Remind me to tell you about my visit to the second most-dangerous bar in Caracas. Thanks for stopping by for my weekly column. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK: Back in 2002, Republican Don Carcieri emerged virtually from nowhere to win the first of two terms for governor, helping to set the tone for Rhode Island for the next eight or so years. Like Carcieri, Aaron Guckian hails from East Greenwich and he demonstrated a Carcieri-like knack for messaging during his campaign announcement Monday, talking about the need for blending fiscal conservatism with compassion. Guckian, 49, is known for his operatic voice and the eclectic range of jobs (banker, teacher, fundraiser, RI Dental Society head) he’s held over the years. Some of the GOP faithful who turned out for the event at Brewed Awakenings in Warwick want to see him as the great Republican hope for putting the governor’s office back in the R column for the first time since 2006. But campaign cash is one key difference separating Guckian and Carcieri. The former governor, a prosperous ex-businessman, showed muscle in his first run by contributing $300,000+ to himself in the early stage of the 2002 race. Guckian, by contrast, has about $2,000 in his campaign account and he plans to rely on the state’s public matching program for campaign contributions. It’s also unclear if any other well-known Republicans will emerge in the race. Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz (R-North Smithfield) – who ruled out a run earlier this year and then talked a few months later about how “all options are on the table” – has remained conspicuously silent amid requests for comment from reporters. The GOP candidate from 2022, Ashley Kalus, spent almost $5 million on her run and got just under 39% of the vote as a recent transplant from out of state. While Kalus is unimpressed with Guckian, she has so far been unwilling to commit to a campaign, perhaps recognizing the challenge for Republicans to compete effectively in a statewide race here, even with a big spend.
2. THE TRUMP FACTOR: The challenge for local GOP candidates could be complicated by the headwinds facing Republicans heading into the midterm elections. Aaron Guckian responded to reporters’ questions about President Trump by suggesting he’s a moderate on social issues and by saying improving things here in Rhode Island is more central than the partisan fights taking place in DC. He argued, too, that it might benefit the state to have a Republican governor while the GOP holds the White House and other levers of power. But it’s hard to argue that Trumpism is a distant thing. The Trump administration has reached into blue states with its approach on immigration enforcement, policing higher education, cutting funding for public media and other issues. Now, with Rhode Island back in a time of perennial budget deficits, cuts in federal funding may exacerbate the challenge of balancing state spending.
3. REALITY CHECK: Aaron Guckian hopes to capitalize on Rhode Islanders’ frustration with the status quo. Like many critics, he said the state suffers from too many taxes, too many fees and he pointed to the gantrys of the controversial truck toll program as a sign of an overly intrusive government. It was Guckian’s former boss, Gov. Carcieri, who spearheaded the move to lower Rhode Island’s top tax rate, arguing it would make the state more economically competitive. During a 2022 interview, I asked Guckian if he could point to any tangible effects from the tax cut. “In regards to the success rate, I can’t speak to it,” he told me. “But I know one thing, a lot of people are moving out.”
4. PAYING THE BILL: The cost of hiring Zachary Cunha, formerly the state’s top federal prosecutor, to work with legislative committees on a recent Oversight hearing featuring RIDOT Director Peter Alviti came to $83,240, according to the six-page invoice from Nixon Peabody. The cost is based on 68.65 hours of work by Cunha and another partner, 94.10 hours of work by two associates and it includes a $5,000 “courtesy discount.”
