Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - October 28, 2022

HOT

Former Patriot Shares the Magic, Cox Shares the Technology

Malcolm Mitchell, former New England Patriot, Super Bowl Champion, and Founder and Chairman of the Share the Magic Foundation, was working this week with Cox to promote a major effort to bring technology to kids. 

He helped kick off the Cox Innovation Lab, which provides new and innovative technology and support to help bridge the digital divide that exists for many young people.

It will give the children going to the Boys & Girls Club the freedom to explore their interest in STEM while providing those without a computer or internet access a way to get connected and manage through distance learning. It includes laptop computers, furniture, 3D printers, and Wi-Fi and internet services provided by Cox.

Post-athlete Mitchell is a guy to admire and cheer for.

HOT

Purple MVP

Classical High School grad Jeremy Peña was the MVP of the American League Champion Series.

The rookie shortstop went 6 for 18 and hit the game-tying three-run home run in the third inning of Sunday’s series-clinching Game 4.

Peña, 25, is a 2015 Classical graduate. 

HOT

Warren and Sanders Got It Right -- RI Delegation Took a Walk

Two New England United States Senators -- Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) -- as well as Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan urging the agency to oppose Kroger’s proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons who owns 150 Star and Shaw's markets in New England.

This deal is very likely to add more costs to buying groceries. 

Someone has to pay for the debt on this "deal" -- and no members of the Rhode Island delegation signed on to the letter.

Democratic Congressman David Cicilline, who has chaired the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee, has an inconsistent record of mergers. 

He was an outspoken critic of the merger between Amazon and Whole Foods, but supported the much larger CVS acquisition of Aetna insurance.

Call for FTC to Act

In the letter, the lawmakers highlight how Kroger and Albertsons have price gouged consumers during the pandemic, and how this merger could increase monopoly power, buyer power, and hurt both companies’ workers and consumers. 

The lawmakers also raised concerns about an unusual $4 billion dividend payout by Albertsons that is part of the deal.

“Kroger’s and Albertsons’ histories of aggressive profiteering during the pandemic present a dangerous roadmap for how a larger and more powerful company would act if this acquisition were allowed to proceed,” wrote the lawmakers. “The FTC, when evaluating the potential market and consumer effects of the Kroger-Albertsons acquisition, should closely consider both companies’ history of monopoly, labor, and consumer abuses, and whether this acquisition would exacerbate these abuses for American families.” 

HOT

GDP

The United States economy expanded at a 2.6% annual rate in the third quarter, the United State Department of Commerce reported Thursday. 

The rebound stopped a streak of back-to-back quarters of negative growth that had “technically” put the country in a recession. 

"The increase in the third quarter primarily reflected increases in exports and consumer spending that were partly offset by a decrease in housing investment," said the U.S Commerce Department. 

HOT

John Chafee's Legacy

GoLocal reached out to his family, his closest friends, and former staffers to gain insights about Chafee and his legacy to Rhode Island and the country. Chafee died in 1999 at the age of 77.

Chafee may matter more now than at any time:

- He was one of the first in the United States government to warn about the devastating threats of climate change — 35 years ago.

- He was a Republican who fought for fair housing in the 1960s as governor, battling old-school Democratic legislators to pass legislation.

- As a Republican United States Senator, he was pro-choice, pro-gay rights, for universal healthcare, and wanted to ban handguns.

As the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, he fought President Ronald Regan's attempts to repeal the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts -- the laws that have transformed burning rivers into hubs for economic development and improved health.

But the story starts decades earlier.

John Chafee was born into one of the "five families" of Rhode Island -- families that dominated the first half of Rhode Island's history.

He volunteered to serve as a Marine in World War II and fought at the legendary battle of Guadalcanal.

Then as a husband and father, he returned to service in the Korean War.

Author James Brady in his book The Coldest War; A Memoir of Korea and who served as a Marine under Chafee, writes: "Nowhere, at any time, did John Chafee serve more nobly than he did as a Marine officer commanding a rifle company in the mountains of North Korea."

"He was the only truly great man I've yet met in my life," wrote Brady. 

