A summer slowdown of news? Rhode Island’s summer of 2015 will likely be remembered for two important releases of information — the State Police report on Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, and, more significantly, the unsealing of documents in the state’s lawsuit over 38 Studios. As always, feel free to drop me a tip or your comments, and to follow me through the week on the twitters. Here we go.
1. Without departing from his pleasant, easygoing courtroom manner, Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein dropped a bombshell Friday: the thousands and thousands and thousands of pages of sealed documents in the state’s lawsuit over 38 Studios will be made public. This points to a moment that could include blockbuster political revelations and the most detailed explanation yet of Rhode Island’s losing investment in Curt Schilling‘s video-game company. The precise timing for the release remains to be determined — Silverstein is hoping for somewhere in the next 10 days — although court officials are set to meet Monday morning to parse the logistics. Depending on what happens, the documents’ unsealing could help dispel the cloud left by the bankruptcy of 38 Studios more than three years ago. It may justify the approach of politicians like Governor Gina Raimondo and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, who’ve emphasized the need for the lawsuit to unfold in court. “The public will now be aware of the facts, the mistakes and the wrong-doing that led to the 38 Studios’ debacle,” Mattiello said in a statement. “I have had to be patient throughout this process because I have said all along that the best approach is for the Superior Court to unseal the documents and for the State Police to continue its investigation.” The document dump could also shed a telling light on the role played by former governor Lincoln Chafee, who fiercely opposed 38 Studios as a candidate, initiated the state’s lawsuit after the company’s failure, and was blamed by Schilling for why things went wrong (a charge that Chafee called ridiculous).
2. The debate over paying back 38 Studios bondholders united liberals and conservatives in opposition; a similar alliance has been evident with the movement opposing a PawSox stadium in Providence. So will the unsealing of the 38 Studios documents sap the galvanizing effect bringing together disparate citizens groups — or make it stronger?
3. Speaking of the PawSox, the path to a Providence stadium continues to run into more speed bumps, including the news this week about the need for the team to pay fair market value for part of its desired location within the I-195 land. With the process taking more time, rather than less, the state appears to be gaining leverage. And while Larry Lucchino did check out this week the Victory Place site posited by its owner as an alternative, the team was quick to knock down conjecture. “We remain focused on [the] renegotiated agreement with [the] state on I-195 parcels of land for [a] new urban ballpark,” spokeswoman Patti Doyle said in a statement. In an interview, Doyle reiterated that the PawSox are not considering any other location — in Rhode Island or outside the state. Speaker Mattiello has already signaled how the House is unlikely to consider a deal until next year. Meanwhile, the Raimondo administration keeps hustling in search of fresh development; After years of tepid interest in the former I-195 land, is a multiple of competing proposals too much to expect?
4. Some Providence Journal readers might long for an editor who would stand on his desk to exhort reporters, who had “a sort of spectral ability to sense a news story before anyone else could recognize it.” Well, Joel Rawson isn’t coming back. Now Karen Bordeleau, the ProJo’s first female executive editor, is on her way out. Bordeleau accrued a number of professional accomplishments during her almost 20 years on Fountain Street. Yet she also spent time well beyond Fountain Street, teaching as an adjunct at Emerson College in Boston, for example, and buying a home last year in Groton, Connecticut. So it’s plausible, as some Journal-watchers believe, that she’s leaving on her own initiative, in a time of continued cuts. (Bordeleau did not respond to a request for comment; ProJo management, never communicative under its previous ownership by A.H. Belo, has become even more opaque under GateHouse Media.) Ultimately, a new executive editor will face the challenge of directing the ProJo’s journalistic resources in a state blessed with an abundance of fodder for reporters.
5. Give a listen to my story comparing the debate on the potential use of subsidies for the PawSox and the so-called Superman Building.
