Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - March 8, 2019

HOT

Buddy Cianci

Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, Jr. died more than three years ago and they are still fighting about his legacy and producing plays about his life.

This week the Cianci family and friends tussled with Trinity Rep and author Mike Stanton over the adaptation of the play and the fairness of the depiction of Cianci in the book “The Prince of Providence."

Last Sunday, Cianci was also referenced on NBC's Meet the Press. The legacy lives on.

HOT

Fatts Russell

Russell scored 41 points – including Rhode Island's last 19 points – to lead the Rams to an 86-85 overtime win over Saint Joseph's Tuesday night.

Russell was 12 of 24 from the field; 7 of 13 from behind the 3-point-line; and 10-16 from the free throw line.  Add in 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

A performance for the ages.

HOT

Providence Committee on Foreign Relations

For 90 years the Providence Committee on Foreign Relations (PCFR) has attracted some of the most insightful and interesting people to speak in Providence.

PCFR announced that former UK Ministry of Defense Chief Press Officer Miguel Head will speak at their upcoming meeting on Thursday, March 14, at the Hope Club in Providence.

The event begins at 6 p.m.

About Head

Head is currently a fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. 

He spent the past decade as a senior adviser to the British Royal Family. 

He joined the Royal Household as Press Secretary to Prince William and Prince Harry before being appointed in 2012 as their youngest ever Chief of Staff.

Previously, Head was Chief Press Officer at the UK Ministry of Defense, and worked for the Liberal Democrat party in the European Parliament.  

HOT

Digital

Crown the new king.

According to eMarteters, "Total digital ad spending in the US will grow 19% to $129.34 billion this year—54.2% of estimated total US ad spending. And mobile will continue its dominance, accounting for more than two-thirds of digital ad spending, at $87.06 billion this year."

Who are the losers? Traditional advertising.

"Directories, such as the Yellow Pages, will take the biggest hit—down 19% this year. Traditional print (newspapers and magazines) spending is a close second, which will drop nearly 18%. Overall, traditional ad spending’s share in the US will drop to 45.8% in 2019, from 51.4% last year," said eMarketer.

HOT

RI Special Olympians

Members of the Special Olympics USA delegation from Rhode Island departed from T.F. Green Airport on Wednesday, March 6 for the Special Olympics USA Send-Off in Newark, New Jersey before reaching their ultimate destination in Abu Dhabi for the Special Olympics World Games 2019. 

SEE VIDEO 

Representing Special Olympics Rhode Island at the World Games are Special Olympics Rhode Island Athlete Scott Davis from Cranston along with Special Olympics Rhode Island Unified Partner Adam Johnson from Warwick in Bowling, as well as Casie Rhodes from East Greenwich, who is the Special Olympics Rhode Island Director of Training and will serve as the Head Sports Manager for Basketball, Table Tennis, and Volleyball.

"This will be the trip of a lifetime," said Davis on Wednesday at the airport. "I'm not leaving until I ride a camel."

NOT

Jobs

Rhode Island lost 1,700 jobs in the month of January while unemployment remained at 4.0 percent, according to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

Rhode Island has now lost jobs in two of the last three months after adding 2,200 jobs in December and losing 900 jobs in November.

NOT

Providence Journal’s Circulation - and Price

The once proud and highly talented locally owned newspaper once had a weekday circulation of more than 200,000 — today it has dropped to just 41,000.

It is an 80 percent loss in circulation.

GateHouse Media, the Projo’s parent company, has now upped the cost of the paper at the newsstand to $3 a copy. Paper keeps getting thinner, less are reading it, and so up the price.

NOT

Brett Smiley

Governor Gina Raimondo’s Chief of Staff Brett Smiley is meeting with and seeking the support of members of the Providence City Council looking for backing for a 2022 mayoral run, while he is on the State’s payroll and continuing his ownership in multiple political consulting businesses.

HMMM.

NOT

Mayor Joseph Solomon

This past week, Warwick Mayor Joseph Solomon announced at his State of the City address -- Warwick's first ever ---  that he was shocked at the condition of the city’s finances. 

In his speech, he outlined fiscal disaster after financial mess — millions of dollars in unknown malfeasance and mismanagement.

Disturbing? Yes, terribly disturbing -- because Solomon was on the City Council for the preceding 18 years before he was elected Mayor.

“Unfortunately, those of us inside City Hall know that the full state of our City had not been accurately presented to the public for many years. Tonight, we’ll take a look at some of our challenges. Our aging infrastructure [is] crumbling. The so-called 'maintenance budget' the prior administration presented for this fiscal year contains a structural deficit of nearly $7.4 million, setting the City up for a potential structural deficit of roughly $12 million in fiscal year 2020,” said Solomon in his speech.