The quiet phase of the campaign season got a little louder this week. Welcome back to my weekly column. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and what we used to call the twitters. Here we go. 

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1. STORY OF THE WEEK: Welcome to the 2026 race for governor of Rhode Island. Democrats near and far are largely focused on Donald Trump’s nominations and the expected impact of his new White House regime. But the news that Gina Raimondo is considering pursuing a possible return to Rhode Island politics shows how the next statewide election in 2026 is drawing close. Raimondo is avoiding comment for now about her next move, and whether she would actually seek a return to her former office as governor is a very open question. (Does she want to answer questions about the Washington Bridge, let alone return to small-bore RI politics after serving in a lofty post in DC?) But my story led Mike Trainor, campaign spokesman for Gov. Dan McKee, to share this: “It is very likely that the governor will make an official announcement for re-election by the end of the first quarter” of 2025. Fellow Democrat Helena Foulkes has been raising money and appears on track, after a near-miss in 2022, for another challenge to McKee (and Republican Ashley Kalus has suggested the possibility of running again). The conventional view on Raimondo is that she’s likely to take a corporate or university job after closing out her time as U.S. Commerce secretary in the Biden administration. If she’s serious about pursuing a presidential run, gaining distance from DC seems like a good idea in the current milieu. Suffice it to say, Raimondo has lots of options. And if she decides to return to Rhode Island politics, it will scramble expectations and significantly ramp up the intensity of the 2026 campaign.

2. MCKEEWORLD: On the surface, with a less-than-stellar approval rating and the ongoing headache of the Washington Bridge, Gov. McKee might be seen as facing a challenging climb for re-election in 2026. But Robert A. Walsh Jr., the retired executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, and a longtime Democratic insider, does not appear worried. Walsh, a McKee supporter, thinks that Raimondo should express support for the incumbent when she eventually comments publicly about her future. “I don’t think she would challenge Dan McKee — I think that sends a really bad message,” Walsh said, with Democrats reeling from the election results earlier this month and with McKee having won the past support of the Democratic Governors Association. Walsh rates the probability of a Raimondo campaign for governor as low, and while Helena Foulkes appears serious about running, he said he believes McKee, 73, is well-positioned to win another term. 

3.THE BULLY PULPIT: It was 13 years ago this month when a special session of the General Assembly voted on the pension overhaul spearheaded by Gina Raimondo. Regardless of whether you considered that initiative a necessary correction or an unconscionable overreach, it stands as a textbook example of how an elected official in Rhode Island can upend the conventional wisdom to make a big difference on public policy, while simultaneously enhancing their own reputation. As I wrote in an analysis at the time: “Thousands of union members turned out for a boisterous Statehouse protest earlier this week. It was an impressive show of force, but it didn’t change the momentum toward pension overhaul. When Raimondo rolled out her ‘Truth in Numbers’ report earlier this year, Governor Lincoln Chafee pointed to the workers’ compensation insurance reform of the early 1990s for an example of how the state can effectively tackle a major policy issue. That Chafee had to reach back about two decades, however, seemed to underscore the state’s serial struggles with economic development and other pressing needs.”

4. WHERE DEMOCRATS WENT WRONG: State Rep. Jon Brien, the conservative Democrat-turned independent from Woonsocket, and Lauren Niedel, a Bernie Sanders’ admirer and state Democratic committeewoman from Glocester, have very different political views. But they share a lot of common ground in diagnosing where the Democratic Party went wrong in the run-up to the election earlier this month, particularly a lack of focus on economic issues and underwhelming efforts to reach rural voters. “I think what people say is, look, my basket is half of what it used to be,” Brien said during an interview this week. “And it’s costing me twice as much more. My electricity bill, my oil bill for my house to fill my gas tank. What is going on? Why is this happening?” Added Niedel, referring to the rural northwest corner of the state, “It’s very, very challenging to be a staunch Democrat in a Republican area. We specifically asked for a regional event. We were told, yes, that’s a great idea. We’ll make it happen. It never happened.”

5. THE CHALLENGE: The last paragraph from a story I did in 2017, on Donald Trump’s first presidential victory — and how he won the previously Democratic town of Johnston — has renewed relevance for the pending new minority party in DC: “Now Democrats have lost the White House, they’re the minority in Congress, and it may just be a matter of time until the US Supreme Court has a conservative majority. Democrats also lost a lot of ground in state legislatures and gubernatorial offices during Barack Obama’s eight years as president. So if Democrats want to fight their way back, they’ll have to win over voters in scores of communities across the country like Johnston.”

