Spare Change: Rogers gym the latest bump in the road to a new high school

Oddznendz gathered while wondering why “Laverne and Shirley” was set in Wisconsin but everyone had names like DeFazio and Ragusa:

• The new Rogers High School project seems to get messier by the month.

We found out last year that the project has piled up a $20 million(!) shortfall. Now some locals are pushing to keep the existing gymnasium as part of the new school.

I’m no structural engineer, but it feels as if this is worth reexamining. Keeping the gym allows the space slotted for the new gym to be used for other purposes.

And it sounds as if the current gym is a little bigger than what’s planned. Of course, if further study shows the existing gym would last just 15 years, then why bother.

Rogers gym:A group wants to save the Rogers High School gym. Why project leaders said it can't happen

The building committee sounds a bit dug in but why not take one more comprehensive look?

• R.I.P.: Ned Corcoran, lawyer, family man, Middletown official, community volunteer, member of a storied family law firm.

Ned chaired the Middletown Town Council when I covered the town in the 1980s. We jousted a bit about the state Open Meetings Law, but it was friendly jousting. (Ned came around to see the law’s merits, though I think he always did. He liked to mess with me).

Every so often I’d bump into him, often at Yesterday’s when that was the place to go. We always had a pleasant chat.Ned lived a full life.

• While Cindy Williams will always be best known as Shirley Feeney on “Laverne and Shirley,” she also appeared in two classic movies in 1974 … “American Graffiti” and “The Conversation.” That itself is a stellar career. That year also gave us “The Godfather II” and “Chinatown” … what a stretch.

• A little trivia? Name two other sitcoms other than “Laverne and Shirley” that were “Happy Days” spinoffs. And list the show that gave us “Happy Days.” Oh, and who sang that show’s theme song?

Answers below.

• I think Tom Brady’s really retired this time. And it ends a remarkable and unexpected career for the 2000 sixth round draft pick.

Brady (with Bill Belichick) made the New England Patriots a powerhouse in the NFL. He played until age 45, won seven Super Bowls, three league MVP awards and piled up a stack of honors.

We will not see this again.

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There will be other great quarterbacks (Patrick Mahomes is on the verge of sustained brilliance) but this kind of story seldom comes along.

For the first time since 2001, there will be no Brady games to watch.

• I have no problem with gender fluidity and people referring to themselves as “they.”

But it gets confusing. “This is Us” could be one person.

• Trivia answers: “Mork and Mindy” and “Joanie Loves Chachi.” “Happy Days” started as a vignette on “Love American Style.” The singers? Newport’s Cowsills.

• The public execution of Tyre Nichols is a national disgrace.

What are the qualifications to be a Memphis police officer? The video is horrifying … five Black cops (who face murder charges) beat a Black driver like a piñata during a routine traffic stop.

Life on the water:Newport fought to ban houseboats. A new bill would let other RI cities, towns do the same.

It’s telling that no local police officers or retirees I know have defended the Memphis officers. I’ll never know what it's like to be a cop, nor will I experience driving while Black.

But I know there’s something wrong when a 29-year-old driver is pounded into unconsciousness for no obvious reason while driving home.

Good God. What have we become?

Jim Gillis is a Daily News columnist. Send him email at jimgillis13@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Spare Change: Rogers gym latest bump in the road to a new high school