rhodyjourno

rhodyjourno t1_j17hral wrote

Reply to Rhode Island-themed seasoning for Christmas present by silverhammer96

I wrote about food-specific gifts you can buy that are from Rhode Island for my weekly food and dining newsletter with the Globe. Here it is: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/12/metro/one-of-a-kind-food-gifts-everyone-your-list/

Here's parts of that article/ newsletter here:

  • Finishing salt from local waters beats anything you’re buying in bulk, elevating your dishes and craft cocktails. Hand harvested from Brenton Reef along Ocean Drive, Newport Sea Salt Co. follows a traditional and unhurried process of making small-batched, pure and natural sea salt where nothing is added or taken away.
  • No one has time to make everything from scratch at home. But you can say “no” to the big brands you’ve seen in every home kitchen for the last few decades. Grab sauces and other BBQ goodies from the Backyard Food Company in Warwick, seasoning from Ocean State Pepper Co., fresh pasta from Priva Farina in Warren, and hot sauce from Rhed’s inside the Farm Fresh building in Providence. Bonus: Gastro’s Craft Meats usually has sampler sizes and gift baskets.
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rhodyjourno OP t1_izyubc5 wrote

Reply to Can Governor McKee really evict homeless people sleeping on State House grounds? by rhodyjourno

FROM THE STORY: Local and national legal experts are questioning whether Governor Dan McKee has the authority to evict homeless people sleeping on the grounds of the Rhode Island State House, which is public property.

On Dec. 7 the people, who have been sleeping outside in tents, were given 48 hours to vacate the State House grounds or face fines or arrest. According to notices handed out at the time, the state promised to provide them with a bed in an emergency shelter and transportation from the State House.

But Rhode Island currently has a severe shortage of shelter beds for people who are homeless. And as the 9 a.m. deadline for eviction came and went on Dec. 9, it was still unclear where, exactly, the state was proposing to place those who had been camping on State House grounds. By noon on Dec. 9, McKee spokesman Matthew Sheaff that there were “less than 10″ remaining members of the encampment, though there were still about 25 tents set up outside the State House

“If there aren’t enough available shelter beds, then you can’t criminally punish someone from taking care of their basic rights like sleeping and sheltering,” Eric Tars, the legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center in Washington D.C., said in an interview with the Globe. “There doesn’t seem like there are beds available, let alone accessible.”

On Monday, when questioned by members of the press at an unrelated event, McKee said the state was short “close to 200 shelter beds.” But according to data provided by the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness, as of Nov. 30 there were approximately 615 people, including children, living in places not meant for habitation while they waited for spaces in shelters.

Tars noted that in Martin v. Boise, a case the center took on in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court decided that unhoused individuals could not be punished for sleeping on public property if there were a lack of alternatives. Criminal and civil penalties used to punish those who are unhoused for existing in public spaces with nowhere else to go can be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which refers to cruel and unusual punishment.

READ MORE IN THE STORY.

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rhodyjourno OP t1_iygh9nl wrote

Reply to Is Jamestown the new dining destination in Rhode Island? by rhodyjourno

LINK: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/30/metro/is-jamestown-new-dining-destination-rhode-island/

Details: More than half a dozen new restaurants have opened in this tiny Conanicut Island town over the past 18 months.

Start of story: When chefs Marla Romash and Marc Alexander visited friends in Jamestown in December 2014, they didn’t know they’d be walking into a scene straight out of a Christmas movie, as they describe it. It was the annual Holiday Stroll, and the two watched as Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived on the island by boat, the local women’s club passed out hot chocolate, and townsfolk gathered around the tree at East Ferry to watch its lighting.

“It was quite the scene, and we fell in love. That was it. We were done,” concedes Romash, and so began the couple’s quest to bring their culinary talents to Conanicut Island. They had to wait until this past spring to make that dream happen, and it turns out, they were hardly the only aspirational restaurateurs lured by Jamestown’s charms.

More than half a dozen new restaurants have opened in Jamestown over the past 18 months, in addition to new owners taking over the Village Hearth Bakery & Cafe, an island institution for two decades. “A renaissance,” is how Jamestown native and seasoned restaurateur Kevin Gaudreau describes it.

“When I was a kid, it was a total blue-collar community,” he said. Gaudreau was cooking in New York City when he and his wife decided they wanted to return to Conanicut Island to raise a family. He led the kitchen at the now-closed Trattoria Simpatico for five years He tried to buy the iconic eatery more than once, but moved on to other Rhode Island restaurants when a deal never materialized.

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MORE IN THE LINK.

