The Blackout is a showcase of up-and-coming talents and brands poised to make a difference in their local communities and the world. A handful of graphic artists, fashion labels, musicians, DJs, aficionados and media outlets will gather for this very special night to celebrate in Providence, Rhode Island for the sake of human creativity and to help raise funds for philanthropic community projects overseen by West Side Arts.

6pm, Saturday, Ada Books, 717 Westminster Street, 432.6222

. . . lettuces, arugula, bok choi, kale, collards, cabbage, chard, apples, cider, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, radishes, fresh herbs, beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, winter squash, oysters, beef, pork, Narragansett Creamery cheese, eggs, honey, maple syrup, jams, jellies, artisan breads and pastries, gluten-free breads, tortillas, chocolates, fair-trade coffee hot or by the pound, gifts for your favorite foodie. . .

For directions and a complete list of vendors go to Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers’ Market.

11am to 2pm, Saturday, Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - We’ve learned a major shift in power is happening right now inside the Patriarca crime family . It’s an historic move with major implications.

According to the FBI, the leadership of the New England mob has been in the hands of Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio for the past 12 years. But Target 12 has learned that Manocchio is stepping aside.

You can add Raymond Patriarca as a Facebook friend over here.

Saturday —@the 201, Girl Haggard, Young Tremors (from Boston) @Firehouse 13, Tevellus, Christopher Rosenquist, Shane Lee @the Blackstone, Dino Club, Ryan Fitzsimmons @Lupo’s, the Swell Season, Doveman @Jerky’s, A Wilhelm Scream, Living with Lions, the Riot Before, Gunshot Wound @Club Hell, the Abominables, Full Service, the Ticonderogas

Sunday — @AS220, Txoka, Txoka, Grooms, Psonen @PPAC, Steve Miller Band @Firehouse 13, Brown Bird cd release show, the Wrong Reasons, Alec K. Redfearn, Tiny Fires

Monday — @Machines With Magnets, Dan Deacon, Nuclear Power Pants, White Mice, Brrrmuda (great name), Jacob the Terrible

Live acts so far and in no particular order; Sleepyhead, Brown Bird, Tad Overbaugh, The ‘mericans, Cotton Candy, Farmer John Kenny, Chrisy Gavin, and — “I’m not worthy!” — Ted Widmer the former Lord Rockingham of the Upper Crust! (I doubt he still gets all dandified and bewigged due to his present, more elevated station in life. . . a step down if you ask me.) And of course there is a Dose connection with Annie and dude spinning as the Pommes Frites DJs, and I think I’m a judge in the ‘Worst Album Cover’ competition. And Narragansett beer. More info and updates at Facebook.

Saturday noon to 8pm/Sunday noon to 6pm

Free admission, 232 Westminster Street near Eddy Street

Lying midway between Boston and New York, it was only a matter of time before the Upper Crust would stumble upon this small but congenial city, which—while considerably smaller than its better-known neighbors—would be considered a great metropolis in comparison to many European cities at the height of the Bubonic Plague in the early 14th Century.
Indeed, there are many reasons to love Providence, besides its convenient location, which (as previously noted) is neither here nor there, but somewhere in between; and close enough, as they say, for Rocque and Roll. . . my fondest wish is that you will attend, as there is no reasonable excuse for not doing so, given the undeniable vicinity of the place to every other place nearby, so that it is almost impossible to get from one place to another without tripping over it. . .

Well, you get the idea. (They have an old friend in this city.) Their recent appearance playing ‘We’re Finished with Finishing School’ on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson after the jump.

$10, 9pm, Friday, Jerky’s, 71 Richmond Street

The Manton Avenue Project presents ‘I Must Be Dreaming — Plays That Are Asleep’.  Fabulous new cameo-character-infused plays, written by amazing MAP Kids and acted and directed by a cavalcade of terrifically-talented adult theater artists. Tickets are free but reservations are encouraged.

Friday, November 20th at 7pm/Saturday, November 21st at 3pm & 7pm/Sunday, November 22nd at 3pm

The Media and Arts Center at Met Public, 325 Public Street, Providence, 331.7007

Rhode Island’s Future broke the story,

Basically, Block gave the maximum ($10,000) to the state party. Then he helped create a local party committee in his hometown of Barrington, and gave it $10,000. A couple of days later, the Barrington party funneled all of that money to the state party, which Block chairs.

