Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - August 5, 2022

HOT

Adamo Is Tops

Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Kristen Adamo has been named one of the meeting industry’s top 20 “2022 Trendsetters,” according to Meetings Today magazine. 

Adamo is #3 on the list and is one of only two destination marketing executives named. The other is the head of the Convention Bureau in Lviv, Ukraine.  The magazine cited her advocacy work for the hospitality industry and her role in Providence’s economic recovery.

 “I am honored to be included with some of the top leaders in the meetings industry,” she said.  “However, the accomplishments mentioned in the article are really those of my entire team, my board, and many other key stakeholders in both the industry and community.”

HOT

RI's Newest Museum

Will Morgan, GoLocal's architecture critic, takes us for a tour of the great new addition to Rhode Island.

The summer when I was eight, my family rented a small cottage in Little Compton. I vividly remember the beach, the rocks, and the marshes. Most of all, I recall going to Newport to see the start of the Bermuda Race. My favorite uncle was a navigator on one of the smaller sailboats, and he would later return to Newport as part of an America’s Cup team. The harbor was festooned with sails and jammed with scores of power boats–well-wishers waving off the intrepid ocean racers. There was also the excitement of a Navy destroyer that would escort the windborne sailors to the Crown Colony over 600 miles to the south. READ MORE

The Newport of my youth was before the Pell Bridge connected Newport with the West Bay and beyond, and before urban renewal along the America’s Cup Avenue destroyed a lively chunk of the colonial capital’s legendary harborside. Before the Irish bars and the tee-shirt shops, Newport was about the Gilded Age mansions of America’s first resort. But it was also about the sea: the Navy and sailing (many of the yachtsmen came from Belleview Avenue). The famous yachting race, which was first contested in 1851, is one of the great sporting events in the world, like Wimbledon, the Kentucky Derby, or the Tour de France.

HOT

Newport Group Grows

Stoneacre Hospitality Group, which owns Stoneacre Brasserie and Stoneacre Garden in Newport, has announced it has expanded its suite of offerings with the grand opening of the completely remodeled Chart House Inn.

Located at 16 Clarke Street, the newly renovated inn is Stoneacre’s first venture into the hotel business.  

“The Inn has been a passion project we have dreamt of for many years now, and we are thrilled to see it come to fruition this summer as we enter a new era with the opening of our first hotel,” said Nicole Canning, Director of Marketing and Guest Experiences for Stoneacre Hospitality. “Guests will get a glimpse of the beauty and history of our beloved home here in Newport with easy access to the city’s most iconic sites, with a truly unique add-on of having full access to our Stoneacre Hospitality offerings – from dining to destination experiences – to create an unforgettable stay for every traveler.”  

Originally built in 1880, the Chart House Inn offers seven guest rooms and suites, a dining room and spacious salon where guests can relax after a day spent out and about in Newport. The inn has been completely renovated and updated with modern amenities and decor, and is conveniently located in Newport’s historic district, nearby bustling restaurants, shops and museums for guests to explore.

HOT

RI Ranked # 1

The newest ranking from WalletHub scores Rhode Island as number 1.

"With the Average American spending more than $12,500 per year on personal health care, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Best & Worst States for Health Care, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary," writes WalletHub.

"In order to determine where Americans receive the highest-quality services at the best prices, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 42 key measures of health care cost, accessibility and outcome. The data set ranges from the average monthly insurance premium to physicians per capita to the share of insured population," according to the study.

Health Care in Rhode Island (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

6th – Avg. Monthly Insurance Premium
17th – Hospital Beds per Capita
3rd – Physicians per Capita
30th – Dentists per Capita
4th – % of Insured Adults
4th – % of Insured Children
3rd – % of At-Risk Adults with No Routine Doctor Visit in Past Two Years
1st – % of Adults with No Dental Visit in Past Year
1st – % of Residents Age 12+ Who Are Fully Vaccinated

HOT

Cranston Solar Co. in Top 4

Each year Solar Power World -- an industry magazine -- ranks solar contractors across the United States. In its recently released 2022 Top Solar Contractors list, Green Development in Cranston achieved a rank of 40 out of 411 companies in the United States (top 10%).

For the second year in a row Green was ranked the top solar developer in Rhode Island according to Solar Power World rankings.

“We are pleased to be recognized in this manner by one of the leading industry publications in the country and that we continue to climb in their rankings,” said Mark DePasquale, CEO and founder of Green Development, LLC. “We are working hard to grow this Rhode Island-based company, and the entire team is proud of the work we are doing to bring renewable projects online to help meet our renewable energy goals and protect the environment. I am particularly proud of our dedicated employees and subcontractors for getting us to this point.”

HOT

Amazing Legacy

The most expensive house for sale currently in Rhode Island is “Sandcastle.” As GoLocal first reported this week, the Watch Hill estate is on the market for a cool $32.5 million.

