HOT

Gina Raimondo

The Governor wisely dismissed the Pawtucket Red Sox owner's preposterous proposal that would force taxpayers to foot the bill for $120 million in subsidies over 30 years. And of course, she said all the right things, talking about protecting taxpayers, so she's hot for now. However, it remains to be seen whether the new owners will still be given a sweetheart deal at taxpayer's expense.
 

HOT

RI NAACP

The Rhode Island Chapter of the is hosting its 102 annual Freedom Fund Breakfast tomorrow from 9:00-11:30AM at the Providence Marriott Hotel on Orms Street. The event will feature keynote speaker Dr. Julia Jordan-Zachery, Associate Professor and Director of Black Studies at Providence College who will speak about the importance of embracing diversity in our society. 

Photo courtesy of providence.edu

HOT

Ted Siedle 

The Forbes columnist and former SEC investigator has reached is funding goal on kickstarter.com that will allow him to conduct another investigation into the Rhode Island pension system. It should be interesting to see what he produces given that current General Treasurer Seth Magaziner promised us more transparency, better returns, and a move away from the opaque hedge fund investments. Siedle's investigation is a mechanism to hold the Treasurer accountable.

HOT

James Diossa

The city of Central Falls has compelled the owner of a massage parlor called Palm Tree Day Spa, located just three blocks away from the City Hall, to turn in his licenses and close up shop, according to a Providence Journal report. The city was concerned that the establishment was taking advantage of women.

HOT

Housing Prices

The median housing price for a Rhode Island single family home rose above $200,000 for the first time since 2004 in the first quarter of this year. That's a good sign for homeowners, real estate agents, and people looking to sell their properties, and a good bellwether overall for the Rhode Island economy.
 

HOT

Pat Ford

Rhode Island's rabble-rouser and talk radio caller turned part-time talk show host (Saturday nights at 6:00 on WPRO) deserves kudos for organizing a diverse coalition of Rhode Island political groups--from the RI Tea Party to the Progressive Democrats of RI--to attend the 195 Commission's meeting that discussed the proposal to move the Pawtucket Red Sox to Providence.

NOT

James Skeffington

When you're begging the taxpayers to fund your latest business venture, it would be nice to act in good faith by keeping your word. But that's the opposite of what Skeffington is doing considering he promised to reveal how much his law firm made from the Pawtucket Red Sox stadium bonds refinancing over 10 years ago, but has reneged on it.

NOT

Susan Cicilline Buonanno

The sister of Congressman David Cicilline has had an ethics complaint filed against her for having allegedly used public property for campaign activity--Buonanno is running for the vacant House of Representatives Seat in Narragansett. The complaint alleges that Buonnano sent out emails from her Gladstone Elementary School email address, and used her office telephone as the primary contact number on campaign finance reports.

NOT

8th Highest

GolocalProv reported that our state has the eighth highest insurance premium penalties for high risk drivers this year, according to a WalletHub report. There's just another example of Rhode Island's high cost structure.

NOT

Hillary Clinton

It's starting to seem like there's a big correlation between donations made to The Clinton Foundation and speech fees paid to Bill Clinton by people with business interests that would have been affected by decisions at the State Department when Hillary was Secretary of State. That's not a good thing for Hillary Clinton's presidential hopes. But is anyone really paying attention?

NOT

Boston Celtics

Yes, they were big underdogs heading into their playoff series with the Lebron James led Cleveland Cavaliers last weekend, but fans have to be disappointed by their performance. The Celtics were swept away in four games, and there really wasn't a Celtics player who raised his profile in the series.