Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - July 17, 2020

HOT

Davis and Culpo

Rhode Island women are on two of the top national magazine covers for the month of July. 

Central Falls’ native and award-winning actress Viola Davis — one of GoLocal’s 50 Greatest Living Rhode Islanders — is the cover of this month’s Vanity Fair.

Former Miss Rhode Island, Miss USA, and Miss Universe Olivia Culpo is featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 

Read more about their appearances HERE.

HOT

Russel Johnson

The distance from the Mount Hope neighborhood in Providence to being a golf pro is a billion miles.

News Editor Kate Nagle writes:

Rhode Island’s only black golf pro said there “needs to be a better pipeline” to expand diversity in the golfing ranks in Rhode Island -- and a willingness in the golf industry to innovate. 

Russel Johnson, who grew up in Mt. Hope on the East Side of Providence, currently runs the Ocean State Golf Academy and is Director of Instruction at Valley Country Club in Warwick, after working at top courses in Florida and around the country. 

“I always thought professional baseball might be in my future,” said Johnson, who played baseball at Hope and then CCRI.

That changed the first time he picked up a set of clubs in his 20s.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY

Pat's Pastured

Pat McNiff with Pat’s Pastured — a pastured based livestock operation in Rhod Island — appeared on GoLocal LIVE, where he talked about how the farm had to change course due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in doing so helped other members of the farming community.

Pat’s Pastured, which is based in East Greenwich, has land in East Greenwich, Exeter, and North Kingstown — and focuses on producing grass-fed beef, pastured pork, chicken, turkey, eggs, and more. 

Read Pat’s Pastured Story HERE

“It’s going as well as can be expected, considering,” said McNiff. “There’s been great support of local food, so that’s been really great being a farmer in Rhode Island, along with the other farmers in Rhode Island. So we’re doing as well as can be expected — and having to pivot a lot and change.”

McNiff talked about the uptick in-home delivery orders when businesses were temporarily closed. 

See how Pat's responded to the upheaval in the food business here. 

HOT

URI's Revolving Door

ESPN announced the college programs that were winners and losers during the college basketball transfer window and URI makes the list as a winner.

URI has been a revolving door of transfers in and out. The team has been hit hard with the exodus of top young talent, but has also become a destination for the dissatisfied.

ESPN writes:

Rhode Island: Dave Cox lost Tyrese Martin to UConn but bounced back with a number of potential impact players. Jalen Carey (Syracuse), Makhi Mitchell (Maryland) and Makhel Mitchell (Maryland) all had varying levels of hype coming out of high school but failed to live up to it at their previous stops. Charlotte transfer Malik Martin and Towson transfer Allen Betrand are two sit-out transfers who were productive productive last season.

ESPN forgot to mention under URI that Jacob Toppin, Obi's brother, moved on to the powerhouse University of Kentucky.

HOT

Omar Bah

The founder of the Refugee Dream Center in Rhode Island often seems to be everywhere in the community. 

Guest contributor Annika Prinz wrote an in-depth profile of Bah's story and work:

"From fleeing persecution and torture in Gambia to founding a refugee post-resettlement agency in Providence, Omar Bah has undergone a tremendous journey since first setting foot in Rhode Island in May 2007. Today, dealing with the Novel Coronavirus is the latest task on his agenda. 

As COVID-19 spreads across the world and social distancing has become the new norm, children are no longer seen playing basketball in the parking lot of the Refugee Dream Center, located on Lockwood Street. A safe haven for many refugees in Rhode Island, the Center now stands still and silent as people are told to stay home and self isolate. But the work they do is more important than ever, and Omar Bah - founder of the organization - continues to work around the clock to serve the needs of refugees amidst the outbreak, making hundreds of phone calls a week and driving around town delivering supplies to families during these difficult times. 

Bah is now 40 years old, married with 2 kids, but his passion to help others began as a young adult over 19 years ago in Gambia. He grew up in a small town, and was one of the only kids who was able to complete his high school education. There was no medicine, no clean drinking water, no hospitals, and no access to education in this impoverished town. His mother would carry heavy buckets of water on her head each day to serve dozens of people in the village."