6. The quiet early part of this week was punctuated by the news that Andew Roos is leaving as General Treasurer Seth Magaziner’s chief of staff, David Ortiz is exiting City Hall to become Magaziner’s communications director, and Evan England is moving up from press secretary to succeed Ortiz as head of communications for Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza. While the timing of the changes caught notice, Roos’ return to the private sector doesn’t seem unusual, particularly considering how he worked for Google before signing on with Gina Raimondo in 2013.
7. The same is true for Ortiz’s move to the Statehouse, reminiscent of how a former City Hall colleague, Gonzalo Cuervo, left that political hotspot for a more tranquil assignment with Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. In fact, a number of City Hall alums have landed on Smith Hill, including Matt Jerzyk, deputy legal counsel to Speaker Mattiello; Jason Hernandez, community relations director for Gorbea; Jeff Padwa, Magaziner’s general counsel; and Senate policy analyst Katiuska Perez.
8. Where are they now? Ernie Almonte lost as the Republican-backed independent candidate for treasurer last year. Yet Almonte has done well for himself, landing as a partner with the big Boston assurance, tax and consulting firm McGladrey.
9. Kristina Contreras Fox, field director last year for Jorge Elorza, has won election as first vice president-elect of the Young Democrats of America.
10. Back in 2006, we wrote about the local adventures of Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, noting how the young reporter might one day ascend to the top job at the New York Times. New York magazine brings the story up to date. Excerpt: “Inside the competitive newsroom of the Times, job appointments are forensically dissected by Times journalists to determine their institutional significance. So it’s not surprising that handicapping the race between the Sulzberger cousins is a popular pastime at the paper. ‘Perpich is data-driven. If I had to sum him up in one word, it’d be M.B.A.,’ a former executive says. Dolnick has written award-winning stories but lacks management experience. ‘Sam is kind of junior and young and has primarily an editorial background,’ a source who worked on the business side says. That means A.G. — with management and newsroom experience, not to mention the Sulzberger name — is generally considered to be the front-runner.”
11. Progress is being reported in efforts to help homeless veterans in Connecticut and New Orleans.
12. Is it time to retire the ProJo’s PolitiFact column? The column has had an impact (local pol have taken to saying, “don’t PolitiFact me on this”), although conservatives like Justin Katz are hardly fans. To make it simple: is earmarking a reporter to PolitiFact the best use of increasingly limited resources on Fountain Street?
13. With Hillary Clinton‘s email trouble, supporters of Joe Biden‘s possible presidential campaign are in overdrive. “We are on the precipice of having our organization up and running to support Joe in all 50 states,” ex-Rhode Islander Will Pierce, the leader of Draft Biden 2016, wrote in an email this week. “But we need your help in order to properly equip these dedicated volunteers and staffers.” Meanwhile, Politico reports on Clinton’s Super Tuesday firewall.
14. When all else fails, Lincoln Chafee can always hold his knowledge of horses over the likes of Donald Trump, right?
15. Congressman David Cicilline continues to crank up his fundraising operation ahead of 2016. He’s slated to benefit from an August 30 fundraiser at the Jamestown home of Arthur-Paul and Maria Petrosinelli. Suggested contributions range from $125 to $1,000.
16. A smart listener/reader responded to my story on the Superman Building vs. PawSox question by suggesting the building go “through a condominium process so that each of government, commercial, retail and residential areas can be identified and separated. The owner should be on the hook for the basic infrastructure work, and should sell off the condominium units to others interested in the investment necessary to create retail, commercial, governmental and residential space.”
17. Kudos & Congrats to Brown U alum Robin Amer, who used to write for me at the Phoenix, and who just landed the gig as news editor at the Chicago Reader.
18. We half-suspected that super-page Andres Taborda would patrol the House chamber in perpetuity. In fact, he says on FB, he’s taken a job at the Young America’s Foundation as a program officer.
19. Time for a cold one. Pawtucket is shaping up as a center of Rhode Island’s growing micro-brewing movement, as Ethan Shorey reports. And the Bucket could play a role in Narragansett’s long-running quest to resume brewing in the Biggest Little.
This post has been updated.