If it hadn’t been such a large sum of money, and if that $10,000 hadn’t amounted to all of the money that the Barrington party had in its account, and if Block weren’t the party’s founder and boss and primary funder, and if Block and the party weren’t constantly on a high horse about the ethical failings of others, and if anybody had ever done such a thing on behalf of one of the other parties, then perhaps this act — which certainly meets the colloquial definition of money laundering, if not clearly the legal one — might not be a big deal.

But what a terrible way to start off a party that decries the sketchy insider dealings of the standing political establishment. The state party should return the money ASAP if it wants to maintain the credibility to speak to matters of clean governance in Rhode Island. It can probably still get away with playing stupid, claim the rookie mistake. But that window is quickly closing — if it hasn’t already been slammed shut by Block’s intransigence and sketchy refusal to submit a formal request for an advisory opinion, after being urged to do so by the Board of Elections.

Or maybe that Block doesn’t even know the definition of money laundering is just further proof of his impeccable ethics.

(And anybody who’s seduced by the idea that there’s anything “moderate” about this party — its associations with the tea-baggers are getting ever-clearer — should check out what their only endorsed candidate pulled at a hearing on prostitution last week.)

“Tapped” is a 2009 documentary about the effects of the bottled water industry on America’s economy, environment, and public health.  A coalition of Brown University student groups and the Environment Council of Rhode Island are sponsoring a free, public screening of “Tapped”, November 10 at 8pm in the Salomon Center on the Main Green.

Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water in 2007, a 30-fold increase in consumption per capita since 1976.  Producing these bottles used the equivalent of 17 million barrels of oil, excluding the cost of transportation.  Whereas bottled water costs $7.50 to $11.00 per gallon, tap water costs $0.01 per gallon.  24% of bottled water sold in the US, including Dasani and Aquafina, is not spring water but simply purified, repackaged tap water.

Compared to bottled water, tap water is regulated more rigorously and tested more frequently by the EPA.  Bisphenol-A, the chemical from which 5-gallon water cooler jugs are made, has been linked in 200 independent studies to illnesses including obesity, prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, and brain disorders.

Free, 8pm, Tuesday, November 10, Salomon Center, Brown University, 91 Waterman Street

At the Athenaeum

Join us for a favorite Athenaeum tradition, declaiming verse in the Reading Room. Bring a poem you’ve written, a poem you’ve loved, or come browse our poetry shelves that evening and find one you can’t resist, and we’ll take turns reading aloud. Don’t miss this chance to wax lyrical with old friends and new! For Athenaeum members and their guests.

This year’s Annual Dinner promises to be a night to remember.  Our keynote speaker will be Susan Herman, President of the National ACLU. A short film about the RI ACLU’s history will have its premiere that evening, and there will be a few surprises throughout the evening.

For our 50th Anniversary, in celebration of five decades of legal victories, we will be honoring the entire Corps of Cooperating Attorneys as our 2009 “Raymond J. Pettine Civil Libertarians of the Year”

Despite being the smallest state in the union, our Affiliate has one of the most active legal dockets in the country. Our cooperating attorneys have handled more than 600 lawsuits in that time period, with great success and often against great odds.

Ten ACLU volunteer attorneys – two from each decade who have previously received ACLU awards – have been asked to represent all of our cooperating lawyers in accepting the award.

1959-1969   Milton Stanzler & Richard Zacks
1969-1979   Stephen Fortunato, Jr. & Amato DeLuca
1979-1989   Lynette Labinger & Amy Tabor
1989-1999   John Dineen & Sandra Lanni
1999-2009   Howard Merten & Thomas Lyons

Tickets are $100 for the Dinner only, or $200 for the Dinner and Private Reception.
To purchase tickets, call the RI ACLU at 831-7171 or use a credit card online.

Scott Wolf has a great column

Before we all give up on our state and move to high-ranked business climates such as South Dakota, Nevada or Wyoming, it is critical to understand the limitations of business-climate reports. That’s why I recently analyzed Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data about all states, seeking to answer a basic question: What correlation exists between a state’s business-climate ranking and more concrete measures of economic performance such as per-capita income, and rates of poverty and unemployment?

