Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - April 11, 2025

HOT

Ken Block 

On Monday, Ken Block called out an ongoing conflict in the media market.

Block wrote the following on social media:

Last Friday, the local NBC affiliate's evening news co-anchor got salty on his morning "news" show on WPRO radio because I criticized his bias toward RIDOT Director Alviti. 

WJAR's news anchor got personal, criticizing my gubernatorial campaigns and challenging me (in a schoolyard way) to come on his radio show.

This further demonstrates how Gene Valicenti's multiple media jobs conflict and how he has lost his ability to stay in his lane.

I would never go on his radio show because he would not interact with me like a serious journalist. On WPRO, he is anything but a serious journalist. He is a bagman for RIDOT director Alviti.

How can an NBC news anchor be Howard Stern on the radio and Tom Brokaw behind the news desk? He can't. He shouldn't.

I would not consent to an interview with Valicenti on TV or radio, nor would I accept him as a debate moderator if I ran for any political office in the future.

HOT

Rhode Island Film Office

When you're hot, you are hot.

Academy Award-nominated writer and director M. Night Shyamalan and best-selling author Nicholas Sparks are teaming up on a supernatural romantic thriller that will be filmed this summer in the state.

And the lead is Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhall. 

According to the film office, the movie is a collaboration between Sparks and Shyamalan, with Sparks writing a book and Shyamalan writing a screenplay independently, based on the same original love story.

“It is a dream come true to have one of my favorite filmmakers making an original movie here in our beloved Ocean State. Night is a visionary who always attracts top-notch talent in front of and behind the camera. Rhode Island is a special location steeped in history, beauty and great mystery," said Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Film & TV Office.

"With all of these amazing ingredients in the hands of a master filmmaker, we can expect M. Night Shyamalan and his outstanding team to tantalize our senses and make a movie we can all be proud of," he added. 

Feinberg is one of 9 inductees in this year's RI Heritage Hall of Fame class. 

Jake Gyllenhall. PHOTO: CC 4.0/Glenn Francis

HOT

PC Basketball Is Valuable; Brown, Not So Much

A new study reported by the Wall Street Journal ranks each of the men’s college basketball programs.

According to the report, North Carolina’s men’s basketball team has the highest valuation in the sport at $378 million. North Carolina ranked just ahead of rival Duke ($370 million), making the two schools in the ACC the only teams that eclipsed $300 million in total value.

Indiana, which failed to make the tournament, placed third at $279 million,

Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, developed the analysis. 

The two teams in the national championship game were the University of Florida Gators ($121 million), which ranked 31st, and Houston ($81 million), which ranked 58th.

How the Local Teams Rank

Providence College is ranked 38th in the country with a value of $102 million.

The University of Rhode Island is ranked 99th at $29 million.

Bryant University, who made it to the NCAA Tournament, is ranked 255th and valued at $10 million.

Brown University is ranked 300th at a value of just $8 million.

HOT

Pawtucket Scores One

Pawtucket has many challenges these days, but one promising development is a new high school. Shea and Tolman are antiques.

The students deserve a first-class facility and this project, hopefully, will help to "transform" the educational system in the city.

HOT

Master Artist Jeanne Tangney

Art columnist Michael Rose has a tremendous profile about one of Rhode Island's most talented artists.

Pastels have been used throughout history by individuals from Da Vinci to Degas. For local artist Jeanne Tangney, they are a cornerstone of her practice and have resulted in great success. Rated as a Master Pastelist, Tangney currently has a collection of landscapes on view at Hammetts Hotel in the heart of Newport through June 1.

Tangney was raised in Rhode Island and lives and works in Newport. She earned a BA in Painting and a BS in Art Education from Rhode Island College, where she studied under Enrico Pinardi. A member of the American Impressionist Society and the Portrait Society of America, her work is in the permanent collections of a number of corporations including Fidelity Investments, Cambridge Savings Bank, Berkshire Partners, and Newport Hospital.

Tangney works in a studio at the La Farge Arts Center adjoining the historic Congregational Church designed by famed stained glass artist John La Farge and still bearing most of his decorative program. On a recent studio visit, it was clear that Tangney draws much inspiration from the remarkable architecture of the venue. Her studio, tucked on the second floor, is expansive and doubles as a space where she takes students who are eager to learn from her.

