Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - October 11, 2024

HOT

A RI Cold Case is Getting a TV Series - Starring Chloë Grace Moretz

A Rhode Island “cold case” is getting the Hollywood treatment. 

As GoLocal first reported in 2022, Lauren Lee Malloy believes her mother’s death 30 years ago is an unsolved homicide — and got the Office of the Attorney General to reopen the case. 

Her mother's body had been found naked, with clumps of hair around her hands and feet, with water running in the bathroom sink, and the refrigerator in the kitchen unplugged. 

Despite the original medical examiner’s report ruling the death as "natural," Malloy had recently received another forensic pathologist’s opinion that the case should be reexamined.

Now, Malloy’s podcast “My Mom’s Muder” has launched on Audible — and is being turned into a television series that will star Chloë Grace Moretz.

Moretz, who broke out in Kick-Ass, has starred in recent movies such as Suspiria and The Miseducation of Cameron Post, as well as the Amazon series The Peripheral.

On Thursday, Moretz announced the project to her 2.7 million "X" followers.

READ HERE

HOT

Award-Winning Providence Pizzeria to Open New Location in Rhode Island

An award-winning East Side Providence pizzeria is opening a second shop. 

Francesco’s, the winner of Providence Pizza Weeks in 2022 and 2023, is launching a new location in North Providence. 

“Yes, the rumblings are indeed true - we’re coming home,” said owner Frankie Schiavone this week.  

In 2022, GoLocal spoke with Schiavone about his family’s culinary history on LIVE.

“I’m beyond excited, proud and most of all appreciative of the support over the last 4 years to make this post even possible,” he continued. "Francesco’s will be opening a 2nd location in North Providence this holiday season."

The new Francesco's will be at 1385 Mineral Spring Ave - formerly 2 Brother’s Pizza. 

“Words can’t describe the gratitude we have to all of you that made this a reality,” he added. "Once again, thank you!”

HOT

PC Hockey's Upcoming Season

The other Friars might be pretty good this year. 

Bob McMahon, GoLocal sports columnist, has a smart piece on the Friars' upcoming season.

READ HERE

HOT

Three Friends Journey Around Entire Perimeter of Block Island

Sandra Stavola is a self-described “big Block Island fan.”

So much so, Stavola decided that she would walk the entire perimeter along the shoreline. 

“It was much harder than I thought it was going to be,” laughed Stavola, in an interview with GoLocal. “And I’ve walked a lot of the island.”

For Stavola, her original intent to make the approximately 17-mile journey for her 60th birthday last year got waylaid. 

Then she regrouped and came up with another plan, and accomplished her mission this year on September 27, one day before she turned 61. 

According to Stavola, the trek "took about ten hours" plus breaks. 

“The east side of the island where the tourists go, that’s really easy walking,” said Stavola, who made the journey with friends. “But any part of the island I’d walked before, it was pretty much all rocks.”

READ MORE

NOT

"My Mother Punched Your Mother in the Nose..."

Two women, mothers of under-8 youth football players who were involved in a fight this past weekend, have been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct by North Providence Police.

Kayla Card and Amber Spaur were arrested on Tuesday night.

The two women have been banned from attending the youth program events, including games and practices.

As GoLocal was first to report, police were called to a fight between two moms in the stands of a Pee-Wee football game in Rhode Island over the weekend.

The physical altercation involved parents in the North Providence Jets organization and was reportedly over children's playing time. 

The head of the Jets has threatened action against those involved in what he called "disgusting" conduct, vowing to bench players in the future if their families are involved in any fighting. 

North Providence police released the following on Wednesday morning.

On Sunday, October 6, 2024, Kayla Card, age 33, and Amber Spaur, age 35, were involved in a physical altercation while in attendance at a youth football game that their children were participating in. 

They are being charged with Disorderly conduct and have been trespassed for all future events involving the organization. They have a 3rd District court arraignment date of October 17, 2024 at 9 AM. 

