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Senate President Dominick Ruggerio says he doesn’t want to raise taxes
Ruggerio says he feels better and expects to be at State House all year
PROVIDENCE – With news that Senate President Dominick Ruggerio remains at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and will be unable to preside over the state Senate for at least one more week, his colleagues are beginning to tiptoe around the rules that govern succession.
The 76-year-old Ruggerio – a political warhorse who has served in the Rhode Island legislature for more than four decades – has given no indication that he plans to step down barely two months after his reelection to the Senate’s top post.
But several of his colleagues openly discussed, and questioned, how the process of choosing his successor would play out during a Monday meeting of the Senate committee that is working on the proposed rules for the 2025-26 session that began on Jan. 7.
The visibly fragile Ruggerio, who in November survived a bid by Democratic colleagues to unseat him, was reelected president on opening day of this year’s legislative session with support from 26 of 38 senators, including all four Republicans.
Eleven Democratic senators, including all nine who voted against Ruggerio in a November caucus, voted “present” that day instead of yea or nay on another term as president for Ruggerio.
Hospitalized since Feb. 19 with what a note to his Senate colleagues called a “touch of pneumonia,” Ruggerio has for the last week been in a rehab unit in the hospital and is expected to remain there through March 12, according to his chief of staff, John Fleming.
He is no longer battling pneumonia, but “everybody’s seen him,” Fleming said.
“He’s fragile, so they are trying to build him up, and he’s in this program and they got him up walking every day. He’s eating like a bear,” Fleming said.
Fleming said the goal of keeping Ruggerio at Fatima is to “put some weight back on him.”
“He’s doing wonderful,” Fleming continued. “I spent two hours with him Saturday talking business. He was very, very alert. He was the best I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s put on some weight, and they figured that they want to keep him there to build him up to stop what he’s been going through.”
With his absence on Tuesday, Ruggerio will have missed four of the eight once-a-week Senate sessions so far this year. Senate President Pro Tempore Hanna Gallo is expected to preside again in his place.
Monday’s rules committee conversation ranged from Sen. Jonathan Acosta’s renewed objections to the Senate dress rules to a proposed new rule, which was roundly applauded, to have the Senate post written testimony online as the House has done for several years.
The kudos came from the senators who sit on the rules committee and others, including Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, who said the House move in this direction has been a tremendous boon to promoting transparency and the public’s right to know.
No votes were taken during Monday’s meeting of Senate Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight, which recessed until Thursday to consider some other tweaks suggested that day.
Acosta broached the Senate president succession question, reading the current rule out loud and noting that it could be interpreted in more than one way.
“To prevent any conflict a year from now, a month [or] God forbid, a week or so from today, I think it’d be better that we address this and agree upon this as a body … so that we have a collective understanding of how to interpret,” Acosta said.
Acosta pointed to lines pertaining to a vacancy in the office of the Senate president.
The current rule says: “Should the office of president become vacant during the session, the president pro tempore shall preside over an election …”
Acosta said he thinks the rules mean that an election for Senate president would be held at the next “regular meeting of this body,” but it could be interpreted as the president pro tempore presiding for an unlimited period of time.
It is not yet clear if the committee will consider any potential amendments to this rule.
Local News
A Rhode Island husband and wife in their 50s were identified as the two people killed in a Swansea car crash Friday night.
Carlolyn Carcasi, 54, and James Carcasi, 53, of Bristol, Rhode Island, were killed in the Feb. 27 crash, the office of Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a press release Monday.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Route 136 and Route 6 in Swansea, Quinn’s office said.
Police in Cranston, Rhode Island identified the driver who allegedly hit the couple as Demitri Sousa, 28. Sousa allegedly shot and killed a man in Rhode Island nearly four hours before the crash, Cranston police said.
At around 12:18 a.m. Friday, Swansea police spotted Sousa’s Infiniti barreling down Route 6, Swansea officials said previously.
