Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - May 15, 2020

HOT

A Little Flexibility for the Shellfish Industry

Rhode Island State Representative Joe McNamara is urging the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to allow the state’s shellfishers to sell their product directly to the consumer, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a financial impact on small businesses. 

“Giving these shellfishermen permission to do this would be a service to the community,” said McNamara. “Especially at a time when people are looking for sustainable, nutritious foods that they can get directly from the harvesters. This is an invaluable opportunity to fulfill a need of the populace as well as help an industry that’s facing a cutback in demand at a time that is traditionally their busiest season.”

HOT

Rhode Island's Restaurants

The restaurant industry in the state has been knocked down and kicked in the gut, but continues to fight back.

Many are trying to keep the lights on with takeout and curbside -- now, the industry is challenged to try outdoor dining policy.

HOT

A Good Mother

A Rhode Island mother who last fall alleged that the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families wrongfully took her three week old from her — for more than three months — received an administrative ruling this week that DCYF was found to be in the wrong. 

“I feel ecstatic and vindicated and damn proud of myself,” Amanda LaValle said of the finding and fighting the system, without having been able to afford a lawyer.

In October, LaValle told GoLocalProv.com that she believed it might take six months to a year to regain custody in what she called a “sick and twisted system” after a series of events saw her newborn taken from her. 

Last week, Executive Office of Health and Human Services Hearing Officer Karen Walsh ruled that the findings of “lack of supervision/caretaker” levied by DCYF were “unfounded" -- and LaValle's appeal of the DCYF decision granted.

LaValle detailed how she had been accused of being “neglectful” towards her daughter at Kennedy Plaza last fall, when she was returning from a doctor’s visit and speaking with a woman at the transportation hub who had been accused of taking drugs.  READ THE REST OF THE STORY

HOT

Being Kind

Restaurant pro Kelly Adams wrote a compelling piece "Please Be Kind, Patient, and Understanding When RI Restaurants Reopen."

She writes, "After reading a story about an ice cream shop on Cape Cod that opened up and promptly closed because customers were being so rude to the employees, I felt something needed to be said. 

As many restaurants get ready to open on a very limited basis it's important that you, the guest, understand that you are not going back to the same place. Yes, physically you are going back to that restaurant you once loved but very few things will be the same. 

First, the menu will look different. Limited seating and limited staff means a limited menu. Please don't be upset if your favorite item is currently not on the menu. As time goes on and we are allowed to serve more guests your favorites will eventually return. Until then please don't yell at your server because you can't get that item you had three months ago. Chances are also very high you can't make substitutions the way you once did. Again, we are not dealing with a full staff or a massive walk-in of produce the way we once did. Until restaurants are fully operational, they will have limited ability to deal with special requests." READ THE REST HERE

HOT

URI Spinoff

The Slater Fund and a group of individual investors have invested $600,000 in Alcinous Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology startup spun out of the labs at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy.

The company was founded in 2017 by three Ph.D. students at the URI College of Pharmacy—Nicholas DaSilva, Kenneth Rose, and Benjamin Barlock—who saw the promise of harnessing computing power to explore molecular dynamics simulations, providing valuable insights into how molecules interact. 

The company has focused its efforts on developing PARP inhibitors (molecules that disable DNA repair mechanisms in cancerous cells). The company is currently working on synthesizing a lead inhibitor that targets a heavily utilized protein found in rapidly dividing and difficult-to-treat cancers, according to the Slater Fund.

NOT

Telling Someone to Go Fall Down a Flight of Stairs

A Rhode Island woman posted pictures on Wednesday of students partying in close proximity to Providence College in apparent violation of state social distancing and mask orders.

One student then messaged her personally and told her to "go fall down a flight of stairs."

Briel Delmonaco told GoLocalProv she was driving through the neighborhood when she saw the group congregating on Eaton Avenue -- and said she was disturbed. 

“I was not trying to shame anyone, [but I was] totally disheartened with everything all of us are going through, this was so disrespectful and unsafe,” said Delmonaco.  "I mean, they could have gone and partied in the backyard if they wanted to."

Delmonaco said that after posting the pics, she “began getting friend requests” from students at PC — as well as threats.

"I’m in the event industry. I don't need the threats. We’ve been absolutely devastated. We’re not getting aid or funding and we’ll be out way longer than most," said Delmonaco. "I have not said one bad thing until now. But this was too much."

NOT

Hmm

The Pawtucket Red Sox are one of the recipients of federal small business funds under the Payroll Protection Program, GoLocal has confirmed.

The PawSox ownership group is comprised of a group of men who are multi-millionaires and billionaires, including a corporate entity tied to the team's parent company that owns the Boston Red Sox.

