Rhode Island’s Teacher of the Year made international news as his photo with President Donald Trump (who has rolled back protections for transgender students), in which he is seen waving a black lace fan and wearing a rainbow pin lapel, went viral. Giannopoulos, who is gay, didn’t expect the gesture to become an international story, but the message is universal, never apologize for who you are, even in front of the most powerful person in the world.
The Republican Mayor of Cranston, and likely candidate for Governor, deserves credit for speaking out against the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, after GoLocal reported that the entity has spent roughly two-thirds of all its money on out-of-state contractors over the last two years. "It's the same recurring theme with this Governor. She puts her out of state friends and donors first," said Fung.
The mega online retailer continues to expand its reach at a tremendous pace. Last week, Amazon announced that it planned to acquire Whole Foods supermarkets and the move will make it a dominant force in food distribution. Meanwhile, the company continues to decimate brick and mortar retailers throughout the country. The company will continue to be a juggernaut for a long time into the future.
The Rhode Island rocker, who appeared on this year’s season of The Voice, is gearing up for an east coast tour and is putting out some new, original music, which he debuted on GoLocal LIVE earlier this week. We should definitely continue to expect big things from Gates moving forward. Gates will perform at The Met in Pawtucket on June 24.
The former New England Patriots front office executive, and current assistant general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, demonstrated that sometimes, the most heroic things we can do are also the simplest.
The Mayor is gloating over his new budget, telling multiple media outlets that the City of Providence would be “laughed out of court” if it filed for bankruptcy. That’s interesting, since the latest audit shows that the city’s combined total pension and healthcare liabilities for retirees is just shy of $2 billion dollars. For the mayor to act like things are hunky dory, when those liabilities will prevent the city from making crucial investments in education and infrastructure in the future is akin to whistling past the graveyard.
Two pit bulls got loose in Warwick this week and attacked a man and his dog, as first reported by WPRI. Police officers were forced to shoot both pit bulls, and the man who was attacked required medical treatment. Maybe pit bulls shouldn’t be allowed in cities anymore and should be confined to more rural areas where they cannot cause such damage when they go mental.
The town of East Greenwich is currently amidst a classic town vs. school committee battle. The town council recently level-funded the school budget, cut property taxes, and fired town manager Thomas Coyle III. Coyle was replaced by Gayle Corrigan, a long-time associate and confidante of Robert Flanders, who oversaw the Central Falls bankruptcy back in 2010. All this has created unease in the wealthy community.
