Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - May 24, 2019

HOT

T.F. Green 

Double win for everyone living in Southern New England.

First, State officials and Rhode Island Airport Corporation leaders announced Tuesday that Sun Country will be adding direct international flights to the Dominican Republic beginning this November. This is a major expansion of service at T.F. Green.

Sun Country joins Air Canada and Norwegian Air with direct international flights from T.F. Green.

The addition of direct flights is expected to be a boon to both family travel and tourism.

The route will be seasonal from November through April beginning November 16. Initially, flights will be available once a week on Saturdays, but will expand to twice a week (Wednesdays/Saturdays) starting December 25.

"We announce a great new international route that will benefit the airport, Rhode Island’s tourism economy and Rhode Island’s strong and vibrant Latino community,” said Iftikhar Ahmad, president and CEO of the RIAC. “Rhode Island is home to thousands of Dominicans who will now be able to enjoy the convenience of traveling nonstop from T.F. Green Airport."

Then, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation on Wednesday announced that Southern Airways Express will begin offering service to Nantucket in June.

“We have every reason to believe T.F. Green is the perfect access point for those looking to get to Nantucket quickly and hassle-free and we are very pleased to announce Southern Airways Express as our newest airline partner,” said Ahmad.
Service will begin from Providence on June 13th and will continue through October 14.  Flights will operate daily, except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with fares beginning at $179 each way. Tickets are on sale now.

HOT

Bernie Sanders

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Opioid Crisis Accountability and Results Act.

The federal act comes as Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced a lawsuit today against former Purdue Pharma CEO Richard Sackler and seven family members who served on Purdue’s Board of Directors for deliberately misrepresenting the risks of the drug OxyContin.

“We know that pharmaceutical companies lied about the addictive impacts of opioids they manufactured. They knew how dangerous these products were, but refused to tell doctors and patients. While some of these companies have made billions each year in profits, not one of them has been held fully accountable for its role in an epidemic that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year. At a time when local, state and federal governments are spending many billions of dollars a year dealing with the impact of the opioid epidemic, we must hold the pharmaceutical companies and executives that created the crisis accountable,” said Sanders.

HOT

New Save the Bay Pier

Save The Bay officially opened its new public pier at Save The Bay's Fields Point headquarters in Providence on Monday. 

“We are delighted and proud to announce the opening of our new public dock and pier, open to all, for fishing, launching a kayak, watching osprey soar, or simply taking in the extraordinary beauty of the Bay. We invite our neighbors in South Providence, Washington Park, and Edgewood, and welcome all visitors from near and afar, to enjoy the new pier and grounds at Fields Point. And we thank our many partners and donors who helped make our vision of a new public pier a reality,” said Save The Bay Executive Director Jonathan Stone.

HOT

Sarah Potenza

Rhode Island's local vocal powerhouse Sarah Potenza returned to her hometown on Tuesday to accept the Smithfield High School Legion of Honor Award and perform at her high school alma mater.

You can go home again.

HOT

Becca Hurd

Actress and playwright Rebecca Hurd joined GoLocal Prov News Editor Kate Nagle on GoLocal LIVE to talk about premiering her one-woman show, “The Other Side of 25," on May 30 in Cranston. 

Hurd, who Skyped in from Chicago, talked about her training in obtaining a degree in acting from North Carolina, then an MFA from the acclaimed National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia, then moving to Chicago to hone her comedy skills. 

“I thought, OK, the best way I could market all of my skills would be creating a one-woman show for myself and I had this premise, and I started talking to fellow students, and as it’s very female-centric story, I wanted to have a primarily female-identifying creative team and was able to assemble an amazing team of creatives,” said Hurd. 

“It’s about a young woman named Amory, who is quite cynical and she’s quite narcissistic. She doesn’t want to have kids, she’s having some trouble growing up, but her older sister is trying to get pregnant and is having trouble doing so, so reluctantly Amory agrees to become the surrogate mother for her sister and things are going pretty well,” said Hurd. “When she’s four months along with the pregnancy, she’s finally starting to get the hang of it — she might even be liking it a little — but then something happens that she has to now take care of this child by herself which is something she never intended to do. So she kind of ends up stuck pregnant on the other side of 25.”

The Other Side of 25 is being performed at The Artists’ Exchange in Cranston May 30 through June 2. For more information visit www.artists-exchange.org/events.html.

HOT

Kindness

A man saying that he is homeless — and dying of stage IV cancer — who dropped his cat off at a Warwick animal clinic last week, leaving a note saying that he hoped they could find his cat a home, is getting his wish. 

His cat is getting a new home. 

GoLocalProv.com reported on Thursday, "Homeless RI Man Dying of Cancer Seeks Help Finding Home for Cat."

And Chad Callanan with Rhode Island Animal Medical Center and Four Paws Pet Resort said that cat is going not just to a good home — but a great home. 

HOT

Teacher of the Year

Smithfield High School’s Elizabeth Russillo was named the 2020 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year at a surprise ceremony with Governor Gina Raimondo and Education Deputy Commissioner Mary Ann Snider.