The team confirmed in a statement to GoLocal, “The loan facility is being used by minor league teams all over America, and it enables us to avoid furloughs and/or payroll reductions, as is intended by the legislation."
 

Pawtucket, Worcester, and PPP

This season was supposed to be the final season to be played at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. The team has received tens of millions in subsidies from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Worcester to move.

The team is presently building a new stadium in Worcester - Polar Park. Construction resumed this week after being delayed due to the coronavirus.

The PawSox declined to disclose how much in federal small business funds they have received.

Jeff Lantz of Minor League Baseball said in a statement, “Nearly all of the eligible Minor League clubs applied for assistance, but that the names of the teams that received assistance is confidential unless a team wants to tell them how much they received. Of our clubs that were NOT eligible, it was usually due to them being Major League affiliate-owned, thus they had more than 500 total employees.”

The minor league baseball teams aren't the only pro teams receiving PPP funds.

"The Lakers applied for and received a loan of about $4.6 million under the stimulus package that Congress passed in March, but the team says it returned the money to the federal government. In a statement Monday, the Lakers said once they 'found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and the community,'" reported the LA Times.

The group of owners of the PawSox are worth an estimated $8 to $10 billion, and depending on how you book the value of Fenway Sports Management (a division of the Boston Red Sox’ parent company, Fenway Sports Group) which has an ownership position in the PawSox, the net worth maybe even higher.  Note: John Henry’s net worth is reported at $2.6 billion, according to Forbes. 

NOT

RI's Effort to Protect Minority Communities

Latino Public Radio's Reynaldo Almonte asked Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo a series of questions on Monday at the first briefing open to press in a over a month - and raised concerns about her administration's response and effort to educate the Latino community of the risks of the coronavirus.

In Rhode Island, the minority community has taken the brunt of the infections. According to Rhode Island data, 44% of all cases are Latino and 13% are in the Black community. Combined the two groups represent 24 percent of the state's population, but have contracted 57% of the disease.

Raimondo defended her administration’s response, “We are working overtime to communicate to the Latino community.”

However, it was nearly two months before there was significant testing capacity established in areas in high populations of Latinos —Central Falls, Pawtucket, and Providence. Two of the state's largest testing facilities which were available 7-days a week were constructed in South Kingstown and Warwick. Those areas of the state have the fewest cases. South Kingstown has had just 78 cases.

NOT

Next Pandemic

Yap Seng Chong and Swaine Chen wrote a column warning Americans that this is not our last pandemic.

"Outbreaks of infections have long plagued humanity, and changed history. The Black Death ripped through Europe in the middle of the 14th Century, killing a third of the population. Smallpox brought by European explorers helped seal the fate of the Americas 400 years ago. And in a mere four months, COVID-19 has transformed much of life in the 21st Century.

The mortal impact of infections is undeniably important. But even more dramatic are the victories that humanity has won against them. These are less sensationalized, likely because they require sustained, steady effort.

The understanding of aseptic technique began a long battle against surgical bacterial infections; the modern fruits of our success in this battle range from life-saving organ transplantation to cosmetic day surgery. Vaccines have slashed rates of childhood mortality from bacterial and viral infections; this provides reproductive security, driving modern economic development by enabling couples to have fewer children while increasing their education and productivity." READ THE REST HERE

NOT

Chuck Todd 

It took days but Meet the Press's Chuck Todd finally apologized.

President Donald Trump blasted Todd after the show aired a clip on Sunday showing Attorney General Bill Barr apparently painting the exoneration of Rhode Island native General Michael Flynn as political - but failing to show Barr's whole statement, where he stood by what he said was the judicial merit of the decision. 

“President Trump called for Chuck Todd, host of NBC's “Meet the Press,” to be fired after the program issued an apology for “inadvertently and inaccurately” cutting short a clip of remarks made by Attorney General William Barr about former national security adviser Michael Flynn,” reported The Hill.

The clip NBC played showed CBS reporter Catherine Herridge asking Barr how history might view his efforts to dismiss charges against Flynn.

'Well, history's written by the winners. So it largely depends on who's writing the history,' Barr replied. 

Todd on the show said he was struck by "the cynicism of the answer."

"It's a correct answer. But he's the attorney general. He didn't make the case that he was upholding the rule of law," Todd said. 'He was almost admitting that, yeah, this is a political job."

In an extended clip, shown in full by CBS News, Barr is seen responding with further justification of his actions.

"Well, history is written by the winners. So it largely depends on who's writing the history. But I think a fair history would say that it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law," said Barr. "It helped, it upheld the standards of the Department of Justice, and it undid what was an injustice."