Burrillville State Rep. Ed Pacheco is emerging as the consensus choice for state Democratic chairman, according to State House sources.

Pacheco, 29, a URI grad, is a passionate young representative who is loyal to the new House Speaker, Rep. Gordon Fox of Providence. Bill Lynch, the veteran Democratic chairman, left the post to run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in the 1st District.

In the first byproduct of Myrth York's decision to forego a run for mayor and endorse Angel Taveras, Taveras has picked up endorsements from two key East Side political players -- State Sen. Rhoda Perry and State Rep. Edith Ajello.

WRNI has learned that former State Sen. Myrth York is not running for Providence mayor and will endorse Angel Taveras in the 2010 mayoral election. York's endorsement is important because she  is popular on the vote-rich East Side.The York endorsem4ent is a big boost to the campaign of Taveras. While York was unsuccessful  in her three campaigns for governor, she always ran well in  Providence.

The Providence Journal has gone outside the newspaper to hire a new Boston Red Sox beat writer. Taking the job that is vacant due to the departure of Joe McDonald for ESPN is Brian MacPherson, who has covered the team for the New Hampshire Union Leader.

You don't need a U.S. Census survey to chart the changes in Providence's population. Just stroll down Broad Street, the business lifeline of the city's South Side. A century ago, the business signs read: Kelly Brothers Market, Macnair Florists, Tolchinsky Tailors and Reilly Undertakers.

Former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee has hired Darcie Johnson, a fund-raising consultant who worked on his 2006 Senate race for his 2010 run for governor. Johnson works mostly for Republicans and has clients nationwide. She is a Vermont native whose father, Jim Johnson, is a veteran Vermont lobbyist who was a confidante of and fund-raiser for former Vermont U.S. Sen. James M. Jeffords.

The current recession is creating big challenges for federal, state and local governments. Washington is generating deficits as far as the eye can see, while here in Rhode Island, the state budget is deep in the red and city and town leaders are struggling to maintain local services.  

Joe McDonald, the Providence Journal's hard-working and talented young sports writer, is leaving for ESPN.COM. McDonald, an energetic reporter with a passion for baseball and hockey, was a comer on the  Boston Red Sox beat, which he assumned when Sean McAdam left the ProJo. Maybe this is yet another sad comment on the decline of newspapers, but in the days when dead-tree journalism ruled, it was unusual of for a talented writer like McAdam and a young guy with McDonald's potential to leave  print, unless it was for a bigger market newspaper.

Steve Archambault, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Rhode Island attorney general, has chosen Samantha Cotter as his campaign manager. Cotter worked as a New Hampshire field organizer for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. Cotter, of Cranston, is a graduate of Hofstra University and also worked on Ned Lamont's campaign for U.S. Senate in Connecticut.

In case you thought that former Providence mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr., is just in the public mulling process, he has decided to put his money where his ambitions may lie. Paolino tells WRNI that he has put $500,000 in his Paolino for Mayor account, which means he is quite serious about making a race for the  City Hall office he held from 1984 to 1991.