NOT

CVS' Slashing

CVS has announced its plans for upcoming layoffs with the State of Rhode Island.

The Woonsocket-headquartered company filed its required “Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification” (WARN) letter with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, which was posted on Monday. 

CVS wrote the following:

We are writing to inform you that CVS Health will be conducting a mass layoff at its facility located at One CVS Drive, Woonsocket, Rhode Island and its surrounding facilities (the  “Facility”). This action is expected to be permanent. 

There are a total of 632 employees from the Facility who will be separated as a result of this action. Out of these employees, only 153 work at the One CVS Drive and/or surrounding facilities. 

The remaining 479 affected employees are outstationed/remote employees reporting into the Facility. 

According to the RIDLT Warn Report, CVS said the “effective date” will be December 8 through December 21. 

Latest for CVS

As GoLocal reported last week:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that one of America’s largest corporations, CVS, is considering dramatic changes.

The company is headquartered in Woonsocket and is listed as one of Rhode Island’s largest private employers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “CVS Health is conducting a strategic review of options for the company, including a possible breakup of the industry giant, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company’s board of directors has retained bankers to facilitate the review, which has been ongoing for weeks, the people said.”

NOT

Hasbro Began Discussing Move to MA With Top Officials Six Months Ago, According to Documents

Pawtucket-headquartered Hasbro began discussions with top Massachusetts officials six months ago about possible incentives to move across the border, according to a new report. 

Hasbro’s CEO Chris Cocks Cocks and Massachusetts Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Haomet had dinner in April, before additional members of the company talked with state officials in more detail over the summer, including about a state tax-break program.  

The documents showing the timeframe were in emails obtained through a public records request and reported by Boston Business Journal (BBJ). 

As GoLocal reported in September, the news was out that Hasbro has been eyeing a move to Boston — but public records request shows the discussions go back even further. 

The potential of Hasbro potentially leaving, coupled with the recent report that CVS may potentially be broken up into multiple companies, could be devastating to Rhode Island’s economy, employment, and identity.

Records Show Meetings, Communications Between Hasbro and MA

BBJ reported that the day after the dinner in April, Hao emailed Cocks to say that she and her team “would LOVE to chat with you about your potential HQ move,” noting that Lego had recently decided to move to Boston and that the state was home to other consumer brands such as Wayfair and Whoop.

Cocks replied that “it would be great to figure out a permanent home for us in Boston and to build a creative center for the toys and games industry in the city.”

Then things progressed.  According to BBJ: 

That same day, Hasbro Chief Legal Officer Tarrant Sibley followed up with Hao, saying that he and a “large number of our employees” live in Massachusetts. Sibley's LinkedIn profile lists Westwood as his home base. (In later emails, he and Hao would swap hosannas about the Celtics' June championship.) Of the top executives on Hasbro's website, one other, Chief Communications Officer Bertie Thomson, lists Greater Boston on her LinkedIn.

Hao then wrote to Sibley and Cocks that she had spoken to Gov. Maura Healey, who said she was a “BIG fan of Hasbro’s” and happy to meet with the company’s leaders.

The report goes on to state that further discussions took place over the summer between company and Commonwealth officials. 

An Executive Office of Economic Development spokesperson told the Business Journal that the state has not made a specific tax-incentive offer to Hasbro.

NOT

TD Bank - Friends With Criminals

As the Wall Street Journal first reported this week:

TD Bank agreed to pay more than $3 billion in penalties and accepted limits on its growth in the U.S. as part of a settlement Thursday with regulators and prosecutors over charges it failed to properly monitor money laundering by drug cartels and other criminal groups.

As part of the agreement, the bank’s primary U.S. regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, imposed an asset cap barring the bank’s retail business from growing above its current level of assets in the U.S.

TD’s U.S. entity also pleaded guilty to criminal charges to resolve a Justice Department investigation.