If the Providence Newspaper Guild Follies didn’t sleep with the fishes – welp – we would gather in Swansea tonight, eat, drink, laugh at ourselves and reconnect after a storm for the record books.
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 ***
1. STORY OF THE WEEK: The Blizzard of ‘26 came as advertised. Sure, we’d be retired and living in St. Moritz if I had a dime for every time the TV weather industrial complex overhyped a piddling amount of snow. This was decidedly different, and the advance warning explains why the state weathered this massive storm relatively well, with a certain joie de vivre to boot. Two deaths have been attributed to the storm – a far lower toll than the Blizzard of ’78. Power has been restored for most of the more than 40,000 customers who lost it. And while the on-street cleanup has dragged on for a few days – especially in neighborhood roads around the state – the magnitude of dealing with three feet of snow seems recognized as a tall order. What’s more, many people pulled together to make the best of the blizzard. We saw neighbors helping neighbors, nearby states lending us heavy equipment, and creative approaches to contend with Mother Nature. There was the doctor who skied seven miles to his job at Kent Hospital. The friends who made a pile of snow in Fox Point into an igloo bar. The can-do approach of others, including those at Very Good Coffee – “Our street might not be plowed but we have an igloo coffee shop!” – a fitting testament to the ability of people in Providence and beyond to be creative and weird when Mother Nature imposes a pause on our day-to-day frenzy.
2. HEALTHCARE
If all goes as planned, the focus will soon shift to getting two cash-strapped local hospitals, Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, back into the black. That may not be easy, but it’s a lot better than contemplating the closing of one or both hospitals – a scenario that would likely swamp other healthcare entities in the state and cause massive layoffs. An $18 million reserve fund approved by the state made the difference for the Centurion Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, being able to move ahead with financing after years of delay. The final deal is now expected next week, a milestone that will close the chapter on an era highlighting the adverse effect of private equity on healthcare in Rhode Island, the blinkered approach of the state panel charged with approving hospital sales, and the difference made possible by a state regulator.
3. HEALTHCARE II
What was it like going to work every day amid years of fiscal uncertainty at Roger Williams? Give a listen to my feature from earlier this week on Lynn Redding, who has the challenge of being a psychiatric nurse in a geriatric ward.
4. THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR
Gov. Dan McKee got some encouraging news earlier this month when House Speaker Joe Shekarchi announced he would not run for governor and a Morning Consult survey showed a significant bump in McKee’s approval. The shoe was on the other foot this week. Two polls out this week, including one by the Rhode Island AFL-CIO (which endorsed McKee in 2022) renewed the narrative that the governor faces a steep fight to win re-election. The AFL-CIO poll found that just 27% of respondents (and 50% of Democrats) want to keep McKee in office. Meanwhile, McKee’s favorability fell to 17% in a UNH Survey Center poll, with rival Democrat Helena Foulkes maintaining a double-digit lead. (Via Tara Granahan, the incumbent called it “disgraceful” that he’s being challenged in a primary.) A large percentage of voters remain undecided in both polls – not unusual considering that the Sept. 8 primary is more than six months away. One other common theme in the two polls: support for the millionaires’ tax proposed by McKee.
5. X ON THE MAP
Newport City Councilor Xaykham “Xay” Khamsyvoravong is gearing up to announce his run for lieutenant governor, joining the Democratic primary field with Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, former Sen. Cynthia Coyne and Providence Councilor Sue AnderBois. Khamsyvoravong’s nascent campaign is working with some heavy hitters, including public opinion and polling outfit Impact Research and media consultant Ralston Lapp (small world, RI-style: the firm’s director of campaigns and digital media, Regan Page, is the better half of consultant, strategist and former RI poli staffer Paul Tencher). To bring things full circle, Ralston did some work back in the day for Frank Caprio – whose 2006 campaign for general treasurer was run by Khamsyvoravong while he was a senior at Brown.
6. HOUSING
Speaker Shekarchi took himself out of the race for governor, but he remains focused on Rhode Island’s housing crisis, this week unveiling a legislative package on the subject. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the sixth time Shekarchi has put forward housing proposals. Polls show housing is a top issue for voters, so as my story notes, Gov. McKee has a plan and Helena Foulkes is set to roll out her platform early in the week ahead.
