Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - August 16, 2019

HOT

Providence Police

Capturing all the suspects involved in the Federal Hill murder.

An officer surviving a shooting last week.

Providing a sense of security on the new pedestrian bridge.

HOT

Encore Boston Harbor Casino

Boston's new casino crushed it in its full month -- $262,432,569 coin-in.

The number was big -- more than MGM and Plainridge combined and has to be a worry to Twin River folks in Lincoln and Tiverton.

Encore generated $48.6 million in gambling revenue in its first full month, more than the state’s two other casinos combined.

HOT

Barrington Little League

Goooooooo TEAM!

After a rain-out Thursday -- they are scheduled to play Friday in the Little League World Series.

Get up to speed here. 

HOT

Providence's New Pedestrian Bridge

It was 6 years late.

And it did cost $21.9 million.

But the bridge is spectacular.

NOT

White Nationalist John Dionne

First, Rhode Island radio show host John Dionne — the former President of the Woonsocket City Council — declared himself “white nationalist” on air this week on WNRI. 

WNRI, which calls itself “The Voice of Blackstone Valley Since 1954,” also includes John DePetro as a midday radio host. 

In a clip of the show posted to YouTube, Dionne says the following while discussing the second anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that saw protester Heather Hyers killed.

“Well, I would consider myself a white nationalist. I consider white nationalist as somebody that’s proud of being American, proud of our country’s heritage,” said Dionne. “That’s what a nationalist is. Proud of America.”

Then, he called GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle to declare he was not a white nationalist, after looking up the definition.

Dionne said, “My lawyer and doctor are Jewish...best friend is Filipino.” 

NOT

Twin River

The company is facing a plethora of challenges.

The company’s stock has lost more than a third of its value from its 52-week high of $33.98. At Thursday's closing, the stock was $21.44.

And, Twin River confirmed on Tuesday night that the company was in the midst of layoffs. 

In addition, the company is facing federal and state investigations.

“We are also exploring voluntary reduction of hours in order to reduce the number of layoffs. In total, we believe 30 table games supervisors will be impacted,” said company spokesperson Patti Doyle.

“We are effectively staffing to the present volume of business on the table games. We also are hoping post-Labor Day trends kick in so we will potentially have the ability to re-hire some of the employees impacted,” said Doyle.

Both the stock plunge and the layoffs are believed to be tied to the successful launch of the Encore casino in Boston.

According to the Mass Gaming Commission, Encore realized  $$93,503,071.70 in “coin-in” in its first week of operation — the only data reported to date for the new facility.

Investigations -- Federal and State

In July, GoLocal reported that Twin River Worldwide Holdings, is facing both federal and state investigations on different matters and recently, as part of a third legal battle in federal court, came to a settlement where the company agreed to pay 72 supervisors nearly $800,000 in back overtime wages.

NOT

Providence Maintenance

Providence gets given a $21.9 million beautiful gift and can't even clean up the garbage the first three days.

Yes, it was a long weekend. But that's no excuse. 

On Monday morning, when throngs of people came flocking to the bridge to check out Providence's newest attraction, only to be greeted by overflowing trash bins -- don't have a splashy ribbon cutting on Friday and promptly drop the ball. 

NOT

President Trump in RI

The research firm Morning Consult finds that President Donald Trump’s approval rating is plummeting in Rhode Island.

This is the polling firm that recently found that Governor Gina Raimondo’s approval rating was the second-lowest of governors in the United States and it is now reporting that Trump’s rating has collapsed in Rhode Island.

“Since Trump took office, his net approval in Rhode Island has decreased by 16 percentage points,” reports Morning Consult.

"Morning Consult is surveying over 5,000 registered voters across the United States on President Trump. Each month, we’ll update this page with the latest survey data, providing a clear picture of Trump’s approval and re-election prospects," says the firm.

Overall, Trump's approval rating in RI is 38% and a disapproval rating of 58%.