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After the movie, McKee instructed the Globe that Hocus Pocus 2 is a film “That’s going to be seen all over the world. … I feel that it’s Rhode Island’s time.”
The governor gave the film a constructive evaluation merely saying that he “loved it.”
The family-friendly occasion is a one-day affair with greater than 80 distributors, costume contests, psychics, hayrides, dwell music, storytellers, and extra. Nonetheless, solely those that have pre-purchased tickets on-line can attend.
The occasion has drawn curiosity from practically 20,000 individuals, and 4,000 tickets for the occasion bought out inside a month. Organizers and the Lincoln city administrator Philip Gould emphasised that tickets will not be accessible on the gate.
Gould reined within the occasion by placing a cap on attendance as a consequence of “concern” about massive crowds and public security. He mentioned the city and organizers will talk about increasing the pageant in debriefings after the occasion.
Gould mentioned the city is “excited that the film is popping out” however was frank about what he anticipated on the inaugural occasion.
“It’s an incredible location we’ve however we’re definitely limiting tickets,” he mentioned, noting he was anxious when he noticed fascinating explode. “I’m nervous persons are going to suppose it’s a free-for-all and that’s not going to be the case.”
You could possibly match practically a complete city on the huge chase property however that’s greater than native regulation enforcement and emergency personnel might deal with. And if the recognition throughout filming is any indication, Gould mentioned it was finest to err on the facet of warning.
“When the film was being filmed we had lots of people coming in making an attempt to check out set,” Gould mentioned of onlookers who confirmed up in any respect hours of the day. “A yr in the past we had Salem Village arrange at Chase Farm, one in all our gems right here in Lincoln. For the individuals who do get tickets to the occasion, we’re going to attempt to have fun what we had final yr.”
Presently, the Memorial Day parade is Lincoln’s largest public celebration, and the city is in search of new methods to spice up the economic system. Final month, Lincoln obtained a grant to put in a transportable stage for a summer time live performance collection, and host farmer’s markets.
Curiosity within the pageant, displays the eye Salem, Mass., obtained after the TV present “BeWitched” (which ran from 1964 to 1972) and the unique “Hocus Pocus” (1993) stirred curiosity in witches. “Hocus Pocus” was set in Salem Village (present-day Danvers, Mass.). The movie price $28 million and made a modest box-office revenue however grew a cult following through the years.
The film stars the Sanderson sisters, performed by Bette Midler (Winifred), Kathy Najimy (Mary), and Sarah-Jessica Parker (Sarah), a trio of 300-year-old witches who’re conjured up from Seventeenth-century Salem by unsuspecting pranksters. They attempt to reclaim their youth with a spell.
Whereas items of the primary Hocus Pocus had been filmed in Salem, Mass., the recognition of the realm, which is internet hosting Salem Haunted Happenings for the fortieth yr, made the placement too busy for filming a sequel. Disney Plus introduced the manufacturing of practically your entire movie to a number of places in Rhode Island. Apart from Chase Farm, filming happened at Washington Park in Newport, Newman Cemetery in Rumford, historic Profit Avenue, Federal Hill, and a set was arrange on the armory in Windfall.
Chase Farm was settled 31 years earlier than the notorious Salem Witch Trials (from February 1692 to Could 1693) however has no hyperlink to witchcraft, witches, or trials. Rhode Island’s largest declare to paranormal fame is vampires and ghosts.
However Kathy Chase Hartley, whose household owned Chase Farm for 4 generations and founding father of the Lincoln preservation nonprofit, Associates of Hearthside, is proud that Disney selected their farm to re-ignite the black flame candle. Her grandfather, Benjamin Chase, was a fan of Disney and the proprietor of one of many first coloration televisions in Lincoln.
Benjamin would invite individuals to the farm to look at the “Fantastic World of Disney,” which premiered on Oct. 27, 1954 below the identify “Disneyland” and was later referred to as “Walt Disney’s Fantastic World of Coloration.” The farmhouse viewers was awed by the opening sequence that confirmed Tinkerbell in a brilliant inexperienced gown faucet the highest of the citadel that appeared on the high of the display, unleashing superior fireworks sparks throughout the display, Chase Hartley mentioned.
She now manages the farm and different close by historic buildings in Lincoln, she instructed the Globe.
The filming of the film impressed Chase Hartley to create the BeWitched and BeDazzled Pageant, and he or she was overwhelmed by the sudden response and preparation. Tickets for the occasion solely went on sale final month for $13 every, which implies the occasion has grossed a minimum of $52,000.
Among the many actions are historians who will discuss trend and witches, magic reveals, dancers, a presentation on modern-day witchcraft, historic re-enactors, a psychic pavilion for readings, theatrical performances, and meals vans. There will even be a show exhibiting photographs from the filming of Hocus Pocus 2.
