Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - March 15, 2024
Analysis
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - March 15, 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 12-plus years, more than 6,000 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? - March 15, 2024
HOT
House Passes Bill That Could Lead to Ban of TikTok in U.S.
It seems like a good idea to stop the Chinese government from having access to the data on 170 million Americans phones.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok -- or face a ban in America.
The measure passed on 352-65-1 vote; U.S. Congressmen Seth Magaziner (D-RI) and Gabe Amo (D-RI) voted in favor of the measure.
“The House passed the bill in a decisive and bipartisan fashion and it’s now appropriate for the Senate to evaluate the merits of the legislation,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) during a press briefing after the House passed the bill.
Jeffries said that the legislation itself did not outright ban TikTok but rather required the app’s divestiture from its China-based owner ByteDance so that it could be “owned by an American company that would protect the data and the privacy of the American consumer from malignant foreign interests like the Chinese Communist Party.”
HOT
Good News, New Judge
Associate Judge on the Rhode Island District Court Melissa R. DuBose has been confirmed to the U.S. District Court by the United States Senate.
On Tuesday, the Senate approved the 55-year-old Providence resident’s nomination by a vote of 51-47.
DuBose becomes the first person of color and first openly LGBTQ judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
She will fill the vacancy created by Judge William E. Smith, who announced that he will retire from regular active service and assume senior status on January 1, 2025.
PHOTO: YouTube
HOT
RIC Women’s NCAA Championship Run
While they did not win the National Championship, Jenna Cosgrove's RIC women's basketball team took the state on another magical run.
They lost in the Sweet 16 and finished 29-1 this season.
Last year, RIC women went to the Final Four.
Add the two seasons together, Cosgrove's record has been 57-5.
HOT
Ken Block
We know him around here as the guy who started the Moderate Party and ran for Governor a couple of times.
Now much of America is meeting him for the first time -- as the person HIRED BY TRUMP, who found that there was no fraud in the 2020 election.
His new book is now out -- Disproven: My Unbiased Search for Voter Fraud for the Trump Campaign, the Data that Shows Why He Lost, and How We Can Improve Our Elections
Good for Ken for being a fair broker.
HOT
Player of the Year
Devin Carter has been one of the most exciting college basketball players to play in Rhode Island.
This week, he was named the Big East Conference Player of the Year.
He is a player that is as exciting on defense as he is on offense.
NOT
The Embarrassing Explanation
Governor Dan McKee's press conference on Thursday exonerating RIDOT's Peter Alviti fooled no one.
This happened under Alviti's watch. Or lack thererof.
NOT
Moving to Make Providence's Public Buildings Net-Neutral Is a Good Idea— Not Knowing How Much It Will Cost Is a Bad Idea
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and the City Council have pushed through a new city ordinance with an intended big benefit to the environment.
It will carry a major cost for taxpayers.
On Tuesday, Smiley signed an ordinance to make Providence public buildings, including the schools, carbon neutral by 2040.
"Providence continues to be ahead of the curve in addressing the impacts of climate change on our city and residents. I am proud to sign this critically important ordinance into law," said Smiley. "By committing to carbon neutrality in all city-owned buildings by 2040, we are paving the way for a healthier, more sustainable future for generations to come by leading the charge towards a greener, more resilient future."
The Providence move comes after the City of Sacramento, California, passed a similar plan for its schools with a deadline of 2045. Sacramento officials have estimated that the cost to retrofit their schools at more than $750 million. The Providence ordinance requires all public buildings including historic structures like City Hall to be compliant.
NOT
Get Ready Providence
In San Francisco, a 20-story office tower that sold for $146 million a decade ago was listed in December for just $80 million.
In Chicago, a 200,000-square-foot-office building in the city’s Clybourn Corridor that sold in 2004 for nearly $90 million was purchased last month for $20 million, a 78 percent markdown.
And in Washington, a 12-story building that mixes office and retail space three blocks from the White House that sold for $100 million in 2018 recently went for just $36 million.
Such steep discounts have become normal for office space across the United States as the pandemic trends of hybrid and remote work have persisted, hollowing out urban centers that were once bustling with workers. But the losses are hitting more than just commercial real estate investors.
Cities are also starting to bear the brunt, as municipal budgets that rely on taxes associated with valuable commercial property are now facing shortfalls and contemplating cutbacks as lower assessments of property values reduce tax bills.