7. SUDDEN IMPACT: “How The Onion came to own the website Infowars”

8. MESSAGING: One question — will President-elect Trump overreach with his nominations and policies? Here’s an early view from U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, a ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence: “I am deeply concerned that President-elect Donald Trump is making our country vulnerable to attack by nominating unqualified and potentially dangerous individuals to critical national security positions. Tulsi Gabbard’s deep ties to some of our nation’s most dangerous adversaries, including Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Vladimir Putin of Russia, make her an untrustworthy guardian of our nation’s most closely held secrets. As the highest-ranking intelligence official in the federal government, she would have access to information spanning everything from our nation’s nuclear weapons program to the location and activities of our military service members, and we cannot risk this information falling into the hands of our adversaries. Matt Gaetz, the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation regarding alleged illegal activity, has openly called for the abolition of law enforcement agencies including the FBI, which is our nation’s leading counterterrorism agency. These appointments will have dangerous and lasting ramifications ….” 

9. CLIMATE CHANGE: Another test for the incoming Trump administration is how it responds to the increasingly intense weather affecting different parts of the U.S. “He has called climate change ‘mythical,’ ‘nonexistent,’ or ‘an expensive hoax’ – but also subsequently described it as a ‘serious subject’ that is ‘very important to me,’ ” according to the BBC. In Rhode Island, as my colleague Olivia Ebertz reports, the third-driest fall on record is fueling a record number of brush fires and shrinking the habitat of some species.

10. HEALTHCARE: The Atlanta-based Centurion Foundation has agreed to what Attorney General Peter Neronha calls minor changes in his conditions for the acquisition of CharterCARE Health Partners. This sets the stage for the deal to go forward, pending state Health Department approval. As I reported in June, big questions remain about the future of the biggest parts of CharterCARE, Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital.

11. CITY HAUL: The coming together of a school-funding shortfall in Providence, the capital city’s perennial paucity of revenue and a worsening state fiscal climate makes for a difficult situation. Mayor Brett Smiley warned this week of “harmful, harmful cuts” that “are going to impact the very same children and families that the school department says that they’re trying to help.” Smiley said tax increases are also under consideration, as my colleague Nina Sparling reports. 

12. MEDIA: The Providence Journal’s printing facility on Kinsley Avenue was launched in 1987 — a momentous year for the newspaper. That was when then-Publisher Michael Metcalf died during a mysterious bicycle crash near his summer home in Westport, Massachusetts. The newspaper was a singularly powerful media entity in Rhode Island, with a larger than typical reporting staff for a paper of its size and an array of bureaus. Did Metcalf’s death expedite the eventual 1997 sale from the family that long owned the ProJo to Dallas-based Belo? That’s hard to know. But here we are in 2024, Gannett now owns the Journal, and although the printing facility has long been cited as a key revenue source, it will close due to what is cited as “an insurmountable supply chain issue,” with the loss of 136 jobs. Rhode Island’s statewide daily, already showing the effect of earlier deadlines, will now be printed in New Jersey. 

13. HIGHER ED: Rhode Island College President Jack Warner was inaugurated this week after serving for more than two years in an interim role. Here some excerpts from his appearance with me this week on Political Roundtable:

— The Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies, created one year ago and poised to benefit from $73 million in borrowing approved by voters, has attracted more than 100 majors so far. The institute also introduced an AI program this year. 

— Not surprisingly, Warner argues that schools like RIC are a good way to counter the problem of student debt: “Our tuition is just over $11,000 a year, tuition and fees. And with the HOPE Scholarship, you have the possibility of getting your second two years for free. So that’s a college degree for under $25,000. And the value proposition is difficult to debate in that context when we’re that affordable.”

— Warner grew up in western Massachusetts and has worked most of his professional life in either the Bay State or Rhode Island. But during a brief sojourn in South Dakota, he got to know Kristi Noem — now Trump’s nominee for homeland security — and U.S. Sen. John Thune, the newly elected majority leader in the pending GOP Senate majority. He recalls Noem as a moderate state lawmaker (before she took a turn to the right), and Warner remains a fan of Thune: “John Thune is somebody I’ve admired for a very long time. He’s a standup guy. He’s a straight shooter. You’ll know what he’s thinking. He’s honest, hardworking. I have a lot, enormous respect for him.”     

14. RAM POWER: The University of Rhode Island has received a $65 million gift to support student scholarships for high-achieving students. Via news release: “The philanthropic gift — the largest in the University’s history — is the result of an estate gift from the late Helen Izzi Schilling, a 1954 graduate of the University. Based on a commitment made with her late husband to include the University in their will, the gift establishes the Helen Izzi Schilling ’54 and Francis Schilling Scholars Program. The endowed scholarship will provide up to $20,000 per year for four years to high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in a science, technology, engineering, or math field.”

