you two years ago. In December of 2009, we told you about cracks in the brand new $15-million, taxpayer-funded, Warren Bridge — finished months behind schedule and […]

Angel Taveras had heard it all before. Taveras is a nice guy. A smart guy. But he’s not tough enough. Certainly not tough enough to deal with unions in Providence that for decades had played hardball in negotiations; particularly the firefighters, that for eight years made life miserable for Mayor Taveras’ predecessor, David Cicilline. The […]