It’s almost time to stock up candy for Halloween. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK: American evangelicals emerged as a political force decades ago, helping to propel Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980. Less well known is how U.S. evangelicals -- unlike their counterparts in other countries -- are closely enmeshed with American gun culture. They own guns at a high rate, operate companies that inscribe guns with biblical quotations and often pack heat while going to church. “This represents a significant break with long-standing Christian tradition,” local author William J. Kole writes in In Guns We Trust: The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics and Firearms. Kole, a longtime former AP reporter, spent years in the evangelical church and he believes there’s a strong disconnect between the foundations of Christianity and how gun-toting evangelicals interpret it. It shocked him when a fellow member of a band at a Massachusetts megachurch came to practice with a 9mm pistol at the ready. “And that set me on a kind of a quest to figure out why, how did this happen in a faith tradition that really is rooted in pacifism?” Kole told me during an interview this week on One on One.
Kole’s book is a fascinating read -- particularly for anyone seeking a broader understanding of the debate around guns in America.
Watch One on One on Ocean State Media at 7:30 p.m. Friday or 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
2. COLLEGE HILL: Brown University this week rejected new conditions for federal funding. “I am concerned that the Compact by its nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” Brown President Christina H. Paxson wrote in a letter to federal officials. More on the story here from reporter David Wright.
3. RENT CONTROL: With state Rep. David Morales challenging Providence Mayor Brett Smiley next year, housing and the idea of capping rent increases will get considerable discussion. Supporters point to rent control as a way of boosting affordability, although critics maintain it doesn’t work as intended. Steph Machado talked with Luis Hernandez about the different views of the issue.
4. DISMAL SCIENCE: Amid word that most of the latest state surplus has already been spoken for, now comes URI economics professor Leonard Lardaro’s view, via an email from URI: “Rhode Island’s recession likely began in December 2024 and that national growth will clearly be slowing this year. Depending on how the tariff war plays out, he says the outlook could be even more negative than it has been up to this point.”
5. RI POLI-MEDIA PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: Kudos and congrats to ProJo alum Mark Arsenault, a mensch, who is moving from The Boston Globe to the Boston bureau of the New York Times. The journalism gods are winking since Mark, who likes to joke that he graduated from the 2nd best Catholic college in the Worcester area (Assumption), will cover the clash between President Trump and elite colleges and universities, or, as he put it “colleges that I could never get into” … Patricia Resende is leaving her role as chief of staff to East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva next month to become the new policy director for the Rhode Island Senate …. Melissa Carden is leaving as executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence to become ED of the Roger Williams Parks Conservancy …. Leah Boisclair has formally declared her run against Rep. Tina Spears (D-Charlestown). Boisclair’s primary run and support for her from the League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB) was reported in this column in July. LORIB has helped funnel an initial $8,000 to her campaign.
6. YOUNG GOP: Politico reported this week about how leaked messages revealed racist chat among a number of different Young Republican groups. In a statement, Ken Naylor, chairman of the Rhode Island Young Republicans, said he was disgusted by the remarks. “A few short months ago, at the National Young Republican Convention in Nashville, the Rhode Island Young Republicans (RIYR) attended with a full delegation and unanimously voted against the entire slate of candidates that was behind this group chat,” he said. “We categorically denounce the entire culture of hateful, extremist rhetoric exposed in those chats. The slurs, the threats, the demeaning language toward every group involved (including the threats against RIYR) are unacceptable and have no place in any political discourse or organization. This behavior is a stain on our shared values and our collective efforts to build bridges in our communities. This is not who we are and it will never be who we become.”
7. UNDER THREAT: Mark Bray, a Rutgers professor who fled with his family to Spain after being targeted by right-wing activists, was an organizer when the long-dormant International Workers of the World tried to raise its profile in Rhode Island around 2007.
8. THE PUBLIC’S VOICE: State Reps. Brian C. Newberry (R-North Smithfield) and Justine Caldwell (D-East Greenwich), and Adam Myers, professor of political science at Providence College, took part in a spirited Oct. 9 panel discussion on national state politics at the Providence Athenaeum. You can listen to it here.
9. BAY STATE: U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts -- who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1976 and to the Senate in 2013 -- faces a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.
10. IN MEMORIAM: Rest In Peace, ProJo alum Morgan McVicar. He left the broadsheet after being assigned to night cops way back in 2002 -- a time when many of his peers suspected that the Journal’s longstanding culture was under threat.
11. KICKER: Looking for some fun options for the weekend? We’ve got you covered.
