Every Friday, GoLocalProv takes a look at who is rising and who is falling in Rhode Island politics, business, culture, and sports.
This week -- Raimondo spin, 401Gives big impact, and dangerous levels of unemployment.
Now, we are expanding the list, the political perspectives, and we are going to a GoLocal team approach while encouraging readers to suggest nominees for who is "HOT" and who is "NOT."
The United Way of Rhode Island's effort to raise $1 million in one day for local nonprofits was first brainstormed 18-months ago.
The initiative ended up hitting during one of the worst economic downturns in American history.
The unexpected happened. Rhode Islanders went into their wallets, their pockets, and their couch cushions and pulled out $1.2 million for neighbors in need.
While many have stepped up to support restaurants and frontline emergency workers, so, there are numerous local nonprofits that could use a little help at this time. Kudos to the team at Northpointe and Zach Levesque.
“At Northpointe, we feel that we have a responsibility to support the communities in which we operate, we feel this even more now with all of those affected by this pandemic that is crippling our economy, and forcing people out of work," said Levesque.
"We wanted to do something right away that would help, and we have donated $3,500.00 directly to the Izzy Foundation, which is housed at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and operates to feed the families and patients of the hospital daily. This will also support the struggling restaurants in our community, as we are ordering the food from 10+ restaurants in and around Rhode Island,” he added.
An exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal unveiled that the New England Patriots' team plane is being used to fly critical supplies from China to Massachusetts.
The plane is housed at T.F. Green Airport.
The WSJ reported:
"At 3:38 a.m. Wednesday morning, the New England Patriots’ team plane departed from an unusual locale: Shenzhen, China. On board the Boeing 767, in the cargo hold that used to be home to Tom Brady’s duffel bags, were 1.2 million N95 masks bound for the U.S.
Video and pictures of the event show workers in masks and full-body suits at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport loading box after box of the scarce and valuable personal protective equipment onto a red, white and blue plane emblazoned with the Patriots logo and “6X CHAMPIONS.”
The plane was permitted to be on the ground in China for a maximum of three hours, people familiar with the matter said, and the crew was required to stay on the plane while a ground crew loaded the cargo. It took 2 hours and 57 minutes. On Thursday, that plane will land somewhere more familiar: Boston Logan International Airport."
After complaints and petitions by residents and businesses -- RIDOT finally relented.
RIDOT announced that the Gano Street off-ramp on I-195 will stay open as part of the plans for the Washington Bridge reconstruction project -- and will remain open for the foreseeable future.
RIDOT will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Washington Bridge rehabilitation design/build project in the coming week. The bridge is classified as structurally deficient and must be rehabilitated, according to RIDOT.
“Washington Bridge has to be rehabilitated," said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. "While we are doing this work, we need to make sure that as the rebuilding goes on, we are doing it in such a way that we will clear up as many traffic jams as we can. Our studies showed that keeping the ramp open will not cause traffic problems.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that Rhode Island has rescinded Governor Gina Raimondo’s Executive Order employing state police resources to stop, track, and enforce a self-quarantine of New Yorkers.
Cuomo said he spoke with Raimondo on Saturday, after he said on CNN he would sue Rhode Island if the order was not rescinded.
“I spoke to the Governor yesterday and we had a conversation,” said Cuomo. “I don’t think the order was called for, or legal or neighborly…I understood the point and she was very receptive and I thank her very much for reconsidering her position.”
Cuomo made the remarks during a public press conference on Sunday.
“New York is going to have what it needs. No one is going to attack NY unfairly and no one is going to deprive NY of what it needs. That’s why we have a state full of talented people,” said Cuomo. “There is no state in the nation that is better prepared or mobilized than what we’re doing.”
Raimondo ultimately backed down -- by quickly applying the enforcement to all out-of-state-plates so NY wouldn't be singled out.
The number of Rhode Islanders who have filed for unemployment insurance and temporary disability insurance tied to the economic downturn now tops more than 95,000 and that number is coupled with approximately 20,000 who were unemployed going into the coronavirus crisis.
The total number of Rhode Islanders at full employment is approximately 550,000.
Now, federal numbers were released on Thursday morning. The U.S. jobless claims hit 6.65 million.
Healthcare workers are hot -- but their situation is not.
GoLocal has learned that so far they comprise 21 percent of those that have tested positive for the coronavirus currently in Rhode Island.
The Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed the impact on healthcare workers.
“Of our 657 positive cases, 144 are healthcare workers. These are all healthcare workers (people in primary care offices, pharmacists, dental assistants, etc.), not just hospital workers,” said Joseph Wendelken, spokesperson for the Health Department.
The Rhode Island Department of Health announced 91 new coronavirus cases on Thursday afternoon for a total of 657 cases -- and announced that COVID-19 testing has been expanded to "all symptomatic Rhode Islanders."
RI's Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse refuse to comment on the Justice Department's probe into allegations that members of the United States Senate conducted, de facto, insider trading by dumping stock after receiving briefings on the impact of the coronavirus.
Both Reed and Whitehouse refused to respond to questions.
