TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for Feb. 20, 2026

Spring is around the corner, so enjoy the seasonal pageant of cold, snow and slush while you can. Thanks for stopping by for my weekly column. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.

*** Want to get my column in your inbox every Friday? Sign up right here ***

Four days after another shooting rocked Rhode Island, a central question lingers – why? Roberta Dorgan embodied an unusual confluence of identities as a transgender woman “who posted pro-Nazi content on an account on X” and who was variously described as having “a calm demeanor” and a trail of family disputes. Pawtucket officials lauded the bystanders who intervened during the shooting at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena – the upside of trying to make sense from a senseless act. The death of two of the shooter’s family members and the injuries to three other people came as a shock just two months after the attack that claimed two lives at Brown University. Both cases underscore a troubling paradox – while gun violence has trended down locally and nationally, mass attacks continue to regularly occur. Police in such cities as Providence and Boston have a playbook for reducing the bloodshed: sit down the young people with a propensity to be shooters and warn them of stiff consequences (and offer assistance if they seek to remain lawful). Rhode Island is among the states with a red flag law, intended as a kind of early detection system if someone with access to a gun seems off-kilter. But how to crack the code if people like Dorgan, unbeknownst to others, are ticking time bombs, waiting to one day go off?

Excerpts from reaction to the Pawtucket shooting.

Lucy Rios, executive director, RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence: “This incident has at times been described as a ‘family dispute,’ but we must be clear …. This was domestic violence. Domestic violence is not a private matter, and it is not a personal conflict that should be minimized. It is a serious crime that takes lives and leaves lasting trauma in its wake …. Incidents like this also highlight how deeply our communities need resources to address violence, mental health needs, education around healthy relationships, and early intervention. Prevention requires sustained investment in the services and supports that keep families and communities safe.”

RI GOP Chairman Allyn Meyers: “As we move forward, we must look at all root causes of this act of violence and not shy away from discussions and serious policy decisions about mental health, treatment, and the wider impact on the community. There is no one-fix solution, but an honest evaluation of harmful policies is much-needed to stem any future violent acts from harming Rhode Islanders.”

Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien: “We are praying for the recovery of the surviving victims, including a beloved Shea High School staff member, and holding their families and loved ones close in our thoughts. For many in our community, and particularly our young people, this week has brought fear, sadness, and uncertainty. As adults, neighbors, and leaders, it is our responsibility to surround them, and one another, with care, stability, and compassion.”

Laurie-Marie Pisciotta, executive director, Mental Health Association of Rhode Island: “In the days and weeks following a traumatic event, many people experience shock, fear, sadness, anger, confusion, or a sense of numbness. These reactions are human, common, and understandable. Some individuals may feel the impact immediately, while others may notice changes over time. Children and adolescents, in particular, may express distress differently than adults.”

Vanessa Volz, president/CEO of Sojourner House: “This tragedy is a painful reminder that domestic violence can escalate quickly and unpredictably. When violence reaches public spaces, it shakes a community’s sense of safety. But even when it remains behind closed doors, it is no less dangerous. We must remain committed to prevention, early intervention, and ensuring that survivors have resources and know they are not alone.”

RI House GOP Leader Mike Chippendale: “If our goal is prevention rather than rhetoric, then we must be willing to look at the full picture - mental health care access, early intervention, family engagement, and the real-world effectiveness of the approaches being currently embraced. That means taking concrete steps. Rhode Island should strengthen its mental health intervention systems so warning signs are identified earlier and acted upon sooner. We should review our crisis response and involuntary commitment standards to ensure that individuals in severe distress can receive help before they become a danger to themselves or others. We should also expand coordinated threat-assessment processes among schools, families, medical providers, and law enforcement so information does not fall through the cracks.”

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed maintains that unlike in past budget battles, Democrats will hold the line, refusing to pass a budget that funds the Department of Homeland Security while demanding changes to the operation of ICE. “It’ll be different this time around, because we’ve all seen the brutality of ICE and the almost totalitarian nature of it,” Reed told me on this week’s episode of One on One on Ocean State Media. “I mean, this country’s not used to federal forces going into homes, taking American citizens out in their underwear and throwing ‘em into a van, making ‘em disappear. That’s not in America. And that’s the American people’s telling us, we can’t tolerate this and you shouldn’t tolerate this. And so we have to stand our ground.”

Some additional excerpts from our interview.

***As Democrats try to rebuild their appeal with voters, the senator said the party’s emphasis should be on boosting healthcare, education and housing.

