Patrick J Kennedy

Latest Articles

Chi chi chi chi changes

Cicilline's rapid decline; riding RIPTA; the art of architecture; two artistic losses
The title of this item sounds like I blatantly lifted if from some old David Bowie song. Would I stoop so low? (Don't answer that.)
By RUDY CHEEKS | March 30, 2011

The Kennedys will rise again!

Dynasties
As you've probably heard a couple thousand times by now, Rhode Island Representative Patrick J. Kennedy's retirement means Washington is without a member of Team Camelot for the first time in 64 years.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 12, 2011

Who wins? Who loses?

What special interests will be served -- or ignored -- under the new regime?
Quick question: who won the Rhode Island elections in November?
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 29, 2010

The first Latino mayor?

Angel Taveras’s moment suddenly arrives
Until recently, to talk about Angel Taveras was to talk about the future.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 15, 2010

Down ballot drama

Important races to watch in '10
The race for governor and the scramble to replace retiring Representative Patrick J. Kennedy have obsessed Rhode Island's chattering class. But all the talk has obscured an intriguing set of "down ballot" races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and secretary of state.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | March 10, 2010

Looking for a new kind of mayor

Recruitment
Perhaps you've seen the ads ...
By MARION DAVIS | February 24, 2010

What now?

Kennedy's exit rewrites the political game book.
Representative Patrick J. Kennedy's campaigns were always about something far larger than Rhode Island's First Congressional District, which snakes from Burrillville down through the Blackstone Valley and into Newport.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 17, 2010

The next Scott Brown?

John J. Loughlin’s suddenly high-profile campaign to oust Patrick Kennedy
Republican Scott Brown's victory last month in the race for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat has every two-bit GOP hopeful in the Northeast claiming the mantle of the pick-up truck populist.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 10, 2010

Salinger’s eternal cone of silence

The death of a genius; rocking for Nicole; the General Assembly goes transparent
With the death of J.D. Salinger, nearly every obituary featured some quote or reference to his American masterpiece, The Catcher In the Rye , and rightly so. If you don't know the name Holden Caulfield, you don't know ding about literature.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | February 03, 2010

Paging Queequeg

Patrick and the Bishop go another round. Plus, farewell to Mary and Art.
Like Captain Ahab with Moby-Dick, it appears Providence Bishop Tommy Tobin has his own obsession with Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 25, 2009

Thanks for nothing!

In our first annual list of Rhode Island turkeys, the Phoenix fingers 10 people and institutions that made a bad year even worse
We'd like to be thankful, we really would. Change came to Washington this year and the Mad Men returned.
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | November 22, 2011

Kennedy, Catholic Church, and Politics of Compromise

Reform Dept.
US Representative Patrick Kennedy's confrontation with Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin over abortion and health-care reform has soaked up quite a bit of ink.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | November 18, 2009

Kennedy vs. the Catholic Church

Opinion Dept.
Last week, Congressman Patrick Kennedy took the Catholic Church to task for opposing health reform that fails to include an explicit ban on federal funding for abortion. And he was right to do it.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | October 30, 2009

Judging the Judge

Committee Doubting Thompson. Plus, The Bish, Rush, and more.
After reading Sunday’s front page BeloJo story, “Support for R.I. Judge not unanimous,” your superior correspondents have to suspect that everything — absolutely everything — is thoroughly politicized.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | October 28, 2009

Cheesy and crackers

Too much southern exposure. Plus, a rant — unpamper those kids!
There is no place hotter in the media lately than South Carolina, "The Cracker State," whose logo is still essentially the Confederate flag.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | September 16, 2009

A self-help guide for the uninsured

Where to turn if you need health-care and don't have coverage
For the vast majority of Rhode Islanders — the insured — health-care is something you get when you need it. Feeling sick? Call the doctor. Slip and fall? Go to the emergency room or an urgent-care center. Need surgery? It's not fun, but it's covered.
By MARION DAVIS | November 19, 2008

Obama for president

Plus, Reed for Senate, Kennedy and Langevin for US House, and choices for State Senate, House, and more
The Phoenix endorses Barack Obama for President and Joe Biden for Vice President.
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX EDITORIAL STAFF | October 29, 2008

How high can Gordon Fox go?

The progressive practices a balancing act in the socially conservative RI legislature
Although House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox considers himself a Red Sox fan, he hopes the Yankees win the World Series this year.
By IAN DONNIS | May 09, 2007

Ongoing recovery

Kennedy pushes the fight for parity on mental health
Rhode Islanders at a packed State House hearing last week got a close-up look at how US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy is managing his very public struggle with addiction and mental illness.
By BRIAN C. JONES | January 24, 2007

Providence endorsements

Whitehouse for US Senate; Fogarty for governor; Kennedy and Langevin for Congress; lynch for attorney general; “yes” for the casino
The Providence Phoenix enthusiastically endorses Sheldon Whitehouse.
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | November 01, 2006

Controllers at T.F. Green pan FAA contract

Annals of labor
The Federal Aviation Administration’s current labor contract proposal is so bad that 16 of the 28 air traffic controllers working at T.F. Green Airport may retire, warns Jake Crowley, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association’s Rhode Island spokesman.
By STEVEN STYCOS | April 27, 2006