Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - September 6, 2019

HOT

Mountie Pride

Rhode Island’s Brian Boucher will replace Pierre McGuire on NBC’s top NHL broadcast team, according to The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello.

Boucher will provide analysis between the benches alongside play-by-play man Doc Emrick and analyst Eddie Olcyzk.

McGuire will still do games for NBC, just not with Emrick and Olcyzk, according to reports. 

About Boucher

Boucher is from Woonsocket, Rhode Island and attended Mount St. Charles Academy.

He was selected in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, Boucher played 13 seasons in the NHL.

He holds the NHL record with five straight shutouts and 332 consecutive scoreless minutes during the 2003-04 season.

Boucher joined NBC Sports during the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.

He will be inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame on Friday, September 6 at Twin River Casino.

Boucher joined GoLocal LIVE earlier this year to preview the Stanley Cup Final between the Bruins and the St. Louis Blues.

PHOTO: NBC Sports press photo

HOT

Blackie's Bulldog Tavern 

Here is proof that all great Rhode Island restaurants aren't located in Providence or Newport.

Blackie's has moved into its new location at 280 George Washington Highway in Smithfield just up the road from the Lincoln Mall.

But, one thing Blackie's offers that few others do is an extensive vegan, paleo, and gluten-free menus -- not an afterthought. 

They write:

Blackie’s is a neighborhood eatery cozied into the heart of Smithfield, Rhode Island. We pride ourselves on having fresh, seasonal menu items suited for everyone, including our allergen sensitive friends. Visiting us for a meal means whether you are gluten-free, vegan, follow the paleo or keto lifestyle, we have your back. Your food memories matter to us, and we always want them to be filled with choices, freedom, warmth and inclusion.

Owners Jeanine Iannucci and Executive Chef Angie Armenise, are true foodies at heart; dedicated to using local ingredients, making and executing Blackie’s offerings from scratch daily, giving back to the community, and fostering a positive environment for the Blackie’s team. We truly love what we do! Whether you join us for a juicy, decadent burger or clean livin’ selection, we are honored you came to visit….

HOT

Jon Campbell

The Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame is set to welcome Jon Campbell as a 2019 inductee during his induction concert at Wakefield’s Pump House Music Works.

The concert will take place on Saturday, September 14 at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

The concert was originally scheduled for April 26, but was postponed because Campbell was sick. 

About Campbell

After several decades focusing on instrumental music, playing with uilleann piper Pat Sky and Irish ceili bands in Denver, Boston and Providence and contributing to several best-selling albums for North Star Records, Campbell began making up songs.

It had become obvious that Coastal Rhode Island was fertile ground for this undertaking and the operating principle of "write about what you know about" offered a lot of possibilities. 

With subjects such as regional cuisine, tourists, swamp Yankees, commercial fishing, politics, and local history, he produced three albums with Narragansett singer Joe Houlihan, another with Keith Munslow, and four albums as a solo artist. Although most of the songs are quirky with a very personal perspective, a surprising number have been recorded by artists in Europe and America such as Irish singers Tommy Makem and Robbie O'Connell and others from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Cape Disappointment, Washington.

His work has been archived by the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and the Rhode Island Historical Society. 

Since 1982, Campbell has been a Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Folk Artist. 95% of his performances take place “line of sight to saltwater.”

PHOTO: RI Music Hall of Fame 

HOT

Women of Achievement

The YWCA of Rhode Island is set to honor 13 women as part of its 15th annual “Women of Achievement” awards.

“This year's recipients are a diverse group including a historian, event planning & fundraising consultant, deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, state commissioner for USA Softball of Rhode Island, executive director of the Tomaquag Museum as well as activists, advocates, and educators,” says the YWCA.

This year's recipients are:

Dr. Barbara Mullen
Marcela Betancur
Lorén M. Spears
Beth Bixby
Christine McDermott
Kibbe Reilly
Aniece Germain
Linda Katz
Angela Bannerman Ankoma
Ana Novais
Anne Conway 
Robin Murphy
*Bev Wiley

An "Organization of the Year" Award will also be recognized by YWCA Rhode Island at the event: Landmark Medical Center/ Prime Healthcare Services.

The Event

The luncheon will take place on Thursday, November 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln.

HOT

Great Theater

The Wilbury Theatre Group is set to open its 2019-2020 Main Series season with the show “Waiting for Godot,” by Samuel Beckett.

