BUDDY CIANCI has died. BREAKING News.....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr., who presided over the renaissance of Rhode Island’s capital city but twice was forced from City Hall following felony convictions, has died. He was 74.

Cianci died at 9:40 a.m. at The Miraim Hospital in Providence, the hospital said. He was rushed there Wednesday night after suffering stomach pains while taping his weekly WLNE-TV show. His death was separately confirmed by Artin Coloian, a prominent attorney who served as Cianci’s chief of staff until 2002....Cianci was first elected mayor in 1974, becoming the first Republican to lead Providence in 34 years when he stunned Democratic incumbent Joseph Doorley. The city’s first Italian-American mayor, Cianci quickly became a national star in Republican circles, delivering a prime-time speech during the 1976 Republican National Convention.

During his first tenure as mayor, which included successful re-election bids in 1978 and 1982 as well as a losing campaign for governor in 1980, Cianci was credited with renovating the Roger Williams Park Zoo and standing up to the city’s public employee unions while building a political machine that would remain loyal to him for the rest of his life.

But Cianci’s political career came to a crashing halt in 1984 when he pleaded no contest to a vicious assault of his estranged wife’s lover. He received a five-year suspended sentence and was forced to resign from office. Still a popular figure in political circles, the charismatic Cianci took a job as a talk-show host on WHJJ-AM....Cianci’s mayoralty ended in scandal in 2002, when he resigned from office for a second time after being convicted on a federal racketeering conspiracy. He served more than four years in federal prison, after which he was hired by WPRO-AM to host a drive-time radio show.
....much more at link.....

Seth MacFarlane must be devastated...!

RIP Buddy--he was a colorful character, certainly.....