The Rhode Island Movie and Tv Workplace and native tourism councils are placing collectively an inventory of occasions highlighting the filming across the state.
However might the eye that comes from filming Hocus Pocus 2 develop into an financial increase for Rhode Island with out having a historical past of witches?
Chase Hartley mentioned curiosity in movies similar to “Jaws,” which was filmed on Martha’s Winery, create long-term curiosity in filming places.
“For those who go to Martha’s Winery, persons are nonetheless going to the place the place Jaws was filmed greater than 40 years later,” she mentioned. “That truth we’re doing the pageant, I feel it’ll create quite a lot of power and develop into an annual occasion that places Lincoln on the map. This was the good. That village was so genuine. It was so short-term and other people thought it appeared nice. It’s all a wedding and Disney made it so magical.”
Chase Hartley, whose favourite Disney films are “Cinderella” and “Bambi,” mentioned the city bought Chase Farm to protect it, inspiring her to create Associates of Hearthside.
Following Friday’s launch on @DisneyPlus, #HocusPocus2-inspired “BeWitched and BeDazzled” pageant will happen at film filming web site, Chase Farms at 669 Nice Highway in Lincoln for the 4,000 individuals who bought tickets forward of time.
No tickets can be bought on the gate. pic.twitter.com/kFlVAoBLsZ
— Carlos R. Munoz 📰 (@ReadCarlos) September 30, 2022
The pageant is meant to lift cash that goes again into historic preservation for Chase Farm and 4 different town-owned properties close by.
”My grandfather was an early preservationist. He didn’t need to see his land developed,” she mentioned. “He wished to protect the land so the general public might get pleasure from it.”
Gould mentioned Lincoln residents ought to concentrate on visitors delays and backups round Nice Highway on Saturday through the BeWitched and BeDazzled pageant. He mentioned visitors to the farm could possibly be restricted to ticketholders or Nice Highway residents. Shuttles providers can be offered.
“That is one thing we are able to have fun in Lincoln to make it higher,” Gould mentioned. “Chase Farm is a piece of town that has 5 different historic properties.”
Carlos Muñoz will be reached at carlos.munoz@globe.com. Observe him on Twitter @ReadCarlos and on Instagram @Carlosbrknews.
Joseph Codega Jr., a budget officer with the state’s Office of Management & Budget estimated this tax could generate approximately $2.5 million in fiscal year 2025 and $5 million the following year, according to a memorandum sent to the House and Senate Finance Committees on Monday, which was obtained by the Globe.
“My administration is committed to improving the housing outlook for Rhode Islanders — whether they are experiencing housing insecurity, seeking rentals that families can afford or working toward first-time home ownership,” McKee said in a statement.
The budget amendments were considered welcome news by leaders at the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.
“As the number of Rhode Islanders needing shelter, housing, and Housing Problem Solving grows, funding must also increase to support the need,” said Juan Espinoza, the development manager for the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.
The news comes as providers and advocates for the homeless are expected to gather at the Rhode Island State House on Tuesday to press state officials and lawmakers to steer $30 million to fund Rhode Island’s homeless response system at the current level.
Simultaneously, approximately 346 winter shelter beds that were funded last fall were expected to be phased out or closed at the end of April when the state’s contracts with several providers were expected to expire. Closing those beds could increase the state’s homeless population and create an additional strain on the state’s “homeless response system, healthcare system, emergency response system, city and town services and other systems,” said Espinoza.
The state’s Housing Department said many of these shelters will receive extensions for the next several months.
In response to questions posed by the Globe, Housing Department spokeswoman Emily Marshall said only 47 shelter beds will close at the end of April. Funding for additional seasonal beds at Providence’s Emmanuel House is being extended through September, while 30 seasonal beds by Westerly Area Rest Meals (WARM) for families in Kingston is being extended through July, she said.
Contracts for a 120-bed program in Warwick run by Open Doors and a 30-bed program by Tri-county Community Action’s Family Shelter in Burrillville are being extended through September, said Marshall.
The state was able to increase seasonal shelter beds by 32 percent compared to last year by leveraging multiple state, federal, and municipal funding sources, said Marshall.
“While federal funding for these efforts was temporarily increased in the wake of the COVID-19 emergency, the fact remains that this one-time federal funding will not be available in the future,” she said. “As the governor has indicated, it is important to identify new recurring funding sources that can help address our housing and homelessness challenges over multiple years — and to partner with municipalities, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to help fund and carry out this work moving forward.”
Data collected by the state’s Homeless Management Information System showed 529 Rhode Islanders experienced unsheltered homelessness at the beginning of April 2024, which is a 645 percent increase in unsheltered homelessness since January 2019.
Even with the new budget amendments that direct funding to tackle the shelter shortage, “there are still over 500 people outside with the existing resources in place.”
