Latest news with #Cote
Boston Globe
7 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Judge says R.I. officials have immunity in First Amendment lawsuit
Travis, who was presiding over the meeting as council president pro-tempore, cut him off and said, 'You will be talking about city government or you'll be leaving.' Cote said he did plan to talk about the government, but Travis had an officer escort him out of the meeting. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The ACLU filed the lawsuit, accusing Warwick City Council members of violating Cote's First Amendment rights to free speech and to petition the government for redress of grievances. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case. Advertisement In an order Tuesday, Senior US District Court Judge William E. Smith agreed to dismiss the City Council members in their personal capacities but not their professional capacities, reducing the lawsuit to a case against the city. 'Travis's act indeed may have violated Cote's constitutional rights, may have evinced poor judgment, and may even have been done in service of an inappropriate motive or intent,' Smith wrote. Advertisement 'But legislative immunity 'is not forfeited simply because the activities, if unprotected, might violate a plaintiff's constitutional rights,' ' he wrote, citing a prior ruling. Ultimately, if Travis 'overstepped the boundary of sound judgment,' she should be held accountable not under federal law 'but at the ballot box,' Smith wrote, citing another ruling. In a footnote, the judge said, 'It appears that Travis was, in fact, called to account for her alleged actions.' He noted Travis decided to not seek reelection and in 2024 agreed to Smith said the US Supreme Court has held that local legislators are entitled to 'absolute immunity' for their legislative activities, so the key question in this case is whether Travis's decision to boot from the meeting Cote represented 'legitimate legislative activity.' 'Facing this difficult question, the court believes that both precedent and prudence favor the conclusion that Travis's action ... was within the sphere of legitimate legislative activity,' Smith wrote. He cited a City Council rule that allows council president to 'preserve decorum and order.' On Wednesday, Cote criticized the judge's ruling and said it could have implications for the rest of Rhode Island. 'It's really bad news. This can be interpreted so broadly,' Cote said. 'If you get up in front of your town council or school committee meeting, and they don't like the content of what you are speaking about, they can remove you without ramifications. Your First Amendment rights are gone. I guess we are in Moscow.' Advertisement But Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, said the lawsuit will proceed against the city even though City Council members can't be held liable in an individual capacity. 'The suit remains quite alive and we will be pursuing the matter,' he said. 'They are not off the hook by any means.' Brown emphasized the significance of the litigation. 'The ability of members of the public to speak to their representatives on topics of public interest is crucial to a democratic form of government,' he said. 'Mr. Cote wanted to talk about something that clearly involved city business and something extremely important, so barring him from being able to talk about it undermined the whole point of the public comment period.' An attorney representing Warwick and City Council members, Marc DeSisto, declined to comment. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
Ottawa Citizen
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Former junior champ Luke Cote adds 2025 Saskatchewan Amateur title to his golf resume
Article content A first-time Amateur champ, at that. Article content The 20-year-old golfer, who plays out of the Royal Regina Golf Club, captured the provincial men's golf crown Friday at the Humboldt Golf Club with a two-stroke victory over runner-up over 2025 Saskatchewan mid-Amateur champ Corey Bailey. Article content Article content Cote finished at 11-under-par over four days, shooting rounds of 69-70-65-73 for a total score of 277. Article content Article content 'It's a really good feeling,' said Cote, who plays NCAA Division II collegiate golf at Southern Arkansas University. Article content 'It's something I'll look back on and remember. Something to add to my resume, too. I'm super-excited about it. It was great.' Article content Bailey, who won the mid-Am title one day earlier, finished at 9-under with a four-round score of 279 (64-71-74-70). Article content Saskatoon's Ryan Mosher, who was the 2024 Saskatchewan junior championship winner, placed third overall at 8-under. Mosher was the only golfer in the field to shoot under-par every day with rounds of 70-71-70-69. Article content 'It's a field full of young guys,' said Cote. 'Lots of young guys from college. It's a really good field and I'm just super happy to get it done today.' Article content Cote got it done despite some mid-round hiccups Friday that saw him take bogeys on No. 8 and No. 10, plus a double-bogey on Hole No. 12. However, he recovered with a birdie on No. 13 and played bogey-free golf the rest of the way. An eagle on the par 5 No. 16 helped him pull away from the pack for good. Article content Article content 'That,' said Cote, 'was a really big putt after Corey made a great putt (for eagle). Just to make that one and keep the two-shot lead really gave me some good momentum going into (Hole) 17. It was really good.' Article content Article content Cote plans to return to Southern Arkansas with no desire to enter the transfer portal. Article content Saskatchewan will send nine golfers to the Canadian Amateur, slated for July 28-31 at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club & Rivermead Club de Golf in Gatineau, Quebec. Article content Prince Albert's Danny Klughart, who was the Saskatchewan mid-Am champ a year ago and Saskatchewan Amateur champ in 2019, finished in a three-way tie for fourth with Saskatoon's Brett Leonard and Alex Swinnerton, all at 3-under-par. Article content Klughart shot rounds of 73-71-70-69—285, while Leonard carded rounds of 70-76-68-71 and Swinnerton recorded scores of 70-69-71-75.
