Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not? - July 14, 2017

HOT

Nirva Rebecca LaFortune

LaFortune easily cruised to victory in the Democratic Primary to replace recalled councilman Kevin Jackson in Providence’s Ward-3. LaFortune prevailed over Mark Santow and Daniel Chaika.

LaFortune will move on to face Republican David Lallier Jr., and independent Chris Reynolds in the general election where she will be considered a heavy favorite.

HOT

NGA Meeting

The National Governor’s Association summer meeting here in Rhode Island, taking place this weekend, is shaping up to be the biggest ever, as roughly 30 Governors are attending, along with Vice President Mike Pence and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Hopefully the good press this meeting garners Rhode Island will translate into more tourism and economic development for Little Rhody.

HOT

Seth Magaziner

Just as Rhode Island was getting ready to host the National Governor’s Association meeting, General Treasurer Seth Magaziner announced that the state has been selected to host the annual National Treasurer’s Conference in May of 2019. That’s a nice snag for the Treasurer, and will have a positive impact on economic development.

HOT

Frank and Virginia Williams

The former Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice and world renowned Abraham Lincoln scholar and his wife Virginia have pledged to donate their Abraham Lincoln library collection to Mississippi State University.

The collection is comprised of more than 17,000 items, including artifacts, photographs, statues, paintings, popular prints, broadsides, philately, collectibles and miniatures, as well as numismatics. It is valued at more than $3 million.

It is a very nice gesture for the Williams’ to donate it to such a great university.

HOT

Restaurant Weeks

We are amidst the middle of Providence’s Summer Restaurant weeks, which means so many of our fantastic restaurants are offering tremendous deals on their most popular dishes. Everyone should make sure to capitalize on at least a great meal or two at affordable pricing. 

HOT

Jared Donaldson

Make no mistake about it, the Glocester, Rhode Island native is a rising star in the tennis world. Donaldson cruised through the first two rounds of Wimbledon last week before ultimately falling to Dominic Thiem, the 8th ranked player in the world.

Donaldson entered Wimbledon ranked 65th in the world, and we can expect that ranking to increase after the tournament. Here’s hoping he can make an even deeper run a  the US Open later this summer.

NOT

Gina Raimondo

GoLocal reports that earlier this budget season, the Governor’s legislative team pushed a provision into the now stalled state budget that would shift millions of dollars from state coffers to Twin River and their gaming partner IGT - once Rhode Island’s GTECH. Meanwhile, the Governor negotiated special access and speaking engagements to an executive from IGT at the National Governor’s Association meeting this week. That seems like quite the conflict of interest.

NOT

Meghan Hughes

The President of CCRI has overseen some questionable moves by the college over the last few years, including booting an in-house daycare center, a dental clinic that provided care to the needy, and recently renovating Margaret M. Jacob observatory and reopening it on July 8, but failing to pay the operator of the facility the amount of money he was promised.

The school has no trouble, however, to make room for Goldman Sachs’ program. No matter what, Wall Street will always be welcome, I guess.

NOT

Sheldon Whitehouse

The Junior US Senator from Rhode Island has seen his approval rating drop below 50 percent in a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult. None of this means that his reelection bid is in jeopardy, but it will undoubtedly embolden his potential challengers, including Republican state representative Robert Narolillo and former RI Supreme Court Justice Robert Flanders, both of which have shown interest in challenging Whitehouse.  

NOT

Twin River

Rhode Island’s casino is in yet another labor dispute, just weeks after averting a major strike by their food and beverage workers, the gambling house is at odds with its valet workers, represented by the Teamsters.

The casino wants the right to layoff the workers and subcontract out their jobs. It’s understandable why this would be problematic for the Teamsters. The casino would be better off if they relented on this issue since the public relations hit they will take would offset any cost savings they would gain.

NOT

45th

The annual CNBC rankings of the business climates of states are in, and as usual, Rhode Island doesn’t fare well, coming in at 45th. That’s slightly better than last year, when the state came in at 50th, but still nothing to brag about.

It’s not the type of press the state was looking for ahead of hosting the National Governor’s Association meeting.

NOT

Donald Trump Jr.

The son of President Trump finds himself in some hot water after revealing that he met with a Russian lawyer last year in an attempt to gain negative information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

This raises questions as to whether or not the Russian in question was acting in his capacity as an agent of the Russian government. If that’s the case, it indicates some level of collusion with a foreign power to influence the election.