***Reed, who steered clear of sharp rhetoric in the pre-Trump era, doesn’t mince words in expressing his concern about the president: “What he is doing intentionally and sometimes just instinctively is lowering the bar on discourse, on respect for the Constitution, on custom, on tradition.”

***The senator calls it “a possibility” that President Trump may follow through on his toying with the idea of staying in office past his term: “That’s one where I hope the (Supreme) Court would stand up immediately and say, ‘You can’t do that.’ I think instinctively and politically, he is not gonna passively let a successor be someone he doesn’t choose.”

In a counter to the official State of the Union, U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo traveled in his district this week “to highlight Rhode Islanders hit hard by Trump’s cuts to health care, SNAP, and scientific research funding and his attacks on Pell Grants, good union jobs, and our immigrant neighbors” …. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse traveled to Ukraine this week “to show that Congress and the American people stand with Ukraine, despite President Trump’s submissiveness to Vladimir Putin,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “Ukraine can win this war, and Putin and his corrupt regime must pay for the brutal invasion of a peaceful neighbor. To support Ukraine’s fight for freedom, the Trump administration and our European allies should repurpose Russia’s already-frozen sovereign assets for Ukraine’s benefit and disrupt the shadow fleet of oil and gas tankers that fill Putin’s war coffers.” …. U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner’s fourth annual women’s luncheon on March 16 will feature House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Also to be recognized: state Rep. Julie Casimiro (D-North Kingstown), Navyn Salem, Karen Hazard, and Michelle Wilcox.

Next Friday marks the deadline for the Centurion Foundation to finalize its financing to acquire Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office declined to comment on whether any entity submitted a competing offer by the Feb. 17 deadline, although this was considered unlikely. Listen to Ocean State Media at 89.3 FM during Morning Edition on Monday, or visit our website for the story of how one hospital worker has stuck it out through the turmoil of Roger Williams and Fatima over recent years.

The new campaign manager for Gov. Dan McKee is Drew Shannon, most recently CM for Alex Kelloff for Colorado … Congrats to honorary Rhode Islander and ProJo alum Mark Arsenault, now with the NYT, for sharing in a prestigious Polk Award for part of his previous work at the Globe …. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced the Police Executive Research Forum has been hired for $95,000 to conduct an independent review of the city’s response to the Brown University shooting …. CD2 Republican Victor Mellor plans a “Rhode Island First Rally” at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick on March 7. Middletown native Mike Flynn, a leading evangelist for Christian nationalism, is listed among the guests …. Suzanne Ellis Wernevi has been named as the new executive director of the Downtown Providence Parks Network. She was previously head of business development, communications and policy for climate tech start-up Blue Dot Motorworks … Dr. Holly Brown is the new president for the RI Veterinary Medical Association. Congrats to Rhode Island House of Representatives Whip Katherine Kazarian and her husband Sam Daniel, of East Providence, on the early arrival Saturday of twin daughters Eleanor and Serena at Women and Infants. Mom and babies are doing well.

The Rhode Island AFL-CIO is set to release Monday afternoon results from its latest poll of registered voters. The union shared some initial findings ahead of the rest: “Rhode Island voters are divided on the direction of the state. This is an improvement from last year. Currently, 44% stated the state is moving in the right direction, while 44% said that the state is moving in the wrong direction and 12% were not sure. Last year (2025), 29% of voters stated the State was moving in the right direction, while 48% stated the State was moving in the wrong direction, with 23% unsure.”

As we wait and watch to see who seeks to succeed departing Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, Gov. Dan McKee has nominated Zachary Mandell to lead the Judicial Nominating Commission. Mandell is a partner at Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell in Providence. He has also been a regular contributor to Democratic campaigns, notes Kathy Gregg.

In related news, the Womxn Project cites this data in calling for more women judges: “Of the 19 Associate Justices in the Superior Court, currently, only 6 are women. Right now, there are 2 vacancies, and several qualified women have been nominated to fill those positions.”

We live in the best of times, we live in the worst of times. Charles Dickens’ timeless view sums up the news and information landscape. Lots of fine journalism is widely available, along with copious amounts of misinformation and disinformation. So perhaps this finding from the Pew-Knight Initiative shouldn’t come as a surprise: “Americans today describe a complicated relationship with the news. Most say being informed is essential for civic life – especially voting – yet many feel overwhelmed, skeptical and selective about how they engage with information, according to a new Pew Research Center study from the Pew-Knight Initiative. A central tension shapes today’s news landscape. Most people believe Americans have a civic responsibility to be informed when they vote. But far fewer say regularly following news is extremely or very important in general, and roughly half say they can stay informed even if they don’t actively follow it.”