Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - July 12, 2024

HOT

Best of the Best

The Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) announced that Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) was selected as one of the top ten domestic airports based on reader surveys submitted to Travel + Leisure's “World’s Best Awards.” 

PVD was ranked #2 out of more than 500 commercial airports in the United States, making them the only airport in the northeast to be ranked among the top five airports.

RI International Airport has been on a roll.

This is the latest award of excellence for PVD within the travel industry and improves upon last year’s #3 finish in the T+L Top Airport rankings, with this year’s second-place ranking of PVD just 1/100th of a percent (.01 points) behind the Top Airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

PVD has now been singled out for excellence by national reviewers 13 times since 2017, including the airport’s 2023 ranking by Condé Nast Traveller as a Top Ten Airport in the World.

In announcing PVD’s 2nd place standing – the highest ever achieved by PVD in the Travel + Leisure reader’s survey - Travel + Leisure noted that "PVD is centrally located in the state and offers easy access to travelers from Massachusetts and Connecticut."

PVD’s charms were singled out by one Travel + Leisure voter who stated:

“The bathrooms are magnificent! This seems like a small thing, but when you travel a lot, large stalls with privacy doors and sinks with built-in faucet/dryer combinations are such a gift. And the live plants and fresh flowers by each sink really made me feel like someone cares about my well-being. Likely the best experience of my 30 years as a traveling consultant.”

HOT

Stacom on English's Recruiting Success at PC

PC great and GoLocal's sports analyst Kevin Stacom has a great column on the success of Kim English.

It’s beginning to get a little redundant, and usually, when you hear that word, it is used to connote something negative, as in boringly repetitive or unimaginatively predictable. But not at all in this case. The word came to mind because once again, in the relatively short time he’s been running the show at PC, Kim English has succeeded in successfully recruiting elite players.

We know he can recruit out of the portal.              

Providence College men’s basketball program announced last week that they had secured the commitment from another top nationally ranked recruit, Jaylen Harrell, a 6’6” 210lb Forward from Boston via CATS Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts. Harrell will join another highly rated player Jamier Jones, a 6’6” 205lb forward from Orlando, Florida, (ranked #16 by ESPN) Jaylen Harrell was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts Averaging 24 pts, 7.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists/ game in his junior year.        

Harrell's commitment is significant in a couple of ways First of all, if you look at the caliber of schools that Harrell had narrowed down his choices to - Xavier, Rutgers, Kansas, Alabama, and Virginia Tech- Coach English is competing and winning against some of the top programs and conferences in the country In this instance, the Big East, Big 12, SEC, and the ACC. 

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HOT

Restaurant Weeks Have Arrived 

Big yum, more details here.

A list of participating restaurants:

Cranston

Avvio Ristorante

Chapel Grille

Legal Sea Foods

East Greenwich

Circe Restaurant & Bar

Providence Oyster Bar

Johnston

Bar’ Lino

Luigi’s Restaurant & Gourmet Express

North Providence

Tumblesalts Cafe

Pawtucket

10 Rocks Tapas Bar & Restaurant

Providence

110 Grill

Angelo’s Civita Farnese Restaurant

Bacaro Restaurant

Bellini

Blake’s Tavern

Cafe Nuovo

The Capital Grille

Capriccio

Casa Azul Taqueria

Cassarino’s Ristorante

Circe Restaurant & Bar 

Courtland Club

Diego’s East Side Restaurant

Federal Taphouse & Kitchen

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Fleur

Fogo de Chao

The George

Gift Horse

Gracie’s

Hemenway’s Restaurant

Jacky’s Waterplace Restaurant

Kin Southern Table & Bar

Ladder 133 Kitchen and Social 

Mare Rooftop

Il Massimo

Mill’s Tavern Restaurant

Mona Lisa Restaurant

Moonshine Alley

Murphy’s

New Rivers

Nicks on Broadway

Night Shift Brewing & Taproom @Level99

Oberlin

Otra Restaurant

Pane e Vino Ristorante

Parkside Rotisserie & Bar

Pasta Beach

The Patio on Broadway

Pizzico Oyster Bar

Providence G Pub

Providence Oyster Bar

Red Stripe

Rooftop at the Providence G

Rosalina

Sarto

Trattoria Appia

The Village

Viva Mexico

Waterman Grille

Smithfield

Tavolo Wine Bar & Tuscan Grille

Warwick

Elizabeth’s of Portofino

Iron Works

Tavolo Wine Bar & Tuscan Grille

HOT

Still Much Work to Be Done, But a Little Good News

Rhode Island opioid overdose deaths decreased 7.3% in 2023.

Massachusetts overdose deaths decreased 10% in 2023.

NOT

RI Earns 6 "D"s Out of 10 Categories

CNBC has released its annual rankings of top states for business for 2024 — and Rhode Island ranks 44th.

CNBC looks at 10 categories, and in 6 of them, Rhode Island — the lowest-ranked state in New England — got D marks. 

Rhode Island received “D-” grades for economy, cost of living, access to capital, and cost of doing business. 

It got a "D" for business friendliness and a "D+" for workforce. 

The state’s best grade was for “quality of life” — receiving a "B-" mark.

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NOT

City Hall's Decline

A GoLocal report on Monday unveiled that Providence City Hall is in steep decline.

Pieces of City Hall are literally falling off. GoLocal went to the top of an adjoining building to photograph the roof of the historic Second Empire edifice, and found that large pieces of the copper roof missing and the underlying steel support badly rusted.

City officials said they are working on a plan to correct the decay.

See more photos here. 

NOT

Rhode Island Nursing Home Issues

GoLocal was the first to report enforcement actions at one of RI's nursing homes.

One of Rhode Island's “youngest and most experienced” nursing home administrators has been disciplined by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH).

In January of 2023, Grace Barker Health, a skilled nursing, short-term rehabilitation, assisted living, and adult day health provider located in Warren, announced that Benjamin Lescault was promoted to administrator. The announcement was made by Mark and Mary Beth Lescault, co-owners of Grace Barker Health.

The facility has 86 beds.

However, just months later, the nursing home and Benjamin Lescault were investigated by RIDOH — and federal regulators, who hit the nursing home with a fine of more than $114,000. It was not Grace Barker Health's first time being penalized by federal regulators.

Now, RIDOH announced this week that it has "reprimanded" Lescault for having employees without valid licenses working at the facility. 

“On or about November 27, 2023, [RIDOH] received a complaint alleging that the Respondent was serving as the administrator of a long-term care facility that had nine (9) nursing assistants working within the facility without a valid license,” writes RIDOH’s Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators (the "Board”).

In announcing Benjamin Lescault’s appointment in 2023, Grace Barker said, "At age 26, Mr. Lescault is one of the youngest, most experienced administrators in the United States to lead an elder care organization. He grew up in the family business and most recently served in the capacity of assistant administrator.”

In the enforcement action, RIDOH wrote, “On January 29, 2024, the Board reviewed the allegation and relevant evidence, including your response to the complaint. RIDOH, after review, and in conjunction with a recommendation by the Board, determined that the Respondent failed to conform to minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing practice of nursing home administration by their actions."

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NOT

RI's Pressing Issues and Neronha's Revolving Door 

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is finally filing a significant action against the "unregulated" Rhode Island Recycled Metals facility on Allens Avenue following this week's most recent fire, which came just months after the previous one. 

It is scheduled to be heard on Friday.

This facility has been before the Superior Court since 2015. Neronha has been in office since 2019, and there has been a revolving door of staff attorneys assigned to this case.