Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - September 13, 2024
Analysis
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - September 13, 2024
We have expanded the list, and we are going to a GoLocal team approach while encouraging readers to suggest nominees for who is "HOT" and who is "NOT."
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Over the past 14-plus years, more than 7,000 have been tagged as HOT or NOT.
Email GoLocal by midday on Thursday about anyone you think should be tapped as "HOT" or "NOT." Email us HERE.
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - September 13, 2024
HOT
Making a Difference in Young Men's Lives
John Wolf of the San Miguel School has served as the executive director, but also many other important roles that have helped the Providence boys' school become a bright spot in Rhode Island's education continuum.
"He is still involved at San Miguel although no longer as Executive Director. He brought the independent school to the next level after taking it through a pandemic and a capital campaign raising about 33% more than its goal. This school serving urban boys and families is an oasis in Providence," said San Miguel founder Brother Lawrence Goyette.
HOT
A Coffee Shop With a Special Mission is Coming to Providence
A new business is coming to Rhode Island — which calls itself a “human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.”
Bitty & Beau’s, which started in North Carolina and has expanded to nearly 20 locations across the country, will soon be opening in Providence.
According to its founders Amy and Ben Wright, it’s where “people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are valued in the workplace.”
The Wrights are parents of four children — Lillie, Emma Grace, Beau, and Bitty. Lillie was born with autism, and Bitty & Beau were born with Down syndrome.
It was when the Wrights wanted to start a business where their children could work that Bitty & Beau's was born.
GoLocal spoke with Amy Wright about the new location coming to Providence, and what people can expect when it arrives.
“It’s probably unlike anything people have ever experienced before as far as a coffee shop goes,” said Wright.
HOT
Rhode Island Ranks #1 for Vaccinations
A new study ranks each state for its effectiveness in getting its citizens vaccinated, and Rhode Island is ranked #1.
“Vaccinations are some of the most valuable contributions to modern medicine. They have drastically reduced the prevalence of certain diseases, including polio, tetanus, measles and chickenpox. One disease, smallpox, has even been eradicated completely, with no natural cases since 1977. Most recently, we developed vaccines for COVID-19, which drastically cut down cases and deaths, allowing the country to get back to normal,” writes WalletHub.
Rhode Island’ Top Ranking
Rhode Island is the state that vaccinates the most. It ranks first in the nation when it comes to HPV vaccination among teens ages 13 to 17 and second for the flu vaccination rate among children.
Rhode Island also has the second-highest share of babies under three years old who have the combined seven-vaccine series, which prevents multiple common illnesses, such as polio, tetanus and hepatitis B. In addition, Rhode Island requires students to be vaccinated against major diseases before attending kindergarten.
When it comes to adults, the Ocean State has the second-highest flu vaccine coverage. It also has the second-highest share of adults at high risk for pneumococcal disease who have the pneumococcal vaccination.
HOT
Flexing Her Mega-Muscle
She is arguably the world's biggest pop star and boasts an Instagram following of over 280 million.
This week, part-time Rhode Islander Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential candidacy after the Presidential debate with former President Donald Trump.
Swift called Harris a "steady-handed, gifted leader."
"I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election," Swift wrote in a post. "I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos."
"I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice," wrote Swift. "Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story."
Swift signed her post "Childless Cat Lady"
PHOTO: Cosmopolitan UK CC: 3.0
HOT
Snoop Dogg and Rafaelian Launch New Brand and Much More to Come
Hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg, fresh off his media success at the Olympics, and Rhode Island entrepreneur Carolyn Rafaelian have teamed up.
As GoLocal was first to report, the two are launching a “first taste” of their partnership on Thursday. Rafaelian put Rhode Island’s jewelry industry back on the map with Alex & Ani and launched her latest endeavor, Metal Alchemist, in 2020.
This initial line of products for the hip-hop legend and the jewelry exec is designed to enhance smoking marijuana, said Rafaelian.
The line was designed collaboratively. “We designed it literally sitting right next to each other, said Rafaelian. She says all of the products will be manufactured in Rhode Island.
“All of it is designed to be both a collector’s item and the best — 99.9999 pure copper and silver tips,” she said.
This line is launched under the tagline “Elevate your smoke from high to heavenly.”
The Story Behind the Mashup
The two were brought together by Larry Jackson who runs gamma and was formerly Apple Music’s creative director.
“Larry was the connection point,” said Rafaelian.
Last year, Jackson was Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players’ Executive of the Year.
Rafaelian said she expects to work on other designs with Jackson and other leading music innovators.
NOT
Alviti and RIDOT At It Again
Lanre Akinsiku and his eight-month-pregnant wife were rocked by the sound of the demolition of the Washington Bridge on Sunday night, and it continued on Monday night. "It's a nightmare," he said.
It is scheduled to happen five nights a week for weeks.
The noise, he said, is a non-stop rapid-fire bam, bam, bam.
Akinsiku lives in the Fox Point neighborhood about 100 yards from the failed bridge. The Brown professor told GoLocal that his family and his neighbor were caught off guard by the brutal sounds that started on Sunday night before 10 p.m.
“We were not ready for it. Three hydraulic demolition hammers started up at about 9:30 p.m. Our house started shaking, and we measured about 85 decibels on our iPhone app,” said Akinsiku.
He adds, “It was miserable. It went on until about 4 AM and pounded constantly, constantly.”
Akinsiku said that he and his neighbors were given no warning.
“I've actually been reaching out to our State Rep. [Chris] Blazejewski since mid-August to try to get a schedule and figure out what was going on. No indication of a schedule from him or RIDOT. I also reached out to our council member John Goncalves, and we didn't get any answers from him, so all we got was the press release on Friday afternoon," said Akinsiku.
"I'm pretty horrified. I think that not involving the community in the process of understanding the schedule; why they're doing it at night instead of during the day; why they're doing it from 9 PM to 6 AM in the morning — this is wrong and unethical and it's disservice to the community," he said.
NOT
Trump's Debate Performance - Third Worst Ever
Tuesday night's debate performance by former President Donald Trump was not just a disaster for the GOP nominee, it was arguably the third worst in the modern era.
The all-time worst performances:
#1 Joe Biden, 2024
#3 Donald Trump, 2024
NOT
Brown Trustee Resigns Citing “Stunning Failure of Moral Leadership at Brown University”
A member of Brown University’s board of trustees has resigned over the decision by the school to vote to divest from investments in Israel. He has served as a trustee since 2019.
Joseph Edelman, the founder of New York City-based hedge fund Perceptive Advisors. He took to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal to announce his resignation. Brown President Christina Paxson, in late May, announced a deal with student protestors that ended the campus sit-in — in exchange for a vote by the Board Corporation to take up a vote on divestiture.
“As a member of the Brown University board of trustees, I disagree with the upcoming divestment vote on Israel. I am concerned about what Brown’s willingness to hold such a vote suggests about the university’s attitude toward rising antisemitism on campus and a growing political movement that seeks the destruction of the state of Israel,” Edelman wrote in the WSJ.
The vote is scheduled for the upcoming Corporation meeting in October.
“I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, much less that it will be held—especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. On Oct. 7, 2023, Israel was invaded and brutally attacked by Palestinian terrorists. Twelve hundred innocent people were slaughtered, some of them raped and burned alive, and more than 250 were abducted to Gaza and held as hostages. Israel, like all nations, has a moral duty to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks, and that is exactly what it has been doing. It is revealing that of all the countries in the world, only Israel is expected to restrain itself because of the civilian lives that will tragically be lost in war,” Edelman wrote.