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

HOT

Masks

There are few things GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi agree on. Masks may be the only thing.

Wear a mask - not on your wrist, not on your elbow. 

PHOTO: Lilly M. Corona CC

NOT

Coronavirus Numbers

"The disease is a cruel taskmaster" as Dr. Michael Fine repeatedly reminds us. Governor Gina Raimondo repeatedly poked the bear claiming Rhode Island is number 1 is testing and #1 in that...well, the testing program is unraveling and cases are beginning to rise.

The Governor should focus on solutions rather than claiming victories. Rhode Island is not first in anything - the coronavirus always wins until a vaccine is developed, manufactured and distributed.

NOT

Health Coverage in RI

Between February and May, 21,000 Rhode Islanders lost their health insurance according to a study released Monday.

The study by Families USA’s The National Center for Coverage Innovation (NCCI) found that, “Five states have experienced increases in the number of uninsured adults that exceed 40%: Massachusetts, where the number nearly doubled, rising by 93%; Hawaii (72%); Rhode Island (55%); Michigan (46%); and New Hampshire (43%).

“The greatest public health crisis in a century has caused the deepest economic crash since World War II. In a few short months, millions of workers lost their jobs. At least 16 million of them simultaneously lost access to health insurance formerly furnished by their employers,” reports

NOT

RI's Testing Program Unraveling

The latest criticism of Gina Raimondo's coronavirus testing program comes from nursing homes.

The nursing home owners and operators are criticizing Governor Raimondo’s administration for the state's failing testing structure.

The Rhode Island Health Care Association, which represents 64 nursing facilities in the state says the testing being done by the state is regularly taking more than seven days to results to be returned.

Testing is a key component to keeping COVID-19 contained in a nursing home, as it allows nursing homes to isolate residents and workers. "This often asymptomatic virus is quiet and deadly, making testing a critical necessity," said the Association.

To date, 80 percent of all of Rhode Island's coronavirus deaths are linked to nursing homes. State officials report 988 deaths to date -- giving RI the 5th most death per 100,000 residents.

“Today we are sounding the alarm that the lack of timely test results in our homes is causing harm to our residents and workers.  Accurate and rapid testing is a necessity in coping with and managing this virus in our nursing homes and so far, we have been left to guess at where COVID-19 lies,”  RIHCA President and CEO Scott Fraser.  “RI’s nursing homes must have rapid responses to keep our residents and workers safe. This is truly a matter of protecting lives.”

GoLocal recently reported that daily testing has fallen in Rhode Island from 4,000 testings to about 3,000.

Raimondo and Dr. Alexander Scott of the Department of Health said on Wednesday that the state is "laser-focused" on correcting issues with the testing program.

RIHCA members contacted both the Raimondo’s office and DOH staff members to resolve this issue in addition to sending official letters requesting this matter receive appropriate and immediate attention over the past months.

“We have had numerous calls with the DOH and governor’s office teams, letting them know testing was coming back slowly and asking them to resolve the issue immediately,” Fraser said.

Over the weekend, one home learned, after a seven-day wait, that six staff members tested positive. These staff had been working and interacting with residents and other staff during this time.  This same home was still waiting more than a week for the results of 30 more employees.

“This virus is quiet and deadly and the residents of our homes have borne the brunt of it due to their frail health and higher age.  RI has one of the highest population of seniors over the age of 85 in the nation, making us one of the most vulnerable states.  We need the attention of the administration and the tools necessary to combat this virus,” Fraser said. 

NOT

RI Vote By Mail

A new study by Brookings gives RI's program a grade of "C."

Brookings writes:

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our democracy faced—and continues to face—serious challenges when it comes to voting, such as voter suppression, non-voting, and lack of trust in institutions. During this year’s primaries many of these problems have surfaced again and the pandemic has only exacerbated them.

The pandemic will also speed up changes that were already in the making—changes that will pose huge challenges to those who administer elections. With a consequential national election just four months away and important primary elections before then, our voting systems must be pandemic-proof to ensure our confidence in the electoral process. 

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE