Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - June 21, 2019

HOT

OIC

This past week OIC and Mike Van Leesten celebrated the organization’s 50 year anniversary. An amazing run and the non-profit works every day to try and help more people.

HOT

Marti Rosenberg, Edie Ajello, Barbara Baldwin...

There were two sides to the debate, but the effort to pass the Reproductive Rights legislation was passed this session -- and the spadework was done over the previous three decades.

Women and men worked tirelessly over the years to gain passage on the law.

HOT

Gail's Return

Gail Ciampa returns back to the pages of the Providence Journal. The long-time food writer had a difficult health issue that she publicly shared.

Rhode Island is better with her writing about what and where to eat. It certainly makes the competition better.

HOT

Dominick Ruggerio

The Senate President pushed for passage of legislation to require "Church Plans" to provide disclosure of the financial performance.

With passage in the House Thursday, the General Assembly has approved legislation the legislation sponsored by Ruggerio and House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi to require pension plans managed by religious organizations in Rhode Island to send regular updates on the financial health of the pensions to their plan participants.

“All Rhode Island workers and retirees deserve to know the truth about the health of their pension plan,” said Ruggerio. “Too many hard-working caregivers and health professionals, who spent their careers serving their communities, have been hurt by a lack of transparency. We must ensure that this never happens again.”

The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires most private pension plans to send members a letter each year outlining the health of their plan. Pension plans administered by religious organizations claim exemption from both ERISA and GASB reporting standards. Members of these plans often have no ability to access information regarding the financial health of their pensions. Until they are required to provide this information, there remains a risk that other church-run pension plans could conceal vital financial information from plan members. 

HOT

The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island

The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and the Women’s Fund of Southeastern Massachusetts are teaming with VoteRunLead to teach women how to run for office.

“We know that good laws are made that positively impact women and families when more women lead in government, regardless of what political party they are affiliated with. When we last ran this program in 2017 with 55 women, 10 took what they learned and used it to run for office in Rhode Island; six won their seats. We are pleased to partner with the Women’s Fund of Southeastern MA and VoteRunLead to get broader political representation throughout the region,” said Kelly Nevins, Executive Director of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island.

The event will take place on July 27. For more information, go to www.wfri.org.

HOT

River House

The new apartments built adjacent to the School of Nursing and Davol Square are a welcomed addition to the Providence skyline.

The project is a boon to the area and the design is smart and sophisticated. Commerce RI and Brown deserve kudos for making the project come to reality.

HOT

Governor Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey

The two took Purdue Pharma to task for the company's role in helping to create America's opioid crisis. In a letter to the WSJ, they wrote:

As governor and attorney general of Massachusetts, a state that is suing Purdue Pharma, we couldn’t let Chairman Steve Miller’s “Litigation Won’t Solve the Opioid Crisis” (op-ed, May 28) go unanswered.

Massachusetts has been grappling with an opioid epidemic that has killed thousands of residents and changed the lives of thousands more. We have taken a robust, bipartisan approach to tackling the epidemic and are seeing positive results. Massachusetts is one of few states to see a decline in deaths in 2017 and 2018. In Massachusetts, it is illegal to deceive doctors and patients about dangerous drugs. That is why the AG’s office investigated Purdue Pharma’s misconduct using data collected from the Baker-Polito administration’s Department of Public Health and sued to hold it accountable.

Purdue knew its opioids were addictive and its sales tactics were insidious. The company deceived prescribers and patients about its drugs. Purdue sold more than 70 million doses of opioids to Massachusetts patients, generating more than $500 million. Those patients struggled with overdoses and relapses. More than 670 died.

NOT

McCormick & Schmick's

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks is closed and according to staff at Graduate Providence — formerly the Biltmore, the new owners closed the restaurant.

This is just the latest change by the new owners of the hotel. Besides changing the name of the historic hotel the new owners also closed the Starbucks in the hotel for a new coffee shop in its place.

The closure of McCormick & Schmick's was without public notice.

Bill McCormick, the co-founder of the chain, is a Rhode Island native and was born in Providence. Beyond creating the restaurant chain he served as the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand under President George W. Bush.

Last week, the Cianci Educational Foundation blasted the Graduate Hotel for removing portraits of the late Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci in the hotel. 

NOT

WPRI Goes Weather and Crime

The CBS affiliate in Providence seems a bit lacking since Dan McGowan left the fold. The station has reverted back to its old model — a lot of police blotter stories and hyped-up weather.

Their failure to credit other news sources — burying credit to Uprise RI’s work on the $1M appropriation in the budget story was weak. Their lack of credit to others is becoming the norm.

NOT

Warwick

The state's third largest city is turning into a punchline to most every joke. 

Budget, FBI investigation, raiding the pension fund, lunch shaming, and now threats of slashing activities and sports.

Maybe city officials can start stealing wheelchairs of the disabled. That might be the only group that has not been offended or embarrassed in the past few months. 

NOT

Governor Gina Raimondo

Maybe it was just the frustration of the numerous losses in the budget -- losing full Pre-K funding, expansion of Promise to Rhode Island College, etc.

But, insulting Rep. Anastasia Williams over a ceremonial pen was Trump-like.