15. GETTING SOCIAL: Longing for the bygone days of Twitter? Bluesky is coming on strong as an alternative to X and you can find me and some of your other favorite local sources there. “Bluesky’s the new Twitter probably,” writes Ryan Broderick at the media-tech site Garbage Day, adding, “Bluesky is currently so popular that Threads’ algorithm has mindlessly picked it up as a trending topic lol.”

16. KICKER: Is Rhode Island too sexy for its shirt? You bet we are.

Related

Roughly a dozen employees at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport have been warned not to destroy records over what the airport’s legal team has described as “tortious interference” with business operations.

Tortious interference is the legal term for intentionally damaging someone else’s contractual or business relationships with others, causing economic harm.

Letters sent out Wednesday by Providence attorney Michael DeSisto claimed some workers sent anonymous derogatory correspondence about the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) to regulatory agencies, airlines, and cargo partners with the intent to interfere with airport operations. 

“These actions caused RIAC reputational harm and triggered Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) involvement which required RIAC to activate its federally regulated continuity of operations plan,” DeSisto wrote.

DeSisto demanded workers not to remove paper records unless necessary to preserve them. His letter notes that electronic correspondence such as emails, voicemail, WhatsApp messages, and even floppy disks should also be retained.

Recipients were both current and former employees as well as union members and nonunion members, according to a statement issued by RIAC Thursday.

In early October, RIAC announced it had retained DeSisto’s firm after learning airlines received anonymous letters claiming the airport had a toxic work environment — including one sent to airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration claiming the airport would be closed Aug. 13 due to an employee walkout. No walkout ever happened.

The anonymous letters threatening the walkout came as airport and union leadership negotiated a new three-year contract contract after the most recent one expired in June. A tentative agreement reached between airport executives and union leaders in September was rejected by rank-and-file members. Management and union negotiators are scheduled to meet sometime next week, RIAC spokesperson Bill Fischer said Friday.

RIAC Chief of Staff Brittany Morgan previously told Rhode Island Current that the threat of a walkout cost the airport “hundreds of thousands” of dollars to comply with federal mandates to line up outside contractors to cover union positions if necessary.

“It is unfortunate that it has come to this, but this investigation is required to ensure that individuals – regardless of their motivations — will not impact our ability to fulfill our mission, provide Rhode Islanders with an abundance of direct routes, fulfill obligations to our airline partners and serve as a true economic engine for the State of Rhode Island,” Morgan said in a statement issued Thursday.

The investigation by RIAC into the letters is one of many bumps added to the turbulent relationship between employees and management.

Airport officials on Oct. 29 fired Steven Parent, a lieutenant in T.F. Green’s fire department since 2013. Parent in 2019 became president of Local 2873 of RI Council 94 for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) — which represents roughly 120 employees.

RIAC claimed he “knowingly and willfully engaged in efforts to sabotage airport operations” by discouraging people from applying for jobs at the airport and taking in overtime pay covering for the vacant positions — allegations that were also highlighted in DeSisto’s letter.

Jim Cenerini, legislative affairs/political action coordinator at Rhode Island Council 94 AFSCME said the union is pursuing all contractual and legal avenues to defend its members in response to the notices sent by DeSisto.

“The union will not be coerced, intimidated, or bullied by dictatorial tactics,” Cenerini said in an emailed statement Friday.

Good Morning! It’s Friday, November 15. 🗓️ Today is the 320th day of the year; 46 days remain in 2024.

Today, we’re covering the end of Singing for Shelter, a jewelry collaboration involving Snoop Dog, Yacht Rock, an open call to serve in Newport’s legal roles, and more.

Note: We’re aware of an ad appearing on our website asking viewers to watch a video before proceeding to a story or our website. It should not be appearing. We are working on fixing that issue. Thank you to those who have reached out to let us know about it.

Reminder: Do you see something that doesn’t look right on our website or in a story? Reply to any newsletter or email ryan@whatsupnewp.com.

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What’s Up Today

☀️ Weather

Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.

⚓ Marine

N wind 7 to 10 kt becoming NW in the afternoon. Mostly sunny. Seas 1 ft or less.

🌔 Sun, Moon, & Tide

Sunrise at 6:34 am, sunset at 4:25 pm. Low tide at 12:51 pm. High tide at 6:43 am & 7:08 pm. The lunar phase is a Waxing Gibbous.

🎭 Things To Do

🎶 Live Music & Entertainment

🗓️ Newport County Public Meetings

• No public meetings are scheduled.

