Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - July 24, 2020
Analysis
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - July 24, 2020
Making the list this week -- new buildings in Providence, brilliant Rhode Island writers, and Raimondo's questionable push for Care.com.
Now, we are expanding the list, the political perspectives, 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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Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - July 24, 2020
HOT
Ed Renehan
The Rhode Island Renaissance man is adding more hardware to his mantle.
Renehan recently scooped up another major accomplishment -- this time, his biography of General Motors mogul Charles Stewart Mott won the 2020 Automotive Heritage Journalism Award.
So support a local writer -- purchase The Life of Charles Stewart Mott: Industrialist, Philanthropist, Mr. Flint HERE.
And read more about noted writer, consultant, publisher Renehan on his site here.
Cedric Huntley's New Role
Over the past 25 years, few people have worked to help Providence's youth live healthy and safe lives than Cedric Huntley. In his role at the Met School and at Providence Recreation, he has intervened to help children and young men and women move their lives to the next level.
The Nonviolence Institute is lucky to have him in the interim leadership role.
HOT
Not Giving Up
Without a doubt, these are some of the most complex times in Rhode Island's modern history but some things are moving ahead - getting built and pushing forward.
Take a look at some of the successes. New buildings, fixed fountains and sports complexes.
While everything is not perfect - there is some good news. READ MORE
HOT
Darrell West's AI Insights
Former Brown University Professor and now Brookings Vice President Darrell West, who is the Director of Governance Studies, appeared on GoLocal LIVE to discuss his new book, Turning Point — and the need for officials to address public policy surrounding artificial intelligence (AI).
West, who co-authored with Brookings President John Allen — a retired U.S. Marine Corps four-star general and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan — spoke to how AI is already impacting the world.
“We view AI as the transformative technology of our time — it’s being deployed in healthcare, education, transportation, commerce, and national defense,” said West.
“There are a lot of people who are worried about AI. They remember the Hollywood Terminator movies and worry that humans are going to end up being enslaved by the technology,” he said. “We argued that there are a number of possible benefits and risks.”
HOT
RI's Seafood Industry's Resilience
The Rhode Island aquaculture industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus. It saw a loss of sales at the outset -- but it was also forced to reinvent its business model fast.
Azure Cygler, Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension Specialist at the RI Sea Grant at the University of Rhode Island appeared on GoLocal LIVE, and talked about how the aquaculture industry in the state is adapting due to coronavirus restrictions — and innovating.
Cygler joined GoLocal LIVE as part of an ongoing partnership between the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and GoLocal.
“In terms of our seafood industry, we have some of the best and most amazing innovators you could imagine,” said Cygler. “So at the University of Rhode Island, I work with Rhode Island Sea Grant and the Coast Resources Center — I’ve been working with these folks for years and I just wanted to kind of zero in on the shellfish industry, which is part of the bigger seafood system.”
NOT
Grubhub
Food delivery companies can be a critical component of helping people stay healthy at home and providing support to restaurants.
Not all businesses are pleased with problems they can create, however -- without their consent.
A GoLocal review found the company not helping -- but harming -- at least one local restaurant.
A Rhode Island restaurant is saying that its “unauthorized” placement on the Grubhub food delivery platform has caused a multitude of problems for their business.
This week, Jack’s Family Restaurant in Warren let customers know if they place an order through Grubhub, that prices and menu items listed are often incorrect.
Maria Gomes at Jack’s spoke with GoLocal about the issues that the unsolicited inclusion on the Grubhub platform has caused for the restaurant.
She questioned whether big online food delivery businesses are trying to capitalize on the coronavirus epidemic and an increase in demand for delivery.
“We’ve only just recently been getting phone calls [through Grubhub] for orders to go,” said Gomes.
Gomes said that Jack’s has been doing a steady takeout business throughout the coronavirus, and has just now encountered this frustrating issue with GrubHub.
NOT
RI's Promotion of Care.com
The man who unveiled Care.com's faulty security protections said he easily created a babysitting profile for Harvey Weinstein -- and questions security checks by the tech company being pushed to Rhode Islanders by Governor Gina Raimondo.
When Raimondo began pushing Rhode Islanders to use Care.com, the company had already settled in Massachusetts with the Attorney General, and numerous articles had been written about questionable business practices by the company.
In 2018, then a student at Stanford University, Edwin Dorsey wrote a detailed expose on Care.com and the legal troubles the company faced across the country.
On Monday on GoLocal LIVE, Dorsey outlined his investigation and his easy ability to create babysitting profiles for everyone from Harvey Weinstein, the then-accused and now jailed rapist, to Daffy Duck and Donald Trump.
Dorsey’s work was followed by a series of investigative pieces by the Wall Street Journal in 2019. In one article in the WSJ series, one of a number of gruesome incidents were unveiled:
On a warm July morning last year, Amelia Wieand left her twin toddlers at an in-home day-care center outside Knoxville, Tenn. She had read about the facility on Care.com, the largest online marketplace for babysitters and other caregivers.
The listing said the center was state-licensed. It wasn’t, state records say. In fact, after receiving reports that the woman who ran it was watching up to 11 children, a state agency had obtained an injunction two months earlier barring her from operating an unlicensed facility.
None of that was available to Care.com members such as Ms. Wieand. At one point, the day-care center indicated to clients there was a problem with its license, but assured Ms. Weiand and other parents it was taking care of the matter.
Hours after being dropped off, the children, Elyssa and Elijah, a month away from their second birthdays, were pulled out of the babysitter’s pool. Both died.
NOT
RI's Coronavirus Reality
Rhode Island has the 5th highest per capita death rate per 100,000 residents in the United States.
NOT
RI's Testing System
Rhode Island has done the most per capita tests and now the system is broken. Test results are taking as long as 10 to 14 days.
According to everyone from the Rockefeller Foundation to RI's former Director of Health Michael Fine, that means the tests have little value.
The Raimondo administration needs to stop claiming we are #1. That was then and this is now. Now is a reality that our testing system is broken and desperately needs to be fixed.
