Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - July 5, 2024

HOT

Tremendous Rescue

Providence and Pawtucket Firefighters and Providence Police saved a man who was threatening to jump from a Rt. 95 overpass on Tuesday evening. 

Providence Fire Chief Derek Silva provided the following information regarding the incident:

"Firefighters responded at approximately 8:27 PM for a reported male having a mental health crisis and attempting to jump from Broadway by the overpass to 95. 

A combined effort by Providence Fire and Police along with Pawtucket Fire were able to bring the man back to safety and he was treated by our mobile health clinician and transported by rescue to the hospital. 

Arriving firefighters and police had to hold the male by his clothing while firefighters from the special hazards cut the fence and Pawtucket Fire blocked 95 and raised a ladder."

Traffic was stopped on Route 95 as rescue efforts unfolded.  READ MORE

HOT

Congrats

On Saturday, Rhode Island native and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo married NFL star running back Christian McCaffrey.

The two were married at a chapel in Watch Hill.

The couple was engaged in April of 2023.

The celebrity wedding was featured in Vogue on Saturday.  A feature story in the fashion magazine hyped Culpo’s dress.

“Olivia Culpo holds the following belief about marriage: ’It’s a covenant. It’s the beginning of the rest of your life—and it’s the union and bond of two people forever,’ the model and former Miss Universe tells Vogue. So when it came to designing her wedding dress with Dolce & Gabbana, there was one note she stressed to the atelier above all. ‘I wanted something that felt as serious as that commitment,’ she says,” reported Vogue.

READ MORE

HOT

No Let Up at 100

Former United States Ambassador and Secretary of Navy J. William Middendorf, II, is nearly 100 years old, and he is never out of the news.

Now, he has written a new book warning about the significant threats to America.

In recent months, Middendorf made national news on the issue of offshore wind, and the United States Navy held a ceremony in December celebrating the keel plate unveiling for one of the Navy’s future Arleigh Burke Class Flight III destroyers to be named for Middendorf.

At that ceremony, the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, made remarks and specifically cited the threat of China to America.

“The People’s Republic of China is our pacing challenge, and we must restore our Nation’s maritime power to meet it,” said Secretary Del Toro. “The future USS J. William Middendorf is key to that goal. We look forward to welcoming her into our fleet and are excited for its future crew to represent our nation on a global scale, just as her namesake did throughout his life.”

The comments by Secretary Del Toro were highly relevant to Middendorf’s book.

His new book, “On My 100-Year Watch,” is now taking preorders. GoLocal was able to review the final transcript of the publication.

Middendorf’s book is an effort to reflect on critical global issues that he was directly involved with and extract critical learnings to help guide America’s future. 

He lives in Little Compton and has been active in Republican politics in Rhode Island.

Middendorf specifically cites five examples of malfeasance by American decision-makers — failures that have cost the United States dearly.

HOT

Horowitz Nails It

GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™ and Democratic consultant Rob Horowitz has a smart take on the need for the Democrats to pivot from Biden.

Horowitz writes:

In my pre-debate column last week, I wrote that ‘for Joe Biden to exceed expectations, he doesn’t need to shine; all he needs to do is be lucid.”  Unfortunately, he fell well short of lucidity. At times, in fact, he was barely understandable, meandering and trailing off in too many of his responses.  The combination of his raspy, weakened voice, the return of the stuttering he overcame as a young man, and the camera capturing a vacant, far-off look when Donald Trump had the floor contributed to Mr. Biden leaving the impression that he is long past his sell-by date.

Simply put, the debate was an unmitigated disaster for President Biden.  Nearly 3-out-of- 4 likely voters came into the debate thinking he was too old to be an effective president in his next term. His performance confirmed and solidified that belief.  More than 7-in-10 (72%) registered voters now say that Joe Biden does not have the mental & cognitive health to serve as president today—even before we get to a next term, according to a CBS News/YouGov Poll conducted since the debate.  This is a 7% increase in the electorate as a whole, with larger increases among Democrats and Independents, in those thinking President Biden is not fit to serve.  In other words, instead of easing the number one concern voters have about his candidacy, Joe Biden’s debate performance substantially increased it.