The one-time $16.6 million commitment from the governor’s office “is half of what is required to level-fund existing resources,” said Espinoza, who added that providers and advocates will push for a larger, permanent funding stream for the rest of the year, and for 2025.
“These extensions are suitable for the short term, but in the long term, we need to address the root cause of the growing number of people in need,” said Espinoza.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.
Spring House Hunt
The median sales price for a single-family home in Rhode Island jumped 11.4% year over year in March to $440,000, the state’s realtors association reported Thursday.
For Massachusetts home seekers looking for a break in the Ocean State, the seas are nearly just as stormy. Single-family home prices in both states jumped by double digits between March 2023 and March 2024, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
The medial sales price of a single-family home in Providence, for example, climbed from $337,250 to $373,750 in March, a 10.82% jump. In Lincoln, the increase was more severe from, $410,000 to $560,000, a rise of 36.59%.
“The available supply of homes remains critically low going into the spring selling season,” the report reads. “At the current inventory level and pace of sales in March, all single-family homes on the market would be sold in less than one month, far less than the five to six months seen during a market balanced between supply and demand.”
Home sales fell by 4.9%, and sales “in process but not completed by the end of March fell by 7.2%, an indication that market activity will remain slow” for the rest of April, the report says.
“Sales could remain hampered through the spring market thanks to the recent news that the Federal Reserve reported an uptick in inflation in March, which means no immediate cuts to mortgage rates,” said Sally Hersey, association president. “On the positive side, a recent rise in mortgage rates may help increase inventory, which is desperately needed.”
High mortgage rates affect the buyer’s side, because some will no longer qualify for the home they want or they will opt to sit on the sidelines, Hersey told Boston.com.
If you are looking for a condo as your first step into homeownership or your housing type of choice as you downsize, the number of listings is up but so are prices.
Calling Rhode Island’s condo market the “outlier,” the report noted that sales in this category were up 0.81% year over year and that the number of pending sales reflected a 7.6% increase.
Meanwhile, the number of condo units on the market (241) climbed by more than 5%.
The median sales price was also up, and by double digits — from $319,950 to $370,000, a 15.64% increase.
Sales plummeted 19% year over year in March in this category, which is often viewed as a way to own a home and help pay off one’s mortgage. The median sales price rose 18.9%, to $535,000.
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PROVIDENCE – To people of a certain age, the phrase – “Is it live or is it Memorex?” – needs no explanation.
Memorex famously claimed that its taped cassette recording of Ella Fitzgerald hitting a high note was so good it could break a glass, just as her live singing would do. And no one would know the difference.
With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), that question – is it real or is it fake – has leapt from the advertising sphere to the campaign sphere with a potential so frightening to some Rhode Island legislators that they have introduced a bill to ban what they call “deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media” in the 90-day run-up to any election.
Modeled after a state of Washington version, their bill is up for a committee vote on Tuesday on its way to a full House debate.
The legislation [H7487] defines “synthetic media” as “an image, an audio recording, or a video recording of an individual’s appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated … [with] digital technology to create a realistic but false image, audio, or video” that is false.
The legislation would not only ban “deepfakes,” it would give a candidate who felt wronged the right to seek an injunction and damages in court. The exception to the ban: if the spot contains a clearly written or spoken disclosure that the image “has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.”
Secretary of State Gregg Amore told legislators at a hearing late last month that so-called deepfakes have been used to deceive the public about statements and actions taken by political leaders in the run up to elections, “when there is not sufficient time for candidates to debunk these mistruths before voters head to the polls.”
A recent example, he said, was the falsified Biden robocall in New Hampshire, in which a manipulated version of Biden’s voice told voters to stay home and not vote in the New Hampshire primary.
According to Amore, the legislation creates a balance “between preventing misinformation and protecting the First Amendment, with allowances for Constitutionally-protected speech like press coverage, satire, and parody.”
Rep. Jon Brien, one of the co-sponsors of the proposed new ban, said the ubiquitous cartoon caricatures of yore were clearly fake. Today’s deepfakes are not so easy to spot.
The ACLU of Rhode Island cautioned the state’s lawmakers against “trying to quickly regulate this new world of artificial intelligence and its impact on the electoral process.”
“In order to ensure that debate on public issues is, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open,’ the First Amendment provides special protection to even allegedly false statements about public officials and public figures,” said ACLU Rhode Island Director Steve Brown.
“To allow the government to regulate or ban political speech that some might view as misleading undermines the breathing space that robust political speech requires, whether generated with the help of artificial intelligence or not,” he warned.
He gave two examples:
Though the bill contains an exception for “satire” or “parody,” Brown noted, the use of AI to make these images or recordings could open a citizen to substantial penalties.
A lobbyist for the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) suggested the lawmakers tweak the bill to make clear the “creator” facing potential penalties mean the person who “deployed” the fake, not “the provider or developer of any technology used in the creation of synthetic media.”
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