Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - August 11, 2023

HOT

Local Food Stars' New Spot

A new restaurant opened in Rhode Island this weekend, with a number of veteran industry professionals at the helm. 

Co-owners Ed Brady and Jeff Quinlan have teamed up with Marco Scotti and Armando Bisceglia to launch Scotti’s Salumeria on Post Road in East Greenwich, and it officially welcomed the public last Saturday. 

GoLocal caught up with Brady on Friday to talk about the new eatery. 

“It’s a very affordable concept, focusing on meats, pasta, pizza, and sandwiches. It’s got a very family feeling,” said Brady. “It’s comfortable and relaxing. It’s just about everyone having a good time, which is what we need right now.”

The “family” feeling is at the root of the restaurant, as Brady and Quinlan joined forces with Scotti — a veteran of another of their restaurants, the Thirsty Beaver — to launch the new business. 

HOT

URI Football's Preseason Prospects 

The University of Rhode Island football team is ranked #21 in the Stats Perform Preseason FCS Top 25 Poll.

This marks the third preseason Top 25 ranking for the Rams, including the Athlon Sports Top 25 (#18) and the HERO Sports Top 25 (#25).

HOT

Cheese, Cheese, and More Cheese

There is a new “one-stop” wine and cheese shop opening in Rhode Island — which wants to provide customers with all their “beach, boat, and baseball” eating and drinking needs, and more. 

“Cocktail Hour Essentials” in West Warwick is the brainchild of Karen Ventrone Moore, who up until this year, was a fourth-generation teacher in Rhode Island.

Now, she is a small business owner, and wants to tap into her Italian, Armenian, and boating background to supply Rhode Islanders with unique wine, beer, and cheese offerings. 

“We’re opening in the Quaker Valley Mall — there’s really nothing like it in the area,” said Moore. 

Read more here. 

PHOTO: Unsplash/Aleksandra Dementeva

HOT

Jazz Master

The Newport Jazz Festival - one of Rhode Island's greatest annual events - was in full motion last weekend at Fort Adams in Newport.

GoLocal's Richard McCaffrey was there to capture the greats like Herbie Hancock and the emerging immortal stars like Pedrito Martinez.

If you missed the sights -- See a Collection of the PHOTOS HERE

HOT

Bally’s Event Lawn at 195 Park Opens with Ceremony and Live Music

This week, Bally’s — one of Rhode Island's largest employers — officially opened the Bally’s Event Lawn, a 45,000 square foot area of open space located within the seven-acre 195 District Park and, in so doing, helps to preserve a critical area of downtown open space for generations to come.

On hand to participate in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony were Governor Dan McKee, Lt. Governor Sabina Matos, Speaker of the House K. Joseph Shekarchi, Senator Frank Ciccone, City of Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, Senator Tiara Mack, Marc Crisafulli, Chair of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission and Craig Eaton, President of Rhode Island Operations for Bally’s. 

Entertainment was provided by the GoLocal Bally’s Lounge and included Mark Cutler, Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame - often called the Bob Dylan of Rhode Island; Rhode Island artist DJ ShureLive, who along with Joe Bruce recently came off a European tour; and country artist Kevin Herchen, a prolific songwriter and performer who appears regularly in Rhode Island and Nashville.  

HOT

Waterplace Park

Under Mayors Angel Taveras and Jorge Elorza, Waterplace Park in downtown Providence was poorly maintained and stained with graffiti.

Give a tip of the hat to the new guy for cleaning up one of the most beautiful parks in America.

Perfect? No. But it is looking much better.

NOT

Convicted Felon Paid $183,900 to Manage $70M Contract Bid for Providence Schools

Providence Public Schools hired a Massachusetts company in 2022 to manage the process of selecting a firm to provide “integrated facility management.”  The consultant was hired to help select the company to clean and maintain the schools — a contract that ultimately exceeded $70 million.

The consultant hired is a man named Mark Heroux, the founder and managing partner of Performance Resource Partners — the firm is located in Holbrook, Massachusetts, in Heroux's home.

It is unclear why the public agency with nearly two dozen top-paid administrators needed to hire a firm to manage a public bid. A GoLocal report published in December of 2022 found that the top 18 executives in the Providence Public School Department earned on average more than $157,000.

But despite the top-level staffing, Providence Schools hired Heroux, who was convicted of financial crimes tied to maintenance work in a federal building in Boston in the 1990s.

According to Providence School records and confirmed by the agency, the contract for Heroux was for $183,900.

Federal Court Records

Court documents secured by GoLocal show that Heroux was the facilities manager for Ogden Corporation — the company that had the contract at the O’Neill Federal Building.  Heroux created a scheme in which he falsified payroll records and created “ghost” employees.

“The version of events in the Presentence Report, as submitted by AUSA Robert Richardson, depicts Mark Heroux as the initiator and director of this scheme as well as the person who had the final say on all decisions regarding this scheme. The government's version has Mark Heroux suggesting this scheme to Alice Beamer and making it appear that Mark Heroux had to approve of who would be the so-called ghost employee,” according to court documents.

Heroux illegally collected tens of thousands of dollars before his scheme was uncovered.

The Providence Public School Department, who signed the contract with Heroux, admitted that they were unaware of his prior conviction after repeated requests. 

Providence Schools’ spokesperson Jay Wegimont, said in an email to GoLocal, “When selecting a vendor, PPSD reviews the vendor’s qualifications including relevant work experience. In cases where employees of a vendor will have direct, unsupervised contact with students, we require that those employees receive a criminal background checks. We do not conduct background checks for all employees of a vendor outside of these circumstances.”

“PPSD was not aware of the prior conviction,” Wegimont added.

READ MORE

NOT

Regunberg's Duplicity

In 2022, Aaron Regunberg wrote an aggressive condemnation in The New Republic condemning those who earn their livelihood making their living in the petroleum industry.

In 2023, his biggest financial supporter for his campaign for Congress is a guy who makes tens of millions in investing in fossil fuel companies. It is his father-in-law who has pumped $125,000 to get Regunberg elected.

Oh, what a difference a year makes.

NOT

 Justice Thomas Destroying the Reputation of the Court

This article was originally published in ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.

During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, on more than one occasion, an entire 737. It’s a stream of luxury that is both more extensive and from a wider circle than has been previously understood.

Like clockwork, Thomas’ leisure activities have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence. Their gifts include:

At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.  READ MORE