Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not? - October 6, 2017

HOT

Seth Magaziner

The state’s General Treasurer announced this week that the Rhode Island pension fund has divested roughly $500 million away from hedge fund investments. That’s a wise move by the Treasurer, and it should begin to pay serious dividends as we move forward.

Remember, earlier this month, legendary, folksy investor Warren Buffett won his bet with a hedge fund that they couldn’t outperform the S&P 500. What made Governor Gina Raimondo, when she was Treasurer, think she was smarter than Buffett?

HOT

Kobi Dennis

The Providence community organizer has thrown his hat into the ring.

Claiming the Elorza administration has forgotten its mission, Dennis will challenge Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza in next year’s election. Dennis is opposed to the proliferation of parking meters, the condition of the city’s schools, and the amount of crime in the city.

People who know Dennis like him. But can he get his name out there and meet enough people to have a chance to topple Elorza in a Democratic Primary? Time will tell.

HOT

John Della Volpe

While other media outlets and Brown University have scaled back their polling operations, GoLocal announced this week that it has teamed up with John Della Volpe and his SocialSphere organization, literally one of the best polling agencies in the world, to give Rhode Islanders some perspective of how we stand on the issues and its politicians and candidates.

This will be a major asset to Rhode Islanders over next year’s campaign season.

HOT

Emily Luther

The Woonsocket native is faring very well on NBC’s The Voice. She wowed the judges with a fantastic rendition of “Summertime” on Tuesday night.

Here’s hoping she continues her excellence as the show moves forward.

HOT

Ben Togbay

This amazing 6th grader from Portsmouth will be awarded the RI Black Business Association’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the organization’s annual gala. Ben created a company that sells cookies and lemonade on hot days in an effort to raise money for Boy Scout camp. It was a great success.

The event takes place tonight at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Warwick. This is an excellent organization that works to help minority business owners thrive here in Rhode Island. They deserve our support.

HOT

Columbus Day Festival

This weekend we celebrate all things Federal Hill since it’s the annual Columbus Day Festival.

Do yourself a favor, head up to The Hill, grab yourself a fried dough, or a sausage and peppers, and some delicious dolce. Here’s hoping the weather cooperates with the events this weekend.

NOT

Gina Raimondo

The Governor told an audience at Brown University that she cannot get her message out because the Providence Journal’s staff has been reduced too much and that the other media outlets are too tough on her.

She must have some really poor internal poll numbers if she is whining about the press coverage she’s receiving. Sorry Governor, the media’s job is to ask tough questions on behalf of our readers and viewers, not serve as de facto public relations agents. God knows you have hired enough of those with taxpayer money.

(The Governor later apologized for slamming the media.)

NOT

Jorge Elorza

The accountants at Enron would be proud. The Mayor of Providence is touting that the city has a $10 million surplus this year thanks to his excellent budget management skills.

You’d never know, judging from his self-congratulatory press release, that the city is drowning in red ink, with liabilities of about $1 billion for the pension system and then another $1 billion for the city’s health care obligations.

NOT

CBS

The legacy media company was forced to fire one of its top Vice Presidents this week after she said that some of the victims of the Las Vegas massacre didn’t deserve sympathy since they’re likely “Republican gun-toters."

This woman clearly needs a mental health evaluation and potentially some time away in a hospital if she thinks someone doesn’t deserve sympathy if they’re a Republican who owns a gun.

CBS was correct to fire this person, but her comments still reflected poorly on the company, since she held a senior leadership position.

NOT

37%

That’s the percentage decline by which the number of journalists nationwide has fallen. That’s not a positive sign for American democracy, since sunlight is the best disinfectant to government and business corruption.

NOT

Las Vegas Massacre

Gun violence has struck our nation once again, this time in the form of the largest gun massacre in the history of the country during what should have been a peaceful concert in perhaps America’s best-known tourist destination.

This is another sad reminder of the fragility of life and the fact that we need to live our lives to the fullest, since we never know the time or the hour when it could end.

NOT

St. Joseph’s Pension Fund

There is certainly plenty of blame to go around with respect to the bankruptcy of the St. Joseph’s Pension Fund. The Diocese of Providence, Roger Williams Medical Center, and CharterCARE all failed to make necessary pension contributions that would have been required to keep the fund afloat. Those organizations deserve the bulk of the blame for failing to protect the retirement funds of the workers in those organizations.