THE CRANSTON WEST SCHOOL PRAYER BANNER will soon come down now that the school committee has decided by a 5-2 vote not to appeal the federal judge’s decision to order its removal. Most of us won’t feel good about the outcome even if we think the committee was correct. It was never more than a 57 in a 55 zone speeding ticket on constitutional grounds. Yet spending taxpayer money arguing that speeding isn’t speeding just didn’t make sense.

SOMETHING TELLS ME that the banner will find a place to live, if they can peel it off the wall in one piece. A display somewhere else in the school with other items offering historical context could be a winning argument. Who can say that this hasn’t been a real life story in the real life of Cranston West?

IT ALWAYS STRIKES A CHORD when hundreds show up for an issue like this at a school committee meeting. Granted there are imports from other communities who want in on the action. But the sad irony will be that multi-million dollar decisions will be routinely made going forward with a handful of citizens serving as watchdogs.

MEANWHILE...IN PROVIDENCE… the battle against bankruptcy continues. The clock is ticking on Mayor Angel Taveras to strike deals with the “tax exempt” institutions. He has a tentative one with Johnson & Wales announced this week. Chipping away is all he can do. Soon the clock will run out and he will be faced with some tougher decisions. One will be to just turn off the COLA faucet for retirees with or without supporting state legislation. All decisions lead to court appeals in this mess.

ONE SUGGESTION FOR ANGEL TAVERAS: Instruct your staff to tell the whole truth about these new deals for payments in lieu of taxes. Emphasis should be made that nothing comes without something. The J & W deal, while a step in the right direction from a spirited educational partner, adds assets to the school. And the reported tentative % million up front, only comes with all the other deficit pieces put together first.

THE FINANCIAL DECISIONS made in Providence over the last few decades brought the city to this brink. It is curious why the last three mayors have received such a journalistic and editorial pass. Is it just crying over spilled milk to call these three out?

CHECK OUT JIM TARICANI’s I TEAM REPORT THIS WEEK. Classic disability pension case where a police officer who worked ONE DAY grew her pension from 22 to 60 grand.  You’ll laugh (or cry) when you see her accept the UPS delivery at the front door.

BIG HEADLINE TODAY OVER THE “MOB DEAL” with the feds. These guys were running a small time extortion racket with the “gentlemen’s clubs.” Can’t seem to cry a river either way.  But the deal includes admittance to the existence of the mob and that is always what the feds are trying to prove, over and over again.

OH WHERE OH WHERE IS THE POWERBALL WINNER? Hiring security, lawyers and other advisors. Let the life of stress begin.

Don’t you miss football already?

See you at the golf show at the convention center this weekend.