Rhode Island

McKee names new RI housing secretary. What we know.

Published

12 months ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

McKee names new RI housing secretary. What we know.

PROVIDENCE – Gov. Dan McKee has named a new housing secretary: Deborah J. Goddard.

Who is she? Goddard, the former managing director for policy and program development at MassHousing, currently leads the Massachusetts-based DJ Goddard Consulting, which has done consulting work for the Rhode Island Department of Housing among other public, quasi-public and nonprofit agencies, according to a press release from the McKee administration.

Prior to this role, Goddard served at the executive vice president for capital projects at the New York City Housing Authority from 2016 to 2019, where she oversaw $3 billion of construction builds and helped advance the agency’s energy and sustainability programs, the press release said.

She is scheduled to start her new $238,597 job on Dec. 2. In the interim, her name has been submitted to the Rhode Island Senate, which is in recess, for advice and consent after the legislature convenes in January.

“Deborah Goddard is a deeply committed and accomplished housing professional whose work has benefitted people from all backgrounds,” said McKee. “Housing affordability and availability in Rhode Island have never been more important than they are right now. I am confident Deborah’s knowledge and experience will guide the department to achieving our housing goals.”

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said he “look[s] forward to the Senate’s thorough review of Ms. Goddard’s appointment through the advice and consent process.”

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said he met with Goddard for the first time a day earlier “and she was very impressive.”

In her own turn, Goddard said her career has been “dedicated to creating and preserving housing opportunities … for the unhoused, for renters and homeowners, alike, with attention to equity.” As such, she said, “I am very aware of the persistent headwinds that we face in this arena, but they are not unique to Rhode Island nor are they new.”

The Rhode Island Department of Housing has been run by an interim chief – former Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors – since Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor’s last day in July in one of the state’s most critical jobs.

A former Senate majority leader, Connors – who quit a job as a top aide in the Raimondo administration after his arrest for driving under the influence – had most recently been chief of staff in the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services, making $184,000 annually.

On the day of his interim appointment, the governor’s office said: “He is not being considered for the permanent position and will return to his role at EOHHS at the end of this process.”

Pryor is now a partner in Palm Venture Studios, which “works to rescue and build companies that positively impact human and planetary health,” according to his LinkedIn profile..

How did we get here?

Spokesman Andrea Palagi told The Journal at that time that McKee’s office would interview local candidates for the permanent position over the coming weeks, and a national search would only be initiated if a qualified candidate could not be found. As it turned out, there was no national search.

Pryor announced that he was leaving in late June after close to a decade leading Rhode Island’s economic development efforts as its first commerce secretary and, for a year-and-a-half as head of its Department of Housing,

The hunt for his replacement stretched out over several months, amid significant jockeying between the many arms of Rhode Island’s housing community for advantage − and appointment.

The Department of Housing is responsible for managing hundreds of millions of previously dedicated state dollars and the newly approved $120-million housing bond.

But the picture that has emerged in the wake of Pryor’s departure was of an agency beset by employee infighting, leaks about end-runs in the award of contracts, and complaints to the governor’s office about the management styles of both Pryor and Assistant Secretary Hannah Moore, whom Pryor brought into the department with him.

More recently, Rhode Island’s deputy housing secretary, Deborah Flannery, resigned to take a job with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Her last day is imminent.

The Department of Housing was unable to pinpoint the amount Goddard and her firm have been paid as a consultant or promised. As for her role, spokeswoman Emily Marshall listed non-specific duties, such as: “drafting regulations for internal review, and co-authoring multiple grant applications, among other responsibilities.”

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Rhode Island

Meet the cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’

Published

6 hours ago

November 18, 2025

Press Room

Andy Cohen announced the “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” cast — including a former local NBC news anchor, a URI alum, and a Cranston pizzeria co-owner.

Andy Cohen attends the PAC NYC Icons of Culture Gala at Perelman Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in New York. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

A former local news anchor. A pizzeria co-owner. Rhody’s “Cannabis Queen.”

New England, meet your Real Housewives.

Executive producer/dedicated Deadhead/Anderson Cooper’s BFF Andy Cohen revealed the cast and trailer for the first-ever New England-based “Housewives” Nov. 16 at BravoCon.

Bravo announced the Rhody-set show in May. “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” will premiere in 2026, with no specific date given. But, ’26 marks the 20th anniversary of the Real Housewives franchise.

The new trailer packages the Ocean State as a tiny, everybody-knows-everybody state full of secrets and drama. “Smallest state with the biggest attitude,” one cast member says in the official trailer, which debuted this weekend.

Rhode Island is “teeny. It’s a blip. But to us, it’s the center of the universe,” another cast member says.