To those convinced that Rhode Island’s low rankings should be our overriding economic-development focus, my findings might be jaw-dropping. For example, if a high business climate ranking alone were a sure ticket to economic success, why would Nevada, the 4th best business-climate state in America (according to the Tax Foundation), have the nation’s second-highest unemployment rate (even higher than Rhode Island’s), and why would the best business-climate state, South Dakota, have the 16th highest poverty rate, considerably worse than ours, and a per-capita income significantly lower than ours? And why would the states with the three worst ranked climates — New Jersey, New York and California — have respectively the 2nd, 4th and 7th highest per-capita incomes among the 50 states?

You think all the lies purveyed about quality of life in Rhode Island by the powers-that-be might hurt our business climate?

Next Monday, November 9th, the Downcity Design Review Committee will be considering a request by 110 Providence Owner, LLC to demolition the remaining facade at 35 Weybosset Street. The facade was to be incorporated into the proposed OneTen Westminster Street residential tower (which when proposed, nearly 5 years ago, would have been the tallest building in Rhode Island).

And, yes, the expected outcome is another parking lot.

Food returns to AS220 on Friday. Tacos will be missed, but the new menu looks great.

The Return of Comestibles (aka food) to AS220
Beginning Friday, November 6th 2009
Grand Opening “Hail Seitan”Celebration, Friday, November 13th 2009 6pm-Close

We are pleased to announce the official return of food to AS220 beginning Friday, November 6th and our grand opening celebration, featuring a $6.66 buffet, on Friday, November 13th. Please come by, welcome our new restaurant manager, Guy Michaud, and sample the restaurant’s opening menu, featuring such delicious offerings as spinach, roasted sweet potato, and walnut empanadas and chili prima pasta, pulled pork, parsnips, local rapini and Atwells Gold cheese. Our menu is sensitive to all food allergies and dietary restrictions; vegans and vegetarians can take comfort that almost all of the items can be easily adjusted to meet their needs by our full time vegan chef, Justin Earsing. Notably, the menu is also highly affordable from top to bottom, with offerings ranging from a mere dollar to just eight dollars.

AS220’s new food offerings, like all of its programs, is highly mission driven and reflects the founding principles of the non-profit organization. First and foremost, we want everyone who walks through the doors of AS220 to feel welcome and have access to the programs and benefits therein, regardless of financial constraints or other limitations, and a healthy meal and comfortable gathering place is among these. For this reason we aimed to create a restaurant that always has affordable options on the menu to further our food & drink space as the meeting place, the social “melting pot” and the forum for new ideas and collaboration we have always sought to provide.

In light of our mission to support local artists and entrepreneurs, we look to our local New England farms and food artisans to provide the quality ingredients for our cuisine. All of our menu items are created using the freshest local ingredients available and as the seasons change our daily specials and menu also change to reflect what is in season. Constant creativity in the kitchen means you can always be excited about what we are offering even if you make AS220 your source for both lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, enjoying nearly a half dozen daily specials. The restaurant will also provide occasions for local food artisans to get the word out about what they do, represent their creations in person and retail their products in our restaurant and bar area. We hope the lively food culture of our great state will take root at Empire Street and that Rhode Island “foodies” will take an active role in helping to develop the direction and future programming around food at AS220.

AS220’s restaurant also provides three six month positions at a time for youth involved in the Broad Street Studio program and/or the RI Training School’s culinary arts program. Broad Street provides free arts instruction and professional development to youth aged 14-21 with a focus on those in or recently released from state care. Our hope is that these kitchen training positions will allow youth to gain economic independence and also allow them to gain valuable work experience that will increase their opportunities in the larger community.

We are confident that you will come for the food and also return for the food, but we also hope your experience will be enriched by the knowledge that in addition to supporting local farms, food artisans, and our youth program, every purchase in the restaurant financially supports AS220’s not-for-profit work in Rhode Island. All earnings from our food offerings directly support the organization’s ability to offer unjuried, uncensored, all ages exhibitions and performances, stay true to our open booking policies, offer accessible arts education and much more. Please visit us at http://www.facebook.com/l/ee79f;as220.org to learn more.

For more information please contact:

Guy Michaud
guy@http://www.facebook.com/l/ee79f;as220.org
401-831-FOOD (3663)

or

Cheryl Kaminsky
AS220 Communications Director
cheryl@http://www.facebook.com/l/ee79f;as220.org
401-831-9327 (x116)