the crisis' resolution. Grocery chains Almacs and Stop & Shop arranged to continue taking checks from closed banks, to be cashed later. One of the cities hardest hit was Woonsocket, which already had an unemployment rate over 11% and where more than half of the residents were customers of one of the larger closed credit unions. Businesses had lower revenue and more than 30 closed by the end of February. Group therapy sessions began in the city for elderly residents who relied on the closed credit union. People began protesting shortly after the announcement. Dedicated activist organizations formed, such as the Warwick-based Citizens for Depositors' Rights. One event organized by the group convened hundreds of protesters in the Statehouse rotunda a few weeks into the closure. Some protests regarded specific developments, such as when the governor's office decided to release a list of all depositors with at least $100,000 locked up in one of the closed banks. The rationale was that it was in the public interest, to foster debate around a new bailout plan which would reimburse up to that number, with funds above $100,000 recouped only after liquidation of banks' assets. People on the list expressed surprise and anger at the unusual privacy breach. Multiple publications described atypical characteristics of the protesters at the various events. A Newsweek article noted there were more elderly participants than one would expect to see at most protests, while UPI wrote that "the demonstrators ranged from people in fisherman's hats to three-piece suits and full-length fur coats." Speaking of the unrest, Sheldon Whitehouse, who handled the crisis for the Sundlun administration as Director of Policy, said "My car was keyed. My tires were slashed. People came through the State House literally smearing excrement on the walls." Hearings The state Legislature formed a nine-person panel to look into the collapse of RISDIC and, in particular, how certain insiders managed to withdraw hundreds of thousands of dollars just before the announcement of the crisis, exacerbating the problem. The hearings began in July 1991, and were televised. According to The New York Times, the hearings "transfixed the state" and, although the last-minute withdrawals were not themselves the cause of the closures, it gave "Rhode Islanders a focus for their frustration." Among those questioned about their suspiciously timed withdrawals were the Mayor of North Providence, a state senator, credit union executives, RISDIC's former president, the former