Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - March 17, 2023

HOT

This Top Rhode Island Restaurant Has Delivered Over 4,000 Meals to Healthcare Workers & Homeless

Circe Restaurant in Providence and East Greenwich is known for its top-notch food and cocktails.

From burgers to steaks and seafood, both of the establishments have cultivated a loyal following. 

It was once such customer that approached General Manager Kyle Poland during the pandemic and said he wanted to be able to help share Circe’s top cuisine — with others. 

“He saw what was happening and wanted to help,” said Poland. “He had the ability to do something. Not everyone has the means, or those who do, don’t act. We just helped make his vision a reality.”

So for seven weeks during the height of the pandemic, the team at Circe delivered over 2,800 meals to healthcare workers around the state, including at Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Kent Hospital, Roger Williams Hospital, Fatima Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and South County Hospital.

And the meals that were delivered? They were Circe’s first-class cuisine. 

“We’re just the vessel. It was his idea,” said Poland, of the donor who wished to remain anonymous. “The big problem today, is whatever the social issue is that needed to be addressed, people not might stop up. This is a person who could just sit on a boat all summer long. But he doesn’t.”

Now, the food delivery program that began three years ago continues today. 

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HOT

RI's Final Four Dream Team

As GoLocal Editorialized this week:

If you have not been following the Rhode Island College (RIC) women’s basketball team, then you are missing the best sports story in Rhode Island right now. 

Coach Jenna Cosgrove’s team is playing this weekend in the Final Four for NCAA Division III college basketball. A pep really at RIC is scheduled for Wednesday. 

Cosgrove has built a powerhouse team with players who are predominately from New England.

Four of the team members are from Rhode Island.

Senior forward Izabelle Booth of Newport was named First Team All-Region 2 by D3hoops.com. She has piled up a stack of awards.

Cosgrove, too, is finally getting her due. In the last three years, her team has finished:

2022-23:  28-3 (Now playing in Final Four)

2021-22:  23-6

2020-21:  11-0 (Season shortened due to COVID)

A combined record of 62-9.

This year, Cosgrove has been named the Region 2 Coach of the Year for her performances this season.

This weekend, RIC travels to Hartford to play Christopher Newport located in Virginia. The semi-final game will be played at 5:00 PM at Trinity College on Saturday.

Cosgrove and her players not only represent great basketball, they are capable of winning a national championship.

They are local athletes and they deserve everyone’s support.

HOT

Professor Jennifer Lawless, Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Virginia, Wins a Major Award

Lawless is a regular on GoLocal and appears on national cable news stations.

Lawless -- and her co-author -- were this week awarded The Goldsmith Book Prize, which is awarded to the top book in academia.

NEWS HOLE: THE DEMISE OF LOCAL JOURNALISM AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

Danny Hayes and Jennifer L. Lawless

The decline of local newspapers is a familiar story. Hundreds of them have shut down, with the loss of thousands of jobs. But News Hole shows that the problem is more than one of locked doors and laid off workers – when a local paper goes, so does the community’s civic health. Lower turnout in local elections, less responsive local officials, less civic engagement, wider polarization, less social trust, weaker community ties, less awareness of what’s going on a City Hall, the school board, and the county commission – in short, when a newspaper goes out of business, the community stops acting like a community.

Danny Hayes, Professor of Political Science at George Washington University, and Jennifer L. Lawless, Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics and Professor of Public Policy at the University of Virginia, aided by dozens of student research assistants, analyzed fifteen years of reporting in more than 200 local newspapers, while also studying election returns, opinion surveys, and other indicators to track community engagement to show that without solid journalism, democracy itself is at risk.

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center dedicated to increasing understanding of how people access, create, and process information, particularly as it relates to news and societal issues, and describing potential solutions to the problems facing our information ecosystem.

