Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - August 8, 2025

HOT

What I Saw With PC This Summer - Kevin Stacom

Kevin Stacom has a great look at PC Friars this summer:

Among all the rapid fire changes that have taken place in college basketball the last few years, the one that has fallen below a lot of fans' radar amidst all the tumult of NIL, the Portal, the huge sums of money involved and the concurrent legal wrangling present and to come, is the fact that a few years ago the NCAA allowed for and put forth regulations concerning summer workouts for men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The basic guidelines are that basketball players can participate in a limited amount of athletically related activities, including strength training, conditioning, and skill instruction, up to 8 hours per week, with a mandatory 2 days off per week.

Within the last few weeks, I was fortunate enough to attend a few of these sanctioned workouts along with a couple of my former teammates. On display was the majority of what is to be this year’s upcoming 2025-2026 Providence roster. READ MORE

HOT

Best of the Best

Preserve Rhode Island (Preserve RI) has announced the recipients of its 2025 Rhody Awards for Historic Preservation.  

According to Preserve RI, this year’s recipients are being honored for work that includes "protecting and restoring iconic landmarks that enhance the state’s tourism industry and connects Rhode Islanders to our shared history; converting abandoned mill buildings into much needed housing and commercial spaces for local businesses and restaurants; and creating community spaces that help build local economies."

“I am incredibly impressed with the achievements of these awardees. This year’s slate of projects and people demonstrates preservation excellence," said Sheryl Hack, Executive Director of Preserve RI. "It’s an honor to celebrate them.”

READ MORE

HOT

Ella McCay Is Coming

In 2024, some big Hollywood stars were in Rhode Island filming Ella McCay.

The film stars Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks, Woody Harrelson, and a host of other notables.

The movie, the brainchild of Academy Award-winning writer/director James L. Brooks, is arriving only in theaters on December 12.

GoLocal started tracking the development of the film in 2023.

Watch the trailer here. 

HOT

HOT ZIP

What Rhode Island community is one of the hottest zip codes in America for home sales?

Newport’s 02840? Nope.

East Side of Providence’s 02906? Wrong again.

In a new ranking of the hottest zip codes for housing in America, the Northeast dominates.

Realtor.com’s Hottest ZIP Code rankings take into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique viewers per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on the website. 

Realtors.com says, “Listings in the top 10 ZIPs saw significantly more traffic than the typical listing nationwide. On average, homes received between 3.3 and 5.2 times the number of views per property compared to the U.S. norm in the first half of 2025. Homes also moved much faster, selling between 30 and 42 days quicker than the national norm. This combination of high traffic and rapid sales underscores the urgency and competitiveness that define these markets. Buyers in these areas are ready to act quickly and decisively, deviating from the more mellow national market.”

The Rhode Island zip code that made the top ten is Cumberland, which ranks as the 8th hottest in the U.S.

Cumberland’s 02864 and the median asking price is $580,000 — $60,000 higher than the state’s average. The community with the hottest ZIP in America is Beverly, MA.

NOT

Fake PR - Amica Brings Celtics to Town for Press Event, But No Questions

Big Corporations and Big Sports want the feel-good brand-building press coverage, but more and more are refusing to answer questions. 

If it is about the kids, you don't need the press. Spend more time with the children.

This week, Amica put the clamps on the press at a community event with the Boston Celtics in Providence. "Please note Joe Mazzulla and Jayson Tatum will not be available for interviews following the event."

It was a nice event for the local kids. It really should have been private.

Not a good look. No questions, then no coverage.

NOT

Slashing

The job slashing in America’s newsrooms is continuing — and more are likely to hit the Rhode Island market.

Gannett Co. Inc., the parent company of the Providence Journal, is offering employees voluntary buyout packages.

The Providence Journal’s weekday print circulation has plummeted to 16,000 per day.

“Given our static revenue trends, we need to adjust our organization to effectively meet the needs of our business today and position ourselves for sustainable growth in the future as we continue to use AI and leverage automation to realize efficiencies,” longtime Gannett CEO Mike Reed said in a memo to staff on Thursday.

“And saying Gannett’s revenue has been 'static' in recent years is charitable; the company’s annual sales decreased from $3.21 billion in 2021 to $2.51 billion in 2024, with revenue dropping each year along the way,” wrote The Wrap.

“This is a moment to tap into AI-driven automation across our workflows and back office processes, which is expected to unlock an additional layer of operational efficiency,” Gannett's chief financial officer, Trisha Gosser, said during an earnings call last Thursday.

The company plans $100 million in cuts and increases to subscription prices. "To support our long-term growth objectives, we are implementing targeted annualized expense reductions of approximately $100 million that we anticipate will create a lower and more variable cost structure," said Reed.

READ THE FULL LIST

PHOTO: Nijwam Swargiary, Unsplash

NOT

PC Coach English Posts That Newspaper’s Article Is “Click Bait,” Then Closes His X Account

Providence College Men's Basketball Coach Kim English took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday and criticized Providence Journal sports reporter Bill Koch.

The trigger to English's frustration seemed fairly innocuous.

First, Koch had tweeted a quote from the PC Coach.

Koch posted, “Kim English — ‘I don’t want a replay of last season.’” Koch added more — read Koch's full tweet below.

It was all pretty vanilla.

English, however, did not respond well. The Friar coach posted, “Click bait is alive and well in 2025. Twitter is officially the equivalent of a 2010 message board.”

“‘Replay of last season’ …was about rotational issues. Go off and get the clicks.”

English’s Tweet seemed a bit of an overreaction to the Koch quote — which were English's own words. 

Shortly after English’s Tweet, he closed his X account.

GoLocal asked Providence College’s Arthur Parks, the Sr. Assoc. Athletic Director/Media Relations, if the Department had asked English to close his X account.

Parks wrote in an email to GoLocal, “Coach English was not asked to delete his X account. He manages all his personal social media accounts. He determines what accounts he has and how and when he uses those accounts.”

English came off a difficult season with the uncertainty of Bryce Hopkins, and the Friars finished 12-20 overall and 6-14 in the Big East.

Koch’s paper also had a difficult year, with its print circulation during the week falling to 16,000 papers. 

NOT

New Campaign Finance Reports Underscore McKee’s Big Political Troubles

Governor Dan McKee continues to claim he is running for reelection.

But the recently reported fundraising numbers for the second quarter unveil a growing “ABM” movement — Anyone But McKee.

McKee’s first elected term as governor has been riddled by controversies — the Washington Bridge, high-level staffers forced to resign, a failing healthcare system, the financing of the minor league soccer stadium in Pawtucket, the potential loss of Hasbro, and his continued retention of Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti.

An incumbent governor should be able to rake in the money. However, McKee was trounced in fundraising both by Speaker Joe Shekarchi and former CVS president Helena Foulkes. Neither Shekarchi nor Foulkes has formally announced.

With McKee’s approval ratings between 19% and 25% in recent credible polling, McKee is one of the lowest-ranked governors in America. READ MORE