January 18, 2012

Passing on DC and an end to the Occutour

I almost got off the train in Washington D.C. yesterday. The OccupyCongress #J17 action was taking place and my good friend Michael McCarthy from Occupy Providence was there.

On the other hand, it was the last day of the 45-day Amtrak ticket I bought and I was in striking distance of being home after a month-and-a-half on the road.  I told McCarthy I was probably going to pass but reserved the right to change my mind.

Which I did.

I grabbed my pack from the luggage rack and actually got off the train during the five minute layover. Then I…

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December 20, 2011

Occupy Providence mulls leaving park in exchange for a homeless center

Back in my home state of Rhode Island, Occupy Providence is considering swinging a deal with the city: they’ll stop occupying Burnside Park if the mayor and city council agree to  create a community center for the homeless population to use during the day to stay out of the cold.

But before the city mulls the proposal, Occupy Providence will consider the idea and put it to vote at its general assembly meeting tomorrow at 3 pm.

“Having recognized the willingness of its people to take care of their own, the City of Providence should thus open a public space…

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November 30, 2011

Occupying America: My cross-country tour of a movement

It was about two months ago to the day that I first reported on the Occupy Wall Street movement. I had been following the story from afar when high-profile arrests made on the Brooklyn Bridge brought the protest to the rest of the nation’s attention. Local incarnations almost instantly began to spring up across the country – including here, where I was the digital reporter for a local radio station.

I told my news director that the story had legs, and that I planned to plant my flag in it. He agreed, and for the next month I filed dispatches almost…

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November 22, 2011

Providence models how to handle Occupy movement

There will be no pepper spray here. While cities across the country are using high-profile, sometimes-violent, headline-generating arrests to try to quell Occupy Wall Street encampments and actions, the progressive-leaning mayor of Rhode Island’s capital city has taken a much more understanding and peaceful approach to the city’s occupy protesters.

“We’re looking for a way to resolve this in a way that can distinguish us in a proud way in the Roger Williams tradition,” Mayor Angel Taveras told me earlier this month. Roger Williams, of course, is Rhode Island’s founding colonist, who came here as a religious expatriate from the…

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November 15, 2011

No longer with corporate America, but still reporting on Occupy

Since early October I have been covering Occupy Providence, the local incarnation of the Occupy Wall Street movement, for a Rhode Island news radio station. I have spent ample time at the encampment reporting on the protests , getting to know the activists and why they have engaged in such a protest.

Then, just a few days ago, I got a firsthand taste of why it is they are upset with Corporate America’s control over our culture. I was laid off from my job as the digital reporter at WPRO.

It wasn’t because my work wasn’t up to par,…

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November 15, 2011

WPRO and I report on Occupy Providence

Here’s a timeline of my stories, and others by WPRO, on Occupy Providence, up to the time that I was laid off. Scroll in and out, and left and right, to see all the stories.

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