I was astonished and horrified to learn that employees at Seven Stars Bakery have authorized a strike. [“Café workers at Seven Stars Bakery vote to authorize strike against employer,” from January 6.]
I had no idea that baristas there are underpaid, as Seven Stars has meant only good things in the decades I have enjoyed it. It sounds like a joke that you’re proposing new hires start at $12 per hour, and that currently employed baristas receive minimum wage for the next two years.
I know Seven Stars staff to be hardworking dedicated and competent. A wage of $15-$16 per hour is barely a living wage even now, and costs jumped noticeably at the end of last year.
I’ll forego buying at Seven Stars until this dispute is resolved in a contract their workers find acceptable.
Sarah Gleason
Wayland
To the Editor, in response to “Rhode Island Environmentalists’ Biggest Opponents at the State House Revealed in Brown University Report,” from January 7.
I have been at the state house many times over the years and watched and listened to the lobbyists for fossil fuel interests. It is really simple: they lie.
They deny the deadly climate crisis rolling across the landscape simply so they can protect the pocketbooks of the very rich who profit from killing people with hotter temperatures and more pollution. It is not only higher temperatures and bigger storms that are killing people, it is the day-to-day air pollution that gets into our lungs, and the outrageously high asthma rates that Rhode Islanders suffer.
Greg Gerritt
Summit
RE: The 2025 PVDFest Mural by Shey Rivera Ríos titled “PROVCurio included in the January 9 newsletter.
Providence is blessed with scores of wall murals throughout most neighborhoods. They give the city a sense of a civilized place to live and work. They often touch an emotional chord.
This mural — on Whipple Street between Douglas Ave and Admiral Street — made me stop my car and take a photo or two. The street is only about a quarter of a mile long. At the top of Whipple Street is the closed Providence Burger. At the bottom of Whipple Street is Admiral Packaging.
This mural was done on the wall of a company specializing in granite countertops called Great in Counters. It falls into the category of a mural that advertises it product/business.
But it is also an incredible work of art that brightens and enhances the street.
Yup, we really do live in the Creative Capital.
Bob McMahon
Elmhurst
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