Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - May 30, 2025

HOT

Movie Making in RI

A film where principal photography was recently shot in Rhode Island has picked up some big Hollywood names. 

As Deadline first reported:

"EXCLUSIVE: Chazz Palminteri (A Bronx Tale) and Robert Davi (License to Kill) have signed on to star in the upcoming mafia crime thriller Bad News on the Doorstep. Their sons, Dante Palminteri (Rocky’s) and Nick Davi (Paper Empire) will play the lead roles in the pic. Principal photography recently wrapped in Rhode Island."

Rhode Island's Chad Verdi expressed his support for those who worked on the project, following the news.

"Thank you Rhode Island...152 people employed and the best film Verdi Productions has ever produced in our home state of Rhode Island. Truly Blessed, Tommy [DeNucci] great, great job," said Verdi. 

Chazz Palminteri. PHOTO: TomDog/CC 3.0

HOT

Touhey's Printmaking

Michael Rose, GoLocal's art columnist explores the work of one of Rhode Island's master printmakers:

In her Middletown studio overlooking Easton Pond, printmaker Felicia Touhey is at work on a new series of monoprints that are inspired by a recent trip to Europe. The sharp geometry of abstracted buildings is paired with fluid figurative shapes.

Touhey is one of the state’s most lauded printmakers and currently her work is featured in the windows of Arnold Art Store and Gallery on Thames Street in Newport, as well as at DeBlois Gallery just a couple of yards from where she makes her art.

In her latest body of work, cut shapes form a key element of the printmaking process. Touhey repurposes boxes for tea or eye drops and uses them to create architectural scenes. In other series, she has made stencils of botanical forms or birds. The practice is reminiscent of a favorite artist who also liked to use scissors and paper.

Touhey says, “The artist I am most influenced by is Matisse. His subject matter, cutouts and drawings are a constant source of inspiration for me.”

READ MORE

HOT

URI Baseball's NCAA Appearance 

On Friday, the University of Rhode Island Men's Baseball team will take on the #2 seed Dallas Baptist.

The Rams are playing in Baton Rouge, LA, for the regionals.

The Rhode Island game is scheduled for 7:30 PM on ESPN+.

NOT

Foulkes' Misguided Fundraiser 

A Washington, D.C. fundraiser for Helena Foulkes' Rhode Island gubernatorial run is being hosted by a former Ambassador who was criticized for antisemitic comments, 

Former Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley is hosting the $ 2,000-a-ticket fundraiser scheduled for June 11.

Her 2022 appointment by Joe Biden to serve as the Ambassador to Brazil was almost derailed when it was uncovered that Bagley repeatedly made multiple antisemitic comments.

The Foulkes fundraiser that Bagley is hosting also features the likes of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was Foulkes’ late mother’s roommate in college.

And, another “special guest” is Foulkes’ uncle, former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd. Foulkes, for more than a decade, served on the board of her uncle’s Dodd Center, located at the University of Connecticut.

A series of reports by GoLocal focused on the close ties between Senator Dodd and The Dodd Center with the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma. The Sackler family and the company are considered to have been major drivers of the opioid crisis.

Other sponsors for the Bagley event are former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, failed congressional candidate Sarah Morgenthau, and offshore wind executive Jeff Grybowski.

The cover email to the fundraising invite states, "While I know you’re not a Rhode Island voter, I hope you’ll agree: governors have real power, and we need strong governors to get our country back on the right track. Helena is the kind of leader many of us are looking for: a pro-business/innovation agenda with strong Democratic values. Moreover, I am friends with Helena and her husband Bill and know they will be dedicated to putting Rhode Island's interests above their own."

Bagley's late husband, Smith Bagley, was heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune.

READ MORE

NOT

Nvidia's China Ties

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Nvidia is facing fresh accusations from U.S. lawmakers that the company is too close to China, criticism that could signal new challenges for the richly valued chip maker.

Recent plans for an Nvidia facility in Shanghai risk giving China access to cutting-edge technology, Sen. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) wrote in a recent letter to Chief Executive Jensen Huang, a copy of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The facility “raises significant national security and economic security issues that warrant serious review,” they said in the letter.

The senators demanded that Nvidia provide a comprehensive timeline and description of its plans for the facility, including details on specific research and engineering projects and any financial incentives. 

NOT

There Should Be a Tax on Stupid Bills Submitted to the General Assembly

There is no doubt the fiscal position of Providence is currently in peril.

But short-minded, tax-to-spend measures are not the solution. 

This week, everyone from tourism, union, arts, and theater, to sports leaders, had to race around to explain how stupid a last-minute bill submitted by State Representative Rebecca Kislak was at the request of the Providence City Council. 

The bill was so poorly drafted that even a FREE non-profit Eventbrite event for 50 people, held at a venue that could fit 800, would tax attendees at $2 a ticket.

A high school football game at Central High School, if it had a ticket, would be taxed $2 a ticket.

Those are just some of the mind-numbing unintended consequences. 

The City Council's lack of understanding of the arts, entertainment, tourism, sports, and music industries is scary. Many events that would book venues in Providence versus Worcester, Hartford, Boston, etc., will simply not come. 

As music legend Rich Lupo said, “I think this tax would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Agencies would likely give up on Providence completely. Beyond the math, I think this tax would draw the ire of the booking agents and the bands. I also think the concert-goers would be angry at not only the venues, but angry at the city government as well. Even without this tax I fear we are in what are locally dying businesses. Such a tax would severely damage this difficult industry.”

Skip the ticket tax, and tax stupid legislation - it will generate more revenue. 

NOT

RI's Healthcare System on the Brink

As GoLocal reported, the bonds to finance the CharterCARE deal have yet to sell. It is unusual for bonds that go to market not to sell after being marketed.

The failure to sell the bonds makes the already risky takeover of CharterCARE by the Georgia-based Centurion Foundation unlikely. A closure of CharterCARE's hospitals, Roger Williams and Fatima, would jeopardize more than 2,000 jobs [1,000 full-time] and would destabilize an already fragile healthcare system.

NOT

Trade Wars

It *might* be helpful to American consumers and businesses if there was an actual, clear policy on trade and tariffs.