Overall, more than 2-out-of-3 debate watchers thought that Donald Trump outperformed the president, according to a CNN instant poll of debate watchers.  A 538/Ipsos Poll yielded similar results. 

This is despite the fact that Mr. Trump did little to help himself in the debate, according to focus groups and dial groups conducted by media outlets, organizations and campaigns, The former president’s refusal to answer questions even when asked the 2nd time and utterance of easily recognized falsehoods, including saying that all legal experts and most voters wanted Roe v. Wade overturned and that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election, reminded viewers of what they don’t like about him.  CNN’s Daniel Dale counted 29 falsehoods and PolitiFact and other fact-checkers documented similar amounts.  While undecideds and swing voters believe that he bested Mr. Biden, they still found his performance off-putting. This is one of the reasons that the debate is not producing gains for Mr. Trump in the horserace as measured in post-debate polls.

READ MORE

HOT

From Cumberland Gym Rat to the NBA

PC great and GoLocal Sports Analyst Kevin Stacom has a smart column on the travels of Rhode Islander Tyler Kolek.

Stacom, a 30-year NBA scout, writes: 

Devin Carter justifiably drew a lot of attention, especially locally, at last week’s NBA draft as he capped off a great regular season as Big East Player of the Year, followed by a great performance at the predraft camp In Chicago and a subsequent invitation to the NBA draft “Green Room,” culminating in him being selected by Sacramento with the 13th  pick It was a fitting and well-earned exclamation point to a great season and career at Providence College. 

While all that was dramatically unfolding, there was another player of local interest who had to go through the more difficult route of watching 1st round picks evaporating before his eyes, knowing he had to endure the prolonged suspense of waiting another day until the 2nd round of the draft commenced. 

Tyler Kolek had to be disappointed initially at not going in the first round. The first round of the NBA draft is the promised land of all young guys aspiring to play in the NBA. Being selected in the first round assures you three years of guaranteed money and the status of knowing you’ve been ordained by a professional franchise as one of the top 30 players in the world for that privilege. 

Typically, when a team has invested a 1st round pick in a player, he will be given the utmost attention and opportunity to succeed as they Will do their best to justify their selection. 

 Tyler Kolek’s father, Kevin, confirmed for me that Tyler had worked out for a number of teams that had picks in the 20s (Phoenix, Utah, New York), and all of them conveyed strong interest in drafting him if he was still there when they selected. In addition, most mock drafts had him going from early to late 20’s It had to be tough gut-check as that night ended

As difficult as that night might have been, in my estimation, things turned around quickly the following day for the Cumberland, RI, native. The NY Knicks chose Kolek with the 34th pick in the 2nd round. I mention this as a great reversal of fortune for a couple of reasons. As previously mentioned, teams value high 2nd round picks as they have the chance to get a 1st round talent without the financial commitment of 3 years of guaranteed money. (Just so you know, as of 2 years ago, teams were selling 2nd round picks for over 2 million dollars).

The fact that the Knicks traded up from 38 to the 34th pick to get him indicates to me that they really wanted him. It wasn’t like they just sat back at 38 and said “Oh well, we’ll just wait to see who’s there and take the best player available” They were probably very excited that he survived that long on the board and did whatever they could to move up and get him. Big difference.   

READ MORE

NOT

McKee Malfeasance

No one bid on building a replacement Washington Bridge.

McKee owns this mess going forward.

He owns Alviti;

the delays;

the failed businesses;

and, the exploding budget.

NOT

An Assault, Allegations of Sexual Harassment, Questions About Favoritism

The City of Warwick's Water Division has nearly every type of reprehensible behavior going on.

And, other than one city council member, the Mayor and the City Council have little to say.

NOT

Deadly Drivers

Bodies are piling up as cars and trucks keep running over bicyclists.

Wonderful people are dying and getting injured at the hands of bad drivers and in some cases, alleged drunk drivers.

Where are we rushing to get to?

READ THE MOST RECENT