In the news… updates on 9/6/22

RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY

Ann & Hope complex in Warwick will put in a large U-Haul storage facility – other stores to go in in the future

URI did not receive funding from the $79 million federal Commerce program announced to support the Blu Economy.  It would have expanded the “Bedraggled” Bay Campus.

Billionaire New England car sales magnate Ernie Boch Jr bought Pleasant Island in MA for $825K (corrected) – he will announce plans soon

Bristol will host The Bristol Santa House, to be located at the corner of State and Thames streets, right after Thanksgiving. It will be accessible, and families will be able to make appointments to avoid lines. It is a project of the Rielly Foundation, and will be like “walking into Santa’s village” said Foundation spokesperson.

The Chinese Invitational Volleyball Tournament will be hosted by Providence with approximately 8,000 people coming in to the city – the tournament is livestreamed on BallerTV

The track at Cranston’s West HS will be open again – to walkers 7am-10am on weekdays

The Touro congregation in Newport cannot be evicted by the landowners in NYC – they now will negotiate with them

Ballards can remain open until Sept 8^th hearing, but has restrictions – no live music and they must employ 4 identifiable security guards on weekdays and 7 on weekends

Classical HS will get $34M in renovations

Bradford Printing – just below the pinecone on Atwells Avenue sold for $550M to Frank Caprio, whose company is located behind the building

The Winters school in Pawt did not open on time, with parents getting notification the night before – set to open tomorrow

RI lifts the ban on outdoor campfires.

Bucktown, a downtown Providence restaurant, has closed.

Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel becomes a RI lifeguard, a job she always wanted to do – makes national NBC news.

The Empower Providence Microenterprise Accelerator Program is eight weeks of business support training offered in partnership with Empower by GoDaddy. The program consists of 10 online learning modules designed to teach entrepreneurs how to build an online business and establish a marketing presence

Foxwoods is expanding with a new 50,000 sq. ft. addition

RI school lunches may not always meet menu announcements due to supply chain issues, Sodexho notes.

Omicron specific boosters will be available in days to those who have not received a booster in the past 2 months and are over 12. Moderna is available first, Pfizer later this week.

3 Westerly school buses are now electric, as well as Block Island

Pawtucket City Hall resumes regular hours – The new City Hall hours for the public are as follows: 

Monday:            8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Tuesday:            8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Wednesday:      8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Thursday:           8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Friday:                8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Providence Recycle-a-bike will close due to lack of board members

Legislation which requires all public elementary and secondary schools in Rhode Island to provide at least one unit of instruction on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander History and culture.

14 people were arrested by RI State Police for DUI by Monday morning of Labor Day weekend

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Federal Judge appoints Special Master in former President Trump’s raid by the FBI

21 million people in China are in lockdown, following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Residents have been ordered to stay home, 70% of the flights have been suspended to and from the city.

CVS set to buy Signify Health, with over 10,000 physicians in the group, for $8 million.

Macron, France’s president set a goal for Ukraine of enabling them to either win militarily or be put in a strong position to achieve “a negotiated peace.”

Porsche is expected to issue an IPO, and going out as a public company.

Hillary Clinton reveals in a TV interview that she started to wear pantsuits when a photographer took a suggestive picture of her sitting on a stage and it was used to sell women’s lingerie – the first explanation of her change of wardrobe theme.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cease daily publication, and only publish a weekend edition.

Cruisers will miss the commonplace buffet on their vacations, as, due to COVID, many lines are now staffed with servers who engage you to find out what foods you want on your plate and then serve it.

Bed, Bath & Beyond will close 150 stores – there are 2 in RI – not sure if they will stay open or not – they  will keep the buybuyBaby division.

A week after the Bed, Bath & Beyond closures’ notification, the 52-year old CFO, Gustavo Arnal, also a VP of the company, jumped from an iconic new skyscraper, known as the Jenga building, to his death. On Aug. 16, Arnal sold 42,513 shares in company stock for a little over a $1 million. His salary was $2.9 million/yr. He had held similar jobs at Avon and Proctor & Gamble. Sources disclose he was being sued for inflating the price of the stock and then selling.

California joins 6 other states in passing a bill to make vasectomies less expensive for men and for insurance to pay for over-the-counter birth control for women.

Barack Obama won an Emmy for narrating a national parks video

Fentanyl seizures have gone up 203% in July over June.

Investigative journalist, Jeff German, 69, was stabbed to death in Las Vegas – he had done several stories in his career on government and casino corruption.

10 dead and 15 injured in stabbings in Canada‘s Saskatchewan area of Indigenous people.

Seventeen states with vehicle emission standards tied to rules established in California may require all new cars, pickups and SUVs to be electric or hydrogen powered by 2035. This includes Minnesota, Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Vermont. (Colorado and Pennsylvania will not, and Virginia will fight not to)

Energy prices in England are predicted to rise by as much as 80% in the fall & winter

Mickey Dolenz suing the FBI to find out why they were “monitoring” the band back in the 60s – after the FBI fails to respond to FOIA request

US to give $1.1Billion to Taiwan in arms

A massive demonstration in Prague in the Czech Republic against the government over soaring prices and the energy crisis is happening with a call for the government to resign no later than Sept. 25^th.

The VA will be providing abortions for veterans and immediate family members in need

States where you cannot ride an e-scooter in a bike lane include:

• California
• Connecticut
• Kansas
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New York
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Tennessee
• Vermont
• Washington

13 states will tax the $10K taken off student loans – RI is not one of them – MA will tax $500

PASSINGS

Meri Kennedy, writer for the Cranston Herald, past Director of the Cranston Chamber of Commerce

Chip Young, 72, suddenly, long time writer of Phillippe and Jorge column in the Phoenix and most recently, Motif.