Steve Goldberg

@AshleyKalus Al Forno-esque

We have broken out the pizza oven. Summer is here.

@projomike Brutal

This is the video that comes up when you Google “out of touch.”

@JohnGPVD Newcomers aren’t Fox Pointers. Got it. How long do you have to live here to be part the community? Does my 5 years clear the hurdle?

Here's what newcomers and gentrifiers to our neighborhood sometimes don't know: their history! Our ancestors who built our neighborhood, Fox Point! Even though they've always tried to take it away from us (via urban renewal in the 60s and Brown University expansion), #FoxPoint lives forever because once a Fox Pointer, always a Fox Pointer How long have you lived in Fox Point? Let us know! 👇🦊 #FoxPointVsEverybody 💯 #StopGentrification  #foxpointpride #communityfirst

@JFLusi @CBlazejewski @RISpeaker @JoeShekarchi *doesnt

@JFLusi @CBlazejewski @RISpeaker @JoeShekarchi Twitter does reach the masses. Lots of inside baseball tweets between pols, operatives and media. Perhaps Threads/Insta would make more sense to communicate to residents.

There's a new sheriff in town. New RI Speaker Chris Blazejewski, @CBlazejewski, made that clear when he announced his support for an inspector general. He should take over the handle @RISpeaker from @JoeShekarchi and use it frequently on this platform to identify more good ideas.

@KenBlockRI Don’t get sucked into arguing with lame duck. Articulate how you’ll ameliorate this as gov.

RI’s Attorney General states Rhode Island’s open records laws have made possible a situation where a government body that does not want to disclose public records via our APRA laws can frustrate the efforts of anyone who asks for records by tying the request up in the court system for years.

@IanDonnis @CBlazejewski @RISpeaker I see him as more of a Threads guy.

Just asking - Does @CBlazejewski (who rarely tweets) take over the @RISpeaker handle at some point?

@AshleyKalus @rhodeislander In Chrome now, too. 🤯 blog.google/products-and-p…

@rhodeislander Oh this may be life changing and also reinforce a very bad habit of mine

I want this. Will it make my tab problem better or worse?

@JohnGPVD Boo! It’s always about “character”.

We spoke to Sarah, a neighbor on Providence’s East Side, about the growing fight to save four historic homes that could be demolished for Brown University’s proposed new economics building. This is about more than preserving historic buildings; it’s about preserving the character, history and families that shaped OUR community. With 650+ residents already signing petitions against the demolition, the conversation around Brown’s expansion is only getting louder.

@JohnGPVD Coordinated nimby attack plan. Sad.

Does Brown care about Providence? Four historic Brook Street homes, including properties tied to Black developer Alexander Gorham and generations of Providence families could be demolished for a new 50,000 sq. ft. economics building. Neighbors aren’t saying “don’t build.” They’re asking Brown to preserve the history, character and families that make this neighborhood what it is. This is bigger than one project. It’s about who gets to shape the future of Providence: the people who live here or the institutions that keep expanding into our neighborhoods. Providence deserves growth without erasing its history. 🏠

@OpenRouter @recraftai Sweet!

Live on OpenRouter: @recraftai. Recraft V4 is an image generation model tuned for high aesthetics - art-directed composition, lighting, and color that feels intentional, not stock. Built with artists and designers for branding, conceptual work, and creative exploration. More on V4 and V4 Pro below 🧵

@JohnGPVD Such a cynical approach. Anything to oppose development. How come you haven’t been advocating for these houses to be turned into usable homes until the university announced their plans? Are there any other homes that Brown owns that you have similar concerns about? Pssh.

We spoke with former Historic District Commission member Ray Rickman about Brown University’s plan to demolish four historic Brook Street homes during one of the worst housing shortages Providence has faced in years. As Brown continues expanding deeper into residential neighborhoods, many residents are asking the same question: Growth for whom? At what cost? 🏠

@IanDonnis @OSMediaRI FYI, the picture still shows weei and wpvd

Check out @OSMediaRI's powerful new statewide signal at 103.7 FM oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cultu…

@PaulDion5 @KenBlockRI Maybe? I’d assume we’d hear about lawsuits from the state, which I have seen. Either way, the state’s responsibility is to write effective contracts and properly govern their execution. The emails cited in @kathyprojo’s (terrific) article convey disarray.

@KenBlockRI Accenture overpromised and under delivered

State governments can and do successfully procure and implement large IT contracts. That RI fails at it frequently begs the question: why? While I cannot state with certainty what the cause is until I get my eyes on the organization and its capabilities, one of the main reasons is likely to be the lack of the right staffing within RI government to ensure these projects succeed. Trying to staff our own large, capable software development organization to build and deliver complex solutions makes no sense because we would be reinventing the wheel in an incredibly expensive way. Building a full-featured ERP system from nothing would cost far more than $100 million. And paying market rates for the technical leadership team, architects, and top leads in up to 10 different areas of specialization would make this new group one of the most highly compensated in state government. What we need to do well is oversee these projects, ensure they don't run off the rails, and write contracts that protect us from some of the worst outcomes we have had to deal with. All doable. It will probably involve some expensive hires. Must be done ASAP.

@RIGuy972 @Eli_Sherman @TedNesi @TimWhiteRI lol. So it’s really dem’s fault?

@Eli_Sherman @TedNesi @TimWhiteRI Hopkins is a RINO. It’s bad enough he’s trying to raise taxes and now taxpayers are on the hook for this. He’s the Scott Avedisian of Cranston.

NEW: Remember when that Cranston businessman accused Mayor Ken Hopkins of stealing his sports car? City taxpayers have paid about $47,000 in legal fees tied to the personal dispute. The case is now in settlement talks. w/@TimWhiteRI wpri.com/target-12/cran…

@kathyprojo Crazy shit, man.

A follow up from Cranston spox Nicole Renzulli: "Michael Cotugno was the consultant for Ridge Data doing the work."

@KenBlockRI This is the right answer.

@SamuelWBell @kathyprojo Big, privatized IT contracts don’t “almost always go very badly.” The state’s platform was old. Workday is a modern choice for ERP & is commonly used for the functions that Kathy lays out in her (terrific) article. We need to understand what went wrong btw the state & Accenture.

Important story by @kathyprojo. The reason why I opposed ERP is that I knew big privatized IT contracts almost always go very badly. It’s a stupid thing to privatize. You need to own the IP. We need to hire state workers to do the software development.

@ourplace I loved my titanium pan for the first month. Couldn’t believe how nonstick it was! Now it’s just an expensive, sticky pan. Sigh.

@AshleyKalus Legit promise to read and give honest feedback! I’m a lifelong dem but horrified/embarrassed by our housing mess.

@FoxPointSteve Ok well it’s being reviewed bc it’s going to be torched even if it’s excellent and made fun of…it’s like 30+ pages. Promise me you’ll read in full - I’m fine if you hate it but then you have to add better ideas :-)

Much respect to groups leading with facts. I’d want stabilization too if it worked, but history shows it doesn’t. We need more housing and can do it creatively, together. I’ll release a no BS plan. People deserve real solutions, not unworkable manifestos from McKee and Foulkes.