It wasn't a surprise that former Republican Assembly candidate Ericka Atwell attended Governor Carcieri's State of the State speech last week.

But we didn't expect to see her at the media table.

Yes, Atwell, a registered Republican and former Carcieri intern, was on hand reporting for local talk radio station WPRO.

Atwell won her Republican primary last fall, but lost to Rep. Patricia A. Serpa in District 27 general election, earning a respectable 39 percent of the vote.

Atwell, a Rhode Island College student, has been working for the station as an unpaid intern for the last three weeks, according to program director Paul Giammarco.

"Her three-mornings-a-week internship involves working with John DePetro and the WPRO morning news," Giammarco said in an e-mail. "Ericka is intelligent, energetic and passionate about RI and its future."

As a GOP candidate, she publicly supported Carcieri's positions in recent months. She told The Journal she favored building a stronger tax base by helping small and medium-size businesses, cracking down on illegal immigration, and encouraging Rhode Island communities to consolidate their services to save money.

She also raised eyebrows in the days before the election after a YouTube video surfaced depicting the college student at a party.