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NOT

Can You Have an I-Team with No Investigative Reporters?

Last week, Katie Davie announced she was leaving WJAR-10. She was functionally the last member of the I-Team -- the investigative reporting team that featured the like of Jim Taricani, and Dyana Koelsch in front of the camera, and Polly Reynolds behind the camera.

The decline of local TV news is a blow to good journalism.

NOT

Alviti's Role in 6/10 Contamination

At a public hearing on April 11, 2016, at the beginning of the planning of the 6/10 Connector project, Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti screamed at an elderly man.

The man said to Alviti, “You hardly listen to anyone."

Alviti proceeded to berate him, saying, "Let me tell you something, pal.”

For Alviti, that was just the beginning of a series of outbursts and statements about the project that were abusive or simply not true.

On Wednesday, GoLocal broke down Alviti's actions and repeated false statements.

READ HERE

NOT

Facebook's Parent Company Meta's Stock

The 52-week high for the stock was $353.83, and on Thursday, Meta's stock closed at $97.94.

The company posted its second consecutive revenue decline in a row. It has lost half a trillion dollars in value.

The company reported quarterly revenue of $27.7 billion, down more than 4% from a year ago, after posting a 1% decrease last quarter.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and Snap have also reported poor performances due to poor economic performances.

NOT

Gilbane's Safety Record in Spotlight 

Gilbane was the lead contractor for one of the most expensive luxury hotels ever built in New York City — a room in the hotel built by Soviet-born billionaire Vladislav Doronin costs in the thousands.

The Aman Hotel New York opened to massive hype.

“For the Very Rich, $3,200 a Night is a ‘Prototypical’ New York Experience” was the headline in the New York Times.

“It’s oh-so-understated, and at $3,200 a night for the cheapest room, oh-so-expensive. And it’s a chain hotel,” wrote the Times.

The Aman hotel chain is owned by Vladislav Doronin, the Russian developer who has sparked controversies in the United States and in Europe.

But the posh price point stands in contrast to the safety violations at the property and the death of a worker.

The death has shined the light on Gilbane's safety record.

Gilbane Under Scrutiny 

Officially, headquartered in Providence, Gilbane — a $6 billion construction and property company — is one of America's leading construction firms. In recent years, the company has moved much of its executive office to Boston.

According to the news site Documented, issues at the Aman site had prompted at least 34 New York Department of Buildings summonses for safety violations. The identity of a deceased worker who died on the site of the Aman remains publicly unknown. But last year, Gilbane Inc., a company involved in hiring his direct employer—a subcontractor known as Labor Innovations—was among the most accident-prone builders in the city reports Curbed.

Documented reported, "For the February 2021 construction death, the Department of Buildings (DOB) inspector issued a summons to Gilbane Building Company for failing to institute adequate safety measures and slapped it with a $12,500 fine. Concurrently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal agency, imposed three penalties, that added up to $28,671, to Gilbane/Ant Yapi Joint Venture. The subcontractor Labor Innovations, which directly recruited the worker, was fined $38,228 for the construction death incident."

"Gilbane Inc was named in at least seven court cases and 34 other incidents of construction-related injuries in New York and across the United States in 2021. Still, the three companies associated with Gilbane Inc. have largely managed to evade the consequences of their failures," reported Documented.

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NOT

RIPTA Chaos Grows

The ACLU of Rhode Island will be announced on Tuesday the filing of a lawsuit relating to the August 2021 data breach at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority that compromised the personal and healthcare information of thousands of individuals, including many with no connection to RIPTA. 

On Tuesday morning, ACLU of RI cooperating attorneys and the lead plaintiff in the case will share more information on the lawsuit at ACLU’s offices in downtown Providence. 

As GoLocal reported in December 2021, RIPTA came under fire by the ACLU for failing to answer questions about the breach that occurred in the summer of 2021.

Watch the ACLU press conference HERE

NOT

Political Burnout 

Professor Jennifer Lawless, chair of the political science department at the University of Virginia, admitted to GoLocal:

"I was going to order the new Maggie Haberman book, but I am so burnt out with politics, so I ordered the Matthew Perry book."