It's a long shot. But a new federal lawsuit seeking a major restructuring of the US House of Representatives claims Rhode Island, among other states, has disproportionate power in Congress. From the Associated Press:

JACKSON, Miss. A federal lawsuit that seeks to double or even quadruple the size of the U.S. House argues that citizens in Mississippi and four other states don't have enough representatives while Wyoming, Rhode Island and a few others get too many.

Moderate Party gubernatorial candidate Ken Block is previewing his first television ad, which will be on the air starting next Tuesday. Strong production values and a sharp dig at Rhode Island politics as usual - dressed up with an upbeat soundtrack and tone.

"Government is broken," Block says, gesturing toward a group of political hacks.

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed is one of seven Senate Democrats named to a House-Senate panel that will iron out the differences between the two chambers' versions of a sweeping financial overhaul bill.

Reed, a senior member of the Senate banking committee, helped craft the legislation. But he enters the conference amid significant disappointments:

CNN has a piece on Speaker of the House Gordon Fox's decision to kill State Representative Peter Palumbo's bill mimicking the controversial Arizona immigration measure. From the piece:

Rhode Island is just the latest of several states where officials are encouraging the enactment of similar laws, said Michael Hethmon general council of the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

Amid a changing media landscape, one of the more promising models is the non-profit, regional web site. The marquee sites in this genre include MinnPost, Voice of San Diego and the Texas Tribune. We have yet to see a pure expression of this approach in the Rhode Island market, though public radio station WRNI is pursuing something like it.

Amid concerns over recent shifts in Facebook's privacy settings, a class-action lawsuit out of Rhode Island that may be the first of its kind. Here's a press release from Providence lawyer Peter N. Wasylyk, who also serves as a state representative:

Providence, RI, May 22, 2010 – Derrick Rose of East Providence, Rhode Island has announced today that he has filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook in Federal Court in Rhode Island over privacy concerns relating to Facebook’s “Instant Personalization,” a social networking tool that allows certain third-party websites to access users’ personal information which they've uploaded to Facebook when users visit those third-party websites, such as Pandora, Yelp, or Microsoft's Docs.

Interesting new piece in Mother Jones suggesting that Tea Party activism could be giving an unintended boost to moderate Republicans in the Northeast. But the story, which touches down in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, does not make more than passing reference to Rhode Island - just another sign that the state's GOP is, to date, fumbling a once-in-a-generation attempt to make inroads in an anti-incumbent environment.

The local National Public Radio affiliate, WRNI, unveils a new look for its web site today. The station, which is aiming to become a major news player in an increasingly fragmented market, seems to be emulating the New York Times with a clean, orderly look.

There are still some kinks to be worked out, it seems. The popular "On Politics" blog, at one point this morning, was featuring blog posts from several days ago.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, candidate for governor, scored a key labor endorsement a couple of weeks ago from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 328. But Lynch, who has been courting labor and other progressives as he mounts a run to the left of Democratic rival Frank Caprio, has a labor problem.

He recently announced opposition to a bill that would allow Deepwater Wind to circumvent the state's Public Utilities Commission in building a small wind farm, precursor to a much larger project.

State Representative David Segal, who formally announced his run for Congress last week, has a small staff in place. Greg Ross, of the Washington-based liberal advocacy group Progressive Change Campaign Committee, is serving as campaign manager. And Rachel Miller, former execuive director of liberal advocacy group Rhode Island Jobs With Justice, is also on staff.

Former Providence city solicitor Joe Fernandez will formally annouce his bid for attorney general tomorrow across from the State House, unveiling what his campaign is calling a "Rhode Island Anti-Corruption Bill of Rights" that he is pledging to put at the center of his campaign.

Fernandez's camp has suggested, for weeks, that he would use his work in the Cicilline administration as a platform for a campaign built around ethics - looking to capitalize on the mayor's push to clean up city government in the post-Buddy era.

State Representative David Segal's Congressional candidacy will be interesting to watch on a number of fronts - as vehicle for progressive frustration with Cicilline, as test of a youthful campaigner.

But, perhaps most intriguing, it will also be a test of netroots advocacy in the first post-Obama election - which is to say, in part, that it will be a test of the new version of the inside-outside game (money from Rhode Island, money from outside Rhode Island) that has always been important in a small state that can only pour so much cash into politics.

Among the dizzying array of amendments to the financial reform package now under debate in Washington are a series aimed at the credit card industry. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is co-sponsor, with Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, of a measure that might have the best shot at becoming law.

The bill would restore the states' ability to limit interest rates imposed by out-of-state lenders on their residents.

As advocates for the homeless press the General Assembly to maintain funding for the 10-year-old Neighborhood Opportunities Program, which has provided for some 1200 affordable housing units in the last decade, I take a broader look in today's Phoenix at the push to end homelessness in Rhode Island.

Ending homelessness might have seemed a fantasy a decade ago.

Does a candidate with no opposition need a campaign team? Apparently. Especially if you'd like to scare off any last-minute competitors. Here's the announcement from venture capitalist Gina Raimondo, whose campaign for treasurer got awfully lonely when Tom Sgouros dropped out of the race:

Rhode Island – Today, Gina Raimondo, Democratic candidate for General Treasurer, announced her team of campaign consultants.