Pell Center: RhodeWorks top story of 2016

RHODEWORKS, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s controversial plan to improve state roads and bridges partially by using tolls on trucks, was selected as the 2016 Pell Center Rhode Island Story of the Year.
  / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
RHODEWORKS, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s controversial plan to improve state roads and bridges partially by using tolls on trucks, was selected as the 2016 Pell Center Rhode Island Story of the Year. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

NEWPORT – RhodeWorks was voted the 2016 Pell Center Rhode Island Story of the Year.

RhodeWorks, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s controversial plan to improve state roads and bridges partially by using tolls on trucks, was selected by a panel of 18 judges from media and academia as the story of the year, according to a press release from the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, Salve Regina University.

Raimondo’s proposal was approved by the General Assembly in February.

Runners-up in the annual contest include the since-abandoned and widely mocked “Cooler & Warmer” tourism campaign and “Corruption at the State House: House Finance Chair Raymond E. Gallison Jr. Resigns.”

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RhodeWorks is “a story that’s going to keep giving, I think for years to come,” said panelist John Howell, editor and publisher of the Warwick Beacon.
Author Padma Venkatraman, a member of the Pell Center’s Story in the Public Square Story Board, said the story “helped the public think about important questions – how, what and why programs are financed and the impact this particular program may have on our state. It fueled discussion and made us question and use our intellects.”

RhodeWorks’ plan to use tolls assessed by gantries on 18-wheel trucks prompted protests, with some companies threatening to leave the state and industry groups taking political action.
“The tolls became a factor in some local and General Assembly races; prompted a flurry of letters to the editor, op-ed pieces, and online postings; and kept the talk shows busy,” the release said.

Vice President Joe Biden also weighed in, praising RhodeWorks on a May visit to Rhode Island.

Pell Center Executive Director Jim Ludes said RhodeWorks was topping headlines before 2016 began, and continued throughout the year.

“As John Howell said, expect it to be making news into 2017 and beyond,” Ludes said.

The Local Story of the Year was selected during a process that began with nominations by the 18-judge panel and concluded with voting on a ballot of the three most-nominated stories.

Stories nominated but failed to make the final ballot included Rhode Island’s reaction to Donald J. Trump’s election; the first woman, Col. Ann Assumpico, named superintendent of State Police; Republican Steve Frias nearly defeating Democrat House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello; St. George’s School reaching a settlement with sexual abuse victims; 38 Studios; and the January death of former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci.

“It is sometimes said that Rhode Island is a theme park for journalists, and that goes for consumers of local news as well,” G. Wayne Miller, Providence Journal staff writer and director of the Pell Center’s Story in the Public Square program, said in prepared remarks. “This year did not disappoint.”

Story in the Public Square is a partnership of the Pell Center and The Providence Journal.

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