District 12's "Adamsville Phil"

**2nd UPDATE: This is from last year, but I like it. BTW, the groundhog saw his shadow- 6 more wks. of winter
**UPDATE: Here is the Projo update on Phil who has now struck out on his own. Currently Phil is sleeping under the Gardner's barn. Will he peek out?


Here is last year's blog entry.
Bummer, he saw his shadow!




In case you missed this hilarious article on "Admasville Phil" (a Little Compton groundhog-except Adamsville HATES being part of Little C's voting district)) here it is and here is another pic & another article, and my person fav. I'm still laughing on this dreary day. He couldn't possibly have seen his shadow so Yeah! for an early spring. Go Phil! The groundhog owner is Lee Gardner, former Norman Bird Sanctuary director. Thanks to Projo & Sakonnet Times for info & pics.

Welcome New District Writers!

Expect to see two new writers soon. One is Newporter Anthony Spiratos who has written a few articles before and recently formed a new state advocacy group. Check out Projo's story on him.

The other is Middletowner Antone C. Viveiros, founder of Concerned Island Taxpayers Assoc., formerly Island Watchdogs.

Both are former Republicans . The writers and I do not always agree politically, but I do welcome other points of view in order to begin conversations. I also get tired of reading articles by me (b-o-o-o-o-ring!)

My other writers are Sandra Flowers who is now running for School Committee in Newport (boy, could they use her help) and Tom Kalinowski of Newport who is interested in national politics & is an all-around rabble rouser.

Write more! Write often! Others are welcome- just e-mail me if you'd like to write or even post announcements. I want to expand the conversation in the District, not confine it to mini-me's. Discussion is a good thing and, you know, I'm not always right. We all have a lot more in common than we may think, just different paths to get there. I'd especially welcome anyone from Tiverton and Little Compton or Adamsville who would like to contribute. Our problems, concerns, and interests are not so very different after all.

Today- blog writer; tomorrow- Pulitzer Prize! Or something like that....

Rep. Loughlin Considering Challenging Rep. Kennedy

Just picked this up from yesterday in Projo. You'd already heard that rumor posted awhile ago here.

Ah, sweet seduction from national Republicans.

Rep. Loughlin's State House District covers all of Little Compton & Adamsville, and part of Tiverton. It was gerrymandered for a Republican and it's worked! He had no opposition in 2006 and ran against Dem. Forte in 2004. Of course, you have to realize that it was a Dem. Lege that did this. The leadership was upset with former Dem. Rep. Enos & gerrymandered him out of a seat basically. Sometimes you need a scorecard in this state to tell the Dems from the Republicans.

If he forgoes the federal office, he'll go for the State Rep. (2nd choice). He's involved in media (his own business) & even if he loses, with the networking he can do, he may well end up ahead pocket-wise even if he loses vote-wise. Robataille hasn't fared too badly since he ran for Rep. in District 93 & lost by only a few votes. He now is the Guv's new public relations official. He also runs a public relations/media firm.

Thanks to reporter Peter Phipps

Less Baloney, Senator Gibbs, Please.

As a youngster my favorite lunch was baloney with Gulden's mustard on white bread. Occassionally cheese/lettuce, but I didn't want the taste of the baloney/mustard diluted. Yum.
But tastes change. Now I prefer actual recognizable meats with healthy additions. And I demand more from my lunch than a full belly.
Senator Gibbs is still feeding us baloney with mustard on white bread.
Her main lege goal this year was affordable health insurance (that went well, didn't it), creating a health care commission (guess a commissioner ain't enough) and to assign a health-care commissioner to the Dept. of Bus. Regs. (why?).
So I did a wild & crazy thing with my attached arrow through the head apparatus. I reviewed all the bills with her name on them. I checked anything to do with Healthcare /Business regs:
These are the results of her efforts: An employer with more than 25 employees must have a cafeteria healthcare plan that satisfies the IRS (employees pay). This bill came out of commitee. It passed! Affordable? Maybe, maybe not. Good coverage. Not exactly. That's why it's called a cafeteria plan.
That's it.
So what COULD she have sponsored? How about supporting lege extending the age of dependents to 30, an act specifing that reimbursement for mental illness providers shall be comparable to that paid for similar medical services, allowing visits by domestic partners to nursing home patients, and the "Health Care Affordability Act."
28 bills on which she was the lead sponsor. 4 bills falling into the category of Health & Safety. Kind of wonder what would have happened if affordable healthcare wasn't her priority. Or if she'd shown up every day & just not voted ("sometimes my vote just doesn't matter"). Maybe that quote works better if you leave out the "sometimes."
Talk about low expectations. We deserved better. Ah, 2008. What a year!

Part 1.

Sen. Gibbs - So Confused - Again!

YES ---- NO ----- ?

Sometimes she "just can't make up my [her] mind." Yep, she said that.

Like the condo tax change bill for Newport: 2007 - Yes

2006 - No

2005 - Yes

"No comment," on that one. "Sometimes it's hard to decide." Yep, said that too. "Everybody does it." That excuse wore out when I was 8. Said it right in front of "Daily News" reporters. Guess it just wasn't worth reporting. She also commented that, "You [me] just don't understand the process." Yup, that's me, ole' dopey Eileen.

