Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - May 15, 2026

HOT

Perry Raso Previews Matunuck Oyster Bar Rebuild

Matunuck Oyster Bar owner Perry Raso is ready for version “2.0.”

After the popular Wakefield restaurant suffered a devastating fire in May 2025, Raso provided a video update this weekend on the status of renovations.

Noting that Matunuck Oyster Bar’s tent across the street is open - as well as “Matunuck Atelier” on Old Tower Hill Road - Raso shared with guests a look at what the new construction looks like at the moment. 

According to Raso, the new main bar downstairs will be a “large rectangular bar.” 

Raso said it’s “hard to believe in just a few months” the restaurant will be back - so stay tuned for more updates. 

HOT

Mega-Move: 15 Lawyers and Legal Professionals Join Hinckley Allen

Hinckley Allen announced plans to add 15 Trusts & Estates professionals, including partners Karen G. DelPonte, Lynn E. Riley, and Bridget L. Mullaney; counsel Nancy Fisher Chudacoff and Lori J. Lousararian; and associates Rory McEntee and Angeli E. Tillett.  

The team also includes eight professional paralegals and legal administrative assistants.  They will join the firm’s Providence, Rhode Island, office on July 1.

The group leaves Cameron & Mittleman LLP and joins Hinckley Allen's Trusts & Estates department.

It is one of the biggest legal moves in Rhode Island in years.

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HOT

Loughlin Proposes Transforming the Lt. Governor’s Office Into an Inspector General’s Function

Give credit.

Republican candidate John Loughlin, at a press conference in Warwick on Monday morning, announced a plan to repurpose the Lieutenant Governor’s Office into a Rhode Island Office of Inspector General focused on exposing fraud, waste, abuse, and government corruption.

Loughlin’s proposal comes following years of failed legislative efforts to establish an independent Inspector General’s Office — legislation first introduced in 2002 and repeatedly stalled in committee.

If elected, Loughlin outlined in detail how he would transform the staffing of the often maligned Lt. Governor’s office into “an aggressive, independent watchdog operation dedicated to government accountability and transparency.”

HOT

New URI Athletic Director Pat Lyons Answers All the Questions - Jim Malachowski

GoLocal sports columnist Jim Malachowski has a smart piece about URI's new AD.

Would your “Dream Job” as an athletic director be one where the flagship men's basketball program is floundering, attendance at basketball games has plummeted, the football program has broken through but is being kicked out of its on-campus stadium for a year, and the stellar women’s basketball coach has just left for another school?

Oh, and college athletics is going through unprecedented changes, rocking the core of how things work, including making players free agents who can transfer every year to play for the highest bidder.

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NOT

Diossa Struggles

Starting in 2022, investigations, lawsuits, and Congressional reviews targeted RealPage, an algorithm-driven software company accused of driving up rental costs nationwide. The company RealPage is owned by Thoma Bravo.

As investigations and allegations mounted, Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa green-lighted a $30 million investment by the Employees' Rhode Island Retirement Fund in Thoma Bravo in 2024.

Diossa refuses to answer questions about the investment.

His spokesperson seemed unaware of the issues or, initially, of a federal lawsuit against RealPage.

GoLocal asked Diossa’s spokesperson, Carla Rojo, about the investment in Thoma Bravo and the review process.

In response to GoLocal's questions,  Rojo wrote on Monday:

The staff recommendation was approved by the State Investment Commission in May 2024, several months before a complaint [U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit] was filed. 

All proposed investments undergo thorough due diligence and careful deliberation in accordance with approved investment policy statements and established compliance procedures. 

If you need anything else, please let me know. 

Thanks!

Carla C. Rojo

Director of Communications

Office of RI General Treasurer James A. Diossa

GoLocal asked in follow-ups about the “due diligence and careful deliberation” and pointed out that a basic Google search would unveil dozens of articles, United States Senate action, actions by 17 members of the House of Representativem a civil lawsuit by renters, and coverage of federal investigations by both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice prior to the approval of the investment by Diossa's team. READ MORE

NOT

The State of Healthcare in RI - Warning Issued. Will the State House Listen?

Three of the top leaders in Rhode Island’s healthcare system are hitting the panic button about an expanding healthcare crisis.

They expect the situation to be far worse if state leaders do not take immediate action.

GoLocal spoke with John Fernandez, the CEO of Brown Health; Dr. Michael Wagner, CEO of Care New England; and Martha Wofford, the president and CEO of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, last week, and there was a clear and consistent warning that the system is near collapse.

The three — Fernandez, Wagner, and Wofford — who can sometimes be collaborators and in some instances competitors, are in unison in this warning about dangers playing out now in Rhode Island.

Fernandez was blunt in his description of the situation. “I’d say the last couple of years have been some good incremental steps. It's just we see it as the increments aren't gonna work because we're in a crisis, but I said to the Senate president [Val Lawson], we're in a crisis, we're going to a disaster. “

Fernandez and Wagner run hospital groups that together provide more than 80% of hospital services across the state.

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NOT

Cranston Finances

Cranston is a financial basketcase. No one takes any responsibility for the big deficit. No one has a solution other than to raise taxes.

NOT

U.S. Economy

Inflation up 3.8%

Gas prices continue upward

Regardless of whether the war ends tomorrow, we know that neither of those measures comes down as fast as they went up.

PHOTO: AWV, Unsplash