But before it was named “Sandcastle” it was the summer retreat of the Diocese of Providence. The Diocese received it through a bequeathment from a wealthy Rhode Island family in 1942. The Bishops of the Diocese and other members of the leadership used the estate as a summer retreat — it was a favorite of Bishop Louis Gelineau.

Its history, however, is far richer.

Read more here. 

HOT

Women's Fund of Rhode Island 

Kelly Nevins and her team at WFRI announced a round of grants to Rhode Island organizations:

 - Housing Works RI ($15,000) - research and advocacy highlighting the state of women and housing in Rhode Island as it relates to living wages.

- RI Coalition to End Homeless ($15,000) - training and stipends for homeless and formerly homeless participants to create a Voices of the Homeless speaker’s bureau.

- RI Black Business Association ($19,600) - for strengths-based career coaching and financial planning coaching for 15 BIPOC participants to assist with asset and generation wealth building.

- Economic Progress Institute ($20,000) - to create equity impact assessment tools and an advocacy campaign to pass legislation requiring the use of these tools when considering future legislation.

- RI Working Families Party ($20,000) - support for building women’s power electorally and through advocacy, united around advocating for transformative child care investment.

 - Rhode Island for Community & Justice ($17,530) - support for Young Women's Equity Council providing training and a safe space for young women of color to become champions for anti-racism and equity in their schools and future workplaces.

 - Urban Perinatal Education Center ($20,000) - to address the perinatal health disparities, and health system discrimination & bias experienced by BIPOC communities

HOT

Merging of Two Icons

Newport Creamery has announced that its newest Awful Awful flavor features a Star Wars favorite. 

The “Baby Yoda Extreme Awful Awful” was unveiled on August 1, and will be available through the end of September. 

And just what is in such a concoction?

“Our Awful Awful mix is blended with our chocolate syrup, chocolate sprinkles, and banana, then topped with a banana, fresh whipped cream, and more chocolate sprinkles,” writes the Newport Creamery of its “Grogu” special. 

HOT

National Leader

House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Kennedy has been chosen as president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization serving the nation’s 7,383 state lawmakers and legislative staff.

“I appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve as an officer of this great organization and to become president-elect. I look forward to working with my colleagues from around the country,” Kennedy said. “NCSL has afforded legislators and staff an unrivaled opportunity to learn from the experiences of other states, exchange ideas and to formulate policy solutions that can help propel our respective states and, ultimately, our entire nation forward. I enjoy interacting with our Washington office to ensure federal policies are in line with state priorities.” 

NOT

Sleaze

While Tom Brady was playing for the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Bucs, he was also playing footsies with the Miami Dolphins.

You are sure are pretty, Tom...a pretty sleazy guy.

NOT

TJX

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that The TJX Companies Inc., of Framingham, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay a $13 million civil penalty for selling, offering for sale, and distributing previously recalled consumer products.

Infants' Products

The majority of the post-recall sales were products recalled due to the risk of infant suffocation and death including the Kids II Rocking Sleepers, Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleepers, and Fisher-Price Inclined Sleeper Accessory for Ultra-Lite Day & Night Play Yards. 

On November 26, 2019, CPSC and TJX jointly issued a press release announcing that TJX had sold, offered for sale, and distributed 19 separate recalled products.  After the press release was announced, TJX reported to staff that it subsequently discovered previous sales of three additional recalled products.  

NOT

Tobin Under Fire

On Monday, GoLocalProv.com first reported that priest Eric Silva — who was removed from two Rhode Island Catholic churches in February of 2022 for improper behavior — is back at another Rhode Island Catholic church offering mass.

Now, a top lawyer for clergy sexual abuse victims worldwide for decades, Mitchell Garabedian, says Bishop Thomas Tobin needs to have an investigation conducted into Silva’s actions before permanent any reassignment.

Parents in Rhode Island had alleged that Silva was asking inappropriate questions to children about their sexual orientation and sexual activity.

On Wednesday, Garabedian — who was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the movie “Spotlight" — released the following statement: 

"Before re-assigning Fr. Eric Silva, Bishop Thomas Tobin should request a police investigation to determine if any crimes were committed by Fr. Silva against children. 

The investigation by the police would then objectively obtain facts and the truth. The truth which Thomas Tobin obviously wants to hide through a cloak of secrecy. 

The premature re-assignment by Bishop Tobin is just another example of how the Catholic Church continues to place the welfare of the Catholic Church above the safety of children. 

Based on my decades of experience, the sexually based conversations with children by Fr. Silva are a red flag moment if there ever was on."

Latest in Controversy

As GoLocal reported: 

Silva asked male children if they were gay and accused them of lying if they said no.

And, Silva asked females were asked if they were sexually active and, according to the report, similarly accused of lying if they answered in the negative. He made the comments when he was offering confession.

Silva made the comments to children while he was a visiting priest at Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School in Cranston. But, there were also complaints at St. Luke's too.

During the controversy, Reverend Edward J. Wilson Jr.,  of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston, announced that Silva was barred from offering mass or returning to the school due to his behavior.