This proves it

Oh, so now we have the answer.

Patrick Conley, constitutional expert (honk!) and old real estate partner of ex-mayor Buddy "Vincent A." Cianci Jr., has advised House Speaker Bill Murphy that his henchman, excuse us, House Majority Leader Gordon Fox cannot lose his House seat because the law cited in a complaint about his dealings with GTECH is "obsolete." Okay, Pat, but your superior correspondents find it interesting that this obsolete law is still on the books, which, we reckon, makes it very "solete."

Like Fox’s explanation of his role in doing legal work for GTECH, this doesn’t even come close to passing the laugh test, and we hope the Ethics Commission continues to show, for once, that it has the sand to come down on a leading political figure.

Meanwhile, thanks Pat. Maybe you can give O.J. a hand in his search for the real killer.

CANDID CAMERAS

A very interesting court case is brewing around Attorney General Patrick Lynch’s attempt to get contempt-of-court citations against Channel 6 and the BeloJo for using photos of witnesses from the Charles Pona case. Pona, a punk of the first order, was found guilty of ordering the slaying of 15-year-old Jennifer Rivera, who was fatally shot the day before she was to testify against Pona in a murder case.

Rivera’s death was a tragedy, one, hopefully, that will lead to more security for witnesses before and after they offer testimony. These stand-up citizens deserve protection from criminal scum, and Judge William Dimitri’s no-photo order would seem on the surface to be particularly apt in this situation.

The photos used by Channel 6 and the Urinal, however, were not of innocent civilians, but two fellow prison inmates who were testifying against Pona — a far cry from an innocent female high school student. The Other Paper’s case nonetheless seems to be stronger than WLNE-TV’s, if only because they went with a file photo obtained in a different case, whereas Channel 6 used tape they shot on November 4, during the recent trial, and after Dimitri’s order.

Both media outlets claim that Dimitri’s decision is unconstitutional. But if you consider a picture of your wife or husband being shown on the air, or in the paper, so that a hardened convict who had already reached out and touched someone from his prison cell could see it, you might be less than overjoyed — as Patrick Lynch evidently was when he saw WLNE’s coverage.

P&J are all for free speech and freedom of the press. We take the judgment of the editors of the Urinal (even with their foibles — see the next item) to be a bit more solid than that of a TV news director. They seemingly used a great deal more discretion in their choice of photography. And it’s very chilling to consider the consequences of such a selection possibly resulting in someone’s death. Rather than chastising our AG’s move to prosecute Channel 6 and the BeloJo, we’d like to see a well-conceived public debate or ruling on the case, so that in the future, we don’t have the likes of a Fox News or gutter press organ putting someone’s life in jeopardy.

But if anyone does have to do time from these august media organizations — the penalty could be as much as six months — we would opt for WLNE’s Jim "Opie" Hummel and the Urinal’s M. Chuckie Bakst to serve out the sentence. We’re sure freckle-faced Opie would be a big hit in gen pop, and if Chuckie got into one of his snits, he might end up running a whole cell block in no time.

If you can’t find a partner, use a wooden chair. Let’s rock.

ETHICS? WHAT ARE THEY?

Last week’s Phoenix featured an excellent article by news editor Ian Donnis, "Lockdown on Fountain Street," describing how the Providence Journal didn’t deign to report on a large rally that actually reached into the Other Paper’s own newsroom, as well as the lobby and interior balcony of the much more public Providence Biltmore. That the decision-makers at the ProJo opted out of covering this — a classic man-bites-dog story — says much about the current state of affairs at Little Rhody’s dominant daily.

The huge rally in support of the Providence Newspaper Guild, which resulted in protesters bum-rushing the Urinal’s newsroom and editorial offices, was meant to pressure management to return to the bargaining table. Naturally, the BeloJo didn’t report one word about the incident, showing the kind of gutless, ostrich-like behavior that has become a trademark of the Other Paper’s management since the Dallas-based Belo Corporation bought them in 1997.

As many of Phillipe and Jorge’s friends at the Urinal pointed out at the time, the danger of an absentee owner is horrifying. Why? Because when you’re putting someone’s cojones in a vice grip, it pays not to risk coming face-to-face with them in a local supermarket or Little League game, something a bunch of drugstore cowboys in Dallas needn’t worry about.

The topper of our story was that BeloJo executive editor Joel Rawson was not on hand at the time when the walls were breached, because he was taking part in a discussion at URI, entitled, "Is ‘ethics’ a four-letter word in journalism today?"

That’s rich.

Just spell it Belo, Joel.

