HOT

Gabe Amo

Amo was the upset winner on Tuesday, soundly defeating Aaron Regunberg 32% to 25%.

Amo becomes the first Black man ever to be the Democratic nominee for a seat in Congress from Rhode Island.

Amo's micro-targeting strategy may have been the difference.

HOT

Innovator - Ted Fischer

The Wall Street Journal is on to what we knew around here -- Ted Fischer is extraordinary.

Fischer was a lead guy at Hasbro on the idea of robot pets for the elderly. He peeled the company away and is now having some really success as a stand-alone company.

"Robotic pets make some people squeamish. Should man’s best friend run on batteries? “We’ve had plenty of naysayers tell us this is a little weird,” says Ted Fischer, co-founder and CEO of Ageless Innovation, a company that creates products for older adults, including animatronic dogs and cats. “But all you have to do is watch what happens when someone gets one,” he insists. “When the cat rolls over for the first time, people just go crazy.”

The lifelike companions, sold under the brand name Joy for All, cost under $140. They respond to motion and touch: The cats vibrate when they purr, the dogs wag their tails and have a gentle heartbeat. A number of studies have found that such fuzzy, mess-free friends can reduce their owners’ feelings of loneliness, anxiety and depression. For elderly patients with dementia, spending 20 minutes with a robotic pet three times a week has been shown to improve their mood and curb the need for pain and behavioral medication," writes the WSJ. 

HOT

Brown University

Once again, Brown avoided paying its fair share.

Yale is paying New Haven $24 million a year for services.

In the agreement announced by the Smiley administration, Providence will receive just $8.7 a year for 20 YEARS.

The streak continues to the benefit of its $6.5 billion Brown endowment and to the detriment of Providence taxpayers.

Brown wins. Brown wins.

We are ever true to Brown,
For we love our college dear,
And wherever we may go,
We are ready with a cheer,
And the people always say,
That you can’t outshine Brown Bears,
With their Rah! Rah! Rah! and their Ki! Yi! Yi!
And their B-R-O-W-N.

HOT

New Author

Rhode Island native Victoria Atamian Waterman said she knew the exact moment she had to write a book. 

For Waterman, who grew up in Warwick and now lives in North Smithfield, it was a visit to her aunt’s grave in the North Burial Ground in Providence in 2015.

“I have the exact photo of finding flowers, old white silk flowers on her grave,” Waterman said.

What made the discovery somewhat mysterious is the fact her aunt Vicky never had children, so how they got there was puzzling to Waterman. 

“In my heart, I knew that maybe they simply blew over, and someone picked them up and thought they belonged there,” said Waterman.

But the seeds were sewn for Waterman to write a book, with the catalyst being her aunt.

“She was a maid during the Armenian Genocide,” said Waterman, who was raised in a close-knit Armenian family — and Armenian was her first language. 

“I grew up in a multi-generation house,” said Waterman.  “And I’m really the last generation to tell this story with not just my voice, but their voice.” 

“Who She Left Behind” is the first book from Waterman, who had a career in banking and non-profits before “semi-retirement.’ 

“I’m too young to truly retire,” laughed Waterman, who soon embarked on the start of her second career. 

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HOT

The Return of Terminesi's -- Family Opens a New Restaurant in South County, Featuring Familiar Classics

South County has a new restaurant, featuring a number of Rhode Island’s favorite dishes. 

That's because “Terminesi’s Peace Dale” -- which officially opened this weekend -- is being run by the next generation of the family which had owned the renowned Terminesi's Narragansett Inn on Boon Street. 

The menu at the new location at 1283 Kingstown Road in Wakefield features “small plates” that include clam cakes, stuffed peppers, wings, NY system wieners, and more. 

In addition to soups, salads, and sandwiches such as fried chicken, eggplant parm, and sausage and peppers, Terminesi’s features main dishes including fish and chips, steak pizzaiolo, and a “build your own pasta” option that includes choice of sauce, protein, and veggies. 

On Sunday, the restaurant — which opened September 1 —  featured shrimp scampi as its special. 

“Indulge in the exquisite flavors of our Pasta of the Day - Shrimp Scampi!,” announced the restaurant on Facebook. “What to expect: Succulent, plump shrimp cooked to perfection; a rich and garlicky white wine sauce; tossed with al dente pasta: garnished with fresh parsley and grated Parmesan. It's a delightful symphony of flavors that will tantalize your taste buds and leave you craving for more!”

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PHOTO: Unsplash/Mae mu

HOT

A New Take on Glass

GoLocal's art columnist, Michael Rose, introduced us to a new form of glass art:

"Glass is an age-old art form that has connected artists and viewers across centuries. For local maker Emmett Barnacle, cast glass is his medium of choice and the works he is creating in his Pawtucket studio are playful, detailed, and colorful. A gifted artist making sculptures in glass, Barnacle is an important creator whose work deserves attention both within and beyond his home state.

A lifelong Rhode Islander, Barnacle attended Providence Country Day School and, after a stint studying business, matriculated to RISD, where he found a love for glass. The artist has exhibited his work widely and in just the last few years has shared his glass at exhibitions as far afield as Georgia, Texas, Illinois, California, Colorado, Michigan, and New York. Closer to home, recent shows have seen Barnacle’s work exhibited at places like Art League Rhode Island and the New Bedford Art Museum. From September September 2 - October 14, he will have work on view in the exhibition Cutting Edge Glass at Blue Line Arts in Roseville, California. The artworks that he has exhibited at sites across the country are all produced at a studio that he shares with fellow glass artist Steve Easton at a converted mill in the heart of Pawtucket."

