Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - June 28, 2024
Analysis
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - June 28, 2024
We have expanded the list, and we are going to a GoLocal team approach while encouraging readers to suggest nominees for who is "HOT" and who is "NOT."
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Over the past 14-plus years, more than 7,000 have been tagged as HOT or NOT.
Email GoLocal by midday on Thursday about anyone you think should be tapped as "HOT" or "NOT." Email us HERE.
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - June 28, 2024
HOT
NBA First Round Pick
Providence College junior Devin Carter was selected on Wednesday as the #13 first-round NBA pick by the Sacramento Kings.
Carter was an All-American and the Big East Player of the Year this past season.
PHOTO: PC
HOT
Duke's Brilliant Work
Michael Rose, GoLocal's art contributor, has a great profile of Mea Duke:
In her Pawtucket studio, artist Mea Duke is hard at work. In the vast mill complex where she paints, she is in the process of moving studios. She is also finishing up her most recent body of precisely executed artwork for her next show.
They are headed to the artist’s second solo exhibition at Jessica Hagen Fine Art + Design in Newport. Titled SPF, the show will be on view from June 30 - July 28, and it is an unabashed celebration of all things summer and sea.
Duke, who was raised in Providence and graduated from Wheeler School, studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art before earning her BFA cum laude at the University of Rhode Island while working full time. She calls her journey through varying undergraduate art programs a “goldilocks” moment.
Duke went on to obtain her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Shortly after completing grad school, she entered academia. Duke has taught students at Montserrat College of Art, MassArt, and the SMFA, as well as at Harvard where she earned a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching five years in a row.
HOT
He Caddied for Kings and First Ladies
GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle had the story:
Peter “Pimo” Lauzon is a Newport legend.
Born in the Fifth Ward in 1933, Lauzon, who is now 90, began caddying at the Newport Country Club at the age of 9, and following years in military service, returned to Newport where he eventually became a manager at the club.
In 2024, he was recognized by the Newport Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) as their “Man of the Year.”
According to Lauzon, the Duke of Windsor — and “Jackie O,” then a Bouvier — are among those whom he caddied for in his youth.
This week, the U.S. Senior Open is at the Newport Country Club, and GoLocal sat down with Lauzon at the AOH hall on Wellington Avenue to hear his tales from the storied golf course.
“When I was 8, 9 years old, we had to make a dollar somewhere,” said Lauzon, of growing up in a household of six. “We had absolutely nothing.”
Starting Out at the Club
“It paid a dollar a day, maybe. That was a lot of money,” Lauzon told GoLocal of caddying at Newport Country Club. “I stayed straight…most of the time. I had nothing else to do. I had no money. Nothing.”
“I was just a kid,” said Lauzon, of when he started. “I didn’t know any better. I was just interested in making a dollar. They didn’t care, the people you caddied for. You got their bag on your shoulder and that’s all that.”
And one of the golfers he caddied for when he began was the Duke of Windsor.
“The biggest a—hole in the world,” laughed Lauzon. “Nobody liked him.”
The reason? According to Lauzon, he “didn’t tip.”
The Duke of Windsor — Edward VIII — was King of England briefly in 1936, before he abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson.
HOT
Froma Harrop's Takes Down of the Now-Leaving "Squad" Member
Froma Harrop's column on the failure of fringe believers to serve their constituents is a brilliant review of the now-leaving member of the far-left "Squad."
This divisive "true-believing" however is not limited to the ultra-left.
Harrop writes:
"Jamaal Bowman's loss was the Democrats' gain. A member of the left-fringe Squad, his primary defeat removes at least one irritant to the Democrats' quest to take control of the House.
And if his replacement with a moderate marks the beginning of the end for the Squad, well, bravo for the victor, Westchester County executive George Latimer.
New York's 16th Congressional District includes some New York suburbs plus a slice of the Bronx. Squad founder Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the old Socialist Bernie Sanders thought it a good idea to hold a rally for Bowman in the South Bronx.
Never mind that the South Bronx wasn't part of Bowman's district. Ritchie Torres represents that area. Perhaps Bowman figured his working-class audience would relate to his obscenity-filled rants. Torres thought otherwise.
"There is nothing in Jamaal Bowman's unhinged tirade," Torres posted on X, "that remotely resembles the decency of the people I know and represent in the South Bronx."
Bowman insisted that as a Black, he has an "ethnic benefit." Well, Torres is half-Black, half-Latino, and former New York Rep. Mondaire Jones is Black. Both Torres and Jones endorsed Latimer, a 70-year-old white guy who happens to have experience in governing.
