HOT

Congressman David Cicilline 

He announced that he is running for one of the top spots in the House leadership for Assistant Democratic Leader in the 116th Congress.

If successful, it will be the highest a Rhode Islander has been in Congressional leadership since John Chafee was in the Senate Leadership.

“In preparation for the next Congress, we need to make sure that we have a leadership team that can hit the ground running to pass our legislative agenda and to hold President Trump accountable for his actions.  In Committee and on the Floor, I’ve proven that I can go toe-to-toe with the other side of the aisle and that I won’t back down. As a former mayor of a major city, I have the skills that are necessary to build coalitions and deliver results.  And as one of only six openly LGBT members of the House, I believe it is crucial that our leadership team represent and reflect the diversity and strength of the Democratic Party,” said Cicilline in a letter announcing his intention.

If Democrats win back the majority this November the Assistant Democratic Leader position will be vacant.

The position is elected by the Democratic Caucus and will be the fourth-ranking position if Democrats take back the House this November.

HOT

RI Real Estate Market

It is the tale of two realities.

For those who are already homeowners -- it means greater wealth and more equity.

For those looking to buy a home -- it means more obstacles.

According to the RI Association of Realtors, the median sales price of single-family homes in Rhode Island continued to climb in August.

The price rose 5.9 percent since August of 2017 to $275,250.

The group claims that “in a sign that the market is in no danger of overheating”, sales of single-family homes decreased year-over-year in August for the sixth consecutive month, falling 3.3 percent.

“The number of homes on the market increased from a year earlier for the past two months following a 28-month decline,” said the Realtors.

According to the latest report from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, Rhode Island has a 4.4-month supply of homes for sale, up from a 2.7-month supply at the beginning of the year. Among housing experts, a six-month supply is considered balanced between supply and demand.

“Sellers are still seeing more profits than they have seen in quite some time but buyers have regained some leverage thanks to more listings entering the market,” said Joe Luca, 2018 President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. “The change has been gradual, but the market is beginning to become more balanced between supply and demand so there’s opportunity for both sellers and persistent buyers. While prices have risen, they’re not exorbitant and interest rates remain low.”

HOT

Gary Sasse’s Educational Bill of Rights

With high school students at Mount Pleasant High School at under 10 percent proficient in reading and under 5 percent in math, maybe it is time to rethink our approach to education.

Gary Sasse is pushing for an Educational Bill of Rights for students and their parents to encompass the following guarantees.

1) The right to be taught by effective teachers. Effective teachers are trained and certified in the subject matter being taught. They are knowledgeable about their discipline, use state the art teaching strategies, and respect and respond to student inputs.

2) The right not to be taught by teachers who, after due process evaluation, fail to meet standards established by state and local education officials.

3) The right to appropriate academic materials and resources. This would include materials necessary to support all instructional programs, access to computers and the internet, and modern facilities to support rigorous science, technology and mathematics instruction.

4) The right to safe, clean and environmental-friendly school facilities.

5) The right to emotionally supportive schools that do not tolerate harassment, discrimination or abuse.

6) The right to attend a school where funding is based on student need with the goal of providing access to adequate educational opportunities.

7) The right to a pathway out of a failing school. This requires the availability of options to attend schools that best enhance a student’s opportunity for academic achievement.

8) The right to a fair, accurate and transparent assessment system that measures student performance and need. The assessment system should include multiple measures for students to demonstrate their competencies and clearly state what students are expected to know and accomplish.

9) The right of parents to current and reliable information about their child’s progress and performance.

HOT

Chris Millea

It is rare for a politician in this era to talk about the importance of working across party and ideological lines, but Millea is a bit of fresh air.

He is running for the General Assembly in District 16. 

See his interview on GoLocal LIVE below.

HOT

Flames of Hope

Carol Ann Donnelly with the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation appeared on GoLocal LIVE where she spoke to the events taking place this weekend in Providence as part of Gloria Gemma’s annual “Flames of Hope” celebration of life.

Donnelly, who serves as Communications Manager and “Passport to Survivorship” Manager — and is a survivor herself — spoke to the free and open to the public health expo taking place during the day on Saturday, with keynote speaker and best-selling author Dr. Michael Gregor; the “Pink Party” and “Taste of Hope” events taking place Saturday night; and the 5K on Sunday that is among just some of the events taking place over the weekend.