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rhodyjourno OP t1_ixisp2l wrote

Reply to Days after homeless people and advocates rallied outside governor’s office, R.I. will fund a portion of the shelter beds requested by rhodyjourno

FROM THE STORY: Just two days after dozens of homeless Rhode Islanders rallied outside the governor’s office, demanding more shelter beds be made available, Governor Dan McKee’s administration announced Wednesday that it would fund a fraction of their request.

McKee’s office said $1.4 million has been administered to fund 77 new emergency shelter beds, bringing the total number of new shelter beds funded this year to 351. With these additions, the state’s housing department expects the statewide shelter capacity to include more than 1,000 operational beds.
The governor said in a statement that expanding shelter capacity will “help ensure we have the resources to support families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness.”
However, advocates have been calling on the administration for months — including during Monday’s rally — to immediately open 500 hotel rooms to provide additional beds for the homeless. It’s similar to what Rhode Island did as part of its emergency shelter plan last year.
“I appreciate that they are expanding the shelter capacity. However, because of the very slow pace of that expansion, we are woefully short of enough beds for those who are living outside and in their cars,” said Eric Hirsch, a Providence College urban sociologist and co-chair of the state’s Homeless Management Information System Steering Committee, to the Globe on Wednesday.

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READ THE REST OF THE STORY IN THE LINK.

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rhodyjourno OP t1_it4r2xy wrote

Reply to Three years after closing for renovations, Providence’s Duck & Bunny plans to finally rebuild by rhodyjourno

FROM THE STORY: On his left shoulder, Dan Becker’s only tattoo is the logo of the first restaurant he ever owned in his hometown: the Duck & Bunny.
For the decade it was open, Duck & Bunny was a snuggery that was nothing short of a smash hit. They served speciality crêpes, charcuterie plates, scones, and gourmet cupcakes. Their afternoon tea time was served with a selection of finger sandwiches and cookies. Cocktails had a delicate elegance to them, some prosecco-laced and flavored with lavender or garnished with bright berries.

The building was painted pastel pink, which blended with the rest of colorful, but quaint, Wickenden Street. Inside, the walls were adorned with paintings of ducks and bunnies that were playful — like a duck wearing pearl earrings.
The snuggery was an appropriately warm and inviting place, mimicking the snuggery taverns of old England, where the owners — Dan Becker and his wife Jessica — were able to marry their desire of opening a bar and a teashop together, respectively. And they earned numerous restaurant awards from local publications.
But since 2019, the Duck & Bunny hasn’t been open. Becker told the Globe in an exclusive interview that the Duck & Bunny, what he calls his “most prized restaurant,” will begin rebuilding soon and make its full return “within the next year.”

READ MORE: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/19/metro/three-years-after-closing-renovations-providences-duck-bunny-plans-finally-rebuild/

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rhodyjourno OP t1_is78sir wrote

Reply to Providence announces new program to acquire vacant land to build affordable housing by rhodyjourno

FROM THE STORY: In the middle of a statewide housing crisis, the city of Providence has a favor to ask: Do you know of any vacant plots of land where affordable housing could be built?

On Thursday morning, Mayor Jorge O. Elorza announced the creation of the Providence Neighborhood Land Bank, a new program funded with $8.5 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds that will acquire, hold, and transfer underused vacant land throughout the city with the goal of generating new affordable housing.Rhode Islanders can email suggestions of blighted, vacant lots for the Land Bank program to LandBank@providenceri.gov.

The program is designed to reduce barriers to development, such as site control and pre-development costs, to promote the construction of affordable housing. Other cities, like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans all have land bank programs to spur affordable housing development and develop urban agriculture. But third-party organizations in some cities, such as the Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities, have raised questions over the program’s effectiveness and slow pace of sales after almost a decade of that city’s land bank program.

More details at the link: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/13/metro/providence-announces-new-land-bank-program-aquire-vacant-land-build-affordable-housing/?p1=StaffPage

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rhodyjourno OP t1_is75twd wrote

Reply to Podcast: My colleague went boxing with GOP nominee Ashley Kalus. She took swipes at McKee and ducked questions. by rhodyjourno

DETAILS: Back in the day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ashley Kalus was a serious boxer. She even won a Golden Gloves championship in 2001. These days, she trains at a gym in West Warwick. My colleague Ed Fitzpatruck, a political reporter at the Boston Globe's Rhode Island Bureau, dropped by to learn a few moves from Kalus's coach – and to let her take a swing at some policy questions.

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READ THE STORY HERE: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/12/metro/ring-kalus-takes-swipes-mckee-ducks-questions/

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LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE RHODE ISLAND REPORT PODCAST *FOR FREE*

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