They are the smallest state in the nation; can't he pick on someone his own size?
How DARE he?
"After arrests, Providence to test police for illegal drugs" by Ray Henry, Associated Press | March 9, 2010
PROVIDENCE - Police officers here will soon undergo random testing for illegal drug use after three of them were arrested last week in a narcotics sting, Mayor David Cicilline said yesterday.
Yes, operating from inside the system is the most common and effective method.
The announcement was made after State Police charged three officers with participating in a cocaine ring, including a detective assigned to a US Drug Enforcement Administration task force and an officer who once served as Cicilline’s driver and is the husband of the mayor’s executive assistant.
That doesn't mean they will do it themselves.
And once you realize that GOVERNMENT (whoever the agent is, from CIA and other alphabet feds to the local cop) is the BIGGEST DRUG DEALER in AmeriKa, the fraud of the whole thing becomes apparent.
Cicilline, a Democrat, is running to succeed US Representative Patrick Kennedy, who recently announced he would not seek reelection....
See: Reclaiming the Kennedy Crown
The arrested officers are Detective Joseph Colanduono of the narcotics division; Patrolman Robert Hamlin, who is a school resource officer; and Sergeant Stephen Gonsalves, Cicilline’s former driver.
Oh, a guy WORKING in the SCHOOLS, huh? Hooking the kids on coke?
Each has been suspended without pay. The officers have not entered pleas yet, and their lawyers have not commented on the case.
Six drug suspects have also been arrested. More people could be implicated. Police said four additional officers have been placed on administrative duty because at least one of the defendants arrested in the State Police investigation accused them of wrongdoing. Police Chief Dean Esserman refused to name the officers or explain the accusations.
The arrests followed a four-month investigation during which State Police intercepted phone calls from the Providence officers and recorded surveillance video of them. Police seized several hundred grams of cocaine and firearms as part of the investigation.
Investigators allege Hamlin tipped off his brother, who is accused of being a drug dealer and was a target of the probe, to the names of narcotics detectives and provided him with information on their vehicles. Colanduono is accused of helping facilitate drug deals, while police say Gonsalves bought cocaine to use.
Esserman said Providence officers who test positive for drugs in the future should be immediately fired.
What if the test comes back with a false positive?
Under existing rules, police officers are tested when they are hired or when a supervisor reasonably suspects them of drug abuse. Those who test positive can keep their jobs if they seek treatment and pass future drug tests....
How come they are cut so many breaks when they are kicking doors down and killing people?
See: Drug War Making a Killing in Boston
Yeah, never saw another word about that.
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And I would be worried about a lot more than drugs at the school:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --A suspended Providence police officer accused of rape is heading to trial next week.
Marcus Huffman is charged with raping a woman at a deserted substation in 2007, then showing up to take a report after the woman called 911....
The trial occurs at a difficult time for the Providence police department. Three officers -- Det. Joseph Colanduono, Patrolman Robert Hamlin and Sgt. Stephen Gonsalves -- were arrested last week on drug-related charges and several others were placed on desk duty as part of the same probe.
Awww, the poor image of the police.
Pffft!
Anybody rape them?
Another officer, Det. Robert DeCarlo, pleaded not guilty last month to charges that he beat a restrained man with a flashlight....
Yeah, turns out authorities are pretty much a**holes wherever they are to be found in AmeriKa.
Prosecutors say Huffman was on patrol in March 2007 when he met the woman after she was turned away from a club because she appeared intoxicated. Huffman is accused of offering her a ride, driving her to the substation and raping her.
What a scum. I say make him a eunuch.
Prosecutors have said they have a video showing Huffman entering the substation with the woman, then leaving separately before she did.
They also allege Huffman was among three officers who responded after the woman called 911 from a relative's home to report the rape.
That must have felt surreal to the victim.
His word against hers, huh?
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Related: Hot coffee puts R.I. woman in hot water
Now what was Obama squawking about?
"Teacher firings ripple past Central Falls’ border; Educators, Obama watch R.I. school" by Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | March 4, 2010
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. - It is a motto that rings false for the local school board, which recently voted to fire all of the school’s staff in a stunning move that made Central Falls a lightning rod in the polarizing debate over improving the country’s education system.
Even President Obama weighed in, holding up the Feb. 23 vote to fire all 93 teachers, administrators, and support staff as a painful but potentially necessary move.
“It was one thing when a rival town said something bad about your school,’’ said JoAnn Boss, a Spanish teacher at Central Falls High and a 1982 graduate. “But to have the president say something, it’s really been a crushing blow to the kids. It’s a devastating time for them.’’
Nice going, Obama. Make the kids self-esteem take a dive.
Then again, they are the 2010 divisional champs in wrestling and boys and girls basketball:
I think there self-esteem is just fine here in AmeriKa.
The battle taking place in Rhode Island has resonated in Massachusetts, where state and local education leaders recently received legislative approval to take more drastic measures to improve schools, including forcing teachers to reapply for their jobs. Massachusetts officials are expected to release a list today of about three dozen underperforming schools.
I'll have to get to them in a separate post.
Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo recommended the firings after teachers did not agree on issues of extra work and pay related to a state-mandated overhaul.
“Somebody has to do this for the children,’’ said Gallo, who has led the district for three years. “Their voice was not heard, and now they’re all being hurt by it.’’
So why is tax loot constantly wasted and thrown away?
Teachers, however, have accused Gallo of intransigence and union-busting after the state demanded that the six worst-performing schools in Rhode Island, including Central Falls High, be overhauled. Faculty members will continue to teach for the rest of the school year and can reapply for their jobs, but no more than 50 percent can be rehired under state guidelines.
