Elorza said he expects to decide on a gubernatorial run around the end of the year.
Elorza said he expects to decide on a gubernatorial run around the end of the year. Credit: Ian Donnis

A string of violent episodes has sparked heightened concern about crime in Rhode Island’s capital city, Providence. Police say most categories of crime are down. But there are a lot of guns on the street, things always get worse in the summer, and the city has struggled to resolve problems with ATV and dirt bike riders.

I go one on one with Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza to discuss the city’s challenges with violent crime, where things go from here and the fallout for next year’s gubernatorial race.

I also talk with Travis Escobar, founder and president of Millennial RI, about efforts to keep more smart young people from leaving Rhode Island.

And since baseball is the summer game, we catch up with South County Independent sports editor Will Geoghegan about the staying power of the sport, his book about traditional wood bat leagues, the loss of the PawSox, and whether the Red Sox can recover from a post All Star break slump.

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org. Follow him on Twitter @IanDon. Sign up here for his weekly RI politics and media newsletter.

One of the state’s top political reporters, Ian Donnis joined The Public’s Radio in 2009. Ian has reported on Rhode Island politics since 1999, arriving in the state just two weeks before the FBI...