Lincoln Chafee is now the first Democratic Rhode Island governor since the early 1990’s. Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay wonders what the governor’s party change means for his future.
After the Rhode Island court scandals of the 1990’s, the state changed the way judges are chosen. Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay explains why lawyers with Statehouse connections keep getting appointed to the bench … despite the reforms.
Common Cause of Rhode Island, the good government group, the Rhode Island Bar Association and a past president of the NAACP skewered Gov. Lincoln Chafee recently when he elevated former Senate President Joe Montalbano to a coveted judgeship on the state superior court bench.
The Dynamo House, the century-old onetime Narragansett Electric power station, now sits as a forlorn reminder of what once thrived along Providence’s downtown waterfront. And as Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay notes, it now stands as a guard to the old Jewelry District that state and city officials are trying to rebrand as a Knowledge District.
Rhode Island hasn’t had enough to celebrate lately. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay brings us an anniversary all Rhode Islanders can take pride in next month.
Three hundred and fifty years ago, Rhode Island struck a blow that would reverberate around the globe when England granted the colony a charter that for the first time in the modern world put in place a government that granted absolute religious freedom to its people.
Providence already has too many underused office buildings. Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay, has some thoughts on what can be done to prevent the Superman building from going dark.
Maybe you were driving home from a night Celtics, Bruins or Red Sox game. Perhaps you visited friends in Boston or were returning from summer vacation on a lake in Vermont or New Hampshire.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to weigh in on same-sex marriage on Tuesday. Rhode Island Public Radio Political Analyst Scott Mackay talks with us about the significance of the scheduled vote, and what to expect from legislators.
After the mourning comes the reckoning. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay on why Boston will not only survive, but thrive.
The year was 1976 and Boston, the nation’s birthplace, was celebrating the American bicentennial with paeans to liberty, equality and justice. But the city that spawned the abolition movement and women’s rights was riven by racial division.
The image of Boston that flashed around the world that year was a photograph of a black man being assaulted by an angry white man using as a spear a staff with an American flag.
In politics, as in pensions, assets can turn into liabilities. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay wonders if an advocacy group for pension overhaul that doesn’t need to disclose its members has become state Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s Achilles heel.
Governor Chafee has proposed rewarding top state officials with pay raises. RIPR analyst Scott MacKay parses the pros and cons of the governor’s plan.
Governor Lincoln Chafee says his cabinet members have been doing a good job and deserve raises of three percent in June and another three percent in December. It’s no surprise that the governor has been roundly criticized and not just by the talk radio peanut gallery.