You know, it SURE LOOKS THAT WAY!
I guess states are the only ones who do not have to abide by contracts.
The teachers union offered a counterproposal Tuesday that moves toward Gallo’s conditions, including a longer workday.
God, I remember how much I hated being stuck in a classroom as my adolescent hormones raged. It sure sucked.
In response, Gallo has agreed to resume negotiations. However, the superintendent said last night, the decision to fire teachers will not change unless an agreement is reached.
In Central Falls, a largely Hispanic city north of Providence where 19,000 people are squeezed into 1.3 square miles, the mill work vanished long ago, only 48 percent of high schoolers graduate in four years, and more than a quarter of its families live below the poverty level. Only 7 percent of 11th graders reached proficiency in math.
Why did the word "illegals" just pop into my head?
Boarded-up tenements are common, the main park is marred by X-rated and other offensive graffiti, and many of the narrow, crowded streets in the state’s smallest and poorest city are riddled with potholes. But it’s also a place with an astonishing variety of ethnic influences, including restaurants with roots in Mexico, Cape Verde, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
Pffft!
Yeah, it is a SLUM, BUT.... it's a lovely slum!!!!!!!
Yeah, they are definitely illegals otherwise the agenda-pushing paper wouldn't be promoting the place like that.
Marelyn Rivera, a 15-year-old sophomore, said her small city has a big heart. “You know how families are so comfortable with each other?’’ Rivera said. “That’s what’s going on in Central Falls.’’
But now that extended family is embroiled in a domestic dispute that saddens Rivera, whose family is from Guatemala and El Salvador. “They’re like our second parents,’’ she said of her teachers.
Yeah, illegals confirmed and just what the state wants: thinking of it as the parent.
Would a parent lie to you so they could loot you and send you off to die in wars, readers?
And where are your firsts?
At the nearby community center, the director, John Laboissinniere, is a 1980 Central Falls High graduate whose roots reflect the city’s century-old French-Canadian heritage. Evan Nichols, a Haitian-American, is a volunteer who referees basketball. Julie Perez, a Central Falls sophomore, transferred from another school to follow a path blazed by nine older siblings.
And for Kevin Cleveland, an 18-year-old junior with an infant daughter, the bottom line is the value of a Central Falls diploma for the school’s 850 students.
Hey, I don't care about that, I LOVE LIFE; however, after the flap the good girls of Gloucester got when they didn't even have a pact (all to get the sex-ed stuff in the school, of course)....
If a shake-up is required, he said, so be it.
“I think it’ll be good for the school,’’ said Cleveland, a basketball and football player who wants to become a radiologist or electrician. “Right now, it’s not going so well.’’
You know, a high-school hero!
Must be passing your classes then, 'eh, kid?
Or are teachers simply passing you on?
Cleveland acknowledged that Central Falls carries a stigma that is difficult to erase. When sports teams travel to rival schools, he said, the coaches remind the players to carry themselves in a dignified, respectful way that might chip away at the stereotypes.
What is with the sports focus?
I thought this article was about the education at the school and the s***ty teachers behind it?
For Boss, the language teacher, a big part of the job at Central Falls High is to instill self-esteem.
Well, Obama kind of f***ed that up, huh?
“We’re the smallest and the poorest city; we already know all these things about ourselves,’’ Boss said. “We’re looking for ways to support these kids to get beyond those things.’’
Too bad they weren't a bank or war looter.
The poor graduation rate, she said, partly reflects the fact that students from transient families are constantly enrolling at the school or leaving. In the end, Boss said, teachers have to be paid for extra work. “There has to be a stipend involved,’’ she said. “That’s the way it goes.’’
To Gallo, who has been an educator for nearly 40 years, the students and not the time clock are the paramount consideration in a district that has been under state financial control since 1991.
And they are still a mess, huh?
“When I came here, they asked me to begin a reform effort to change a failing system,’’ Gallo said. “Those who constantly settle for mediocrity or less - that’s the difficulty, and we must constantly strive for better.’’
Something the AmeriKan government and people do so often.
Although poverty plays a role in poor performance, Gallo said, she separates what occurs in the “safe haven’’ of the classroom.
Since when is a state-sanctioned prison a haven?
“It’s about attitude from everyone, parents, children, teachers, custodians, everyone,’’ Gallo said. “I’ll never give up. It’s a we-can-make-it attitude. Isn’t that the old American dream? Put on your boots and get marching.’’
I'm sorry, but THAT is an OFFENSIVE set of comments!
What a STOO-PID EJERKATER!!!
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Yeah, but don't worry; she and Obama didn't mean it (same as standing up to the health bribes):
PROVIDENCE — A mediator will lead negotiations meant to avert the mass firing of all teachers from long-troubled Central Falls High School as part of a plan to improve student performance, Superintendent Frances Gallo said yesterday.
Gallo announced her decision after a closed-door meeting that included representatives of the Central Falls Teachers’ Union, state education officials, and consultants. It was the first session between Gallo and the union since the school board voted last month to fire 93 teachers and other staff from its high school.
Keeping the coaches though, right?
Why didn't she meet with them before and avoid the adverse publicity?
Wanted to be a national model that made the front-page of New England's largest daily newspaper?
President Obama, in a recent speech, called the firings an example of holding failing schools accountable. Two days later, Gallo said she wanted to restart talks with the union in hope they could choose a reform plan and avoid mass job losses.
“I just have hopes, high hopes, for the very best possible school that we can build for all of our students,’’ Gallo said after the meeting....
Pffffft!
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Also see: Around New England: Forgotten Rhode Island Post
Around New England: Forgetting About Rhode Island
I didn't and haven't.