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HOT

Rookie of the Year

Vartan Gregorian Principal Matthew Brown was recognized with the "Outstanding First Year Principal Award" by the Rhode Island Association of School Principals (RIASP) at the school.

Brown has worked in education for ten years, the last four in the Providence Public School District (PPSD). Before becoming a Principal, he served as an Assistant Principal for two years at Bailey Elementary School, and did one year as Principal in Training/Director of Student Support Services.

He earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. He then received his Master's degree in Education and Urban Teaching from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island, and completed the Principal Certification Program through the CLEE Principal Residency Network.

NOT

Did Neronha Really NEED to Go to a Conference in France Sponsored by Lobbyists?

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, during his last three years in office, has taken a dozen trips that were paid for, in part, by third parties.

These trips were disclosed, according to Neronha’s financial disclosure forms filed with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.

Neronha took partially subsidized trips to locations including Normandy, France; Las Vegas, Nevada; Seattle, Washington; and a casino resort in South Dakota.

In total, Neronha accepted $23,833.54 in travel subsidies. The vast majority was in 2024, $18,683.63. 

Two of the trips were tied to a group that is widely criticized.

CNN and Axios Raise Questions

The Attorney General Alliance (AGA) is a rising organization of state attorneys general. Axios reported that it is drawing criticism for courting sponsorships for lavish conferences and foreign junkets from a stable of lobbyists and corporate patrons.

CNN reported this past week that these trips tied to the AGA may create conflicts of interest. “The trips were tens of thousands of dollars, business class and a whole lot more. And who paid for them? The companies, companies they were investigating.”

Summer in France

One of Neronha’s most expensive trips was to France to the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) cosponsored event in Normandy. The event was in conjunction with the National Association of Attorneys General, a century-old group. AGA would not provide dates for the event, but one attorney general told the Star Tribune the event took place for July 29 through Aug. 3, 2024.

The trip illuminates how corporate lawyers and lobbyists can gain access to officials who regulate their businesses with help from the AGA.

"Lobbyists essentially fund these trips,’’ Christopher Toth, a former National Associations of Attorneys General executive director, told the Star Tribune. "They funnel the money through AGA, and then that insulates the AGs from being criticized that they’re taking money from lobbyists.’’

“The AGA said 26 attorneys general were on the trip. The nonprofit group said the Olympics were not on the itinerary, though the marquee international athletic competitions coincided with it,” added the Star Tribune report.

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NOT

Hopkins' Pool Trouble Continues

From a GoLocal editorial:

Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins has had trouble repairing or replacing the Budlong community swimming pool.

The pool has been closed since 2019, and Hopkins was elected in 2020. Of the past six years of failure, only four of them are owned by Mayor Hopkins.

So, the Cranston 5-year-old who wanted to use the pool is now 11 years old. There is no pool for you again this summer, kid.

Hopkins has repeatedly promised to deliver a new pool. However, in recent weeks, he announced that it would be delayed again.

We want to offer the pool-construction-challenged Mayor a few historical milestones to put the endless blundering in some context.

Here are how long some major construction projects took to build:

One Year

The Empire State Building was constructed in a record-breaking one year and 45 days, starting in March 1930 and completed in May 1931. 

Two Years

The construction of the Eiffel Tower took a remarkably short time: two years, two months, and five days, starting in January 1887 and finishing on March 31, 1889. 

Three Years

The construction of the Newport Bridge, now known as the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, took approximately 3 years, from 1966 to 1969, with the bridge opening to traffic on June 28, 1969.

Four Years

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge took 1,604 days, or a little over 4 years and 4 1/2 months. Work began on January 5, 1933, and the Bridge opened to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937.

Five Years

The construction of the Hoover Dam, including the dam itself, the powerplant, and the related infrastructure, took five years, from 1931 to 1935, with concrete placement completed by May 29, 1935, and all features completed by March 1, 1936. 

Six Years and Counting

Fixing the Budlong community swimming pool in Cranston has still not been completed.

Ten Years

It took the United States approximately 10 years, from 1904 to 1914, to complete the construction of the Panama Canal, which opened to commercial traffic on August 15, 1914. 

Cranston residents can only hope that Hopkins can complete the new pool in less time than it took to dig the 51-mile Panama Canal [and before that 5-year-old is in high school].

Keep your fingers crossed.

NOT

Tariff War

It does not seem like the average Rhode Islander is going to win in this "war."