Michael Bilow

News Analysis: What Are Your Elected Officials Smoking?

The commission created last year by the Rhode Island General Assembly to study legalizing recreational cannabis has missed its reporting deadline of March 1, 2018, and a possible extension remains mired in disagreement between the two legislative chambers. Proponents want to regulate and tax cannabis for recreational purposes similarly to alcohol. Although the study commission […]

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Providence Community Radio: A Very Long Engagement

Broadcast radio underwent changes in the 1990s that had consequences impossible to foresee. As the first stirrings of what would become internet radio appeared – RealAudio in 1995, SHOUTcast in 1998, Napster in 1999, iTunes in 2001 – Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996, removing most anti-monopoly limits on corporate ownership, ushering in a […]

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Providence Announces “Adopt-a-Pothole” Program

Providence considered a number of solutions to its scourge of potholes. According to Mayor Jorge Elorza, rejected proposals included filling several million potholes with helium and releasing them to the winds, but when Cleveland tried something similar, damages had to be paid for an injured horse and a wrongful death. The Oregon Highway Department recommended […]

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Red Flags: Taking Guns from the Mentally Ill

A surprising amount of common ground underlies the positions of opposing stakeholders on proposed legislation that would create an “Extreme Risk Protection Order” (ERPO) (“red flag”) law, but the devil is in the details. A bill proposed in the RI General Assembly (House 7688 and Senate 2492) would allow family members and law enforcement to […]

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Providence French Film Festival 2018

An annual event since 1998, the Providence French Film Festival takes place Saturday, February 24, through Saturday, March 3, with all screenings at the Cable Car Cinema. Although the event is presented by Brown University, the films are not academically oriented and are open to the public. Richard Blakely, director of the festival, said he is […]

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