Calgary Herald
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
Former junior champ Luke Cote adds 2025 Saskatchewan Amateur title to his golf resume
Luke Cote — Saskatchewan junior champion in 2023 — is the Saskatchewan Amateur champion for 2025. Article content A first-time Amateur champ, at that. Article content The 20-year-old golfer, who plays out of the Royal Regina Golf Club, captured the provincial men's golf crown Friday at the Humboldt Golf Club with a two-stroke victory over runner-up over 2025 Saskatchewan mid-Amateur champ Corey Bailey. Article content Article content Cote finished at 11-under-par over four days, shooting rounds of 69-70-65-73 for a total score of 277. Article content Article content 'It's something I'll look back on and remember. Something to add to my resume, too. I'm super-excited about it. It was great.' Article content Bailey, who won the mid-Am title one day earlier, finished at 9-under with a four-round score of 279 (64-71-74-70). Article content Saskatoon's Ryan Mosher, who was the 2024 Saskatchewan junior championship winner, placed third overall at 8-under. Mosher was the only golfer in the field to shoot under-par every day with rounds of 70-71-70-69. Article content 'It's a field full of young guys,' said Cote. 'Lots of young guys from college. It's a really good field and I'm just super happy to get it done today.' Article content Cote got it done despite some mid-round hiccups Friday that saw him take bogeys on No. 8 and No. 10, plus a double-bogey on Hole No. 12. However, he recovered with a birdie on No. 13 and played bogey-free golf the rest of the way. An eagle on the par 5 No. 16 helped him pull away from the pack for good. Article content Article content 'That,' said Cote, 'was a really big putt after Corey made a great putt (for eagle). Just to make that one and keep the two-shot lead really gave me some good momentum going into (Hole) 17. It was really good.' Article content Article content Cote plans to return to Southern Arkansas with no desire to enter the transfer portal. Article content 'I'm happy with where I'm at right now,' he said. Article content 'I'm just going to keep playing and hopefully things keep going the way they are.' Article content Saskatchewan will send nine golfers to the Canadian Amateur, slated for July 28-31 at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club & Rivermead Club de Golf in Gatineau, Quebec. Article content Prince Albert's Danny Klughart, who was the Saskatchewan mid-Am champ a year ago and Saskatchewan Amateur champ in 2019, finished in a three-way tie for fourth with Saskatoon's Brett Leonard and Alex Swinnerton, all at 3-under-par. Article content Klughart shot rounds of 73-71-70-69—285, while Leonard carded rounds of 70-76-68-71 and Swinnerton recorded scores of 70-69-71-75.
Sky News
11-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Owner of Cote restaurant chain cooks up sale plan
The private equity firm which took control of Cote, the French restaurant chain, at the height of the pandemic is kicking off an auction of the business Sky News has learnt that Partners Group is working with Interpath Advisory on a search for new investors in Cote. Cote was bought out of administration by Partners Group in the autumn of 2020 in a deal reportedly worth £55m. Sources close to the sale process said that Interpath was marketing the company based on last year's turnover of over £150m. Read more:Trump to hit Canada with 35% tariffUK economy figures not as bad as they look, analysts say The chain trades from more than 70 sites across the UK, down from close to 100 shortly before it collapsed into insolvency five years ago. Roughly 60 of the sites are said to be profitable, implying there could be scope for further closures. The sale comes at a time when hospitality venue operators continue to face severe financial pressures, with the industry's leading trade body warning of a further jobs bloodbath in the months ahead. "If we carry on with these trends and the situation doesn't improve -- and clearly Rachel Reeves's statements are giving a signal to consumers that it is not going to get better any time soon - then I would see this accelerating," said Kate Nicholls, chair of UK Hospitality. "Unless there is a change of tack by the government, we are looking at 150,000-200,000 fewer workers in hospitality during the first full year of [employer national insurance contribution] changes." Partners Group declined to comment, while Interpath could not be reached for comment.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Owner of Cote restaurant chain cooks up sale plan
The private equity firm which took control of Cote, the French restaurant chain, at the height of the pandemic is kicking off an auction of the business Sky News has learnt that Partners Group is working with Interpath Advisory on a search for new investors in Cote. Cote was bought out of administration by Partners Group in the autumn of 2020 in a deal reportedly worth £55m. Sources close to the sale process said that Interpath was marketing the company based on last year's turnover of over £150m. Read more: The chain trades from more than 70 sites across the UK, down from close to 100 shortly before it collapsed into insolvency five years ago. Roughly 60 of the sites are said to be profitable, implying there could be scope for further closures. The sale comes at a time when hospitality venue operators continue to face severe financial pressures, with the industry's leading trade body warning of a further jobs bloodbath in the months ahead. "If we carry on with these trends and the situation doesn't improve -- and clearly Rachel Reeves's statements are giving a signal to consumers that it is not going to get better any time soon -- then I would see this accelerating," said Kate Nicholls, chair of UK Hospitality. "Unless there is a change of tack by the government, we are looking at 150,000-200,000 fewer workers in hospitality during the first full year of [employer national insurance contribution] changes." Partners Group declined to comment, while Interpath could not be reached for comment.