The couple was driving southbound on Route 136 when the Sousa crashed into the side of a Subaru Ascent. Both cars had “catastrophic damage,” and the Subaru was engulfed in flames, Swansea fire and police officials said.
Both occupants of the Subaru were declared dead at the scene, Swansea officials said.
Sousa was transported to a local hospital, where he is being treated for serious injuries. He is expected to live and will be held in Cranston police custody until he is medically cleared, police said Sunday.
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CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed celebrated Women’s History Month in Cranston with a panel discussion on Monday.
The event was held at the Cranston Public Library at 9 a.m.
Reed and other leaders of WFRI hosted a panel discussion with women leaders in environmental and agricultural advocacy, education, community resilience, housing, finance, workforce development, and more, officials said.
Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed celebrated Women’s History Month in Cranston with a panel discussion on Monday. (WJAR)
“Women have played a critical role in this process, most often without any recognition,” Reed said. “Today’s panel brings together an extraordinary group of women who are addressing the challenged of sustainability from various angles and I want to thank you all for your great efforts.”
The panelists highlighted their experiences, shared insights and tips on lifting up women’s voices, provided strategies for sparking change and more.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)
According to officials, some of the panelists included Executive Director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council Nessa Richman, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives at Rhode Island College Kim Bright, Newport Housing Authority Executive Director Rhonda Mitchell and more.
Local News
A Seekonk man is accused of murder after he allegedly shot and killed a man in Rhode Island before causing a car crash in Swansea that killed two people last week, police said.
Demitri Sousa, 28, is charged with murder, using a firearm while committing a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license, the Cranston Police Department said.
The shooting occurred Thursday night in Cranston, police said in a press release.
That night, Sousa allegedly arrived at the Cranston home of Javon Lawson, 35. Sousa began banging on the side door of the home, police said.
When Lawson approached the door, he was hit by gunfire from outside, police said.
First responders transported Lawson to the Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Cranston police said.
“Based on the preliminary investigation, the motive is believed to be a dispute between the suspect and the victim over a mutual female acquaintance. Detectives are continuing this investigation to gain more insight, as well as to collect and analyze evidence,” Colonel Michael Winquist, Chief of Cranston police, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Neighbors gave police video footage that “showed a male subject wearing dark clothing and a mask walking toward the residence moments before the shooting and fleeing immediately afterward,” Winquist said.
The suspect was also seen running to a white Infiniti sedan which then drove off, the Cranston police chief said.
Shortly after the shooting, a license plate reader captured the vehicle driving southbound on Route 10, and then later in Fall River and Westport, Massachusetts. The sedan’s license plate was registered in Sousa’s name, Winquist said.
At around 12:18 a.m. Friday, Swansea police spotted Sousa’s Infiniti barreling down Route 6, Swansea officials said.
Just moments later, Sousa allegedly “crashed into the side of another vehicle, a blue 2022 Subaru Ascent that had been traveling southbound on Route 136,” Swansea Police Chief Mark Foley and Fire Chief Eric Hajder said in a joint press release.
Both vehicles had “catastrophic damage,” and the struck car was engulfed in flames, the Swansea officials said.
The driver and passenger of the hit car — a man and a woman — were declared dead at the scene, they said.
“Swansea Police had been alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle. However, Swansea Police were not involved in the pursuit and were not pursuing the vehicle at the time of the crash,” the Swansea chiefs wrote. Swansea official have not announced charges related to the fatal crash.
Sousa had been driving the Infiniti and appeared to be suffering from serious injuries, Winquist said. Inside the car, police found a pistol and “additional .22 caliber ammunition was recovered” from Sousa at Rhode Island Hospital, Winquist said.
Police arrested Sousa and transported him to Rhode Island Hospital. Sousa is expected to survive, Winquist said. Sousa will be held in Cranston police custody until he is conscious and medically cleared, Winquist said.
“On behalf of the Cranston Police Department, I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Javon Lawson and the two individuals who were killed in the crash in Swansea,” Winquist said.
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