Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - January 9, 2026
Analysis
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - January 9, 2026
We have expanded the list, and we are going to a GoLocal team approach while encouraging readers to suggest nominees for who is "HOT" and who is "NOT."
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Over the past 15-plus years, more than 7,900 have been tagged as HOT or NOT.
Email GoLocal by midday on Thursday about anyone you think should be tapped as "HOT" or "NOT." Email us HERE
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - January 9, 2026
HOT
Cow Rescue
A cow was rescued by Block Island Fire and Rescue on Sunday after falling through the ice.
Block Island Fire Department member Lisa Sprague captured the effort.
“In answer to the question, ‘What DO you do on Block Island in the winter?’ Sometimes the Fire and Rescue Department assists a farmer/fellow firefighter in rescuing a cow that had fallen through the ice,” said Sprague. “Another satisfied customer.”
“Great job to the team that had just finished ice rescue practice today,” she added.
Sprague told GoLocal the incident “occurred at a retired gravel pit turned pasture owned by Sprague Farm on the West Side of the island.”
HOT
Selling Rhode Island
Tourism is one of the largest employers in the state and drives billions in revenue.
But momentum can sometimes be as difficult as grabbing the water out of Narragansett Bay.
For every architectural historic marvel like Benefit Street, there is a downtrodden Kennedy Plaza.
And, when great news happens — the successful launch of the Track 15 food hall for instance — the Providence Place Mall goes into receivership.
Since 2019, Kristen Adamo has served as the CEO and President of the Providence and Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau (PWCVB).
During her tenure in the leadership position, she has suffered through the devastation of COVID and too often failed political leadership.
Adamo has been a near non-stop innovator in creating more events to bolster the Rhode Island experience for natives and to drive visitors into the region.
HOT
Fair Broker
In a time of great political division, few are willing to fairly call proverbial balls and strikes, regardless of political party.
Ken Block has continued to provide fair analysis and offer solutions regardless of the impact of Rhode Island’s power structure.
His efforts have focused on trying to force accountability and to improve the governance of Rhode Island.
Perfect? No. Thoughtful? Yes.
Over the past 15 years, Block has founded a state party (Moderate party), been a candidate for governor, been hired by Trump to examine election results of the 2020 federal election, and then provided independent analysis.
He found no fraud, much to the chagrin of Trump. That truthful analysis sparked vicious retribution by the MAGA movement.
Block has been a reformer’s reformer. He has been unabated in taking on the most powerful.
“Speaker Shekarchi's bizarre response to efforts to bring an Inspector General to Rhode Island continues his pattern of thwarting efforts to further good government in the state,” said Block in April of 2025.
“Shekarchi is so opposed to an independent review of our government's operations that he embraced President Trump's firing of 17 Inspectors General. The most constitutionally powerful politician in Rhode Island (elected by just 5,684 Rhode Island voters in 2024) would prefer to exercise his power without independent oversight,” added Block.
For much of the past two years, he has been a champion for accountability regarding the failed Washington Bridge.
HOT
Tami Reiss
The University of Rhode Island's women's basketball coach, Tami Reiss, became the winningest coach in the school's history.
She is 123-70 overall, topping Nancy Langham, who was 122-105 from 1977-85.
Kudos to coach Reiss.
NOT
The Love of Money
A GoLocal editorial calls for Christina Paxson to leave the presidency at Brown:
The campus safety system at Brown University is just the latest failure for Brown University President Christina Paxson.
Paxson has served as President since 2012. Her early years were a bland juxtaposition to a series of bigger-than-life Presidents who preceded her.
Ruth Simmons, Gordon Gee, Vartan Gregorian, and Howard Swearer all commanded national reputations.
While Paxson has been a successful fundraiser for the university, she has always seemed to lack an understanding of the core culture of Brown and its values.
Her skills seem better suited to a private equity firm than to serving as an Ivy League president.
For someone who claimed expertise in healthcare, Paxson's bizarre announcement of a partnership with the for-profit and now bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings was perplexing at best and wildly misguided at worst.
“Together with Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns CharterCARE Health Partners in Rhode Island, we are prepared to discuss potential merger discussions with CNE. I am writing to share details of this plan, which we believe is in the best interests of our state, the region, and Brown,” Paxson wrote in 2018 in a letter to the Brown Community.
Paxson’s Prospect deal came a year after the largest pension fund failure in the state’s history, the St. Joseph pension fund collapse that left thousands in financial uncertainty.
She seemed immune to the impact of private equity on Rhode Island’s healthcare. Prospect was one of the entities responsible for the diabolical pension failure. But for her, it was just another deal.
For Paxson, her tenure has too often been all about the money.
NOT
This Is Not Right
We can do better than having federal agents shoot people in America.
NOT
Charges of Unlivable Wages and Poor Healthcare
If you have seen Rhode Island FC play in the soccer stadium in Pawtucket, the matches have all the trappings of a professional league.
The reality, according to the USL Players Association (USLPA), is that more than 25% of players in the United Soccer League (USL) were not even offered any health insurance option by their clubs, and roughly 25% of players made less than $35,000 in compensation annually.
Adding to the conflict is the collective bargaining agreement that has been in place since 2021, which expired on December 30, 2025.
Connor Tobin, the Executive Director of the USLPA, said in an interview with GoLocal, "I think for the time being, we continue to bargain in good faith, and it's [our] intent to try to get to a deal.”
The league and the USLPA have met 38 times without reaching a new agreement. It is a league of low salaries — one player on the Providence College men’s basketball team earns more in NIL money than the entire payroll of the RIFC club, and it's not close.
“Obviously, we'll have ongoing conversations with membership, and we'll see how things play out,” said Tobin.
PHOTO: Emilio Garcia, Unsplash
NOT
URI Men's Basketball Hitting Rock Bottom
The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team is hitting what appears to be its annual swoon.
The Rams lost to a weak La Salle team at the Ryan Center on Wednesday.
Rhode Island now falls to 0-3 in the Atlantic 10 and 9-7 overall.
Like last season, the Rams played well in out-of-conference games and then faltered when entering conference play.
Not only is URI 0-3, but the Rams have now lost to A-10 rivals - two of them are ranked in the bottom third of all D-I teams:
Loyola Chicago ranked #277
George Mason #84
La Salle #237
URI is now tied for last with Fordham in the A-10.
