Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - May 8, 2015
Russell J. Moore, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - May 8, 2015
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - May 8, 2015
HOT
Jorge Elorza:
The mayor deserves credit for clamping down on prostitution in our capital city, particularly that being perpetrated on backpage.com. Providence Police announced the arrests another 13 men on April 16 and 17 who attempted to solicit a prostitute on the web page (they arrested 22 in a similar sting on April 2). The mayor has sent a loud and clear message that those who seek to take advantage of women should not try that here because we don't want it, and it won't be tolerated.
HOT
YWCA RI
The Young Women's Christian Association's Rhode Island Chapter hosted the seventh Annual Women Holding Office Celebration on Monday, and featured a documentary about how the political landscape for women seeking to hold office in Rhode Island has improved over the last several years. Hopefully this trend inspires more talented female candidates who want to improve our state to step forward and run for office.
HOT
Pilar McCloud
McCloud, a member of the NAACP's local chapter who holds a leadership position on the organization's youth council, absolutely stole the show as the Master of Ceremonies at the organization's May Breakfast last Saturday. McCloud, a ball of fire and a gifted public speaker (to put it mildly), got the crowd engaged and fire up about civil rights. It's nice to see the local chapter of the NAACP in good hands with leaders like Jim Vincent, McCLoud, and Leah Williams Metts and so many others, involved.
HOT
Michael Riley
It turns out that the former Congressional candidate and finance expert's warnings about the Providence pension system's lack of proper accounting--city officials admitted this week that the system reported having $62 million more than it actually has--were spot on all along. Maybe it's about time everyone starts paying more attention to Riley's critiques (not just about Providence, but about pension issues across Rhode Island).
HOT
Providence College Students
Golocal reported this week that a group of Providence College joined a professor to protest racial profiling on campus after several incidents where students and the professor felt like victims of profiling. There's no place for racial profiling in the 21st century, least of all at a college who's motto reads "Veritas", or 'truth'. PC administration must take steps to eradicate this immediately.
HOT
Mother's Day
Let's face it, every day should be Mother's Day; but this Sunday, don't forget to thank that mom in your life for everything she does. She may not be perfect, but remind her that you think she is.
NOT
Nicholas Mattiello
The House Speaker claims to be a champion of the taxpayer, but he sure loves spending their money. It's become more than evident that Mattiello is just clamoring at this point to give the new Pawtucket Red Sox owners a sweetheart deal at every Rhode Islander's expense considering that he's hired a consultant, Andrew Zimbalist (on our dime, of course), who has already told RI-NPR that the stadium is a great proposal.
NOT
Tom Brady
I know that the superstar Patriots quarterback will never really be "not hot" in New England, but the "deflategate" report that was released by the NFL on Wednesday stained his reputation across the country. It's not the crime of the century, but it does seem like Brady knew more about the football tampering than he's let on.
NOT
45
There are currently 200 people who are getting a pension from the state of Rhode Island or one of its local governments that retired at the age of 45 or younger. We're in an age where people are living longer and healthier lives, and there's no reason for someone to need to retire at 45. That kind of abuse strains budgets and crowds out revenue for everything else. Isn't 50 the new 30 anyway?
NOT
Racial Disparities in School Suspensions
The Rhode Island Chapter of the ACLU pointed out that racial disparities in high school suspensions reached their highest level in a decade. Discipline should not be metered differently based on a student's skin color, and school administrators need to make certain that punishments aren't being levied more harshly on racial minorities going forward.
NOT
Unpaid Festival Permits
The City of Providence, particularly the Board of Licenses, needs to stop issuing permits for festivals and events which already owe the city tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid police details. Doing so only sets a bad example and encourages other organizations to not pay their police detail bill.
NOT
Scituate Town Council
The town council tried to limit the time residents could speak at meetings, citing privacy concerns, after GoLocalMindsetter Carol Costa added money in order to video stream town meetings. Costa rightly took the council to task for challenging the new proposed ordinance, pointing out that the public has a right to be heard on issues they deem important to their town.