HOT

RIC’s Lackman Wins 2nd Consecutive National Championship

Rhode Island College senior Nathan Lackman defeated his brother, Alvernia junior Matt Lackman (Wernersville, Pa.), 3-1, in sudden victory to win the individual national championship at 165 lbs. at the 2023 NCAA Div. III Wrestling National Championship on Saturday evening. 

Nathan, who was the No. 1 seed, and Matt, the No. 2 seed, at 165 lbs. each came into the finals having won their previous three matches at the tournament. 

HOT

This Professional Boxer Wants to Empower Providence Youth Through “Gloves Up, Guns Down”

Rhode Island boxer Lamont Powell has a goal — to give back to the community.

Powell, who had success as an amateur and now boxes professionally, wants to introduce Providence youth to the sport through the program he established, “Gloves Up, Guns Down.”

His mission is to incorporate the discipline in the ring to help instill confidence in his students, and ultimately, success. 

For Powell, now a father of two, the journey to where he is now, however, involved learning some very tough lessons on the streets. 

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HOT

Meghan Hughes

Community College of Rhode Island President Meghan Hughes announced on Thursday she is leaving her post at the end of August.  

She had a major impact on the CCRI.

According to the announcement, “Hughes has placed closing equity performance gaps at the center of her work. Under her leadership, the college achieved the highest graduation rates in more than 20 years, outpacing national two-and three-year graduation rates, and was named the 2019 two-year college of the year by Education Dive magazine.”

Under Hughes, the free college tuition program was adopted.

Hot

#15 Beats #2 Seed

How about them Tigers?

March Madness got off to an exciting and unpredictable day on Thursday when the Princeton Tigers beat the Arizona Wildcats 59-55.

It was not supposed to happen.

PHOTO: Princeton Athletics

NOT

Enforcement on the Blackstone -- Finally 

For nearly a year, improperly treated sewage was at times being dumped into the Blackstone River. 

Rhode Island's Department of Environmental Management this past week said they should have acted sooner. Attorney General Peter Neronha, after lashing out at DEM, Governor Dan McKee and GoLocal, finally took action.

It was not Rhode Island environmental and enforcement officials' finest hours. Hopefully, regulators will get back to regulating and keeping the state's waterways fishable, swimmable, and boatable for everyone, regardless of zip code. 

NOT

Weather Whiff

From the National Weather Service to the local media -- the predictions on the impact of Tuesday/Wednesday's storm were not close.

The National Weather Service estimated that in Providence, snowfall would be 4-8 inches -- the actuality was ZERO.

At the 7 PM WJAR News broadcast on Tuesday, the anchors were still trying to hype the storm -- it was a bust and again underscored the weaknesses of the tech at the National Weather Service and the overhyping by local news about storms, which has a direct impact on businesses, especially restaurants. 

NOT

Another Closing

As GoLocal reported earlier this week, Yoleni’s has closed in downtown Providence.  Another reminder that the financial impacts of the pandemic are still having impacts.

The Greek restaurant and marketplace was located in the historic Tidlen-Thurber building on Westminster Street. 

It opened in 2018, featuring such staples as gyros, stuffed grape leaves, as well as soups and salads.

In 2019, chef and co-owner John Philippides appeared on GoLocal LIVE. 

“We make our own dough for our pita pockets fresh. We have eight flavors for the wraps as well as sweet flavors like apple pie and chocolate. We have managed to get these out of the oven within four to five minutes, so it is quick,” says Philippides.

“Here we have slow cooked orzo, with beef, celery, and carrots. We have foods from different locations of Greece. These areas are very unique, and take pride in their cuisine,” says Philippides. 

Landlord Joe Paolino said that despite Yoleni’s popularity with residents and visitors, the challenges of the pandemic proved too much.

“We’re sad to see them go,” said Paolino on Tuesday.

Paolino said that he is looking for new a tenant in the location which had been recently renovated.

“It’s got a fully built-out, top-shelf kitchen,” Paolino told GoLocal.