Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not? - May 26, 2017

HOT

Dominick J. Ruggerio

The Senate President announced that any measure to provide tens of millions of dollars to the Pawtucket Red Sox so that they can build a brand new stadium with our money would not be considered in this year’s legislative session, since it’s coming to a finish and there’s not enough time to properly vet a potential deal. That’s good news, since there is no realistic economic feasibility study that’s been presented to justify such an outlay.  

HOT

Iftikhar Ahmad

The President and CEO of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation scored another major victory for T. F. Green Airport this week as Frontier Airlines announced that it would be providing nonstop service to both Orlando, Florida and Denver, Colorado. The addition of another airline represents another feather in Ahmad’s cap and some of the best economic development coming out of Rhode Island as of late.

HOT

Yanene Castedo

The impressive seventeen-year-old Central Falls resident and joint student at The Met School and CCRI, who was recently awarded the "Young Organizer of the Year" by the Young Democrats of Rhode Island plans on running for office in 2018--most like for the Central Falls City Council, joined GoLocal live earlier this week. It’s awesome to see young, talented, passionate folks getting involved for the right reasons.

HOT

John Lombardi

When Lombardi was appointed a municipal judge approximately two years ago, he told me that the creation of night court in Providence, so that folks who work during the day could have their say in court, was one of his top priorities. This week, the city council announced that night court will become a reality. This is a great common sense initiative.

Credit for this forward thinking idea should also be given to Chief Judge Frank Caprio as well as the city council.

HOT

Ken Bell

The iconic sportscaster from ABC 6 whose career spans over 30 years and so many different major championships from all the New England teams has announced his retirement. Bell’s retirement is a loss to local sportscasting, but Bell is hot for all the excellent sports reporting he’s done over the last 4 decades.

HOT

Donald Grebien

Say what you want about the Mayor of Pawtucket, but he’s a fighter. Even after it was apparent that any stadium deal for the Pawtucket Red Sox owners would not be happening this legislative session, Grebien still held a statehouse rally to implore Rhode Island leaders to make it happen so that the team would remain in Pawtucket. Even if you don’t think the deal, as proposed, should happen, you have to admire Grebien’s tenacity.

HOT

Justin Bieber

The world’s biggest pop star took another step to cement his place in history last week after his new hit song “Despacito” topped the charts--just one week after his other hit “I’m the One” (with DJ Khaled) placed first on the “Hot 100” list. That means Bieber is just the third artist in history to replace himself as number 1 on the charts, alongside the Beatles (ever hear of them?) and Usher, his mentor. 

HOT

Memorial Day

It’s Memorial Day weekend, so let’s enjoy the unofficial start of summer. But let’s not forget to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom and way of life.

NOT

Gina Raimondo

The Governor called the deal proposed by the Pawtucket Red Sox owners “good”, before actually seeing a final draft of the proposal. That’s a serious case of putting the cart before the horse, in my opinion. In fact, a good argument can be made that the state cannot afford to spend any money to help subsidize a stadium for the out-of-state millionaires who bought this team.

NOT

Peter Palumbo

The former state representative from Cranston has been indicted on charges of mishandling his campaign account, similar charges to what Providence Councilman Luis Aponte and Kevin Jackson are facing. The time has come for regular, random audits of campaign finance accounts by the Board of Elections.

NOT

Crimetown

The successful podcast by Gimlet media that detailed the corruption and organized criminal roots in Providence has produced T-Shirts with half of the late Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci’s face and half of the late crime boss Raymond Patriarca’s face. That’s unfair to Cianci, since he did much good for the city and placing his face next to a reputed mob boss tarnishes his image.

NOT

Ocean State Theatre

The theatre company with a great reputation for putting on solid plays and shows has decided to close its doors after being unable to come to terms with its landlord. That’s a sad subtraction from the local arts scene.

NOT

Manchester Terror Attack

The evil of terrorism has struck the West again, this time at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, where a suicide bomber killed 22 people. This is another sad, disgusting reminder that sick, disgusting evil exists in our world and that deranged people will kill innocents for no reason.

NOT

Distracted Drivers

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) recently released research that shows in 2016, traffic fatalities jumped nearly 18 percent in Rhode Island, about triple the national average. A large portion of this increase is attributed to distracted driving. Please stop texting while driving (if you do). Whatever it is can wait. Trust me.