Boston.com Today
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.
Business
The iconic toy maker and entertainment company Hasbro is considering uprooting its headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Boston. If this happens, it would leave a hole in the Ocean State but bolster the recovering downtown Boston.
“It’s all hands on deck to keep Hasbro in Pawtucket,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement.
McKee and Mayor Don Grebien reached out to Hasbro’s CEO, Chris Cocks, in the hopes of persuading the company to remain in the state.
“Together, the state and the city will absolutely pursue all options to maintain Hasbro’s presence in Pawtucket,” McKee said.
Rhode Island Congressman Gabe Amo, who grew up in the city, also hopes to help persuade the company to stay.
“For more than a century, Hasbro’s Pawtucket headquarters has been the place where toy ideas come to life,” he said in a statement. “The workers at this iconic Rhode Island business have been an invaluable part of our community and I hope that this storied history is on the minds of Hasbro’s leadership.”
Hasbro is one of a few large corporations headquartered in Rhode Island, along with CVS, Textron, and FM Global.
The international company is known for its portfolio of over 1,800 brands, including Monopoly, Dungeons & Dragons, Nerf, Transformers, Play-Doh, and Peppa Pig.
Hasbro was founded in 1923 by Henry and Hillel Hassenfeld. It began by selling textile remnants before manufacturing pencil boxes and school supplies. In 1952, it changed the toy industry by creating the Potato Head.
According to the company’s 2023 annual report, it has about 5,500 employees worldwide, about half located in North America. The company owns its corporate headquarters in Pawtucket, which is about 343,000 square feet, and an adjacent facility of about 23,000 square feet.
The Boston Business Journal broke the news Monday that Hasbro was scouting Boston-area locations.
According to a source close to Gov. Maura Healey, members of her economic team have met informally with Hasbro.
“We are always competing for businesses to move and expand to our state and will continue to support existing businesses across Massachusetts,” wrote Healey’s spokesperson, Karissa Hand.
Hand added that the state is ranked No. 1 for innovation, education, and health care and is also the best state for raising a family and for women.
In a message Cocks sent to Hasbro employees on Monday, which Boston.com obtained a copy of, he told employees, “Don’t pack your bags yet,” as nothing is final and it could take up to two years to move.
“As we build a workplace for the future that reflects our brands, our vision, and our impact, we are considering options for a more suitable HQ, including in the Greater Boston area,” Cocks wrote in his email. “We are looking to find a space that allows for collaboration and design and showcases who we are and what we stand for. A space that is accessible to our teams and our partners.”
The move comes after a challenging year at the company.
In 2023, the company’s net revenues decreased 15% from the prior year to about $5 billion.
In a corporate filing last December, the toy maker announced that it was cutting 1,100 jobs or 20% of its workforce. The reductions were on top of 800 job cuts made last year as part of a strategic move to save up to $200 million to reinvest in the business.
The same filing also announced the company’s plans to close its leased 136,000-square-foot office space in Providence, Rhode Island, by January 2025.
In addition, the annual report said that Hasbro finalized the sale of its Entertainment One Film and television business, eOne Film and TV, to Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. for $370 million last December.
However, Cocks was optimistic during the second quarterly results that came out in July.
“Hasbro is emerging as a more profitable, agile, and operationally excellent company delighting fans of all ages through the magic of play,” Cocks said in a statement to Bussiness Wire.
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.
Police bodycam footage shows the moments officers arrived to the scene of a deadly mass shooting in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The shooting on Feb. 16 at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena killed Rhonda Dorgan and Aidan Dorgan, the ex-wife and son of the shooter, who died by suicide.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
Gerald Dorgan, Rhonda’s father, died from his injuries this week. His wife, Linda Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso remain hospitalized.
Around five minutes after the first officer arrives, he beings helping paramedics with a man who identifies himself as Aidan. Twelve minutes in, Aidan Dorgan is transported to the hospital, where he would later die from his injuries.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
For the last 10 minutes of the footage, the officer then begins helping paramedics transport the other three gunshot victims.
The video ends with police prepping witness interviews.
The shooting rocked the Pawtucket community. Chris Librizzi, head coach of the Blackstone Valley Schools hockey team impacted by the shooting, said the players and coaching staff “are devastated over the events that took place at Lynch Arena on Monday and intimately affected one of our teammates.”
As authorities continue investigating the shooting in Pawtucket, three patients remain in critical condition.
“We will lean on each other and support one another, as we have always done as a team,” he added.
Pawtucket police said two handguns were found at the scene after the shooting, a Sig Sauer P226 and Glock. Other weapons have been seized at the suspect’s storage unit in Maine.
Investigators continue reviewing all video evidence from before, during and after the shooting, including surveillance footage from the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, police body-worn camera footage and other records — a high school sports livestream captured the shooting from a distance — police said.
A man has died after a shooting in Cranston, Rhode Island, and investigators say a suspect was later involved in a car crash in Swansea, Massachusetts, that killed two other people.
