Schartner greenhouse; Trinity Brewhouse sale; best pizza in RI: Top stories this week

• What was most popular with Providence Journal readers during the week of Feb. 2? Here are 5 stories that got people talking.
• ICYMI: Catch up on where things stand with the redevelopment of former I-195 land; and how fears of deportation are rippling through RI’s immigrant community.
• The Patriots aren’t in the Super Bowl, but there are some local connections to the big game.

Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of Feb. 2,supported by your subscriptions.

• Three decades ago, Rhode Island hatched an ambitious plan to reroute Interstate 195 south of downtown Providence, freeing up 35 acres of prime waterfront land for redevelopment. More than a decade after the project broke ground in the midst of the Great Recession, have the results lived up to expectations? The Journal’s Patrick Anderson looks at where the I-195 redevelopment succeeded, where it stalled, and whether the state’s approach could work elsewhere in Rhode Island.
• President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration is causing great anxiety for Rhode Island’s immigrants, some of whom shared their stories with The Journal. While there is no reliable count of how many undocumented people are living here, the numbers that are available indicate that they are just a tiny slice of those who are getting Rhode Island benefits.
• Which are the state’s best high school sports programs? Check out our picks for the top 10, and then let the debate begin. For that, as well as the latest college and high school sports news, go to providencejournal.com/sports.
• Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Before the big game, check out the red carpet coverage led by Rhode Island’s own Olivia Culpo. And Tom Brady will have a whole new type of Super Bowl experience, providing color commentary as part of the Fox Sports broadcast team.

Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:

Farmer Tim Schartner and his gargantuan, 25-acre greenhouse project in Exeter averted disaster last week when his financial backers agreed to assume the existing debt on several parcels of property owned by his father, he said, heading off a foreclosure auction set for Friday.

Under the arrangement, the project’s banks and private investors will absorb about $6 million in debt that Schartner’s father, Richard, owes on several pieces of property, including the landmark farm on the Exeter/North Kingstown line where the greenhouse is being built.

The plan not only stops Friday’s auction but frees up a $25.8-million loan in private investment money through the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. 

Read the full story to see what’s next for this eye-popping project that has been in the planning stages since 2019.

Business: Schartner’s mall-sized tomato greenhouse was on the brink of disaster. Here’s what happened next.

PROVIDENCE – Former state Sen. Josh Miller has listed the iconic Trinity Brewhouse for sale for $2.25 million.

Miller has no plans to sell the hugely popular Hot Club he co-owns along the Providence waterfront. But he told The Journal that, as the sole owner of the Trinity Brewhouse, he felt the time was right to pull out of the daily demands of owning a restaurant.

“The main reason is I’m 70 and I’m a very active owner where I show up and work every day and I want to be free of that day-to-day activity. I’ve had a business downtown since 1975. I’m still very positive about downtown. I’ve just gotten old enough to want to be less active,” he said.

Business: Trinity Brewhouse listed for sale at $2.25 million. Why it’s on the market.

PROVIDENCE — In the search for its new football coach, La Salle wasn’t trying to win a press conference. They were searching for someone who could win games and, more importantly, help their athletes grow on and off the field.

The school managed to do both.

After winning two Super Bowls – the NFL kind – with the New England Patriots, Dan Koppen is a name people in Rhode Island know. 

Read the full story to see how and why a Patriots pro was drawn to coach a high school team, and what La Salle’s program stands to gain from his experience at the sport’s highest level.

High school sports: This former New England Patriot will lead La Salle football. Who is it?

Craving pizza? No problem. Rhode Island’s offerings abound, with both the old and the new. Longtime favorites are popular as ever even as newcomers are staking their claim, too.

What’s on the menu? Neapolitan, Sicilian or New York-style? Wood-fired, grilled or baked? Sourdough crust or gluten-free? Artisanal? Always.

You can have it all from Providence to Westerly.

The National Day calendar has declared Feb. 9 as National Pizza Day. Food editor Gail Ciampa helps you get started with the best pies the Ocean State has to offer, and what better day to sample them than Super Bowl Sunday?

Dining: Pizza comes in many styles. To get the best in RI start with these gems

Twenty-two years after a horse reunited with its trainer during a break in the Super Bowl action and took the top spot in the 2013 USA TODAY Ad Meter ratings, the NFL’s grand finale arrives back on the doorstep of New Orleans and the Superdome.

With that, a lineup of mini blockbusters will look to grab the attention of a massive audience that topped 123 million in 2024 (re: The Taylor Swift Bowl) and become the latest marketing maestro among the competitive and creative crowd.

Super Bowl commercial fans — welcome to the 2025 USA TODAY Ad Meter!

We’re kicking off the 37th edition of the commercial ratings that have been the benchmark for gauging consumers’ opinions about the game’s most prominent ads since 1989. And we’re excited you’re here to lend a viewpoint about the Super Bowl 59 national block of commercials.

Check out the full story to see how you can rate your favorite commercials during the big game.

Super Bowl LIX: Let the Super Bowl commercial rush begin: Welcome to USA TODAY Ad Meter 2025

To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.