Rob Smith


Opened and Closed

Opened Five Guys: 63 Airport Rd, Warwick. fiveguys.com This greasy (tremendously unhealthy) burger chain opened a new location on Airport Road in Warwick, with a mobile pick up window that already has car lines going out into the street.  Pizza Marvin: 468 Wickenden St, PVD. pizzamarvin.com This new pizzeria over in Fox Point boosts “New […]

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Raimondo Addresses the Press for the First Time in Weeks: A summary of the governor’s January 13 press conference

The circus was in town today at The Vets, as Governor Raimondo declined to answer questions from the press in her first public appearance since it was announced she was President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Commerce. State officials steered away from political questions in an attempt to orient the press conference […]

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No Rhode Islander Can Resist a Cabinet: Raimondo heads to DC, leaving a power vacuum in her wake

Governor Gina Raimondo is leaving the Ocean State for another job. News broke last week via a leak to The New York Times that President-elect Joe Biden was picking our two-term Rhode Island executive for commerce secretary. The decision comes after months, if not years, of rampant speculation. Raimondo, a rising Democrat within her own […]

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Scot Free: Officers involved in Gonsalves moped crash will not be charged

Attorney General Peter Neronha announced today his office will press no charges against any officers involved with the Jhamal Gonsalves moped crash on October 18. The announcement from the AG’s office comes after a two and half month investigation. Jhamal Gonsalves had been driving a moped for the Ride Out rally on that day, before […]

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Mr. Speaker: Joe Shekarchi named Speaker of the House

Rep. Joe Shekarchi is officially the new Speaker of the House in Rhode Island. The state’s House of Representatives met today for the first meeting of the new legislative session. Shekarchi became speaker-presumptive last fall, shortly after then-Speaker Nicholas Mattiello lost his race to Barbara Fenton-Fung in District 16.  “The COVID crisis has dealt a […]

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We’ve Turned a Corner: A summary of the governor’s December 22 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo, DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, DOA director Brett Smiley and Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor gave the weekly COVID press briefing today at 1pm. DOH reports 880 new cases of the novel coronavirus since yesterday, from around 12,000 tests taken yesterday. The positive test rate is 7.1%. There are 440 people hospitalized with […]

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A Sobering Picture: A summary of the governor’s December 10 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo, DOH Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, and Dr. Philip Chan from DOH gave the weekly COVID-19 press briefing today at 1pm. Daily cases continue to surge in Rhode Island, with 948 new cases since yesterday. The percent positive rate, a key metric that the governor’s team is watching closely, came in at 7% out […]

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Beneath the Surface: Underlying conditions can make COVID infections worse

COVID-19 has shown itself to be America’s public health perfect storm: it’s incredibly contagious, incredibly deadly and highly infectious. It’s shown every crack and imperfection in our healthcare systems and society. While it’s hard to predict the impact of a coronavirus infection on any individual, our available data on underlying conditions gives a glimpse into […]

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