HOT

New HBO Documentary

Want to see the 'golden age' of big city journalism by a couple of reporters who grew up in the city, never quite made it to college, but eventually were two of the best columnists New York has ever seen? 

Then, make an appointment to watch HBO's special "Breslin and Hamil: Deadline Artists." Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamil were bigger-than-life, tough journalists.

HOT

Angelo’s Civita Farnese’s Jamie Antignano

A staple to Historic Federal Hill’s Italian dining scene, Angelo’s Civita Farnese’s Jamie Antignano talked this week about the restaurant's history -- and new look -- with GoLocalProv’s Laura Afonso.

Opening in 1924, Angelo’s started as the “working man’s” restaurant, offering affordable and traditional meals whose recipes came directly from Italy.

A family owned and operated business, Antignano has been involved since she was a child, “My father and I are there every day and my mother does all of the baking. My dad is the third generation and he has had it for thirty years and that makes me the fourth generation. Our regulars have been dining with us for forty or fifty years, and our serves and chef have been around thirty, forty years as well."

Many of the dishes have been on the menu since the very beginning, Antignano says, “We want to be the best quality and the best price, and fast service. We pride ourselves of greeting you at the door and knowing your order when you sit down.”

Although Angelo’s still serves its classic dishes like meatballs and fries from 1924, they are also bringing new and fresh Italian dishes to the menu.

“We started making spaghetti donuts about six months ago and they’ve been a huge hit. It’s red sauce, cheese, pasta and egg for binding, and then we bake them. But we can do pink vodka sauce, alfredo, and pesto, and they’re so good” says Antignano.

Hot

Tom Brady 

Ninth Super Bowl appearance.  

That's hot. 

NOT

E-Scooter Injuries

GoLocal has found that at just four Rhode Island hospitals during the four-month period between October 2018 to January 2019, more than 20 e-scooter riders visited Lifespan Hospital emergency rooms. 

New data is emerging that the number of injuries and the severity of injuries tied to riding e-scooters like Bird and Lime are significant -- and shows that riders can be drunk, rarely wearing helmets and often under the legal age to operate.

E-Scooters are a combination of one of the newest iterations of the transformation of personal transportation, and a dangerous play toy that can pose a threat to the rider, pedestrian, and be a personal injury lawyer’s dream.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that over 10 percent of the injured were under 18 — the required age to operate the e-scooters — some taken to emergency rooms were as young as 8-years-old.

The study was based on data from just two hospitals — two emergency departments affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center–Santa Monica -- during a one year period between September 1, 2017, and August 31, 2018,

“This rapidly expanding technology is a disruptive force in short-distance transportation, and policymakers seeking to understand associated risks and appropriate regulatory responses should seriously consider its effects on public health. Riders share roads with fast-moving vehicular traffic but appear to underestimate hazards; we found that 94.3% of observed riders in our community were not wearing a helmet," wrote the study's authors.

NOT

Regulating Gas Pumping

Barry Hinckley's MINDSETTER™ column points out one of those RI regulatory burdens:

"In the summer, pumping gas, it’s just a nuisance having to stand there holding the nozzle while the rest of the industrialized world uses “hold-open clips” to fill their tanks. However, here in Rhode Island, in the winter, let alone during a Polar Vortex, it’s downright brutal that the powers that be force us to stand there and freeze to death while pumping gas, for no apparent reason," writes Hinckley.

Well actually there is a reason, and as with all overly intrusive and ineffective governments, it’s the safety excuse.  Not safety from other people or disease…safety from ourselves.

The experts on Smith Hill think we are too stupid and careless to pump gas the same way we pump it while visiting all other states in the Union where “hold open clips” are allowed and operate without incident. Much larger states with much larger populations have no problems, go figure.  Even Massachusetts, the state that loves to make laws more than Tom Brady likes to win Super Bowls, figured out in 2014 that they were essentially trying to legislate against getting struck by lightning with the law against “hold open clips”.

READ MORE HERE

NOT

Swansea Mall

Closed!

Swansea Town Selectman Christopher R. Carreiro has confirmed that the Swansea Mall will be closing in March.

This is just the latest hit to the regional mall industry -- in Worcester, Massachusetts, some city officials have proposed using the Greendale Mall as a site for a new public safety facility.

On Thursday, Swansea Selectman Carreiro announced, "I am sad to report that I received a telephone call this afternoon from the President of Carlyle Partners, the owner of the Swansea Mall, and was informed that the Swansea Mall will be closing by March 31, 2019. I am confident that the Swansea Mall will be redeveloped and that the Town of Swansea will play a significant role in its redevelopment. I look forward to working with my colleagues, commercial real estate developers, Wal-Mart, and all stakeholders to bring the Swansea Mall property back to life. For more information follow Walmart Restrictions or www.WalmartRestrictions.com."

READ MORE HERE

NOT

URI Students Petitioning to Close School

More than 7,000 signed a petition to close URI because of the cold.

"This Thursday, 75% of the country is set to have below freezing temperatures. URI will see drastically low temperatures on Thursday with wind chills ranging between -5 to -20 degrees. These weather conditions are extremely unsafe for both students and faculty members on URI’s Kingston campus. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Chill Warning for Rhode Island and it's time for the university to follow suit and take action. With these temperatures, hypothermia can set in within just 15 minutes.

Sign this petition to encourage university officials to cancel classes on Thursday, January 31st and shield us all from these brutal weather conditions."

NOT

Threats Against Elected Officials

Both State Rep. Greg Constantino and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza received threats in the past few days. The man threatening Elorza was arrested.

A former legislative candidate Melanie DuPont wrote against Constantino, “I, Melanie DuPont, should return the favor and try to abridge his rights as a man, and endanger his life.”