Blogs | Ethan Shorey

One would think that it wouldn't be that hard to find a 20-acre parcel of open land with easy highway access, says developer David Cascioli, but his plans for a water park in or near Rhode Island continue to be frustrated. This week I wrote about his latest plans falling through on the Attleboro/Pawtucket line.

Cascioli is sounding very discouraged these...

For years I've listened to Rhode Island talk radio hosts and listeners complain about the condition of the state's roadways, lamenting that officials won't do more to bring them up to the standard of neighboring states. I've posted plenty of pictures myself of the potholes that dot our fair Ocean State.

Perhaps that's what made John DePetro's statements at the end of his Jan. 6 show on WPRO so surprising. He basically made the argument that leaders will have all kinds of money to...

David Norton, the outspoken critic of the Providence stadium deal last year, is making it clear with his early announcement for the House District 60 seat that he's not planning to change his aggressive style.

Norton will challenge freshman incumbent David Coughlin in the primary by taking the approach of tying Coughlin to House Speaker...

One of the things I enjoy most about working at The Breeze is putting out our annual Christmas in the Valley section. This year's edition is our 20th, and in my opinion, one of our best, with throwback themes, staff columns, recipes, events and more. Our staff again put a lot of time and energy into bringing you stories that you'll enjoy this season. Our hope is that this edition will show in some small way how much we appreciate you the readers. All the best wishes for a safe and happy...

Not long after my son first learned to talk, he introduced me to his best friends, Silver and Jack. I assumed, at first, that these imaginary mice would disappear after a few days, replaced by a real stuffed animal or a favorite toy. But they lived on, accompanying an imaginative little boy on his daily adventures.

For whatever reason, Jack has faded into the background in recent months, but Silver has turned into a member of our family, coming with us on trips, fixing things around...

Kathy Gregg has an interesting piece in The Journal on the increasing number of public relations jobs in Rhode Island government. For some PR positions, pay is also going up.

My immediate thought was not about whether taxpayer dollars are being wasted, but on the ongoing trend of good journalists making the shift to the "dark side," as ...

Proving again that there's a survey for everything, The Weather Channel asked online users to say how cold is too cold to venture outside to get Christmas shopping done. Not surprisingly, Rhode Islanders are on the tougher end of the spectrum when it comes to braving the bitter temperatures, beating even New Hampshire on what they'll tolerate.

The findings from the survey show the influence that weather conditions have on the way consumers shop and what they choose to purchase. Below...

I talked this week with the proud new owners of Pawtucket's Kellaway Center, Devin Kelly and Jeremy Duffy of the Isle Brewers Guild, about some of the reasons they chose Pawtucket over Providence and other communities. I was especially interested because they were previously looking to build their brewery in Providence before their target location burned down.

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The Valley Breeze is hiring again. Want to work with us as a local freelance writer? Needed work includes:

• Obituaries. To accept and rewrite paid obituaries by e-mail from funeral directors, and place on our website as quickly as possible, and file the finished obituary and photo to our news desk. Also, to monitor other local papers for our brief death notices.

• Home of the Week: To manage and write a weekly “Home of the Week” story of about 200 words, by viewing...

Plenty of politicians make promises of more transparency in government, but how many actually deliver when it counts?

The Rhode Island Press Association has joined ACCESS/RI, the Rhode Island ACLU, the New England First Amendment Coalition and the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island to call for Rhode Island's version of transparency to be more than just lip service.

Citing a recent “pattern of disturbingly inadequate” responses to open records requests “on truly critical...