Bowman seems to have forgotten that a congressman is supposed to do a thing called constituent service, that is, providing help to the people in the district. The people rarely saw him."
HOT
Interesting
The Community College of Rhode Island is collaborating with the Partnership for Rhode Island to join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Employer-Provided Innovation Challenges (EPIC) Network, allowing students in communications and business programs to get hands-on experience working with statewide industry partners.
Rhode Island is now one of only nine states to join the EPIC Network, a collective prioritizing work-based learning for students in high school and college.
“CCRI is thrilled to be collaborating with the Partnership on this groundbreaking initiative to connect students to opportunities with in-demand industries,” said CCRI Interim President Dr. Rosemary Costigan. “Together, we'll deliver significant positive impacts to Rhode Island's workforce and business community while showcasing our state on the national stage as a leader in work-based learning experiences.”
The Partnership for Rhode Island is a nonprofit CEO roundtable comprising the state’s largest employers focused on initiatives in K-12 education, infrastructure, and workforce development. CCRI is joining forces with The Partnership to launch a pilot initiative from September–December for up to 30 students interested in the opportunity to work with industry partners, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Rhode Island.
NOT
“Billionaire” Buying Up Newport — Flying High on Wall St. to Allegations of Fraud
Nicholas Schorsch has had three distinct business careers.
Early in his career, Schorsch helped run a scrap metal business in Philadelphia in the 1990s, a business that was repeatedly cited for safety and environmental violations.
Schorsch left that business and, over the next two decades, reinvented himself as the king of retail REITS - real estate investment trusts. He became very rich and ultimately very controversial.
Today, he is gobbling up businesses in Newport, Rhode Island. Along with his family, Schorsch is trying to create a hospitality empire.
Schorsch has worked to tie influential Rhode Islanders to his business interests. GoLocal unveiled how a local politician has been appointed to one of Schorsch's New York real estate company's boards. State Senator Lou DiPalma, an engineer at Raytheon in Portsmouth, was tapped by Schorsch and has been paid about $200,000 to serve on the board of one company.
In another business scheme, in 2021, Schorsch launched a $200 million SPAC or "blank check company," and he asked a Rhode Island nun, former Salve Regina University president Sister M. Therese Antone, to serve on the board of a hospitality roll-up company.
Antone agreed to serve on the board, but that company failed.
NOT
McKee's Veto Sparks Criticism
In response to Governor McKee's veto of the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board Bill, "Raise the Bar on Resident Care" issued the following statement:
“Governor McKee’s veto of the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board (WSB) is a devastating blow to the residents of Rhode Island’s nursing homes. Currently, 34 out of 74 nursing homes are rated at two CMS stars or lower, indicating a dire need for improvement in care standards.
The WSB Bill aimed to address these issues by ensuring better training and working conditions for caregivers, which are essential for enhancing the quality of resident care. Rhode Island ranked second in the nation for serious nursing home deficiencies in the last three years, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive solutions that prioritize the health and safety of residents.
We urge the General Assembly to override this veto and stand with the caregivers and residents who rely on a well-functioning and adequately staffed nursing home system. The WSB Bill was a necessary step towards ensuring better wages, benefits, and training for caregivers, and higher quality care for residents. It is time for the McKee Administration to remember its promises and create a comprehensive plan to end the nursing home crisis in Rhode Island.”
NOT
Joe Biden's Debate Performance
It was a disaster for the Democrats.
It may be time to pivot to a governor Gavin Newsome, Josh Shapiro, or Gretchen Whitmer.
NOT
Providence City Council
The Providence City Council rejected a proposal from Mayor Brett Smiley last week for the city to lease Carl G. Lauro Elementary School to two charter schools. The proposal for a $1 per year 30-year plus lease to Achievement First Rhode Island, Inc. and Excel Academy Rhode Island failed on a vote of 10 to 4 with one abstention.
The decision leaves hundreds of children in the lurch. Thousands of students are on the waiting list to attend charter schools in Rhode Island. Providence Schools were taken over by the state of Rhode Island after a study by Johns Hopkins University found that the city's schools were among the worst in the United States. RICAS score reported last year shows that scores have not recovered from COVID to the pre-pandemic level.
Smiley said after the council’s vote, “Following the closure of this building, the City conducted a public, competitive RFP process to ensure this space could be used to meaningfully benefit our community. It is disappointing that the City Council voted against utilizing this vacant building for two public schools that have Providence families sitting on wait lists to get into.”
