Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - March 25

HOT

Steven Forleo: The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) English professor who also serves as the adviser to the student-run college newspaper, The Unfiltered Lens, deserves credit for speaking out against the politicization of CCRI and all the "outcome based" funding that will only compel social promotions at the school. This week, Forleo criticized the Goldman Sachs grant that will supposedly be used for "workforce development" saying the school is better off outside of the reach of those "frat boys". Nice to see that there's someone with courage around here.

HOT

Gina Raimondo: The Governor was ranked 38th in Fortune Magazine's list of 50 World's Greatest Leaders. That's high praise indeed. The magazine cited her spearheading of pension reform as the rationale for her landing on the prestigious list. The list contains other business leaders, politicians, musicians and even athletes from across the world. 

HOT

John Edwards: The Majority Whip of the Rhode Island House of Representatives (D-Tiverton) deserves kudos for sponsoring legislation that strengthens the state's campaign finance law. The legislation, which cleared the House this week, makes entities or individuals who campaign for or against questions presented to voters at local financial town meetings, or local elections involving charter amendments subject to the state campaign finance laws. It's a positive step forward and the state should do more to increase transparency.

HOT

Rhode Island Housing Market: The Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported this week that year over year house prices increased  by 24 percent from February 2015 to February of this year. The median price of a single family home also increased by 12 percent over that same time period.
 

HOT

Providence Tourism/ The Dunk/Larry Lepore: The capital city had an excellent weekend as far as tourism was concerned with the NCAA tournament (which was referred to as Providence's Super Bowl) and the San Guiseppe Festival on Federal Hill. The city experimented with open container drinking, and by all accounts, went smoothly and was a good time was had by all. 

The crowd at the Dunkin's Donut Center was the best of any of the sites in the tournament.
 

HOT

Ed Cooley: If someone had told Providence College Men's basketball fans when Cooley was hired 5-years ago that the team would win 1 Big East Tournament, and go to the NCAA tourney for 3 years in a row--they'd be elated. Yes, the team suffered a disappointing loss in the NCAA tournament last Saturday to the far superior North Carolina Tarheels. But Providence College Men's Basketball is in good hands with Cooley at the helm.
 

HOT

Happy Easter: Here's hoping everyone has a great Easter holiday. Easter is a great reminder for all of us, even none Christians, that the hope springs eternal, particularly at the onset of the spring season. And if you're looking for a peaceful dinner with family, try to not discuss Donald Trump on Sunday!

NOT

Jorge Elorza: First GoLocal reported that the Mayor personally hired Providence dispatcher Jenny Roungreuang, who is now suspended for allegedly giving her boyfriend--a convicted felon--confidential police information, despite the fact that she wasn't on the list of three recommended individuals. GoLocal later revealed that Blackstone Caterers -- located on Aquidneck Island -- received a no-bid contract for the Providence International Arts Festival last year. The Mayor's Adfministration was non-responsive to long-time city employer Teppco after raising the company's taxes by $1 million annually -- a 400% increase. The company has now closed and 36 workers are unemployed.

Not a great week in the news for the mayor who campaigned relentlessly against cronyism in 2014. 

NOT

Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse: It was disappointing to see the state's two Democrat US Senators heralding a new $10 million investment by Goldman Sachs in Rhode Island for its "10,000 Small Businesses Initiative" this week. They're helping Goldman Sachs execute their publicity tour to try and repair the company's image after its actions brought the US economy to its knees in 2008, triggering The Great Recession. Let's keep in mind that Reed and Whitehouse have received $68,500 and $32,500 in campaign and PAC contributions from Goldman Sachs employees over their careers. 
 

NOT

Deborah Ruggiero: The state representative from Jamestown has submitted legislation to regulate fantasy sports websites. Ruggiero's legislation would require the sites to pay an initial registration fee of $50,000, and $20,000 each subsequent year, to Rhode Island, as well as 20 percent of all funds generated from Rhode Island residents. That's a very steep price to charge the companies. If passed, the legislation could very well force the sites to preclude Rhode Islanders from playing fantasy sports in order to avoid the steep licensing fees.

NOT

Seth Magaziner: The state General Treasurer's Office is charging Forbes' columnist Edward "Ted" Siedle roughly $10,000 for portions of his records requests pertaining to the state's pension funds investments in real estate. The General Treasurer's office argues that it is a laborious process to retrieve these records and costly to taxpayers. But that's a tough argument to make since Magaziner prides himself on transparency. 
 

NOT

Cancer Rate: The state of Rhode Island, according to data from Health Indicators Warehouse and graphiq, has the second highest cancer mortality rates in the nation. The cause of this isn't known, and that certainly warrants it for further study and research. We all know someone who has been stricken with cancer and it's time for the science community to start making some much-needed progress against the disease. 
 

NOT

Providence Licensing Board: The board is considering arming nightclub bouncers in an attempt to prevent some of the unfortunate violence that's taken place downtown. This is a bad idea that could only lead to more problems. Instead, the city should require more police details. And the police details on duty, who are paid significantly more than the bouncers, need to be more aggressive and alert.