PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Members of Rhode Island’s federal delegation released comments after former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trail.

Rep. Seth Magaziner said Trump lacks “honest and integrity:”

Today’s verdict confirms that everyone in our country is equal under the law. We have known for years that Donald Trump lacks the honesty and integrity to hold the Oval Office, and his criminal conviction today offers yet another reason why.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, meanwhile, said Trump has shown “zero respect for the law:”

An individual who has been convicted of 34 felony counts and shows zero respect for the rule of law is not fit to lead the greatest nation in the world.  It’s only in honest courtrooms that the former president has been unable to lie and bully his way out of trouble.  Americans trust juries for good reason.

RHODE ISLAND — Stop and Shop officials said in a recent presentation to shareholders that a number of “underperforming” stores would close as “significant savings” remain a focus of parent company Ahold Delhaize. The fate of Rhode Island’s 27 stores — nor any in the Northeast — was not outlined, however.

The goal of the grocery chain, according Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman, it to “strengthen its position.” Aside from closing lagging stores, part of the strategy is “investing” in price reductions and store remodeling projects, Fleeman said.

The complete presentation for “Strategy Day 2024” can be seen here.

According to Fleeman’s presentation, the “value proposition and pricing” at Stop & Shop stores are “simply not strong enough.”

Stop & Shop’s Rhode Island presence includes:

A four-year strategy, Fleeman said, includes a $1 billion investment, store evaluations and “optimizing the portfolio to focus on core markets where (the brand) can win.”

Stop & Shop has remodeled about half of its nearly 400 stores since a capital campaign began in 2018, according to Fleeman.

He said Stop & Shop has seen “notable” performance gains among stores it has renovated, and those stores are outperforming locations that have not been remodeled.

The chain has built a digital engagement that has the highest e-commerce penetration among Ahold Delhaize’s five U.S. banners he said. Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. holdings also include Food Lion, Giant and Hannaford.

According to Fleeman’s presentation, Stop & Shop, “has already evaluated its overall portfolio and will make difficult decisions to close underperforming stores to create a healthy store base for the long term.”

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This Memorial Day weekend saw a world-famous U.K. chef come to Rhode Island. And it’s not Jaime Oliver.

Gordon Ramsay of “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Hell’s Kitchen” posted a photo of him standing on a beach on Instagram.

“The only way to celebrate the long weekend is by the beach ! Loved being in Watch Hill Gx,” the post’s caption read.

A few days before, a photo was posted of him at Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen Foxwoods with with fellow celebrity chef Guy Fieri, who also has a restaurant at Foxwoods.

When else has Gordon Ramsay been in Rhode Island?

The last major televised time Ramsay was in Rhode Island was in season 4, episode 7 of Kitchen Nightmares, when he visited the restaurant DownCity in Providence.

It was there that Ramsay had a heated confrontation with the owner before patching things up with a successful dinner service.

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He would return to the restaurant at a later date to check up how things are doing. The return episode showed that DownCity was doing well.

DownCity closed in 2011 for financial reasons. But now, Down City Pizza & Sandwiches is open at the same address.

Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.