Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - March 27, 2020

HOT

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

“It seems that Andrew Cuomo has exceeded expectations not only among New Yorkers but nationwide — and he’s basically the person that people are looking for for a sense of calm, cool, and collectedness that they don’t get from Donald Trump,” said University of Virginia Professor of Political Science Jennifer Lawless, when she appeared on GoLocal LIVE. 

“The problem, of course, is that he opted not to run for President,” she added. “We’re very close to having a nominee and it’s not clear there’s any place for him to go.”

Darrell West, Vice President and Director of Governance Studies at Brookings, said that he believes it would be nearly impossible for Cuomo to be "drafted" by the Democrats as their nominee. 

“The party doesn’t have the power to swap in a new candidate who didn’t run and has no delegates,” said West. “That would be unacceptable because it would negate the votes of all those who supported Biden.”

PHOTO: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin

HOT

Vice President Gorbea?

According to a political news story in McClatchy newspapers, Nellie Gorbea may be on Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden's VP list.

"Democrats are also floating other names such as New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grisham, who’s the first Democratic Latina governor and a former congresswoman, and Reps. Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia, the first two Latinas elected to Congress from Texas in 2018.

California Rep. Tony Cardenas, who chairs the fundraising PAC of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said he’s prepared a list of five Latinas for the Biden campaign, including California Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, in addition to Cortez-Masto, Lujan Grisham and Escobar."

HOT

Green Line Apothecary

Green Line Apothecary announced $2 per hour raises for all employees working through the coronavirus outbreak in Rhode Island.

The company, based in Providence and Wakefield, also announced the launch of “pay what you can” hand sanitizer being offered to customers to help fund the raises.

"Our staff has risen to the occasion without hesitation. We have been so impressed by their professionalism and positive attitudes. At Green Line, we take our role as health care providers very seriously. And we are committed to helping the public through this crisis,” said Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Pharmacy Christina Procaccianti.

Sanitizer and Pay Raise

All of the company's full and part-time employees are receiving an additional $2 per hour, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, delivery drivers, and soda fountain staff, through at least April 5, 2020.

According to Green Line Apothecary, the hand sanitizer was compounded in accordance with the FDA's "Policy for Temporary Compounding of Certain Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer Products During the Public Health Emergency."

The 75% isopropyl alcohol-based non-sterile spray solution is available for delivery or pick-up at both Green Line Apothecary locations.

The sanitizer is being offered as "pay what you can" while supplies last. Limit one per customer.

The suggested price is $5 per bottle.

HOT

Here2Help

Michael Sweeney of the Providence law firm Duffy and Sweeney joined GoLocal LIVE to discuss a free helpline for business owners.

The firm launched the initiative on Tuesday called Here2Help, and it has already received ten calls from business owners looking for advice on issues ranging from employment law, dealing with banks on critical lending issues and landlord-tenant issues.

"What was the spark to create this initiative was how the crisis has affected everybody and although we've all been through [things], myself included in over 31 years practicing law in a number of crises, we feel like we're in uncharted waters.  We've got a lot of legal professionals working remotely and we wanted to help do what I consider legal triage for the emergency issues people face to give them some guidance for free," said Sweeney.

How to Connect

Duffy & Sweeney lawyers and paralegals will staff a free email and call hotline for use by clients, friends and small business owners struggling without the resources to get answers to general, business legal questions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We know there are more questions than answers about doing business in the time of COVID-19 -- and we are all overloaded. At D&S, we want to share our expertise in this crisis and give back to our community,” says the firm.

Email your general question to our Here2Help HOTLINE using Here2Help@duffysweeney.com or call 401-457-1826. 

HOT

Bill Gates' Ted Talk

How we must respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. WATCH ABOVE

HOT

Fast Company Features RI Company Unschool.School

Fast Company writes:

"Unschool.school, which was founded by Kerry McDonald, author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, and Barry Hinckley, CEO and founder of event organization platform Yotme, helps these unschoolers find more places to learn. McDonald, in addition to being a successful author and entrepreneur, is an unschooling veteran. As part of their education, her four kids have attended art and programming classes at a local homeschooling learning center. They play at “park days” with other families. One child loves bugs, so McDonald takes her to the Harvard Natural History Museum to meet with an entomologist and then on nature walks to collect bugs for pinning and preserving. With Unschool.school, McDonald says her goal is to help shift education from one-size-fits-all to a personalized model by creating 'a wide assortment of homeschooling and out-of-school learning experiences for many more learners.'"

NOT

URI Basketball 

URI must wish the NCAA transfer portal is closed because of the crisis.

Ten URI recruits have left in the past two years and four this season alone.

The latest - Tyrese Martin - was the most painful. He was a standout sophomore this season and has the makings of a superstar.

NOT

RI's Inability to Implement a Coronavirus Testing Structure

On Thursday, Massachusetts officials announced that they had completed 3,827 tests.

In Rhode Island, 220 were completed. 

MA has 6.5 times the population. 

The Commonwealth is doing more than 2 times the testing.

NOT

Reed and Whitehouse 

While millions of Americans have lost their jobs, it is being alleged that four members of the United States Senate used information from Senate briefings and dumped stock to avoid the Wall Street crash caused by the impacts of coronavirus.

The layoffs are a stark juxtaposition to the allegations of the Senators who may have dumped millions of dollars in stocks after receiving closed-door briefings.

GoLocal reached out to Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse asking if the Senate Ethics Committee or the Securities and Exchange Commission should review the trades.

Whitehouse did not respond to questions.

Reed, through his office, refused to answer questions about an independent review of the Senators by the Senate Ethics or the SEC.

“Senator Reed believes no one is above the law,” said Chip Unruh, Reed’s spokesperson.

Senators Under Scrutiny

“Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, and Kelly Loeffler, Republican of Georgia, are in the hot seat this week, facing questions about whether they misused their positions to shield their personal finances from the economic fallout of the pandemic, even as they misled the public about the severity of the crisis,” said the New York Times in an editorial.