WELL DONE

P&J were honored to have been asked to emcee the auction held last Saturday evening in the roomy basement of VMAArts &Cultural Center to benefit the vitally important work of the Sexual Assault & Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island. We don’t have a list of the folks who planned this 30th anniversary bash, but it was an unalloyed success. We do know that one of the behind-the-scenes planners was veteran TV reporter Robin Costello and, of course, those two indefatigable champions of the battle against violence against women and children, Deb DeBare and Peg Langhammer.

Hundreds of folks came out in support, but at one point, P&J were convinced that every third person in the room who came up to greet us was a member of Pawtucket’s famous Lynch family. Patriarch Dennis was in attendance, as well as AG Patrick and Democratic Party ramrod Bill, and a brace of sisters. That gun-slinging consultant, Guy Dufault, was on hand, making sure that Pawtucket was more than amply represented. (Indeed, Guy played Little League in Pawtucket with Jorge back in the Paleolithic Era.) It was also great to see John Martin, former radio talker and Other Paper scribe, and his fabulous wife, Faye, who covers the society news for the BeloJo.

Another Casa Diablo regular, Julie Pell, was also represented. Julie’s always been a rather modest and low-key type but she recently purchased what she describes as "the car of my dreams," a fact that has emboldened her to hurtle about Aquidneck Island at breakneck speeds. Be careful, Julie.

WJAR head ramrod Lisa Churchville was also in attendance and, besides assuring political reporter Bill Rappleye that "your job is secure," she offered an interesting theory on the connection between weight loss and relationship woes. Ms. Churchville has observed that frequently, when people of a certain middle age drop a noticeable amount of weight, divorce court is frequently just around the corner. Although at this stage the Churchville "losing weight = splitsville" theory is only supported by anecdotal evidence, we urge the NBC-10 boss to sic Channel 10 health reporter Barbara Morse on gathering more data to see what shakes loose.

Congratulations to everyone and continued success in raising the consciousness of Vo Dilunduhs about the scourge of violence.

KERRY DOES A HANDSTAND

Even though the presidential campaign of John "He Looks French" Kerry’s is publicly imploding, much was made of his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, in which the candidate came riding down the aisle on a Harley-Davidson before taking his hog right up on stage. Gunny, a friend of your superior correspondents and no stranger to big bikes, spotted Kerry using his hand, however, to put down the kickstand when he arrived at the guest seat.

That’s sweet, senator, but why do you think they call it a KICKstand? Any biker worth his leathers would have used the heel of his boot to bring it down, but maybe Johnny learned to do it by hand because he was worried about scuffing his Weejuns.

Oops! We’re fired!

SAVE THE ARTS

The hits keep coming for those in the Vo Dilun arts community. Recent revelations that two veritable institutions, Stone Soup Coffeehouse in Pawtucket and Looking Glass Theatre, are facing serious financial woes underscores just how bad the economy really is. While stories about the current economic "recovery" are certainly heartening, please wake us up when it actually has some impact on our daily lives.

There are undoubtedly other elements at work here. That Stone Soup, for example, has made three moves in a very short period of time, has probably been rather confusing to some folks. Also, venues in Portsmouth, Warren, Bristol, and East Greenwich have recently been bringing in the type of top-notch acoustic and folk talent that helped put Stone Soup on the map (it, of course, also regularly features the best in local talent). But these factors can’t fully explain the rapid drop in attendance.

P&J encourage everyone to make an effort to see at least one or two performances by the likes of Stone Soup and Looking Glass in the upcoming months. While we’re at it, we’d like to mention what sounds like a great show, coming to Perishable Theatre from December 4-14. Accidental Nostalgia is billed as a one-woman operetta, created and performed by Cynthia Hopkins. Ms. Hopkins is from NYC, but has logged some serious time in Our Little Towne (Brown University, AS220, etc.). The show will feature innovative scenery and lighting design, as well as live music from a crack band of Rhody musicians (Margie Wienk, Matt Everett, Pam Murray, Joel Thibodeau, and Shawn Wallace), slide and video elements and the always popular "brief nudity." This could be one of the theatrical high-points of the season, but you’ll only know if you go and check it out. The ever-cool Vanessa Gilbert has been instrumental in bringing this show here before it hits the Big Apple, and that’s a big endorsement right there.

RIP . . .

. . . Raymond Pettine, legendary jurist and champion of civil liberties. Long a hero to your superior correspondents, Judge Pettine was a giant who made our state and this world a better place. His passion for justice fostered a real difference, whether for gay rights (he was the judge who found in favor of Aaron Fricke’s courageous decision to bring a same-sex date to the Cumberland High senior prom in 1980), cleaning up the ACI (still a work in progress), reproductive freedom, or justice for the poor. While many of his decisions were controversial and attracted heated criticism, the judge’s sense of fairness and decency was inestimable. Bless you, Judge Pettine.n

Send wisdom and Pulitzer-grade tips to p&j[a]phx.com