"Like so many in the theatre, reading Waiting for Godot was one of my earliest encounters with Samuel Beckett's incredible skill as a storyteller, a skill that still today is capable of making audiences cry tears of laughter and existential despair simultaneously,” said Wilbury Artistic Director Josh Short

Performances will run from September 26 through October 20.

HOT

Farm of the Year

Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield has been named Rhode Island’s 2019 Outstanding Dairy Farm by the Rhode Island Green Pastures Committee, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management announced on Wednesday.

"Wright’s Dairy Farm is one of our state’s finest dairy farms and is most deserving of this special recognition. Customers who visited the dairy farm as children now bring their own children to buy milk, cream, and bakery items and watch the cows being milked. The success enjoyed by the Wright family and other Rhode Island dairy farmers is helping to protect and preserve hundreds of acres of farmland that will support continued agricultural endeavors well into the future,” said DEM Director Janet Coit.

According to the DEM, Wright’s Dairy Farm was chosen for this award due to the Wright Family’ long-term commitment to dairy farming and community ties.

About Wright’s Dairy Farm

Wright’s Dairy is a fifth-generation family dairy farm celebrating over 100 years of producing and selling dairy and bakery products direct to the consumer. 

NOT

Retiring In Rhode Island

Both Providence and Warwick are ranked as two of the worst cities in America to retire, according to a new study.

Of the 182 cities tracked Providence is ranked at near the bottom #173 and Warwick, even lower at #180 — third-worst in the U.S.

The best place in America to retire is Orlando, Florida, according to the study.

WalletHub compared 182 U.S. cities across 46 key measures of affordability, quality of life, health care and availability of recreational activities. The data set ranges from cost of living to retired taxpayer-friendliness to share of the population aged 65 and older.

NOT

Tuition Bills in RI

College tuition bills in Rhode Island are the highest in the country, according to a new study released by Move.org.

According to the study, RI’s average in-state tuition is $30,879, while out-of-state tuition is $33,908.

"We looked at all public and private colleges in each state that offer bachelor’s degrees and higher," said the report.

“Despite being the smallest state in the U.S., there’s nothing tiny about Rhode Island’s college tuition. With an average in-state tuition of $30,879, it costs—drumroll please—$27,494 more per year to attend school in the Ocean State than in Wyoming, the cheapest U.S. state for college,” writes Move.org about Rhode Island.

Brown University reports that the cost to attend for the 2018-2019 academic year which included $54,320 for tuition, $9,120 for rooming, $5,550 for boarding, $2,017 for personal expenses, $1,595 for books, and $1,236 for fees — totaling roughly $73,892.

Efforts for by Governor Gina Raimondo to provide free college tuition at Rhode Island College was not adopted by the RI General Assembly in 2019.

RI is also one of five New England states that rank in the top 10 among most expensive college tuitions.

The other New England states are Vermont, who ranks second, Massachusetts, who ranks third, New Hampshire, who ranks seventh, and Connecticut, who ranks eighth, according to the study.

“New England wins (ahem, loses) with some of the highest college costs. Meanwhile, the Southwest and mountain states boast the lowest tuition in the country,” writes Move.org.

NOT

City of Providence

Simply, does anyone who works at -- or for -- the City of Providence care?

This past week GoLocal uncovered a dumping ground at Hope High School.

This was not an issue of urban v. suburban or rich v. poor, it is a case of no one in the City of Providence checking on a badly performing vendor.

The scene looks like an environmental contamination zone from the 1980s.

As GoLocal reported:

The areas adjacent to the tennis courts and fields at Hope High School in Providence are littered with dozens of 55-gallon barrels and other containers.

In the bushes are dozens of other containers. Most of the barrels and containers are marked with warning labels that the materials are “cancer causing” or “product not to be stored in direct sunlight.” 

The barrels are not secured — haphazardly dumped, some without tops. On some of the containers, the tops can be easily removed. Others have liquid in them and do have tops.

Just beyond the tennis courts is the school's track, and there is a playground at the facility about 75 yards away -- all accessible to the public. 

Some of the littered containers are marked, “Keep out of reach of children.”

NOT

Narragansett

Something is awfully strange in the beautiful seaside town.

Despite residents voting in strong support of building a new library at the Belmont building in town, the Council is selling off the location to an out-of-state developer and financing the deal.

Hmmm.

PHOTO: Narragansett Town Libary of the existing structure