The Bankruptcy Boys

Do you have any photos of state Economic Development Council honcho John "What Clean Water Act?" Swen naked? No? Wanna buy some?

If so, you should probably go see Chip Norton, one of the odious carpetbagging principals of Quonset Point Partners, the developers who want to get rich by destroying Narragansett Bay with Governor Bigfoot and Swen's blessings. Norton must have shots of Swen in compromising positions, because Mr. "What Clean Water Act?" is championing the cause of a guy whose career in business deals makes the Challenger space mission look like a roaring success.

It has already been revealed that Norton went bankrupt to the tune of almost $50 million a few years back, wrangled a deal to pay back hundreds of thousands in unpaid back taxes and ended up with a lien on his house in Massachusetts. Now even more info on how incompetent the man who pledges to build an environmentally disastrous megaport at QP with only private money (and certainly not his own) has fared handling cash has shown up on political guru Darryl West's Web site, InsidePolitics.org. (You provide the info, Big D, we'll handle the yucks and stiletto work.):

Here is the scoop:
New questions about Quonset Port Developer
Several weeks ago, The Providence Journal and the Associated Press reported the problems Quonset Point Port developers Martin J. Grasso and Charles F. Norton had in Massachusetts with tax liens. Grasso had a state tax lien filed March 21, 1996, while Norton had four different tax liens filed in1996, 1997, and 1999 as well as a personal bankruptcy in 1993.

It turns out this is not the only time Norton has encountered financial controversy. Norton still owes money to the FDIC arising from the default of one of his prior companies, St. James Properties, on mortgages and back real estate taxes on property in Boston, according to newspaper accounts.

Norton's corporate partner in St. James Properties since 1987 was the Webb Companies, which achieved notoriety when Forbes magazine ran a December 23,1991, article investigating Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co. lending practices with respect to the Webb brothers.

Kentucky's Insurance Commission seized Kentucky Central in 1993, according to newspaper accounts, and began pursuing the Webbs for $100 million in unpaid, unsecured loans. The Webb brothers declared bankruptcy in 1994 but still owe $471,121 in federal taxes.

Perhaps local business leaders Carol Grant, Dean Holt, Bob McCabe and the other folks at Duffy & Shanley's illusionary "GoPort" can explain to us how much they would urge their own companies to do business with the likes of Grasso and Norton if their jobs were based on the future performance of these two snake oil salesmen. But sure, lets entrust the future of Narragansett Bay and the state's economy to the Bankruptcy Boys. Can you say "due diligence," boys and girls?

Jumping on the bandwagon

We were, of course, highly amused when, in Sunday's BeloJo, Joel Rawson, the paper's senior vice president and executive editor, gave the official line on the launching of two new Urinal sections. It is assumed that nobody on Fountain Street lost any sleep over the naming of these new sections -- "Live" and "Lifestyles" -- nor did they have to employ outside help to conceive of these brilliant names. Maybe by strongly implying that these new sections have something to do with "serving the public" (ha-ha) the paper hopes that we have all forgotten that they replaced The Rhode Islander magazine with the near worthless and redundant Parade.

Here is some of what Rawson had to say: " `Live' will focus on bands, clubs, theater . . . festivals, kids' stuff, outdoor activities . . . dance, art shows, museums . . . Our second new magazine will be `Lifestyles.' It will appear in The Sunday Journal and it will cover the challenges and joys of daily life for all people, of all ages . . . In addition, Mark Patinkin will put aside his column in Sunday's Local & Regional section -- Bob Kerr will take that position -- and write a regular feature for `Lifestyles.' "

While the estimable Kerr is always a treat, we just can't wait to see what the Pink One, all yupped up and ready for the millennium, has in his old bag of upper-middle-class tricks. Maybe the BeloJo should try to balance Pinky off with P&J's new column proposal, "The Joys of the Poor." Apparently our invitation from the Urinal to launch this new offensive was lost in the mail.

Pondering these new sections for a nano-second, we realized that we've seen something like this before. It's called The Providence Phoenix. As with most new media gambits, the real reason for creating the new sections -- undoubtedly generated in the marketing department -- has to do with grabbing advertising market share from the publication that already provides comprehensive coverage in the areas described. Naturally, that was not discussed in Rawson's little promo blurb.

Rawson explained that, "by appearing on Thursdays, the magazine (`Live') will give you, we hope, the time and information you need to plan your complete weekend." More to the point, Thursday is when the Phoenix hits the streets. We fully expect the Other Paper's brave new sections to be about as "cutting edge" as Wal-Mart.

More evidence of the end of civilization as we know it

Whether or not the new BeloJo sections are as yawn-inducing as we suspect, at least they should have nothing in common with that most frightening of all American journalistic enterprises, The New York Times' "Sunday Styles" section. Besides everything you never wanted to know (unless you are Jay McInerney) about the tedious activities of supermodels, the "Sunday Styles" section has, in recent months, featured in-depth looks at some really meaningful trends. Such vital leisure time activities as champagne parties for15-year-old rich girls, and the importance of wearing a $500 Louis Vuitton checkered helmet while driving your Vespa motorscooter into Puffy Combs' swimming pool in the Hamptons will always be well covered.

Last week's "Sunday Styles" announced that, to be a successful female artist in the Big Apple these days, it is incumbent upon women to start dressing in high fashion and show a lot of cleavage. It's also helpful to incorporate this approach in one's work, as one of the leading "leave it to cleavage" adherent's trademark pieces was a tent on which she had inscribed the names of everyone she had ever slept with. Hastily fleeing this page, your superior correspondents soon stumbled on photographs of the spotlight wedding of the week, where the groom was decked out in a clown outfit, complete with dramatic Bozo hair. Shockingly, Blair Trump was not listed as one of the guests at this wedding.

More Urinal gossip

Word has it that the two leading candidates for John Martin's post as TV/radio critic are Andy Smith and Michael Tanaka. Andy, the O.P.'s reigning pop music writer, has been feeling a bit long in the tooth for that punishing beat and would undoubtedly prefer the more sedate existence of couch potato. Can't say that we blame him. Andy's a pro and would certainly do a creditable job, but Tanaka would be a real catch.

He sure as hell knows television and, based on his tube criticism in the old NewPaper, is a fine writer as well. Mike's a highly successful television producer, currently making the big bucks with Oprah in Chicago. But Mike, despite a past scattered with successful TV gigs in

Boston and New York, truly misses Our Little Towne. If he gets the job, it will mean a huge cut in salary, but it will also mean that local music fans will get to hear him moonlight on a regular basis as the king of Jazzsurf guitar.

Not too multicultural

Your superior correspondents recently received this brief note from a reader in Little Rest:

Dear Phillipe & Jorge,
It may amuse you to learn the Multi-Cultural Center at URI held a vegetarian dinner (public invited) on the last evening of Passover, when observant Jews would be forbidden to attend. Ipse dixit.

We guess that this means P&J's suggestion of a Ramadan pork and beans dinner is DOA.

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