Articles by: Pat Ford

Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training Announces Unemployment Insurance Tax Rates for 2022

From The Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training: The Department of Labor and Training (DLT) today announced that tax rates for the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program will remain at Schedule H in 2022. UI tax rates are calculated using a statutory formula based on the balance of the state’s employment[Read More…]

by December 20, 2021

Chas Calenda: Governor McKee Admits Enforcement Of Masking Rules Are “Arbitrary”! Plus Legal Words Of Wisdom About Covid Task Force Inspectors

Arbitrary Enforcement Of Regulations One does not give up their right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution and Article I, Section 6 of the Rhode Island Constitution simply because the Governor has declared a state of emergency. Particularly in light[Read More…]

by December 18, 2021

Lying? The Letter From RIDOH To The Bristol Warren School District! Plus! Did They Really Turn Down The Volume On Public Comment?

This is the letter received by the Bristol Warren School District … No mention of fines, despite the assertion of the Bristol Warren School District Attorney. According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, no School Districts have been fined for masking non compliance From The Rhode Island Department Of[Read More…]

by December 14, 2021

Governor McKee, RI Department of Health to Announce Comprehensive Actions to Address Increase in COVID-19 Cases, Alleviate Pressure on Hospital System

Governor Dan McKee and Rhode Island Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH will announce a comprehensive set of actions to address an increase in COVID-19 cases and alleviate pressure on our hospital system while at the same time keeping schools open for in-person learning and preventing economic disruptions to small businesses. WHO Governor[Read More…]

by December 14, 2021

Updates From Human Rights Watch! Hong Kong & Bahrain 12/13/21

  Hong Kong: Quash Convictions for Peaceful Expression Publisher Jimmy Lai, Tiananmen Vigil Organizers Sentenced for ‘Incitement’ A Hong Kong court on December 13, 2021, sentenced seven prominent pro-democracy figures, including Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai and former legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, to prison from four-and-a-half months to 14 months. The court found them guilty[Read More…]

by December 14, 2021

America’s First Legal Claims “Monumental Victories”: SCOTUS Rejects Efforts To Block Texas Heartbeat Act & Rejects Biden DOJ’S Emergency Appeal. AFL Head Honcho Stephen Miller Spikes The Football

On Friday, December 10, America First Legal issued the following statements: This morning, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered emphatic victories to AFL in two cases involving SB8, the Texas Heartbeat Act. In the first decision, the Supreme Court rejected abortion providers’ attempt to immunize themselves from private civil[Read More…]

by December 12, 2021

Rhode Island Governor McKee Issues Statement On The Discovery Of Omicron Variant In Rhode Island

Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) today announced that Rhode Island’s first case of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant (variant B.1.1.529) has been identified. The case was identified through the ongoing genomic surveillance program coordinated by RIDOH’s State Health Laboratories. As the Governor shared[Read More…]

by December 11, 2021

Magaziner Ties McKee To Campaign $$ From Notorious Sackler-Opioid Pill Pushers – Decries Failure Of Most Opponents To Take The People’s Pledge

Gubernatorial candidate Seth Magaziner today released an update on the status of his call for a People’s Pledge to keep independent expenditures out of the 2022 Democratic primary. On November 17, 2021, Magaziner sent a letter to his opponents calling on them to meet and formalize the terms of a[Read More…]

by November 30, 2021

Is The Rhode Island Department Of Labor & Training About To Employ Facial Recognition Technology? They Won’t Say. And The ACLU Is Suing Them

    Is the R.I. Department of Labor and Training (DLT) planning to use facial recognition technology to process unemployment claims? The agency doesn’t want the public to know, so the ACLU of Rhode Island today filed an open records lawsuit to find out. The suit is in response to[Read More…]

by November 30, 2021

CDC Statement on B.1.1.529 – Omicron

  From The Center For Disease Control On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified a new variant, B.1.1.529, as a Variant of Concern and has named it Omicron. No cases of this variant have been identified in the U.S. to date. CDC is following the details of this new variant, first reported to the WHO by South Africa. We are grateful to the South African government[Read More…]

by November 27, 2021