Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - August 10, 2018

HOT

Bill Belisle

Legendary Mount Saint Charles hockey coach Bill Belisle is turning over the program to the incoming coaching staff of Matt Plante, Devin Rask and Scott Gainey beginning this fall, ending a 43-year run. 

In his career, Belisle has won 32 state championships, including a run of 26 straight from 1978 to 2003. He has also seen two of his players drafted number one overall by the NHL, while sending more than 20 players to the NHL in total. 

He is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and in September, he will be inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame. 

HOT

Brown Grads in Business

There may not be a business school at Brown University, but that hasn’t stopped Rhode Island’s Ivy League institution from producing a significant number of the top CEOs and leaders in business in America.

In recent years, Brown grads have headed the Federal Reserve, Black Entertainment Television, Uber, and Bank of America, to name a few. READ MORE HERE

HOT

Your Money

“Your Money” Initiative, of the General Treasurer's office has reunited almost 50,000 people with unclaimed property in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2018.

"Too many Rhode Islanders are still struggling to make ends meet, and we can help by returning money that is rightfully theirs. Our program makes Rhode Island only the second state in the country that automatically reunites thousands of people with their missing money with no paperwork or red tape,” said Seth Magaziner.

HOT

Newport Jazz Festival

It is the definition of "cool." It seems that the event just gets better and better every year. It is wonderfully American.

And, maybe no concert is more diverse. The great news -- the Jazz and Folk Festivals are coming back for another 25-years.

HOT

Floodfest

Kyle Hardendorf joined GoLocal LIVE in studio this week to discuss this year’s Floodfest, a music festival in Foster featuring some of Rhode Island’s finest musicians.

The event will be held at Little Rhody Vasa Park on August 18, and promises to be a day filled with food, fun, and great local music.

“It’s a great way of showcasing Northwestern Rhode Island,” Hardendorf said. “We’ve been doing this for six years now and every year gets better.”

Eleven local bands will play from noon until 10 p.m., culminating with the final performance of the night by Steve Malec and the Electric Flood. Malec’s band has been part of the festival from the start and is the namesake for the event.

HOT

Mary Halsey

It's not every day a karaoke video gets you close to ten million views -- and that was only Thursday. 

But Rhode Islander Mary Halsey's rendition of Missy Elliott's "Work It" went viral, and caught the attention of such celebrities as Snoop Dogg, and Elliott herself.   

On Friday morning, the video was up to 9.5 million views on Facebook -- and climbing. 

NOT

Bad Doctors and More

Since August 2017, the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) has taken over 70 disciplinary actions against healthcare professionals in the state, addressing such issues as sexual assault and misconduct, to drinking -- or stealing -- on the job, to overprescribing or failing to monitor patients' opioid use, and more.

From nursing assistants to physicians, DOH has oversight over doctors and healthcare workers to execute orders that can range from consent agreements, to reprimands, probations, suspensions, and license revocations.

SLIDES BELOW:  See RI Health Professionals Who Faced Disciplinary Actions Over Past Year

"Investigations are prompted by complaints. Anyone can file a complaint with RIDOH – a patient, a family member, a healthcare provider, a healthcare administrator, etc," said Joseph Wendelken at DOH. "There are times when I or other RIDOH employees file complaints based on concerns that come to our attention."

NOT

Fung and Raimondo

The refusals by Cranston Mayor Allan Fung and Governor Gina Raimondo is A) poor leadership B) raises questions about their records C) non-Democratic.

Fung and Raimondo need to reverse their decisions and enter into a minimum of three debates.

NOT

Providence Journal

As GoLocal has previously reported and editorialized on:

Cash-strapped cities and towns, as well as state agencies, have been forced annually to pay hundreds of thousands to advertise legal notices due to an arcane, outdated law.  The recipient of the payments?

The Providence Journal.

When both Governor Lincoln Chafee and Governor Gina Raimondo submitted their budgets to remove the outdated and expensive requirement — what did the depleted Providence Journal do? Hire a lobbyist -- insider Joe Walsh -- to have the budget articles removed over the objection of the League of Cities and Towns.  Walsh was paid nearly $100,000 to keep the decades-old statute on the books.

According to state records, the Projo still gobbles up upwards of $700,000 per year in taxpayer funds for these outdated notices. And in Providence, the city is still forced by the outdated law to spend, on average, more than $60,000 per year.

Dan Beardsley, the then-Executive Director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns confirmed in 2016 to GoLocal that the organization representing the municipalities across Rhode Island supports the repeal of the outdated requirement.

The requirement to use newspapers is decades old, as the legislation was passed well before the Internet was created. Actually, the law was on the books since before man walked on the moon. The requirement does not reflect where readers collect most of their information or that newspapers circulations have plummeted. According to media expert Mary Meeker, consumers spend just 4 percent of their media consumption time with print.

NOT

John Carnevale

Former State Representative John Carnevale accepted a plea deal in Superior Court in Providence, after having been charged in January 2017 on three charges of perjury and filing false documents, as it pertained to claims of his home address. 

He was trying to regain his seat and was the endorsed Democratic candidate.

Carnevale entered no contest on Wednesday to one count of perjury, with the state dropping the three other charges.

He was sentenced to 5 years, with 9 months home confinement to serve, and remainder on suspension.  Another sentencing is scheduled to take place in two weeks, with Carnevale remaining on home confinement in the interim.