Ted Nesi (tnesi@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi’s Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Threads and Facebook.
Rhode Island
Poll: McKee job approval at 29% as most Rhode Islanders say state is on wrong track
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Gov. Dan McKee continues to receive poor marks from Rhode Islanders, who feel gloomy about the future of the state, according to a new survey.
The University of New Hampshire Survey Center “Ocean State Poll” of 598 Rhode Island registered voters found only 29% approve of the job McKee is doing as governor, while 65% disapprove. Both numbers were the same in May.
McKee’s job approval in the UNH poll is slightly lower than it was in a survey of likely voters released late last month by Salve Regina University’s Pell Center, which had the governor at 36% approval.
12 News political analyst Joe Fleming said the survey results should be a warning to McKee and his inner circle as they look ahead to his reelection campaign in 2026. Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes — who nearly defeated McKee in the 2022 primary — has already been raising money to challenge him for a second time.
“This is two polls now we’ve seen with the governor’s numbers low,” Fleming said. “He has to start doing something to turn that around, because we’re starting to see a track record in these numbers.”
UNH said McKee is underwater with all political groups: he has a 42% job approval rating among Democrats, 21% approval among independents and 9% approval with Republicans.
Fleming said the biggest worry for McKee should be his low approval rating in his own party.
“That’s a very concerning number, since Democrats do very well in Rhode Island, which says to me if I’m a Democrat looking to run for governor I could think about challenging him in a primary,” he said.
In a separate UNH poll of likely Massachusetts voters, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s job approval rating fell from 52% in May to 45% in July, while her disapproval rating inched up from 38% to 46%.
The survey of 598 Rhode Island voters was conducted online from July 11 to July 15, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Massachusetts poll surveyed 509 voters online over the same dates, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
Researchers at UNH’s States of Opinion Project, which conducted the surveys, described Rhode Islanders as “deeply pessimistic about where the state is heading.” Only 27% of voters say Rhode Island is headed in the right direction, while 60% say the state is on the wrong track. Democrats narrowly say the state is on the right track, by a margin of 43% to 40%.
“That number has been on the negative side for the longest time,” said Fleming, who has been conducting polls in Rhode Island for decades. “Sometimes it gets up to even, but not better than that.”
Asked to name the most important problem facing Rhode Island, housing came first (cited by 16% in the poll), followed by infrastructure (15%), jobs and the economy (13%) and corrupt or incompetent government (11%).
“Nearly half of Democrats mention housing or infrastructure as the most important problem facing the state, independents are more likely to mention the state budget or cost of living, and Republicans are more likely to cite immigration as the most important problem,” according to UNH.
Massachusetts voters were far more likely to say their state is headed in the right direction, with 49% saying so, according to UNH. They described housing and immigration as the Bay State’s biggest current policy challenges.
In Rhode Island, UNH also asked residents about the Washington Bridge crisis and this November’s ballot question about whether Rhode Island should hold a state constitutional convention.
On the Washington Bridge, 56% of Rhode Islanders said they used the bridge at least a few times a month before last December’s closure of the westbound side; 71% said they have used the bridge since the closure; and 46% said they have used detour routes to avoid the bridge since the closure.
Nearly half of those surveyed — 48% — said their trips are typically 10 to 29 minutes longer due to the bridge closure, while 29% said the delays are even higher than that and 8% said the delays are less than 10 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the survey showed little public awareness about the constitutional convention question, which is required to be put on the ballot in Rhode Island every 10 years. Just over half of those surveyed — 53% — said they had heard “nothing at all” about it so far. And only 36% said they feel like they understand the topic.
Connie Slick, right, chats with Deanne Wright at the Rhode Island Direct Primary Care booth Tuesday at the senior center’s “Aging in Place” resource fair under the pavilion at Fort Getty. Photos by Andrea von Hohenleiten
Annie Murphy, from left, Joe Colon and Lea Verta at the Alzheimer’s Association booth.
Florence Iwuc learns about the warning signs of a stroke.
Donna Mignella, right, talks to members of the Community Outreach and Support Team, Mary Meagher, from left, Becky Minus and Dave Pritchard.
Susan Conant, left, and Andrea Maroto.
Vincent Ng, Barbara Cunha and John Andrews at the AARP booth.
Rhode Island
More complaints against former RI private school coach accused of exploiting underage girl – The Boston Globe
The girl told the state police and Barrington police that Cassidy, who’d been her coach, became fixated on her since the summer of 2025 and won her trust. She told police that Cassidy had given her lingerie and alcohol and requested explicit photos of her under the guise of training her for a “secret section of the FBI” to help children who are sex trafficked.
The small private Christian school fired Cassidy after his arrest on June 1. State police said they expected to bring more charges and asked for other witnesses to come forward.
Since then, Barrington Police Chief Michael E. Correia said, four more students from Barrington Christian Academy and a young woman who encountered Cassidy at the Pawtucket YMCA have made complaints.
“All of their stories are clearly inappropriate behavior from a teacher-coach,” Correia said on Wednesday. “However, we don’t believe [the allegations] at this time amounts to a criminal offense.”
Correia declined to describe the specific accusations. The new reports have been referred to the State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is leading the investigation. State Police Major Kenneth Moriarty did not respond to questions on Wednesday.
A 19-year-old woman who attended Barrington Christian Academy in the 2020-2021 school year was the first to come forward. She spoke to Barrington police on June 3, shortly after the state police announced Cassidy’s arrest, and described “inappropriate behavior,” Correia said.
