Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - May 29, 2026

HOT

Arlene Violet Joins GoLocal

Arlene Violet made national news when she was elected the first female state Attorney General in America.

It was one of her many firsts. The former Sister of Mercy nun has been an innovator and a conscience of Rhode Island for years.

Now, she joins GoLocal as a weekly columnist.

Beyond her career as a lawyer, Violet has been a top-rated talk radio host, an author, and a playwright over the years.

New York Times feature on Arlene Violet, reprinted in the Detroit Free Press

The New York Times wrote shortly after Violet took office in 1985:

When people in Rhode Island call their state's Attorney General simply ''the General,'' the term seems tailor made for Arlene Violet. A former nun who in November became the first woman to be elected Attorney General in the United States, she has taken on her new job with the zeal of a field marshal.

She has been in office only since Jan. 1, but she has already made headlines with her decision to retry Claus von Bulow on charges that he attempted to murder his wife, a wealthy Manhattan socialite. In addition, Miss Violet has taken steps to bring to trial long-pending cases involving accusations of political corruption, and she has been meeting with Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to develop a coordinated strategy for dealing with the heavy concentration of organized crime and drug traffic in the state.

''I think it is important to set the tone when you are in office, and that is what I am attempting to do,'' said Miss Violet, who is 41 years old. During the years she was an energetic public interest lawyer before her election, she said, she was known as ''Attila the Nun.''

Another Great Addition to GoLocal

“When GoLocal unveiled the St. Joseph pension fund collapse, there was Arlene representing pro bono a group of the oldest and poorest compensated retirees. She was relentless in working to ensure those retirees were protected, and ultimately they were,” said Josh Fenton, CEO and co-founder of Golocal.

“Arlene has dedicated her life to fighting for justice. She is a wonderful addition to GoLocal," said Kate Nagle, GoLocal News Editor.

“GoLocalProv has done important investigative stories and a broad spectrum of news,” said Violet. “I am delighted to write a column for such a valuable contributor of information to our citizens.”

HOT

Owners of Los Andes Opening New Restaurant in East Providence

The owners of the popular Providence restaurant Los Andes are expanding to another city.
Cesin, Diego, and Omar Curi will be opening a new Brasa and Chifa at the location of the former Pizza Amore on Pawtucket Avenue in East Providence. 

The Curi brothers opened their first “Brasa and Chifa” in Providence in 2023.

Latest for Curi Brothers

As GoLocal reported, Cesin Curi described the Brasa and Chifa concept as “a cool Peruvian-Chinese rotisserie…kind of like Boston Market — but awesome.”

 

HOT

Rhode Island's Best Is the NBA's Best

The Boston Celtics exceeded expectations all season, and Joe Mazzulla was named the 2026 NBA Coach of the Year in recognition of their success. Mazzulla is a Johnston, Rhode Island native.

Mazzulla led the Celtics to a 56-26 record — his fourth straight 50-win campaign with Boston — despite star Jayson Tatum being unavailable for much of the year.

The Celtics won 64 games and the NBA championship behind Mazzulla in 2024, and his career coaching record now stands at 238-90 (.726 winning percentage) in the regular season. The Celtics are also 36-21 under Mazzulla in the playoffs.

Mazzulla is the fourth Celtics coach to be Coach of the Year, and he’s the first Celtics coach to capture the award since Bill Fitch in 1979-80. At 37 years old, he’s the youngest NBA Coach of the Year Award-winner since Phil Johnson in 1974-75.

HOT

Adolphus B. Clinton to Lead Community Preparatory School

Community Preparatory School's Board of Trustees announced that Adolphus B. Clinton has been named Head of School, effective June 1, 2026. Clinton - known as Dolph - is not only an experienced educator and administrator, but also one of Community Prep's early graduates - class of 1988 - and a former member of the independent middle school's Board of Trustees, Education Committee, and Long-Range Planning Committee.

"Dolph is not simply a gifted leader and educator," said Dan Corley, Community Preparatory School co‑founder. "As a Community Prep graduate and former trustee, he is uniquely qualified to empower our students to reach their full academic and leadership potential. He will stand before them and our community as a living example of the transformative impact of a Community Prep education."