HOT

Rick Simone

This inaugural list of event professionals from the United States and Canada includes people who lead the largest trade and consumer shows, orchestrate global brand campaigns and plan high-visibility cultural events that have everyone talking on social media. Rick Simone, president of EGN Consulting and director of strategic partnerships for ILEA Rhode Island, is one of the 500 talented people named on this list.

He is the former host of GoLocal's The Taste.

“Narrowing the world of event professionals down to just 500 standout individuals was not easy,” said BizBash editor in chief Beth Kormanik. “Some are well known, while others work strategically behind the scenes, but all are deserving of recognition for their leadership, creativity and results.”

NOT

Sheldon Whitehouse

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is refusing comment on his office's reporting an alleged assault by Brett Kavanaugh in Newport in 1985 -- that has since been recanted. 

A junior high school newspaper would apply more due diligence than the Senator's office did.

As GoLocalProv reported on Wednesday night, “The allegation was made by a constituent of the Senator who contacted his office this week, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee transcript of interviews with Kavanaugh conducted on September 17 and September 25, released on Wednesday.”

The New York Times wrote that the Rhode Island resident later "recanted" the allegation, after it came up during the Kavanaugh interview. 

"In another example of the frenzy surrounding Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, the transcripts showed that committee staff also questioned him about a constituent of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, who charged — and then recanted Wednesday night — that Judge Kavanaugh had raped a woman on a boat in 1985 in Newport, R.I. In the interview with the committee, Judge Kavanaugh fiercely said that the episode never took place," wrote the NYT.

"The Senator received an allegation which was forwarded to the FBI for further evaluation and investigation. Out of respect for the privacy of those involved, the Senator declines comment," said Whitehouse's office on Thursday.

When GoLocalProv asked a follow-up question on what steps did the Senator's office take to confirm that the allegation was credible, the office refused comment. 

NOT

Governor Gina Raimondo’s Staff

The effort to block GoLocal from getting data by Governor Gina Raimondo's press office is poor public service and smells of ugly politicization. GoLocal sought information about the performance of Governor Gina Raimondo's signature program -- RI Promise -- which provides two years of free tuition at CCRI

Governor Raimondo’s press office intentionally mislead GoLocal News Editor claiming that CCRI had not complied numbers.

That was not true.

GoLocal has learned that of the first year’s students, nearly 40 percent did not return for their second year — despite the free tuition.

“I look forward to sharing more details with you about our Rhode Island Promise students. While we are still analyzing the data, we know that we welcomed back 62 percent of cohort one for a second year and enrolled more than 2,000 Promise students in cohort two, a 25 percent increase over last year,” wrote Sara Enright, vice president of Student Affairs and chief outcomes officer at the Community College of RI. Enright unveiled the performance in an internal CCRI email.

The performance of the program seemed to catch Raimondo’s team off guard, after reports about the retention rate began emerging from CCRI last week, before the college administration released the numbers.

“I’m not sure where you’re getting that number from. CCRI is still compiling data for the Fall 2018 semester that just started. Previous data produced by CCRI on Promise has consistently shown higher performance from these students compared to prior years and a dramatic increase in those on-track to graduate in two years. I will be sure to share the new data with you as soon as we have it,” said Josh Block, Raimondo’s spokesperson in an email to GoLocal before the official numbers were announced. 

NOT

Journalism

PR DAILY REPORTS:

The staggering loss of journalists has had a tremendous effect on the PR industry.

New employment data from the U.S. Department of Labor illustrates just how dramatically the media relations landscape has shifted.

As journalist Mike Rosenberg explained in a 2016 piece for Muck Rack, if you search terms like “journalism” or “reporter,” in a job search, you’re more likely to find a list of jobs that have virtually nothing to do with news or news production.

When that piece was published just two years ago, there were nearly five PR professionals for every single reporter, double the rate from the decade before.

Today, that ratio has increased even further, to nearly six PR pros for every journalist, and this trend doesn’t show signs of slowing down.

NOT

Elon Musk

The FT reports:

Elon Musk has been sued by US regulators over his claims last month that he was close to a buyout of electric carmaker Tesla. The complaint, from the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleges that the Tesla chief executive officer made “false and misleading statements” last month when he took to Twitter to reveal his plan. It was filed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. “Musk’s statements, disseminated via Twitter, falsely indicated that, should he so choose, it was virtually certain that he could take Tesla private at a purchase price that reflected a substantial premium over Tesla stock’s then-current share price, that funding for this multi-billion dollar transaction had been secured, and that the only contingency was a shareholder vote,” the SEC said. “In truth and in fact,