Rhode Island

State House rumor mill is in overdrive ahead of vote for new Senate president

Published

7 months ago

April 29, 2025

Press Room

State House rumor mill is in overdrive ahead of vote for new Senate president

Rhode Island Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s death has led to a contested election for his successor.
The likely new leadership team comprises Senate Majority Leader Valerie Lawson and Senate Labor Chairman Frank Ciccone, representing an unusual liberal-conservative alliance.
Key policy areas like gun control, gambling regulations, and income tax could see shifts under the new leadership.
Former Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson remains a potential contender, drawing support from senators hesitant to back Ciccone.

PROVIDENCE − The State House rumor mill is in overdrive hours ahead of the vote to elect a new Senate President ‒ and potentially a new Democratic leadership team in the wake of the long-ailing Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s death.

Heading into the late afternoon vote on Tuesday, April 29, the unlikely − but politically necessary − alliance of the current Senate Majority Leader Valarie Lawson and Senate Labor Chairman Frank Ciccone seemed to be holding.

The election of Lawson and Ciccone – a teachers union president and former Laborers union official as the new Senate president and majority leader − would be obviously good news for organized labor, which has played a behind-the-scenes role in cementing their leadership team.

Beyond their shared ties to labor, Lawson, the avowed liberal, and Ciccone, the conservative who is often on the same side as the tiny Senate GOP caucus on guns and other culture-war issues, are at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

The wild card: former Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson, a senior VP at Citizens bank, who has potential votes from an unknown number of senators who strongly prefer him to Ciccone in top leadership.

Tuesday’s action will begin in an open 4 p.m. Democratic caucus and then segue into the first Senate session since Ruggerio’s death on April 21, where the full Senate − Democrats and Republicans − will elect the new president for the remainder of the 2025-26 term.

What changes with Lawson and Ciccone leading the Senate?

But the Senate under Ruggerio was already seen as union friendly, particularly to the Laborers and private sector construction unions.

Lawson is the current $157,000-a-year president of the National Education Association of Rhode Island and she has given no indication she intends to give the job up, as Ruggerio did with his top-ranked job with the Laborers when he became president.

Lawson taking top spot over Ciccone is likely to mean a more hospitable climate for public sector unions and the service sector.

Gun legislation

For years the Ruggerio Senate served as a check on the most aggressive goals of gun control advocates and particularly a ban on so-called assault weapons.

Lawson co-sponsored the Senate version of this year’s assault weapons ban bill and her elevation to president would greatly increase the odds it might come to the floor for a vote.

Ciccone does not support the assault weapons ban as it stands, but on April 24, the day his partnership with Lawson was announced, said “if you change the definition to what an assault weapons is, I may not have a problem with the bill, I am open to it.”

If the bill gets to the floor, it could pass with or without his vote.

Gambling legislation

In the policy realm, Ruggerio’s absence may be felt the strongest in Rhode Island’s casinos, where he championed expansion and maximizing gambling as a revenue source.

Ruggerio also stood in the way of efforts to ban smoking at Bally’s casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton.

There is no sign Lawson or Ciccone feel as strongly about it and organized labor has come out in favor of ending smoking at the casinos.

Ciccone has also sponsored legislation that would break International Game Technology’s monopoly on online sports betting in Rhode Island and allow up to five gambling companies bid on launching apps here.

What will Republicans get?

A divided Democratic caucus and close leadership election would typically provide a rare opening for Republicans to exact some policy concessions in exchange for their votes.

But the four GOP votes may not be enough to tip the president race and what the Republican caucus really wants – to kill the assault weapons ban – is likely not on the table.

Historically Republicans have been able to get a couple bills through Democratic leadership by voting for a new leader, they have tended to be pretty small.

Income tax rates

For years Ruggerio, like House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Gov. Dan McKee, was dead set against any increase in income tax rates, even for the top 1% of earners.

During most of those years state coffers were full enough to ease pressure for any tax increase, but the fiscal picture this year is different.

Shekarchi has said he can’t rule a tax increase out this year and Ruggerio’s replacement with the more liberal Lawson may increase the odds of it happening.

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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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