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R.I. bartenders have big plans and drinkable resolutions for 2024 – The Boston Globe

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R.I. bartenders have big plans and drinkable resolutions for 2024 – The Boston Globe


Leishla Maldonado has been in the industry for about a decade, working in the best bars in Providence like Courtland Club and The Eddy. She helped open Dolores, and worked as a consultant for other local businesses to help them establish solid zero-proof offerings.

“I think bars should be about hospitality, no matter what your drink of choice is,” said Maldonado, who has been sober for the last few years.

Maldonado has big plans for 2024, which she asked me to keep under wraps (for now). It’s a project that’s been “years in the making,” she said, and it has to do with low-proof and nonalcoholic creations. Stay tuned.

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Pizza Marvin co-owner Jesse Hedberg poses for a photo with his Pepperoni Negroni bottled cocktail, which features pepperoni gin, Campari and sweet vermouth.Matthew Healey for The Boston Globe

Jesse Hedberg, co-owner and beverage director, Pizza Marvin

Jesse Hedberg, the co-owner and beverage director of Pizza Marvin, had a big year in 2023. Business partner and chef Robert Andreozzi was a James Beard semi-finalist for the Best Chef: Northeast award, and they’ve hosted a slew of pop-ups and fundraising dinners.

Hedberg said it’s only the beginning. The pair are planning to open another concept that focuses on his bar skills and serves “some serious food.”

Hedberg said they were not yet ready to unveil the name, location, or other details of this new spot, but it will have a lot of the same elements that made people fall in love with Pizza Marvin: modern, fun, and casual. It will also push the limits on techniques, like low-ABV and non-alcoholic options, and clarification (a process where you remove unwanted impurities to improve the appearance, flavor, and texture of a drink. Here’s a beginner’s guide to clarified milk I recommend.)

“I’ll be honest, when zero-proof was becoming the new ‘trend’ years ago, I was pretty anti. A lot of places have some flavored syrups and they say ‘here’s a mocktail’… like a lavender lemonade,” said Hedberg. “That’s a cop out.”

“But beverages are not just about booze anymore. It’s not about just getting drunk,” said Hedberg. “I’m always on the hunt for the next new flavors… And it’s not just a combination of flavors — mixing these liquors with those bitters, and so on. I’m more interested in discovering herbs or ingredients that haven’t been showcased too much in beverages here before, and displaying them as they should be.”

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Elisa Wybraniec, wine director, The Coast Guard House, Narragansett

Elisa Wybraniec is steering the ship at The Coast Guard House when it comes to everything to do with wine, and she’s already carrying out the bulk of her resolutions for 2024 by hitting the ground running on wine-focused events. The restaurant will be launching its dinner series with pastry chef Jamie Welsh starting Jan. 18. Each event will feature five different desserts running the spectrum of chocolate, from white to bittersweet (for $65 per person).

For four Sundays, starting every other beginning Jan. 21, Wybraniec is also hosting a “wine boot camp” series that focuses on Italy, a different region each time. “We will be covering Franciacorta, Trentino Alto-Adige, Bolgheri, Barolo/Barbaresco,” she said. (It’s $55 per session or $175 for all four sessions.)

Anna Gallo, manager, Red Door, Providence

Red Door broke out in downtown Providence’s restaurant scene in late 2021 as the cool place to check out a local rock band, enjoy a late-night smash burger, and sip on creative cocktails. In 2024, bartender and manager Anna Gallo said she plans on collaborating with more local kitchens and nonprofits for some upcoming events. As for the Red Door’s cocktail program, Gallo said she’s eyeing cocktails that take customers out of their comfort zones.

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“Whether it’s a weird absinthe wash drink that you never knew you’d love or a savory fat wash, it’s always been our vision to create something that would change your perspective,” said Gallo. “It’s why we’re all here.”

Chris Saraiva and his wife Nelly own and operate Brands of Portugal in a section of a converted mill building in Rumford, R.I.MARK STOCKWELL FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Chris and Nelly Saraiva, owners, Brands of Portugal, East Providence

Chris and Nelly Saraiva, the owners of wine import business Brands of Portugal, are sticking to their original goal: to make sure people are drinking “more authentic Portugal.”

“As everyone is becoming more and more health conscious we’re looking to showcase our small producer wines that are made with minimal intervention and low sugar with sustainability in mind,” Nelly Saraiva told me.

They’re also showcasing Per Se Aperitivo, which made its US debut in little Rhody in late 2023. “Think orange, cinnamon, [and] allspice, meets light, elegant and just a hint of bitters,” she said. It’ll make “a fantastic low-proof cocktail on the rocks.” They recommend keeping an eye out for it on some rooftop and beach bars in 2024.


This story first appeared in Globe Rhode Island’s Food & Dining newsletter, a free weekly email about Rhode Island’s restaurant industry that also contains information about local events, Q&As with chefs, dining guides, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail each Thursday, you can sign up here.

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Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.





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RI Lottery Powerball, Numbers Midday winning numbers for May 30, 2026

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The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 30, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from May 30 drawing

01-27-35-44-52, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Numbers numbers from May 30 drawing

Midday: 0-6-8-1

Evening: 7-6-1-2

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from May 30 drawing

01-11-21-25-36, Extra: 05

Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 30 drawing

05-14-22-28-30, Bonus: 01

Check Millionaire for Life 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 Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 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.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 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 high school yearbook printed with the word ‘school’ misspelled on its cover: ‘Shocking to see’

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Rhode Island high school yearbook printed with the word ‘school’ misspelled on its cover: ‘Shocking to see’


It failed spelling.

A Rhode Island high school mistakenly misspelled the word “school” on its yearbook cover.

Over 100 copies of Johnston Senior High School’s 2026 yearbook are missing the letter “c” in the word “school” written on its spine.

“Johnston Senior High Shool” was printed on the spine of the school’s 2026 yearbook. WPRI

Students, faculty and parents at what was dubbed “Johnston Senior High Shool” in the keepsake graduation book are shaking their heads at the cringeworthy mistake.

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“It was really a shocking thing to see, a whole high school misspelling the word ‘school,’” Johnston senior Neari Vazquez told NBC 10. “It’s kind of a bad look.”

Johnston Senior High School Superintendent Scott Sutherland told 12 News that he wrote a letter to the school’s families to apologize for the error, made by the yearbook printing company Treering.

In the note, he explained that Johnston’s yearbook club looked over a digital proof of the book prior to publication, but it did not show the spine.

However, Treering, which is based in Silicon Valley, released a statement disputing his claims.

“The school reviewed and approved both before the book went to print,” the spokesperson wrote.

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“The yearbook was printed exactly as the school’s editorial team approved it.”

The school’s yearbook club first noticed the glaring error when the boxes of books arrived at the school.

“One little thing, it’s like everything is perfect but this one thing is messed up,” yearbook club member Nate Dellamorte told NBC 10.

“When I talked to the advisor, he was already actively trying to fix it and a lot of the members said they’re gonna help him.”

Sutherland is outraged over the embarrassing oversight, and has already consulted with lawyers for advice on the matter.

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“We are extremely disappointed that this error made it through the company’s quality control and production process,” he continued in his letter.

“We are currently working directly with the yearbook company and other local vendors to ensure the issue is corrected before any yearbooks are distributed to students.”

Others think the yearbooks shouldn’t be reprinted — and the school should just chalk it up to a funny mistake.

“I mean it does happen, and I’m sure it would be too costly to reprint everything,” parent Melanie DaSilva told NBC 10.

“So it might just be one for the books and probably get a laugh.”

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R.I. House Finance budget phases in millionaires tax over three years – The Boston Globe

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R.I. House Finance budget phases in millionaires tax over three years – The Boston Globe


In January, Governor Daniel J. McKee touched off a debate about a millionaires tax by proposing a state budget that would impose a 8.99 percent tax rate on personal income of more than $1 million — a 3 percentage point increase over the current top bracket that would have generated $67 million in fiscal year 2027.

The House Finance budget would phase in that millionaires tax by raising that top rate by 1 percentage point per year over three years — 6.99 percent for tax year 2027, 7.99 percent in 2028, and 8.99 percent for 2029. The move would generate an estimated $22 million in 2027, $68 million in 2028, $115 million in 2029, and $142 million in 2030.

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Blazejewski said phasing in the millionaires tax will help Rhode Island deal with federal funding cuts as they take effect in the years ahead. Advocates see that tax as a crucial source of funding for essential programs amid federal cuts, he noted, while opponents predict it will hurt small businesses and drive away rich residents.

“We thought this strikes the right balance here for our state, given the situation we’re in with the federal government,” Blazejewski said. “We think this is a prudent way of increasing revenue over time, and then phasing it in, so it has less shock, it has more time to be absorbed, and then also comes online exactly when we need it.”

Rhode Island is pursuing a millionaires tax three years after Massachusetts imposed a 4 percent millionaires tax on top of its 5 percent income tax, raising billions in revenue. On May 25, the Globe reported that the Massachusetts surtax on that state’s highest earners has already generated more than $3.1 billion in revenue this fiscal year, with two months remaining — surpassing the $2.4 billion projected.

Inspector general

The House Finance budget includes $1.3 million to fund an independent inspector general’s office staffed with 12 full-time employees who will investigate waste, fraud, and abuse in state government.

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Blazejewski called for creating an inspector general’s office soon after becoming House speaker on May 7. The move by the state’s most progressive House speaker came as a surprise to some because Republicans have long made the inspector general’s office a top legislative priority.

But Blazejewski noted he introduced inspector general legislation in 2015. On Friday, he said the federal government is cutting funding at the same time the state has seen “high-profile state failures” such as the closure of the Washington Bridge westbound and the botched rollout of a $99 million state payroll system.

McKee and Republican lieutenant governor candidate John J. Loughlin II questioned why Blazejewski wants the inspector general to oversee the executive branch — but not the Legislature.

On Friday, Blazejewski noted that voters approved a separation of powers amendment to the state Constitution in 2004 to ensure the three branches of government are separate and distinct, and that the inspector general’s office would be an administrative agency of the executive branch.

“If you allow the executive office to run roughshod over the Legislature, the judiciary, you no longer have three branches of government,” Blazejewski said. “It’s not original to Rhode Island. It’s a fundamental principle of government.“

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RIDOT audit

The budget includes an audit of maintenance work by the state Department of Transportation. “We just have had too many high-profile failures, and we need to conduct an audit as to the maintenance program,” Blazejewski said.

The budget also removes the Department of Transportation director as chairman of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. Former DOT director Peter Alviti Jr. began serving as chairman of the bus agency’s board in 2023. But Blazejewski said, “We just think it’s a conflict of interest.” The DOT director can continue to serve on the board, but not as chairman, he said.

No line-item veto

The House Finance budget rejects McKee’s call for placing a constitutional amendment on the November ballot asking voters to give the governor line-item veto power, which would allow him to strike specific items from the budget without having to approve or veto the entire bill.

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Last year, McKee refused to sign the state budget approved by the General Assembly because it raised taxes and fees, but he did not veto the bill. And McKee noted that 43 other states have some form of line-item veto authority.

But Blazejewski said, “That line item veto is about changing the power structure between the governor and the General Assembly,” and the current process works with the governor proposing a budget and legislators passing a budget. Other states have had “issues” with the line item veto, he said, noting Wisconsin’s governor used that power to delete words, numbers, and punctuation from a bill to change its meaning.

Budget exceeds $15 billion

The budget totals a record $15.2 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1, marking an increase over the $14.859 billion proposed by McKee.

In August, the business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council warned that the state’s rate of spending was not sustainable. And in the Republican response to McKee’s State of the State, House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale said the state budget has grown by 200 percent since 2000, when it was about $4.5 billion.

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URI medical school funding

The House Finance budget includes $5 million as an initial investment in creating a medical school at the University of Rhode Island.

The Senate had included that proposal in a 17-bill package aimed at strengthening the state’s strained health care system. Blazejewski said the medical school will help alleviate the state’s severe shortage of primary care doctors in the future.

Tax on Social Security

The House Finance budget includes the first year of McKee’s proposal to eliminate state personal income taxes on Social Security benefits over three years.

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Under current law, taxpayers who have reached full Social Security retirement age (67 or older) and have incomes of less than $107,000 for single filers, or $133,750 for joint filers, are exempt from state income tax on Social Security income. The House agreed to eliminate the current minimum age threshold.

Child tax credit

The House Finance budget does not adopt McKee’s proposal to replace an existing tax deduction for dependents with a new child tax credit that would refund families $325 on their taxes per child, per year.

But it does build on the existing tax deduction structure and adds a $330 child tax credit to help lower income families. Blazejewski said the new system “costs a little bit more but gives even more of a benefit to families in Rhode Island.”

Bond questions

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The budget includes a record $600 million in bond questions on the November ballot, but it modifies some of the proposals in McKee’s budget.

  • Blazejewski said McKee’s budget “underfunded” an integrated health building at URI. So the budget provides $275 million (rather than $215 million) for the state’s three colleges, including $165 million (rather than $105 million) for the URI building, $50 million to renovate Rhode Island College’s Adams Library; and $60 million for a workforce innovation center at the Community College of Rhode Island.
  • $120 million for housing, including $25 million for producing housing units for homeownership.
  • $100 million (rather than $115 million) for economic development, including $55 million (rather than $70 million) for site development at the Quonset Business Park and I-195 District.
  • $50 million for the “cultural economy,” including $45 million for a State History Center that would display the state’s founding documents.
  • $55 million for “green economy bonds.” Blazejewski said, “Our caucus spoke over and over about making the green bond greener, and we’ve done just that.“
  • The House budget eliminated the $50 million McKee proposed for Career and Technical Education. Blazejewski said testimony indicated the proposal was underfunded even at $50 million, “so we’re going to go back to the drawing board.”

Energy proposals

The House Finance budget adopts some, but not all, of McKee’s proposals for lowering energy bills.

House Majority Whip Katherine S. Kazarian, an East Providence Democrat, said the budget expands the renewable energy standard to including hydro and nuclear energy, which will result in savings.

But she said the budget would reject McKee’s plan to push back the 2033 deadline to reach 100 percent renewable energy sources for state electricity until 2050. “We’re going to continue to keep that 2033 deadline, which is really important to our caucus and, frankly, to the renewable energy investments that have come to the state,” she said.

Central Falls schools

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The budget returns the Central Falls school district to local control after 35 years of state control. Blazejewski said this was a priority of Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera.

Domestic violence calendar

The House budget includes $600,000 to hire three full-time employees and create a domestic violence calendar in state Superior Court to address a backlog of 1,200 felony domestic violence cases.

The House Finance Committee voted 11 to 2 to send the budget to the House floor for a vote next Friday, June 5.


Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.

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