7. TRUMP’S RI INFLUENCE
Not surprising, given his maximalist style, President Trump this week gave the longest State of the Union address in U.S. history. You can read NPR’s annotated fact check here. While the president heralded what he called a new golden age, an NPR/PBS Marist poll found that most Americans say the country is worse off than a year ago, and 68% of respondents said our federal system of checks and balances is not working well. Of his three presidential runs, Trump had his best Rhode Island performance in 2024. As it stands, though, the daylight between the president’s narrative and how many Americans see things could pose headwinds for the GOP cause in Rhode Island this year. A number of local Republican candidates underperformed two years ago compared with Trump – and Ken Naylor, chairman of the Rhode Island Young Republicans, mentioned that in announcing the hiring of Matthew Gagnon as the group’s field director. In a statement, Naylor said, “This performance gap highlights how important it is that we focus on local voter engagement going into this election cycle. As an organization, we want to ensure that we capitalize on some of these margins and deliver wins that will be a direct result of a measured and structured volunteer operation that will focus on getting Republicans out to vote for candidates up and down the ticket, whether that means voting by mail, voting early, or voting at the polls on Election Day.”
8. RI IN DC
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, via statement, said a U.S. war with Iran could be a strategic misstep, adding, “If war is unnecessary, it should be avoided. President Trump’s saber-rattling for war with Iran is taking the country down a dangerous path without a clear strategy or endgame and putting U.S. national security at considerable risk. The president barely mentioned Iran during the longest State of the Union speech in history. He failed to define the objective. Congress has received no real briefings or intelligence, and it is hard to justify action without rationale.”
With an ICE whistleblower raising concerns about training for new recruits, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse expressed concern in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about ICE recruitment ads: “In recent ICE recruitment ads, DHS has ‘included images, slogans and even a song used by the white nationalist right.’ Such tactics are especially dangerous against the recent backdrop of the agency’s increasingly violent policing tactics, which have resulted in the deaths of two American citizens and been roundly condemned by law enforcement professionals across the country.”
U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner initially planned to bring UNAP President Lynn Blais as his guest for the State of the Union, although he wound up staying in Rhode Island, missing a House vote on aviation safety and President Trump’s mention of the congressional stock-trading ban championed by the CD2 rep.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo didn’t attend the SOTU, either, and his office said his guest got stranded by the blizzard. Amo maintained his messaging, including a hit on CNN ….
9. IMMIGRATION
It’s tough to imagine a sharper contrast between former Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin, a staunch conservative, and Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, who this week joined with 17 other bishops in signing on to a letter calling for the protection of “God-given human dignity” in immigration enforcement. Bishop Lewandowski plans a pilgrimage of prayer and advocacy to Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
10. RI POLI-MEDIA PEOPLE
Kudos & congrats to my colleague Jim Hummel on being voted into the RI Radio & Television Hall of Fame …. Amy Vitale is moving up to be president of Beacon Mutual …. Michael J. Garman has announced for the seat held by state Rep. Edie Ajello (D-Providence) …. Eric Halvarson is the first full-time reporter at The Providence Eye … Amanda Kay Ritchie has gotten the nod as executive director for the Rose Island Lighthouse and Fort Hamilton Trust …. Hilary Fagan is the incoming ED for the Newport Restoration Foundation …. Stacey A. Erickson has been named criminal chief for the U.S. attorney’s office in Providence.
11. THE ARTS
After 20 years, artistic director Curt Columbus is getting ready to leave Trinity Rep. He spoke with my colleague James Baumgartner. Here’s an excerpt: “I remember one of the questions of my interview process, one of our former board members said to me, ‘What are you going to do about the competition with the Gamm Theatre?’ And I said, ‘I’m going to encourage it.’ And I’ve done two shows at the Gamm in my tenure. I love the theater scene here. And Trinity has made this huge investment in being the state theater of Rhode Island and supporting all of the other theaters, making sure that we’re not the 500-pound gorilla and taking things away from people, but instead building a theater community. And that’s, again, something that I’m really proud that we’ve been able to do in my tenure.”
12. THE ARTS II
Weekend 401 has you covered for some stuff to do this weekend. If you can shovel out.
13. SPRING TIDINGS
You may not believe it, but the calendar will turn to spring in just a few weeks. If you’re justifiably skeptical about warm weather in the short term, soothe yourself with the fact that a new MLB season draws closer, and off in sunny Florida, Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu broke a bat on a check swing.
14. KICKER
How’s this for an imagined Providence Newspaper Guild Follies Mystery Guest skit? The stars are truly aligned since the last Friday in February was the traditional time for the Follies before it ended in 2018 and this is the last day on the job for departing RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. The combative Alviti took the mic after his interim successor was introduced during a storm presser earlier this week. The idea of him having to be dragged away from the center of state attention could lend itself to a Halloween crossover skit, with Alviti/Michael Meyers repeatedly bouncing back to life, wanting to get in a few more words, just when you think he’s over and done with.
