HOT

Brown Basketball

The team won its record 20th game of the season Wednesday night in the CBI post-season tournament. It was Brown's first post-season win in the team's history.

The Bears have some underlying issues. Desmond Cambridge, arguably the most talented player ever to wear the Brown jersey, is transferring out as a sophomore — and this is the second time that a potential superstar left after their second year. Leland King left College Hill for Nevada a few years ago.

HOT

Darrell West

On Wednesday morning, he was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. In the afternoon, he appeared on GoLocal LIVE.

Darrell West, Vice President and Director of Governance Studies at Brookings, joined GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle to discuss his newest book, "Divided Politics, Divided Nation."

“Obviously it has been developing over a number of decades but under President Trump has reached new heights,” said West, who noted the book started “partly as a family memoir.”  

“Many people live only among liberals or only among conservatives,” said West, who noted his media consumption habits. “I look at liberal. moderate and conservative sites — I watch Fox News from time to time just to understand how the conservatives are feeling — and because half of my family is very conservative.”

West is a brilliant writer, researcher, and most of all he knows how to time a book’s release.

HOT

Heroica

You have to love an entrepreneur who pulls of hyper-growth and creates jobs.

Jhonny Leyva launched his company -- Heroica Construction --  in 2007 just as the country and the world were going into the “Great Recession.” The company’s chance of survival was nearly zero, but Leyva through force of will and talent overcame the economic challenges and grew the company from one employee to now 18. 

HOT

Rebecca Keister Covering Tech in RI

GoLocal this week introduced a new regular feature, the "RI Tech and Innovation Report."

This feature focuses on emerging trends in business innovation, STEM, and companies and technologies being developed and commercialized in Rhode Island.

The report is written by Rebecca Keister, an experienced Rhode Island journalist, author, and communications professional. She is the author of "100 Things To Do In Providence Before You Die."

HOT

Gene Valicenti

The DaVinci Center recently announced that it will honor Gene Valicenti, four-time Emmy winner and co-anchor of NBC 10 Newscast, with its Community Humanitarian Award for 2019.

The center will present the award at a dinner on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at the Quidnessett Country Club, North Kingston, RI. 

Learn more HERE.

HOT

Angélica Infante-Green

This week Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced that she is recommending Angélica Infante-Green, the Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Education Department's Office of Instructional Support, to be the next Rhode Island Commissioner of Education.

According to the Governor's office, Infante-Green serves as the Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Education Department's Office of Instructional Support P-12. She helped to build a Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework that was finalized in 2018, and during her tenure, the state's graduation rate increased and New York students made gains on both math and English assessments, while narrowing achievement gaps for black and Latino students. ELA proficiency for grades 3-8 increased by 16 percentage points for black students and 15 percentage points for Latino students between 2015 and 2018. In that same period, math proficiency increased by 8 percentage points for black students and 7 percentage points for Latino students. 

NOT

The Providence Journal Is Dying Without Dignity

Two weeks ago the depleted Providence Journal ripped off an enterprise piece of journalism first reported by WPRI regarding alleged killer Louis Coleman. Days after WPRI first reported the story about Louis Coleman calling the police, the dying newspaper's staff wrote a nearly identical report four days later and pawned it off as their own original work.

Then, GoLocal did a three-story series about the proposed West Park Food Hall and questions being raised about its Kickstarter campaign. 

March 8 - $400K in Grants & Crowdfunding - Questions Emerge About Central Market & West Park Food Hall

March 11 - Organizer Calls for Documentation of $100K Fundraised by Dadekian for West Park Food Hall

March 12 - $35K of Crowdsourcing for West Park Food Hall Spent on Salary — Landlord Says He Never Had Agreement

Nearly a week later, Paul Parker at the Projo writes a nearly identical story.

We all know of the collapsing circulation — now less than 41,000; the staff reductions — now just 15 reporters, and failing financial position of the parent company — down more than 13 percent for the 4th quarter of 2018 for same stores.

Now, desperate people do desperate things. For readers, it's often old news when it's written in the Projo.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness,” said Oscar Wilde. How about, "Hey Projo go do some work and stop ripping off other journalists!"

NOT

More Job Losses in RI

Rhode Island lost 600 jobs in February, while unemployment dropped to 3.9 percent, according to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

RI has now lost jobs in four straight months. 

The state lost 1,700 jobs in January, 2,200 jobs in December and 900 jobs in November.

NOT

RI Recycling Program

Low participation rates, collapsing global recycling markets, and poorly executed programs have Rhode Island’s recycling program in peril.

Rhode Island's curbside recycling program was first rolled out thirty years ago, and data shows that participation in the program continues to be dismally low — and questions about the financial viability and participation are growing.

Over the years, RI Resource Recovery, the agency responsible for the state’s recycling program, reported falling revenue and exploding costs in 2018.  In 2019, the revenues for recycling are expected to fall 15 percent on top of three years of dismal and falling revenues.

The quasi-public agency, with a full cadre of public relations officers, refused to answer questions about the agency's financial situation and low recycling rates.

How bad is the participation in the Rhode Island recycling program? In the State's capital city of Providence, which constitutes 17 percent of the population, but just 7 percent of items go to the material recycling center — glass, cans, etc. And the overall recycling rate is 12 percent.

NOT

Fat

The metro-Providence area is simply too fat. It is the fattest city in New England and 42nd ranked in the U.S.  Providence is ranked 42nd in the country and 39th overall for obesity.

“Americans are the fattest people in the world, not just stereotypically but statistically too. In fact, almost 40% of the U.S. population aged 15 and older is obese. But such a finding should come as no surprise, considering the huge availability of fast-food and increasingly cheaper grocery items that have negatively altered our diets,” reports WalletHubwho published the report.

“Unfortunately, the extra pounds have inflated the costs of obesity-related medical treatment to between $147 billion and $210 billion a year and annual productivity losses due to work absenteeism to around $4.3 billion,” added the report.

NOT

Robert Kraft

The Patriots owner continues to affirm his innocence but his lawyers have gone to court in an effort to block the release of police surveillance video of Kraft’s two alleged visits to the spa where he paid for sex.

If he is innocent -- wouldn’t he want the videos released?