5. PROVIDENCE CONFIDENTIAL: Rhode Island’s capital city isn’t alone in wrestling with how to bring more people downtown since the pandemic changed work habits. Downtown PVD nonetheless has a very variable ambience, moving between being desolate some of the time and then buzzing if there’s something at PPAC and the Amp. Through it all, Ben Sukle’s Westminster Street restaurants Oberlin and Gift Horse are a beacon of activity, drawing people to the center of downtown. Sukle was my guest this week on One on One, which airs on Ocean State Media TV tonight at 7:30 and at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Here’s what he said when asked how he’s feeling about downtown: “I think downtown is relying too much on its business owners, as far as wanting to see this culture that comes about. Like, we can’t make public restrooms happen. We can’t make the housing crisis better with where we are, right? So it puts a lot of pressure on us. I feel that pressure sometimes when it comes to Friday nights when there’s nothing going on downtown – like if PPAC’s season is over right now, what’s kind of going on? I think we’re missing an opportunity to allow the arts to come in. I feel there are spaces, there’s availability here, but there are no venues and nobody’s willing to put in the work to make those venues work, necessarily …. It can feel like I have no idea what the direction is of downtown.”
6. VOTER INFORMATION: Rhode Island is among the states facing U.S. Department of Justice lawsuits for declining to provide personal identifying voter data. In a statement, Secretary of State Gregg Amore said, “I denied the Department of Justice’s unsubstantiated request for Rhode Islanders’ private information because the administration of elections falls under the purview of the states under the United States Constitution. One of my most important responsibilities as the chief state election official is safeguarding the data privacy of Rhode Islanders, who entrust us with their personal information when they register to vote. I will continue to fight to protect it. This lawsuit, like those filed in other states, is a continuation of the current presidential administration’s unconstitutional attempts to interfere with elections processes across the country.”
7. HOSPITALS: Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital got another reprieve following a hearing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas. But Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters that the hospitals still face uncertainty. A crucial test will come Jan. 15 – the target set by the Centurion Foundation for completing its financing.
8. FOREIGN AFFAIRS: U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was among those briefed behind closed doors this week by Adm. Frank Bradley, who leads the U.S. Special Operations Command, about recent U.S. military activity off the coast of Venezuela. Here’s an excerpt from Reed’s interview with NPR’s Juana Summers: “I have serious questions about the legality of all the strikes. The president has created a whole term of art, a terrorist denominator organization, et cetera, and that has no legislative standing. He is using the military in what has been a traditional law enforcement operation. The Coast Guard, which is a law enforcement agency, has conducted interdiction in the Caribbean for years and years and years. That’s the proper way to do it. This is a departure from what has been traditionally seen as the best way to interdict narcotics coming into the United States.”
9. JHA RULE: Dr. Ashish K. Jha, who became a media star during the pandemic, is getting set to leave as dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health. Brown said Jha will leave “at the end of the calendar year to lead an initiative that aims to bolster the nation’s defenses against emerging pandemic and biological threats. The initiative builds on work he started at the White House while on leave from the University in 2022 and has further cultivated during his time at Brown. Brown Provost Francis J. Doyle III said that while Jha’s leadership will be missed at the School of Public Health, he is embarking on exciting work that will have an impact far beyond the University.”
10. THE YOUTH: “The 51st Harvard Youth Poll finds that for many 18- to 29-year-olds, instability – financial, political, and interpersonal – has become a defining feature of daily life, shaping their outlook on the country and their own futures.”
11. ROYAL BOBCATS: Did you know bobcats are making a comeback in Rhode Island? You might never see them because they are shy and tend to avoid humans. Now, the Rhode Island Bobcat Project is promoting conservation and shed more light on the cats’ contribution to the ecosystem. Learn more via Luis Hernandez’ interview with Kathleen Carroll, assistant professor of applied quantitative ecology at URI, and Christopher Hickling, a Ph.D. student at URI in natural resources science.
12. KICKER: Remember that time about 10 years ago when it snowed virtually every weekend for a long stretch of winter? So much of the white stuff accumulated that I had to deploy my better half to our roof to rake some of it off. A new study in the journal Climate finds that snowy winters may become increasingly rare locally since New England is one of the fastest-warming places on the planet. “We are in this transition from a stable climate to an unstable climate, and we really need to prepare for it,” lead author Stephen Young, a professor of environmental sustainability at Salem State University, told the Globe.