Then, a 12-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl, both of whom are student-athletes at the school, spoke with Barrington police on June 8. A mother brought her 12-year-old daughter, who is also a student, to speak with police on June 9.
A 23-year-old woman contacted the Barrington police on June 17 about Cassidy. She said she encountered him at the Pawtucket YMCA when she was about 14 years old, and she also complained about “inappropriate behavior,” Correia said.
Kate Messier, the vice president of development at the Pawtucket YMCA, confirmed on Wednesday that Cassidy was employed there until 2018. She did not comment on his role at the YMCA or answer questions about whether the organization had received any complaints about Cassidy at the time.
“Child protection is foundational to how the YMCA of Pawtucket operates, and we maintain extensive safeguards that are reviewed and reinforced on an ongoing basis,” Messier said in the statement. “Those safeguards include thorough staff screening and background checks, mandatory child abuse prevention training, program environments structured to maintain supervision and eliminate unsupervised one-on-one situations, and clear procedures for reporting any concern.”
The 14-year-old girl whose allegations led the state police to arrest Cassidy said that she learned that he had allowed juveniles from unstable homes live in his house in Pawtucket while he was working at the YMCA, according to court documents. The girl also told investigators that Cassidy had housed foreign exchange students associated with Barrington Christian Academy.
Correia said that the private school has been “very cooperative” with the Barrington police. The head of school, Michael Skazinski, did not respond to questions from the Globe on Wednesday.
Cassidy’s lawyer, Melissa Larsen, declined comment on Wednesday.
The state police have searched Cassidy’s home in Pawtucket, his pickup truck, and his office at the school, and have seized numerous electronic devices, including iPads, tablets, and thumb drives, according to court records. The affidavits accompanying the search warrants detailed the allegations that the 14-year-old girl made against Cassidy.
He had been coaching her in different sports at the school, and their families became close. She told the state police that she grew to trust Cassidy and would spend time with him and his family at their home. Then, she said, he began telling her stories about how he was special — and so was she.
She said Cassidy told her he was working for a “secret section of the FBI.” She said he claimed that he had “special DNA,” so the FBI and state troopers had him assist in raids to save children from being sex trafficked. She said that Cassidy told her that there were “off-worlders” or aliens that posed as humans on earth, and some of those children being sex trafficked were actually aliens.
She said that Cassidy assigned various “challenges” or “missions” to make her comfortable in uncomfortable situations, according to the affidavits.
“She was also advised to learn to get comfortable with wearing less clothing and ultimately nudity because it would be required later on for ‘missions,’” the affidavits said. “Cassidy claimed that aliens did not believe in the ‘construct of clothes.’”
She said Cassidy emailed her from his personal Gmail account, calling himself “Casper,” the affidavits said. She said he also claimed that two other girls were using his email to talk to her about the “special” training, and she was told to email with a person named “Kevin” on another email address who would talk to her about her feelings, the affidavits said.
She said she was instructed to take explicit photographs of herself and send them to his private email. She came to realize that all of the personas were actually Cassidy.
On May 28, the girl received an email from Cassidy’s personal Gmail account offering her three “flirt options,” all of which involved her taking off her clothes in front of him. She believed she needed to follow through; she told police that Cassidy said “bad things” could happen to her if she failed.
That night, her parents discovered what was going on, and they contacted the Barrington police, who called in the state police.
The State Police are continuing to investigate and ask anyone with information about Cassidy or potential victims to contact the task force at 401-921-1170, or the Barrington Police Department at 401-437-3935.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.
Another famous face is joining the cast of “Rubber Hut” filming throughout Rhode Island.
As we previously reported, Grace Van Patten is starring in the feature film debut for director Hannah Gray Organschi about the infamous “condom hut” business from the early 90s.
The short-lived Fotomat kiosk turned drive-thru condom store garnered local notoriety as well as national attention in 1992 and is now the subject of a movie with several A-list stars attached.
READ MORE: Michael Imperioli, Emmy Rossum Join RI ‘Condom Hut’ Film
Scenes were filmed for several days at a custom-made “condom hut” on West Shore Road in Warwick. On Thursday, June 11, Beach Avenue was closed down to shoot a parade scene. Now, film crews have moved to Meshanticut Valley Parkway in Cranston for scenes along a residential street.
Who Was Behind the Original Condom Hut?
The home is believed to represent the residence of Emanuella DelVecchio, the former flight attendant who had the brilliant idea to open a condom kiosk in response to the AIDS epidemic.
Instead of support, however, DelVecchio received the condemnation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and was plagued with vandalism before shuttering her business within a year.
READ MORE: New Bedford’s Gone But Not Forgotten Closed-Down Bars
Who Has Joined the ‘Condom Hut’ Movie Cast So Far
Photos of parade scenes for the film show Michael Imperioli portraying a priest in the movie and now Deadline has reported that stage actor, Will Harrison, is attached to the project as DelVecchio’s husband. Other actors’ specific roles remain unknown.
Filming is expected to continue in Rhode Island until the end of June with a theatrical release likely in 2027.
See the Stars Who Own Homes in Rhode Island
There are plenty of celebrities who once called Rhode Island home, but how many still do? Here’s the list of stars who own homes across the Ocean State.
Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall
20 Stars Who Hail From Rhode Island
Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the nation, but it has been home to many celebrities. Though some have moved here, filmed here or attended school here, only a handful were actually born here. These are those celebrities.
Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall
All The Famous Faces That Have Been to Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island Home
Here are all the celebrities we know have made an appearance at Holiday House over the years.
Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall
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