The trailer is packed with all the shots you might expect— Newport mansions, polo games, tony beach shorelines, Adirondack chairs, sailboats in a harbor.

“Welcome to Rhode Island where nobody tells anybody the truth,” says a cast member, as we see, presumably, a Newport polo match. “Everybody just lies to each other’s faces and talks s*** behind their back.”

“It’s Rhode Island!” one cast member exclaims. “When someone says something, we all hear it!”

“You may not know Rhode Island, but here, secrets don’t stay buried for very long.”

It’s interspersed with classic Housewives drama and gossip (“Her husband’s a foot doctor, but I think he’s doing more than rubbing foot.”)

So pop the popcorn and grab coffee milk, reality fans. This looks juicier than a Del’s lemonade. (And yes, you’ll notice a shot of one cast member drinking a can of Narragansett’s Del’s Shandy.)

Meet the cast for the “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” premiere season:

— Early risers may recognize Rosie DiMare, a former local “news anchor/reporter.” A scroll through her Instagram shows her with NBC 10’s Mario Hilario with the caption, “It’s like we’re real professionals or something.” Looks like she was part of Turn to 10’s “Sunrise Crew.”

She’s “not afraid to call people out,” we’re told. We then see her on pink bouncing sneakers gossiping about someone’s affair.

— Alicia Carmody: “Welcome to Rhode Island, b****, this is how we roll,” she says from an Adirondack chair, talking to someone off-camera in the trailer. Carmondy and her fiancé, Billy Kitsilis, run his restaurant, Pizza Mamma in Cranston.
— Liz McGraw: the “dominant figurehead here,” we’re told in the trailer, as we see her in black leather boots driving a boat. (“I’m scary,” she tells the camera. “Boo.”) Per Bravo, McGraw is “Rhode Island royalty… the state’s very own Cannabis Queen.” With her husband, Gerry, she owns and operates The Slater Center, a pot dispensary in Providence.
—Ashley Iaconetti: she’s “not from here,” we’re told. “This is not the kind of people I’m usually around,” she says in the trailer. Iaconetti married Warwick, R.I. native Jared Haibon, on “Bachelor in Paradise,” and is now “acclimating to her new life in her husband’s home state,” per Bravo.
— Jo-Ellen Tiberi, who we’re told in the trailer “knows everything.” Per Bravo, “Self-proclaimed town gossip Jo-Ellen knows everyone and everything worth knowing in Cranston.” The “aesthetic practice development manager … juggles a busy career with family life” with her husband Gary and their three kids, per Bravo.
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— Rulla Nehme Pontarelli: “She’s a boss,” we’re told in the trailer. Per Bravo, Pontarelli “helms a financial empire as a Certified Financial Planner and Wealth Manager to some of the East Coast’s most distinguished families.”
“I opened my own branch office, Royal One Financial Group, in the historic downtown area of Providence,” she says, per her website.
— Kelsey Swanson says in the trailer she’s not with a sugar daddy: “My boyfriend is, like, actually attractive. The money’s just a plus.” The former Miss Rhode Island and University of Rhode Island alum is now a makeup artist, her Bravo bio says.
“Kelsey has been in a 10-year relationship with one of Rhode Island’s most notable figures, enjoying the lap of luxury while keeping her social calendar full,” the bio notes, without naming her boyfriend.
Watch the full trailer here.
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Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.

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Rhode Island

RI Lottery Lucky For Life, Numbers Midday winning numbers for Nov. 16, 2025

Published

1 day ago

November 17, 2025

Press Room

The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 16, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Nov. 16 drawing

03-11-26-32-45, Lucky Ball: 02

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Numbers numbers from Nov. 16 drawing

Midday: 9-5-9-1

Evening: 8-1-4-7

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from Nov. 16 drawing

01-04-09-12-25, Extra: 19

Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
Winners of the Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.

When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Rhode Island

Police ID man hit, killed by car in Cranston

Published

3 days ago

November 15, 2025

Press Room

Police ID man hit, killed by car in Cranston

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Cranston police have identified the man who was hit and killed by a car on Atwood Avenue Friday evening.

Major Todd Patalano said the man was 80-year-old Richard Viti, of Cranston.

Police were called Friday evening to the area of 700 Atwood Avenue for reports of a pedestrian who was hit by a car. Investigators say Viti was crossing the street to get to the San Bernardo Society.

The driver, who has not yet been identified, faces charges of operating on a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle, according to Patalano.

There may be more charges the driver is facing as the investigation is still in its early stages, Patalano explained.

Viti was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Patalano said the driver is cooperating with authorities.

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