Community Calendar

What’s News Today

News

🏘️ Portsmouth breaks ground on affordable 55+ housing and senior center

On Wednesday, local housing organizations, community partners, and several state officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a new, age-restricted housing development in Portsmouth. Read the story on WPRI —>

🏘️ Newport City Council-elect calls for letters of interest for key legal roles

Residents can apply for City Solicitor, Municipal Court Judge, and Probate Judge positions by November 19. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

⛽ How Rhode Island’s decreasing gasoline sales compare nationwide

Rhode Island gas consumption falls by 150,200 gallons in 5 years, as nationwide demand drops 5.7%. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

⚡ Rhode Island becomes first state to launch Community EV Charging Expansion

$10M available for public, non-profit, and private entities to install publicly accessible EV chargers. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

🚨 Newport Police Arrest & Dispatch Log: Nov. 13 – 14

Two individuals were arrested on various charges. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>

👏 NUWC Division Newport Team Honored for Torpedo Milestone

Successful firing of Mark 48 Mod 4 from U.S. submarine after 20-year gap. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

💰 Quonset Port secures $11.25 million for infrastructure upgrades

Port of Davisville project aims to boost cargo transport, security, and future expansion. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

Business & Nonprofit

🎶 Singing for Shelter ends its run – annual fundraising concert will not return this season

But homeless shelters still need your support – We speak with founder Mark Gorman about the legacy of the concert which raised nearly $200,000 for local shelters. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>

✨ Jewelry designer Carolyn Rafaelian partners with Snoop Dogg for new brand

Lovechild aims to blend craftsmanship, positive energy in Rhode Island-made pieces. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>

📰 Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families

The sale price was not immediately disclosed. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>

Food & Drink

☕ ‘It wasn’t just about coffee’: R.I. cafe owner is growing her brand while boosting other women in business

Entrepreneur Andreea Marin owns three Kaffeology coffeeshops in Rhode Island — in Newport, Portsmouth and Cranston. Read the story on The Boston Globe—>

Life & Culture

🗓️ Out with the Astors, in with the Calders: revisiting Newport, Rhode Island’s 1974 public sculpture extravaganza

Fifty years later, Monumenta’s organisers and attendees reflect on what was arguably the most ambitious school project ever. Read the story on The Art Newspaper —>

💃 Salve Regina University to present ‘True North’ dance concert

DJD artists join students and faculty for contemporary and jazz performances November 21-23. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>

🎾 International Tennis Hall of Fame unveils ‘Be Legendary’ youth program

The initiative will teach the rich history of tennis, provide memorable experiences with Hall of Famers and current tennis stars, and showcase what it means to Be Legendary. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

🎬 ‘Yacht Rock’ docks in Newport: HBO documentary gets special screening

HBO film exploring soft rock’s cultural impact to screen at newportFILM event with trivia and prizes. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

Obituaries

🕊️ Donnell Shea

Opinion

✍️ Letter to The Editor – Dennis Turano: Thank you to Middletown voters for selecting me to represent you

By Dennis Turano, Middletown. Read on What’sUpNewp—>

✍️ We Can’t Wait for Promise of Unproven Nuclear Technology to Save Planet from Roasting

We need a diverse blend of responsibly sited non-fossil-fuel energy, from on and offshore wind to various solar and nuclear technologies. This mix may someday include small modular reactors, but we can’t afford to wait years, perhaps even a decade or more, for this technology. Read more on ecoRI News—>

People

🕰️ An Auctioneer as Rare as Any Antique

For some, an even bigger draw than the silver, furniture and artwork at Michael Corcoran’s auctions (in Newport) is the 96-year-old auctioneer himself. Read the story on NY Times —>

👉 Gina Raimondo is considering another run for governor of Rhode Island

Former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo — a Democrat who is facing the end of her tenure as U.S. Commerce secretary due to Donald Trump’s victory last week. Read the story on The Public’s Radio—>

Sports

🏒 Dadonov scores 2 goals, including a penalty shot, as the Stars beat the Bruins 7-2

Evgenii Dadonov scored two goals, including the first successful penalty shot in the NHL this season, and the Dallas Stars beat the Boston Bruins 7-2 on Thursday night. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

🏀 Bryant defeats Buffalo 87-64

Rafael Pinzon’s 15 points helped Bryant defeat Buffalo 87-64 on Thursday night. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

🏈 Matthew Stafford will be trying to erase bitter memories when Rams visit Patriots

Matthew Stafford remembers what didn’t go right during his last visit to New England, in 2014 when he was still with the Detroit Lions. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

What’s Up This Week + Weekend

🗓️ What’s Up in Newport: Nov. 11 – 18

Newport Classical, Holiday Festival, Steve Hofstetter, Jesse Cook, and more. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>

🎶 What’s Up Interview: Grammy-winning singer Lucinda Williams, playing The Vets tonight

Iconic performer to present ‘Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets,’ a show based on her recently published book. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>

🎭 Theatre Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ continues to delight audiences with standout performances and energetic dance numbers

Popular jukebox musical runs through Sunday at Performing Arts Center. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>