Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - June 3, 2016

HOT

Matt Fecteau: The former Congressional candidate is deployed overseas serving in our Military, but that hasn't stopped him from considering a bid for the state senate against Pawtucket's Jamie Doyle. It would be a Herculean task, but if anyone could accomplish it, Fecteau would be the guy. Let's also credit Fecteau for his excellent MINDSETTER article this week criticizing Vice President Joe Biden for defending the truck tolls. 

HOT

Progressive Democrats: Emboldened from Bernie Sanders' stunning victory in the Rhode Island Presidential Primary, the state's progressive democrats have already amassed 15 candidates to challenge more centrist democrats in legislative primaries this years. Don't be surprised to see some of these candidates pull off upsets if the incumbents are not careful. 

HOT

Michael J. Sepe: The Democratic challenger in the Cranston race for mayor had been quiet lately, but this week he criticized Allan Fung for mounting legal bills in Cranston, and for a lack of business experience. Sepe remains an underdog in the race, but a more aggressive posture will improve his chances of capturing Cranston's top job. 
 

HOT

Boston Red Sox: The boys of summer were expected to struggle this season, yet with almost one-third of the season completed the Red Sox find themselves on top of the American League East Standings, thanks in large part to the maturation of promising young stars like shortstop Xander Bogaerts and outfielder Mookie Betts. Here's hoping they can continue their success all summer. 
 

HOT

Logan Powell: The former senior associate dean of admission at Bowdoin College and senior admissions officer at Harvard has been selected as Brown University's next Dean of Admissions. Brown accepts less than 10 percent of the students who apply, so Powell and his staff will have a difficult and important job on their hands, but all evidence suggests that Powell is well-suited for the position. 
 

HOT

Jorge Elorza: The mayor has had himself a good few weeks in the news, largely by staying under the radar. Further, Elorza's budget appears poised to pass council muster will relatively few changes, which will be a win for the administration. 

NOT

Donald Grebien: The Mayor of Pawtucket has come under fire for failing to disclose a business interest "Grebien Associates", under the category of "Business Ownership Interests," on his ethics filing form for two years, in 2011 and 2012. Grebien explains the omission as an oversight, but the mistake suggests a lack of attention to detail. With ethics being such a big issue right now in Rhode Island, it made for a bad news cycle for Grebien.

NOT

Providence Journal: Please don't get me wrong: the Providence Journal's commentary about the backdoor politicking and the fact that legislative grants are a corrupting influence on legislators with no accountability attached to them. It would be nice, however, if the Providence Journal were not part and parcel to that backroom dealing.

Let's not forget: the Providence Journal has paid uber-lobbyist Joe Walsh almost $100,000 over the last three years to block the repeal of an outdated, costly law that forces communities advertise public meetings in newspapers (when listing them on city websites for free would be sufficient) makes them look hypocritical. 
 

NOT

Joe Biden: The Vice President came into Rhode Island last week to tell us all how great it is that the already bloated state budget will be adding additional money in future years to pay for routine maintenance that we've neglected. Unlike Biden, a majority of Rhode Islanders know that the state government already has enough of our tax dollars to pay for the necessities and if we instead spent it wisely, we wouldn't have to impose new tolls or find new revenue streams. 
 

NOT

Stephen Pare: The Commissioner Providence Public Safety has lost the confidence of many of the first responders in the City of Providence, particularly the firefighters who complain that Pare is inconsistent (criticizing requests to hire 100 firefighters last December only to request the authority to hire 80 in a grants a few weeks later) and ignores federal laws like the Family Medical Leave Act when he believes it benefits him. It's going to be hard for Pare to continue to lead when so many of his underlings no longer believe in him.
 

NOT

Paul Cuffee Charter School: GoLocal reports that Celeste Terry-Lo, a principal at the school, was placed on administrative leave after she raised questions about the validity of students transcripts and meeting the necessary graduation requirements after she arrived at the school in September. This is a situation that needs to be investigation thoroughly to make sure that the school didn't fire Terry-Lo for trying to straighten out the school. 

NOT

Zika: The first known case of Zika has been discovered in America. A baby girl delivered Tuesday in New Jersey became the first in the Continental United States to be born with microcephaly--the zika linked brain condition. The baby's mother reportedly contracted the virus while recently in Honduras. Hopefully health professionals can stop the spread of this disease so that it doesn't become more commonplace.