The shooting victim was found Thursday on Legion Way, shot multiple times in the chest, Cranston police told NBC affiliate WJAR-TV. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital where he later died. His name has not been released.
The suspect initially fled on foot, setting off a shelter-in-place order while investigators searched the area.
Police said Friday that investigators identified a suspect vehicle, which was later spotted by Massachusetts State Police. A trooper followed the car down Route 6 and Interstate 195, but stopped when it crossed back into Rhode Island. The car was later involved in a crash on Route 136 in Swansea, Mass.
Swansea police say that crash on Route 136 (James Reynolds Road) resulted in the deaths of two other people.
According to the Swansea Police Department, two officers saw a white Infinity G37 speed past them around 12:18 a.m. Friday on Route 6, otherwise known as Grand Army of the Republic Highway. Moments later, officers observed that the vehicle had crashed into the side of a blue Subaru Ascent that had been traveling southbound on Route 136.
Both vehicles sustained catastrophic damage, police said.
The vehicle that was struck was fully engulfed in flames. First responders and bystanders tried to extinguish the fire, but both occupants — a man and a woman — were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Their names have not been released.
The 28-year-old Infinity driver, who struck the victims’ Subaru, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with serious injuries and later into custody by Cranston Police. They have not been publicly identified at this time.
Swansea police said they are aware that the Infinity was the subject of a police pursuit, and know the driver was wanted in connection to the Rhode Island homicide investigation. While Swansea police had been alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect’s vehicle, however, they say they were not involved in the pursuit and were not pursuing the vehicle at the time of the deadly crash.
The crash in Swansea is under investigation by Massachusetts authorities, including state police and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. Meanwhile, Cranston police said they would give an update on their investigation around 1 p.m.
House Speaker Shekarchi unveils 2026 RI housing legislative package
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s nine-bill package for 2026 seeks to cut red tape and relax rules on parking, dividing lots and staircases.
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi is once again taking aim at the regulations he says are stifling new homebuilding.
The Warwick Democrat unveiled his sixth annual suite of housing legislation on Thursday, Feb. 26, a few weeks after announcing he would not be running for governor this year.
“We are still trying to play catch-up for all the years that Rhode Island was dead last in the country for new housing starts,” Shekarchi said. “While Rhode Island remains a relatively affordable option for people moving here from other states, our own residents are too often priced out of the neighborhoods they grew up in.”
The legislative text of the nine-bill housing package, and with it the specifics of how it would work, were not available for Thursday’s news conference.
But highlights of the package, according to summaries, include:
Since Shekarchi was elected speaker in 2021, the General Assembly has passed dozens of bills he backed that tweaked state land-use statutes or streamlined the process for building.
How successful this approach has been is subject to debate.
Many local elected officials wary of development in their communities continue to rail against efforts to erode their power over construction.
Others in the growing Yes In My Back Yard movement see Rhode Island’s piecemeal approach as inadequate in comparison with the scale of the affordability problem and what other states are doing.
As evidence that his changes are making a difference, Shekarchi said Rhode Island saw a 70% increase in building permits in 2023 and a more modest increase in 2024. (Statistics for last year were not immediately available.)
Gov. Dan McKee’s 2030 plan calls for 15,000 new housing units built by that year.
Democratic primary challenger Helena Foulkes is slated to roll out her housing plan on Monday.
It is expected to include a millionaires tax to fund affordable housing, a revolving fund and target of 20,000 new homes.
Letting property owners put multiple homes on a plot of land is one of the most direct ways that lawmakers can encourage the construction of more homes, but it is also one of the most controversial.
That’s especially true in areas zoned for large lots and single-family homes.
How far the new bill allowing lots to be subdivided in single-family zones goes is unclear. It is sponsored by Rep. Stephen Casey, D-Woonsocket.
Legislation setting maximum parking requirements for new developments, introduced by Rep. Joshua Giraldo, D-Central Falls, would apply to areas accessible by public transit.
Critics of off-street parking requirements say they make it harder to build new apartments and make the units that are built more expensive.
Shekarchi proposed the emergency shelter bill last year. It passed the House and died in the Senate.
It was the result of how long it took state officials to navigate Rhode Island’s building code and open the ECHO Village Pallet shelter in Providence.
The staircase bill, sponsored by Rep. June Speakman, a Warren Democrat and chair of the House’s home affordability study commission, follows a wave of cities and states relaxing rules on how many exits are required in new construction.
Currently, the state building code requires two stairways in buildings with more than three stories, and fire officials have opposed all efforts to change that.
Speakman’s bill would allow four-story buildings with a maximum of 16 units with a single staircase.
Supporters of single-stair buildings say they allow development of small sites that would otherwise sit vacant and allow family-sized units with more light and better ventilation.
A previous Rhode Island single-stair bill would have allowed six stories, but it died in committee.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order in mid-February to study the idea.
Exclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
Mother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
2026 MHSA Montana Wrestling State Championship Brackets And Results – FloWrestling
Wildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
YouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
Stellantis is in a crisis of its own making
OpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT