Rhode Island
Sick of turkey on Thanksgiving? Break tradition. Here’s some Rhode Island restaurants to pre-order from. – The Boston Globe
Try literally any other protein this year.
Pat’s Pastured is selling pounds of sweet Italian and savory pork and chicken sausage. You’ll be able to pick up your order at their East Greenwich Farm Store on Friday, Nov. 22, or Saturday, Nov. 23, or at Farm Fresh RI Winter Market in Providence on Nov. 23. Feeling generous? They’re raising money for local families who cannot afford their own turkey this year.
Blackbird Farm in Smithfield ships their antibiotic-free, no-added-hormones, pasture-fed meats. Expect 100 percent Black Angus cattle and 100 percent pedigreed American Heritage Berkshire pigs in their fields; the mean can be sliced into cuts such as sirloin strips and filet mignon, or spare ribs and a loin roast. Learn more about shipping costs here.
Chef Ian Gormley operated the popular pop-up restaurant Our Table Barbecue inside Buttonwoods Brewery in Cranston until early 2023. Now he’s bringing back his famous brisket for Thanksgiving for a second year under the brand Oakey Dokey BBQ. For $175, grab “The Great Holiday Brisket, Charlie Brown” package, which includes a smoked 10- to 12-pound beef brisket and a quart of their own barbecue sauce. The deadline to order is Nov. 20; orders will be ready for pickup on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 during open hours at Jeff’s Pizza in East Providence.

Try seafood instead this year – we are in the Ocean State, after all. Oysters were first documented in the United States as part of a Thanksgiving meal in 1825 in the Village Register of Dedham, Mass., where locals listed “oyster patties” among their dishes for Thanksgiving dinner. When Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony called for a bountiful feast in 1621, America’s colonists and Wampanoag tribe members mostly ate lobster, clams, mussels, eels, and oysters. Scholars say Indigenous tribe members likely brought the oysters, which were dried, smoked, and strung on twigs.
This year, bring those oysters back to your table. Fearless Fish on Hope Street in Providence offers cuts of salmon, tuna, and local oysters. Market owner Stu Meltzer has been doubling down on a new program at his shop that focuses on ikejime, a centuries-old Japanese method where the fish is killed immediately after being caught; studies have shown this can lead to better taste, texture, appearance, and longer shelf life. He has fluke, scup, monkfish, halibut, and black sea bass that were all handled with the ikejime method. Go ahead and order a tin of caviar while you’re at it.
Before they close for the season, you might want to head to Dune Brothers, the innovative clam shack that plans to expand even more in 2025. Until Nov. 20, you can pre-order online, including clear and white chowders, Jonah crab dip, squid salad, and a few other sides. A very-Rhode Island dish to bring to your out-of-town families should be their stuffie stuffing. Stuffies in Rhode Island are baked quahog clams stuffed with a breadcrumb and clam mixture. If an establishment leans into Portuguese influences, they will likely add some smoky chouriço, too. Dune Brothers will also be an option to order an entire Thanksgiving Feast complete with a whole fish with herbs to roast at homes, with sides or an à la carte offering. Pick ups will take place on Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.

If you — or members of your family — don’t feel like eating meat now (or ever), opt for some items from plant-based SoCo Vedge. They are preparing a “Gobbler Roast” with caramelized onion gravy. Sides include orange ginger cranberry sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, rosemary and sage stuffing, apple cider glazed Brussels sprouts, green bean and mushroom casserole, and dinner rolls. Everything included is $90, and the full meal serves two people. If you just want the sides, it’s $75. Upgrade your pack by adding harvest bisque for $6, a 4-inch pumpkin cheesecake for $20, or a Dutch apple pie for $30.
Order by Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Pick up from their kitchen, which is inside The Tavern in Mariner Square in Narragansett.
On what plate and during what holiday is pasta not an acceptable meal? In Warren, Prica Farina Fresh Pasta Co. prepares all sorts of raviolis (450 to 500 pounds per week, to be exact), along with bucatini, tagliatelle, mafaldine, and spaghetti.
If you’re closer to the city, it’s an obvious choice to head to Providence’s Venda Ravioli, an Italian food emporium located on Atwells Avenue in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Grab pasta sauces and various kinds of ravioli, including porcini mushroom, artichoke, lobster, truffle, eggplant, and more.

WHEN NOT EVERYONE DRINKS ALCOHOL
You want to bring something to drink but you — or others in your family — aren’t drinking. Plain water can be bland, so look into trying a few bottled or canned mocktails.
Kristi’s Kraftails, founded by Kristi Dukoff in Warren, sells seasonally-inspired mocktails by the bottle that use locally-sourced ingredients and are low in their sugar content. She has options like hibiscus lavender “daiquiris,” and “Mint to Be,” a play on a strawberry-basil margarita, a mint orange blossom “sour,” among others. Also be sure to grab a bag of her flavored cashews for the cheese board during appetizer hour.
Depending on which candidate wins the presidential race, you can serve “Kamala’s Berry Surprise” or “Donald’s Trumpian Punch,” two flavors from Yacht Club Soda. If you’re celebrating President Biden’s one-term stint in the White House, I hear they still have 12-packs of “Joe’s Bidenomics Berry.” But for most families, politics is one topic that is barred from the Thanksgiving table. So, instead, mix up a 12-pack of their normal flavors, such as cream, ginger beer, birch beer, black cherry, and Rhody Red. All of their sodas are sweetened with cane sugar, so enjoy without the stress of high-fructose corn syrup getting in the way.
We’re in our nonalcoholic beer era, but zero proof is more than a trend. Beaglepuss Brewery — the brainchild of Jarad Rogers, Patrick Ramey, and Kevin Barnes — is a new nonalcoholic brewing company that opened in Providence in late 2023. Their “Strange Happenings” brew is a hazy IPA with fruity flavors of apricot, peach, melon, and pineapple with a slightly piney finish. “Them Apples” is a New England hopped cider with guava, grapefruit, flora, and crisp tart apple. Here’s where you can find their beers in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Buying various cheeses and accoutrements to build your own board is pricey and time-consuming — especially if you’re feeding a crowd. In Providence, head to East Side Cheese & Provisions, where actress Jamie Lee Curtis spent some time this past year while filming “Ella McCay.” Each cheese board includes a range of cheeses, such as soft and bloomy, hard and blue, and various milk types including cow, goat, and sheep. The small board is $85 for four to six people, and includes meats, fruit, honey, small-batch jam, whole grain mustard, olives, pickled vegetables, and more. Prices increase to $185 for a medium board and $255 for a large one. You can also request a “cheese only” board to make it vegetarian.
In Cranston, head to Edgewood Cheese Shop for plated arrangements on a disposable balsa wood board to bring over to the host’s house. A small board feeds 10 for $109; medium-sized boards are an appetizer for 15 people for $159, and a large-sized board feeds 20 for $199. Each board includes cheeses, meats, jam, fried fruit, nuts, sliced baguette, and crackers. Call 401-941-2400 or go online to place your order.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.
Rhode Island
RI Foundation plan would overhaul school funding, shift costs to state
McKee to launch ‘affordability’ agenda in reelection bid.
Facing a tough reelection fight, McKee will propose policies to help Rhode Islanders with the cost of living, starting with a tax cut for retirees.
A proposed overhaul of Rhode Island education funding unveiled by a panel of experts and the Rhode Island Foundation on Monday, Jan. 5 would simplify the way public education is paid for and shift spending from municipalities to the state.
A 33-page report from the Blue Ribbon Commission describes the state’s current funding formula as “complex,” “opaque,” and “unpredictable,” the product of years of emergency tweaks and political compromises.
“We are constantly confronted with the limitations of the current funding formula. We hear about it all the time, both as a funder and as a partner in the public education sector,” David Cicilline, Rhode Island Foundation president and former congressman, told reporters at a briefing on the plan, whose release was delayed as a result of a shooting at Brown University.
The commission recommends that the state share the cost of some things now borne entirely by local governments, such as transportation, building maintenance and vocational schooling. And it wants the state to take on some costs entirely − including retired teacher pensions, high-cost special education and out-of-district transportation − that are now shared with municipalities.
The current system places “an outsized fiscal burden on districts,” the report’s executive summary says.
But the price tag for taking that burden from cities and towns is large, and in a time of economic uncertainty might give Rhode Island State House leaders sticker shock.
At the same time that the commission shifts costs to the state, it is also proposing a roughly $300 million net increase in education spending to better reflect what its experts believe is necessary to guarantee.
The commission’s preferred scenario, in which the state covers 58% of school costs, would increase the state education budget by $590 million. Under this plan cities and towns would save $278 million.
Cicilline notes that state leaders could choose to phase the new spending in over two or three years to soften the budget impact.
Recent years have seen significant annual increases in education spending under the existing funding formula. The current state budget saw a $59 million increase in education spending from the previous year.
Cicilline also noted that the state’s unfunded pension obligation is projected to fall dramatically in 2036, at which point the cost of covering those payments for cities would fall.
The state currently pays 40% of teacher pension costs. Picking up the full cost of retiree pensions would push the state cost from a little over $100 million to more than $270 million, according to projections from the commission.
Who participated in the Blue Ribbon Commission?
The commission, hosted by the Rhode Island Foundation and Brown University’s Annenberg Institute, included representatives of nonprofits, municipal government, teachers unions, research academics and public schools, both traditional and charter.
The panel did not include any elected officials or state policymakers, such as members of the Rhode Island Department of Education or members of the General Assembly. However, Gov. Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Valarie Lawson were briefed on the recommendations.
How did state officials react to the recommendations?
All reserved judgment on the plan, although many of the ideas in it align with priorities that Lawson, president of the National Education Association Rhode Island, expressed in an interview at the start of the month.
Shekarchi thanked the foundation and said the House will be “carefully reviewing” the recommendations. “A strong educational system is essential in making sure our students are well prepared for the rapidly-changing 21st century economy and is a critical component of our state’s future prosperity,” he said in an email.
The report “reflects a strong commitment to strengthening public education and expanding opportunity for every Rhode Island student – goals my administration has been working towards diligently,” McKee said in an email.
Senate spokesman Greg Pare said the Rhode Island Foundation is slated to give the chamber a presentation on the report Jan. 15.
“The Blue Ribbon Commission’s work raises important issues that we will be exploring, including state support relative to areas such as high-cost special needs and transportation,” Pare wrote.
Municipal winners and losers under new funding plan
Although most cities and towns come out big winners with the Blue Ribbon plan, some do better than others, and a few communities are projected to see a net loss.
In place of the current “quadratic mean” formula, which includes bonuses for communities with expensive real estate but a large number of low-income students, the commission proposes basing municipalities’ aid level entirely on real estate value. (The higher the assessed value of property in a city, the less aid it would receive.)
Newport would lose $7.8 million in state aid, the Chariho school district would lose $7.7 million, Westerly $1.3 million and Middletown $400,000, according to commission projections.
But all other communities would gain.
Providence would see see state aid increase by $186 million and its own projected costs fall from $118 million to $90 million.
East Providence would see state aid rise by $33 million and its own projected costs fall from $65 million to $44 million.
And Warwick would see state aid rise by $35 million while its own projected costs fall from $127 million to $92 million.
Rhode Island
Revolution Wind developers seek second court order against Trump administration
Rhode Island
Rhode Island GOP chairman Joe Powers to step down Jan. 15
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Rhode Island Republican Party chairman Joe Powers will resign effective Jan. 15, the party announced on Saturday, Jan. 3.
“Chairman Powers is stepping down due to the increased demands of his professional workload and an extensive travel schedule that no longer allow him to give the Chairmanship the full attention the position requires,” the party said in a news release. “The role of Chairman demands constant focus, and daily engagement especially moving into an election year, neither of which Chairman Powers can provide at this time.”
Powers a, real estate agent and unsuccessful 2022 candidate for a Cranston Senate seat, was elected to lead the state’s Republican Party in March 2023. He was reelected to a second two-year term in March.
During his tenure, Powers “oversaw meaningful organizational progress, including the successful update of the Party’s ByLaws and the full staffing of Party committees for the first time in over 20 years, establishing a strong and durable foundation heading into the next election cycle,” the GOP news release said.
Powers will remain on the GOP’s state Central Committee as chairman emeritus and will “continue to support Rhode Island Republicans in a smaller capacity,” the release said, thanking him “for his leadership and service.”
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