HOT

A $175 Million Yacht in RI 

There are yachts. And then there are mega-yachts.

And if you were on the water this weekend in Newport, you could not have missed the $175 million Feadship “Viva.” 

According to “Superyacht Fan,” the 94-meter vessel can host up to 14 guests — and a helicopter — with a crew of 18. 

The annual running cost? A cool $17.5 million. 

READ MORE HERE

HOT

New Ice Cream Shop Downtown

Co-Zy Ice Cream Cafe will be opening at the historic Arcade between Weybosset and Westminster Streets, spanning two suites on the first floor. 

According to Co-Zy Ice Cream, it has partnered with Frisbies ice cream in Connecticut to serve up some delicious treats. 

Items on the menu include 11 different ice cream flavors (non-dairy options available), milkshakes, bubble tea, affogato, and more.  

The first day for the new business is Friday, July 8 from 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM.

HOT

Horowitz's Cassidy Hutchinson Kudos

MINDSETTER™ Rob Horowitz's take on the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, former Trump White House staffer:

“Things will not be the same after this,” wrote Andrew McCarthy in National Review, accurately describing the impact of Cassidy Hutchinson’s recent televised appearance in front of the House January 6 select committee.   

The conservative writer, Fox News contributor and noted legal expert, called the 26 years old, former aide to Mark Meadows’ testimony “devastating, because it was directly about the former president.” McCarthy noted that it provided evidence of Trump’s intent, upping his legal jeopardy.

One person who apparently agrees with Mr. McCarthy's analysis is the former president. He has spent the past week launching a series of vicious personal attacks on Cassidy Hutchinson.   Mr. Trump called Ms. Hutchinson a “whack job,” “bad news,” and a “social climber,” among other choice insults, while also professing to “hardly know her” in a series of posts on Truth Social and in a television interview on Newsmax.  His son, Don Jr. described her as the “coffee girl” in a tweet.

Poised and precise, Cassidy Hutchinson testified to witnessing first-hand former President Trump’s insistence that the Secret Service stop the use of magnetometers to detect weapons, so that people were let into his January 6th rally, even if they were armed.   "I don’t f-ing care that they have weapons,” exclaimed Mr. Trump, Ms. Hutchinson recounted. “They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here,"

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The Wind is Blowing

David Ortiz of Ørsted tells GoLocal that Rhode Island's emerging offshore wind industry is poised for significant growth.

Appearing at the press conference in Providence announcing that Boskalis is opening an office in Providence and will be working in partnership with Ørsted and Eversource

"What Boskalis has announced today is that they're setting up an office here in Providence to provide transportation of the infrastructure that we'll be building in federal waters, so this means jobs for Americans and for Rhode Islanders. They'll be paying taxes here in Providence, so this is evidence that we are building the American offshore wind industry and Rhode Island is right at the center," said Ortiz serves as Head of Northeast Government Affairs and Market Strategy for Ørsted. 

From Hundreds of Jobs to Thousands

Ortiz says Rhode Island is at the beginning of job growth.

"Today we're probably in the hundreds [of jobs]. Again a lot of the jobs will come when we begin construction and because we're so new, we're really in the phase right now of development [and] permitting projects," said Ortiz.

"We expect that we'll have eight hundred to a thousand direct jobs as a result of our projects currently, of course, our portfolio is growing...our ambition is to continue to grow and then with the indirect and induced jobs, we're talking thousands of jobs," said Ortiz. 

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Big News in Newport

Andy Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion, US Open champion, and former world No. 1, is set to compete as a wild card at the 2022 Hall of Fame Open in Newport this summer.

With the addition of Murray, the tournament now features a competitive field of 18 players currently ranked in the ATP’s top 100, including four in the top 50.

The tournament runs July 10-17.

“Andy Murray is an all-time great of the sport, and it’s fitting to have him join the Infosys Hall of Fame Open field and play on our historic grounds,” said Tournament Director Brewer Rowe. “We’re thrilled to join with our fans in welcoming him back to Newport.”

Currently ranked No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Tour rankings, Murray ranks fourth among active players with 700 career victories behind only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. He has captured 46 career singles titles, including three Grand Slams. In 2012, he became the first British man to win a major title in over 75 years when he won the US Open, and followed in 2013 and 2016 by winning his home major at Wimbledon. Murray finished the 2016 ranked No. 1 in the world, becoming the first British man to ascend to the top of the ATP rankings since the tour’s inception.

Murray has returned to the top 50 in a resurgent 2022 season, advancing to two ATP finals in Sydney and Stuttgart and winning 16 matches. On Stuttgart’s grass, he defeated world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Bublik en route to the final, and most recently advanced to the second round at Wimbledon.

NOT

It Just Was Not a Good Week in Providence

Two people stabbed

Another shooting at the Billy Taylor Park - 40+ shell casings

Melee when multiple officers were injured

Man gets into altercation with two police officers attempting arrest -- and then, one of the officers slams his head into the pavement.

NOT

Brown University Gobbling Up Providence

A GoLocal editorial raises deep concerns about Brown University's unfettered growth - no rules. And, de facto taxpayers are now subsidizing housing for Brown. 

Rhode Island taxpayers are paying to subsidize housing projects then bought by Brown University.

Many in Rhode Island believe that the number one challenge facing the state is the unaffordability of housing. The median price of a single-family home is now $420,000, far outside the reach of most Rhode Islanders.

Housing experts say Rhode Island needs 25,000 housing units now. Governor Dan McKee and legislative leaders poured more than $200 million of the state's budget into building more housing.

While Rhode Island is suffering a housing crisis, Brown University is moving off College Hill and buying housing properties and critical developable vacant land.

One of the properties that Brown purchased was a development subsidized by Rhode Island taxpayers -- now it is controlled by the Ivy League school.

Gobbled up like Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Woman.

The non-profit Brown University is de facto competing with taxpayers and in some cases not only not paying taxes but is benefiting from subsidies by Rhode Islanders.

In the 1990s Brown and the City of Providence struck a deal. Brown would be given nearly free reign in an institutional zone and the University would be limited from growth into other neighborhoods.

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NOT

Foulkes' Tobacco Money

Helena Foulkes decided to make cancer in her family -- and her effort to remove tobacco from CVS stores -- a focal point of her Rhode Island gubernatorial run in the Democratic primary. 

At the same time, she hustled campaign a donation from one of the most infamous tobacco CEOs. She said she didn't know. Shouldn't she?

If you are going to leverage personal issues in the political discussion, you might want to be diligent in your political fundraising friends.

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