So here is the list of other bills/amendments she didn't bother to vote on. She was there, just didn't vote. Good thing there are others there you can make up their minds.


1. 2007-S 791 THE EDWARD O. HAWKINS AND THOMAS C. SLATER MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACT

2. 2007-S 256 BOARD OF MEDICAL LICENSURE AND DISCIPLINE

3. 2007-S 369 AN ACT RELATING TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS -- LICENSED ACTIVITIES

4. 2007-S 872 SUB A AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- NONPROFIT HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL SERVICE CORPORATIONS - an amendment

5. 2007-S 776 AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS

6. 2007-S 1051 SUB A SANITATION IN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS

7. 2007-S 411 ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE -- FARMING

8. 2007-S 953 SUB A AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- FOUNDATION LEVEL SCHOOL SUPPORT

9. 230 SUB B - AN ACT RELATING TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS -- THE USE OF THE NAMEOF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS(protect names of financial institutions)

10. Senate Bill No. 1014 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION (require that recommendations made by the RIAAP be addressed when minorities are considered for appointment by the governor and general assembly and that a utilization analysis of appointments occur annually)

11. 2007-H 5778 AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT

12. 1143 AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- AMERICAN AND DOMINICANOS/AS CULTURAL EXCHANGE COMMISSION {LC3438/1}

13. 2007-H 6502 JOINT RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF ENACTING LEGISLATION TO EMPOWER PRIMARY CARE PROVIDERS TO JOINTLY NEGOTIATE WITH HEALTH INSURERS

14. 2007-H 5549 SUB A ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE - UNFAIR CLAIMS SETTLEMENT PRACTICES ACT

15. 2007-H 6014 SUB A AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENSES

16. Senate Bill No. 1089 SUB A AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- WORK FORCE DEVELOPMENT {LC3167/1/A}

18. 2007-S 50 AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS -- COLLECTION OF FINES AND COSTS

Legislative Grants for District 12

I know that you've been waiting with baited breath for this. Remember, this is OUR money. So what does one of the most senior State Senators (but one elected with the 2nd lowest majority) pull down for her district??

Middletown: $2000 (8 precincts)

Little Compton - 3 entities: $11,000 (2 precincts) (there are 14 total in District 12)

Big Sisters Newport Co. : $2000

R.I. Legal/Educational Partnership (Prov.) - they sponsor "Mock Trial" in high schools: $2000

6 groups with 3 in Little Compton.

This makes for a Grant Total of $15,000. Do you understand "gerrymandering?" Does "it's a good thing that Adamsville/Little C. is heavily Republican or I'd never win" register? How about spreading out what little $ you are able to obtain for us?

Now let's take a look at neighboring Sen. Levesque's district (P'mouth & Bristol).

13 groups

Grant Total: $26,000 (almost evenly divided in district)

Sen. Felag - Tiverton: $26,500. 23 groups.

Think this is unusual? Think again. Maybe we should all call ourselves "Little Compton."

BTW: From last year (sorry, link is gone):
Felag, Jr. (Bristol, Tiverton, & Warren) $21,500 - 21 grants
Sen. Levesque (Portsmouth & Warren) $14,600 - 10 grants
Sen. Gibbs 12th dist. (Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, & Tiverton), $8000 - 4 grants.

Senator June N. Gibbs - Oops!

Dear June,

I thought that I might be helpful in drawing your attention to some errors on your State paid for & sponsored website. Not so long ago I actually used to get paid for this kind of info.

Check the "Photos" link. There are only 5 sentences on the entire page. "Committee" is misspelled. Prithee, thou also mayest want to reconsider the use of "amongst."

The link for "FAQ" also contains some errors. "Question 3) Where can I locate information about public laws in Rhode Island?"

The answer is a sentence fragment: " You can find information regarding the Rhode Island Public Laws, Rhode Island General Laws and any other legislative"


Another problem is "4) Where can I learn how a bill becomes a law?"

The answer is this link: http://www.elections.state.ri.us/registration/intro.htm.

Surprise, surprise, this is a link on voter registration, not the bill-to-law process. (Note for the future, the link address often contains relevant info)

Oh, your address. Middletown's zip code changed, uh, like 10 years ago. It's now 02842.

And one of your pages contains this link: http://www.info.state.ri.us/azlist.htm

This link says that it's been changed. You may want to update it.

Your "Links" also state that Little Compton has no website. I'm sure that they will be surprised to learn that. Heck they even have running water now!

http://www.little-compton.com/

This is Tiverton's website. Your link leads nowhere.

http://www.tiverton.ri.gov/

You know, you may also want to include a link for Middletown. Remember, where you live?

http://www.middletownri.com/

Your homepage states that you are happy to assist & meet many Aquidneck Islanders. I guess the same does not hold true for residents of Tiverton, Adamsville, & Little Compton (the maps that I've seen do not place them on Aquidneck Island)? They've been part of your district for, like, SEVEN years now?

I could go on with specifics, but hey, the buck doesn't stop with me. Nor with the assistants who did the work. You may want to, um...what are those words; oh, proofread and edit, say - every TWO years at a minimum? Yeah, like right BEFORE an election. Hey, maybe even AFTER.

You're welcome. But we can't keep on meeting like this.

Sincerely,

Eileen