As Teacher of the Year, Russillo will work with RIDE throughout the 2019-2020 school year to support education statewide, including a special focus on educator recognition initiatives. She is also eligible to represent Rhode Island as the National Teacher of the Year.

“Innovation and excellence are key to success in life, and that all starts in the classroom. Elizabeth Russillo embodies both of these characteristics in all she does, and that shines through in her students. I want to congratulate Liz and the entire community at Smithfield High School for their shared commitment to providing an outstanding education,” said Raimondo.

HOT

Heather Evans

There are two paths -- one is 'cooler and warmer' and the other is 'fun-sized.'

Evans, a former head of marketing at ITG and J.P. Morgan, was named by Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor as the new Chief Marketing Officer at the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.

As Chief Marketing Officer, she will lead the coordinated, data-driven statewide efforts to attract tourists and businesses to Rhode Island.

She is a graduate of both Harvard and Harvard Business School.

Evans will appear on GoLocalLIVE on Friday May 24 at noon. 

NOT

The Future of Local Newspaper Journalism

Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said that he believes most local newspapers will close in the next few years. He made the comments before the INMA World Congress of News Media.

Baquet said:

"The future of newspapers: “The greatest crisis in American journalism is the death of local news. ... I don’t know what the answer is. Their economic model is gone. I think most local newspapers in America are going to die in the next five years, except for the ones that have been bought by a local billionaire. ...

“I don’t know what the answer is, but I think that everybody who cares about news — myself included, and all of you — should take this on as an issue. Because we’re going to wake up one day and there are going to be entire states with no journalism or with little tiny pockets of journalism. … I’m not worried about Los Angeles and New York. I don’t know what the model is for covering the school boards in Newark, New Jersey. That makes me nervous.”

NOT

Ability of City of Providence to Track Lobbyists

The list of who is lobbying Providence City officials is outdated and city officials say that they are not keeping it up to date.

If you are looking for who is currently lobbying for Fane Tower or if Lifespan has a new lobbyist — good luck. You will not be able to find on the City of Providence’s database.

The last update to the public list was February 4, 2019.

The Providence City Clerk’s office is required to maintain the listing.

“It is current as of January 2019. We plan to update it as time allows, every six months. If you click on the department's tab of the city council home page it takes you to the clerks. There click lobbyists. It's not perfect, but we are trying to upgrade our site every day,” said Billy Kepner, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications.

He works for City Council President Sabina Matos.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will make sure it gets updated asap. I will work with the Clerk office to make sure this doesn’t happen again," said Matos in a text to GoLocal.

NOT

More Cuts at Projo

The latest reports are that as many as six more staffers in the Providence Journal newsroom have been cut, including sports and news staffers.

Managing Editor Alan Rosenberg did not respond to a request for comment on the layoffs. Across the country, GateHouse -- the Providence Journal’s parent company -- slashed a reported 200 jobs on Thursday.

Mike Reed of the Projo's parent company told Business Insider that the cuts were "immaterial" to the company.

“Mike Reed — CEO of GateHouse’s parent company, New Media Investment Group — told Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds, ‘We are doing a small restructuring — at least that’s what I would call it — that I’m sure will be misreported. We have 11,000 employees. This involves a couple of hundred,’” reports Poynter.

NOT

“Uninhabitable Squalor”

The first of what lawyers say will be upwards of 40 lawsuits were filed in Superior Court on Tuesday alleging the Park Plaza development in Johnston has been “grossly negligent.”

The lawsuit filed in Superior Court on behalf of a Johnston mother Emily Valle and on behalf of her children allege that the owners of the Johnston property and two management companies, “Throughout her residency at Park Plaza, Plaintiff has endured a number of hazardous and unhealthy conditions on the premises, including flooding, water damage, dangerous microbial growth, and contamination caused by the wanton neglect of the defendants."

The suit goes on to allege, “As a result of continued exposure to the hazards and contamination at the premises of Park Plaza, Plaintiff and her children have suffered numerous injuries, including but not limited to respiratory & pulmonary symptoms, severe emotional distress, and property damage. Despite Plaintiff’s repeated complaints to the defendants, little was done to remediate the hazards in her apartment until recently.”

The six-count complaint claims “As a result of Defendants’ wanton, willful, and reckless neglect of the premises at Park Plaza, Plaintiff and her children have suffered personal injuries, property damage, pain and suffering, and have otherwise been greatly damnified.”

NOT

Dressbarn to Close All 650 Stores — Retail Apocalypse Continues

The retail conglomerate Ascena Retail Group Inc. announced it is closing all 650 Dressbarn stores.  The closures affect all eight locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

6,800 employees will be impacted.

“The closure of Dressbarn caps a years-long retreat for the brand, which only a few years ago accounted for more than $1 billion in sales. Dressbarn parent Ascena also owns women’s apparel brands Ann Taylor and Loft, among others,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

The Dress Barn closure pushes the number of retail closings to nearly 7,000 and completely eclipses the record number of store closures reported in 2018.

Company officials are seeking to assure customers that in the short-term stores would remain open as usual, and customers can continue to shop on the Dressbarn.com website and use the Dressbarn credit card.