Clinton was selected from an outstanding, national pool of candidates and hired in a unanimous vote by Community Prep's Board of Trustees. According to Board Chair Polly Wall, he impressed Community Prep's faculty, staff, students, parents, and trustees with his deep understanding of the school's mission, creative and collaborative problem-solving skills, and experience building learning environments defined by equity, curiosity, and shared purpose.

HOT

Broadway Recognizes Singleton

J.L. “Lynn” Singleton, President and CEO of Professional Facilities Management, Inc. (PFM), has been honored with The Broadway League’s Distinguished Lifetime Service Award. Singleton was recognized with other esteemed leaders in the touring Broadway industry at the Broadway League Awards Ceremony, held on Wednesday, May 20, in New York City. He previously received the Samuel J. L’Hommedieu Award for Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management from the Broadway League in 2004. 

Singleton transitioned from his role as President and CEO of the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) on January 1, 2026 to focus exclusively on leading PFM, a wholly owned subsidiary of PPAC, specializing in venue management and booking. The organization currently manages nine venues across the country, including The VETS in Providence, Rhode Island, the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall (BBPAH) in Fort Myers, Florida and The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in Durham, North Carolina; PFM works in partnership with the Nederlander Organization in managing DPAC.

Alan J. Chille, President and CEO of PPAC, said, “On behalf of the PPAC and PFM staffs, we congratulate Lynn on this well-deserved recognition from The Broadway League. His visionary leadership and his commitment to excellence helped transform PPAC into one of the most well-respected theatres in the nation and as one of the founders of PFM, his influence has extended to many other venues.”  

NOT

RIPEC REPORT: RI’s Housing Program Has Produced "Relatively Few Units at a High Cost"

The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) on Thursday released a report that found structural inefficiencies in Rhode Island’s affordable housing investments and policies.

While the state has moved away from decades of underfunding housing development, recent record-level investments have relied on a high-cost, high-subsidy model. RIPEC states  “that this approach has served relatively few Rhode Islanders and has made no meaningful impact on the state’s overall housing challenges.”

This comes at a time when rents in Providence continue to rocket upwards, and the median price of a single-family house jumped 10.2% year-over-year to $529,000.

“Rhode Island authorized over $644 million toward housing since 2021, including substantial new and increased taxes, yet we are struggling to convert this record investment into the production volume needed to meaningfully close our affordable housing gap,” said RIPEC President & CEO Michael DiBiase. “Our research shows that the state relies on an overly complex strategy with policy incentives that fail to maximize housing production.”

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NOT

Smiley Administration Delays Release of Body Camera Video of Police Officer Hitting Cuffed Man

It is the tale of two sets of body-camera footage. In one, Mayor Brett Smiley’s administration rushed a video out that they thought put the police in a positive light, and in the other, the city has delayed and delayed again the release of a video that may provide more clarity to an incident involving a man in handcuffs being punched by a police officer.

Smiley, who serves as the Providence’s Commissioner of Public Safety, oversees all aspects of both the police and fire departments. 

 Incident One — Fast Track

When New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore took to social media to accuse the Providence Police of “racism,” the Providence Police Department distributed a complete suite of body camera videos that showed the traffic stop and the exchange.

After a GoLocal request, the video was released just a few hours after the incident. It was clear from the released video that Barmore was the aggressor, and the Providence Police appeared to treat him professionally.

Providence Police distributed the Barmore body camera footage within a few hours of the request. READ MORE
 

NOT

Oh, Pawtucket - Honors Student Awarded $5K in Damages After Unlawful Arrest by School Resource Officer

The ACLU of Rhode Island announced on Tuesday that seven years after a Pawtucket School Resource Officer (SRO) unlawfully handcuffed and arrested an African American and Native American middle school honors student, the case has been settled with an award of $5,000 in damages to the student.

The lawsuit against the school was filed by ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorney Shannah Kurland on behalf of the student in the case, T.J. v. Rose, et al.

“At the age of thirteen, our client stood up for her own rights and the rights of other school children to receive an education instead of being criminalized by the public school system," said Kurland. "Going forward, the City has committed to updating its tracking and analysis of school arrest and discipline information by race so that other Black and brown children will not have to endure what she did. I am proud of her resilience and courage."
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Pawtucket must also now revise its incident reporting system to make it easier to track police interactions in the city’s schools, said the ACLU.

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