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NOT

Aaron Regunberg

He played it too cute, taking in the cash from his father-in-law, a man who helps to manage a nearly $300 billion investment fund.

Regunberg's father-in-law was the biggest donor to Aaron's effort. The money came in part from investments and wins via investing in the oil and gas industry.

NOT

Sabina Matos

Rhode Island Lt. Governor Sabina Matos was the front-runner to win the Democratic nomination and replace David Cicilline in the House of Representatives in the first district.

She had all the advantages.

Matos had just come off winning a Democratic primary and a contested general election to be elected Lt. Governor.

She had name recognition, union support, and a strong Latino base.

Matos was slated to be the first female Democrat to ever serve in Congress in Rhode Island. She scored the backing of national women's organizations like EMILY's List.

Then, it all slowly started to spiral out of control.

When Tuesday's results came in, Matos won only 3,044 votes and captured just 7.97% of the vote. She finished a distant fourth.

READ HOW IT UNRAVELED.

NOT

Brown University -- Ranking Woes

The new hot college ranking is the Wall Street Journal's as it looks at how grads perform in the real world.

Not good news for the folks on College Hill.

The "2024 Best Colleges in the United States" rankings were released by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday and it was good news for many of the power academic universities.

The top five ranked schools were:

Princeton #1

MIT #2

Yale #3

Stanford #4

Columbia #5

But the news was not as good for Providence’s Brown University, which came in at #67 — just behind Iona University and just ahead of Albion College.

NOT

Ugly Story Out of South Kingstown

A Newport woman who was first on the scene after an auto accident between a high school and college student on Route 1 in South Kingstown alleges that the South Kingstown Police were abusive -- and assaulted her.

In a 23-page lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Providence on Thursday on behalf of Claire Hall, alleges she was unlawfully arrested and physically injured, she was placed in imminent fear for her well-being, she was emotionally damaged, she was embarrassed, humiliated, and unlawfully and wrongfully charged as a criminal. 

The suit was filed by Hall’s lawyers, Todd White, a partner, and Amanda Tramonte, an associate, at the Providence-based law firm Adler Pollock & Sheehan.

The suit names South Kingstown Town Manager James Manni and Police Chief Matthew Moynihan, as well as the two responding police officers Matthew White and Anthony Souza.

Previous to joining South Kingstown in 2022, both Manni and Moynihan served in the command staff of the Rhode Island State Police. Manni served as the superintendent and Moynihan as a captain.

Both were tied to controversies about contamination at the state’s largest road project — the 6/10 Project.

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NOT

Diocese Cheats and Wins on the St. Joseph Pension Fund, Now We All Pay

GoLocal Editorial:

For decades, the Diocese of Providence owned St. Joseph Health Services and was responsible for millions of dollars of contributions to the pension fund of the nurses and staff of the hospital.

For years, under the direction of the then-Bishop Thomas Tobin, the Diocese failed to make proper pension contributions.

Now, it looks like it will be a federal government corporation that will be footing the bill under a proposed new agreement that takes the Diocese nearly 100% off the hook for the failed plan.

St. Joseph’s was sold twice, once to CharterCARE by the Diocese in 2010 and then to Prospect of California in 2014.

The employees were overwhelmingly Catholic and overwhelmingly devoted to the institution.

By 2017, the pension fund for 2,800 employees failed and was placed in receivership. It was the biggest pension fund failure in Rhode Island history.

It was determined that the pension shortfall was approximately $120 million.

As the effort began to recover monies from the different players, the Diocese lawyered up and worked to block nearly every legal effort of the court-appointed receiver.

Former Rhode Island Attorney General Arlene Violet said in 2019, "Tobin and the church not only are not putting any monies in, but they are actively objecting to every effort to recover money even when they are not economically involved.”

The Diocese continued to drag its feet year after year.

“When Bishop Tobin and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence allegedly failed to properly fund their own nurses and health care workers’ pension system for a decade, they did more than financially mismanage an asset – they jeopardized the financial future of the very workers who selflessly served the Church and their patients for decades,” said Lynn Blais, R.N., President of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals in 2022.

The Diocese's lawyers used legal motions to delay the case, said receiver Stephen Del Sesto in 2022.

“I guess I will say the crafty lawyering that can be done on the side of the Diocese, that this could go on for three-four maybe even five years in litigation and you know that's not because [federal court Judge William Smith] is not moving things along or we're not,” said Del Sesto in a Zoom call to the retirees on January 10, 2022.

“It's just the process by which things happen and with all of the complex issues that are going on, that's just about how long it will take,” said Del Sesto.

“[As the] Diocese typically does in their litigation, they do not usually fold up their tent and walk away earl they usually fight it until the end,” said Del Sesto.

In 2017, GoLocal wrote about Kathy Quinn, who was like many of the 2,800 former and present St. Joseph Hospital employees.

She worked 34 years as a medical secretary and a host of other roles at the hospital, and she now receives a monthly pension benefit of $500.

On Wednesday, the parties announced they had reached an agreement. Despite the Diocese's years of failures and cover-ups, the new agreement has them paying $2.5 million -- a fraction of what they were responsible for. 

The amount is probably less than what they paid their lawyers over the past six years since the receivership to delay and block court action.

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