LORIB candidates still challenge Democrats in South County House campaigns

But with far less money

By Will Collette

Brewed Awakenings coffee tycoon Dave Levesque’s dream of building a MAGA rightwing political machine in Rhode Island died on arrival when all 9 of his sponsored Democrat-in-Name-Only (DINO) candidates lost their bids to unseat liberal Democrats in the September 9 state primary.

Levesque’s League of Rhode Island Business (LORIB) galaxy of 40 – yes, forty – state and local political action committees sunk around $200,000 in the primary, all for nothing. 

One of his top candidates, Charlestown sex crime defense lawyer Leah Boisclair, lost her bid to unseat popular incumbent Rep. Tina Spears by a margin of 82 to 18%. Tina has no opponent in the November 3 General Election so she will return to the General Assembly for her third term.

But LORIB still has candidates running in the General Election. I wrote about the LORIB candidates running in both of Charlestown’s state Senate districts HERE.

That leaves four RI House of Representatives races here in South County where LORIB has endorsed candidates.

House District 39

State Rep. Megan Cotter of Richmond is running for re-election after two outstanding terms representing citizens of Richmond, Hopkinton and Exeter. Like the other Democratic South County women legislators, she showed herself to be effective and responsive to community needs.

She told the South County Star she “supports legislation to cap utility company profits…improve health care access and provide towns with tools developed by the Water Capacity and Housing Commission…efforts to improve fire management, including additional forest rangers, fire suppression equipment and $200,000 for forest protection….She also highlighted her efforts to secure $2.5 million for state forest management plans and her work to provide a van for Wood River Health.” 

Her record shows that she can achieve these goals.

Her opponent is LORIB-backed Republican Hopkinton Town Council member Jasmin Roy. Roy is known for her involvement with Moms for Liberty, the hard-right MAGA group that caused culture war chaos in the Chariho School District.

By contrast, Megan has championed legislation to support Chariho (CLICK HERE).

Roy is big on guns and anti-green energy, especially wind and solar and wants to promote logging and farming.

Her one big new idea is this: amethyst mining:

I bought this specimen in Ontario.
Photo by Will Collette

Yeah, amethyst mining. I’ve never mentioned this before, but I’ve always had an interest in rock-hunting. Cathy and I took short diversions on Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia) and Thunder Bay, Ontario to check out their well-known amethyst sites. I found some in Nova Scotia and brought back samples, but none of gemstone quality. In Ontario, we didn’t find any deposits but did buy some nice samples from a guy selling them roadside. 

Aside from the ten bucks I paid the guy in Ontario, we didn’t do much for their local economy.

Maybe Jasmin Roy can promise District 39 voters $5,000 worth of local amethyst (about a ton) if they elect her. Roy is mostly getting local Republican support and gun money with only $715 coming from three of Dave Levesques’ LORIB PACs. She has $5,147.96 in cash according to her last campaign finance report.

Rep. Megan Cotter’s fundraising was far more successful, and she went into the final month with $28,600.

House Districts 33 and 35

Two veteran Democratic women represent these South-Kingstown centered districts. Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee represents District 33 and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty represents District 35.

Since her 2015 election, Carol McEntee has risen high in the House leadership and chairs the Judiciary Committee. That has made her a much sought after sponsor for important legislation. She faces MAGA Republican Jessica Drew Day for the third and probably final time.

Though Drew Day is LORIB-endorsed, she has received no LORIB money as of her last campaign finance report. Going into the final month, she had $5,311.61 in her campaign treasury.

By contrast, Rep. McEntee reported a cash balance of $83,983.

Kathy Fogarty’s LORIB challenger Jennifer Poirier Nerbonne is almost as weak. Nerbonne did very little fundraising and went into the final month with $2,239.16 in the bank. She not only received NO LORIB money, but LORIB also spelled her name wrong on their website. Her main political experience was as a member of the South Kingstown Republican Committee and as a Donald Trump Convention delegate.

According to the South County Star, “Fogarty serves as First Assistant Speaker of the House, chair of the House Rules Committee and first vice chair of the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee.” Kathy went into the final month with $10,721. In her campaign fund.

House District 37

That's Sam on the right

Of all the races where Levesque’s LORIB PACs have chosen to run a candidate, this one is the strangest. This Westerly district has been represented by state Rep. Samuel Azzinaro since 2009. 

Sam is a very conservative octogenarian most known for his interests in veterans and the elderly, and for opposing any legislation condemned by the Catholic Diocese.

I’ve noted earlier that Sam fits the profile of candidates that Dave Levesque likes to support. Levesque has hedged his bets in the General Election by endorsing at least eight incumbents, since incumbents have an automatic edge.

In addition to Charlestown’s MAGA Senator Elaine Morgan, LORIB has endorsed DINO Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (Coventry), Gregory Costantino (Johnston), Marie Hopkins (R-Warwick), Paul Santucci (Glocester), Robert Phillips (Woonsocket), Independent Jon Brian (Woonsocket), and Richard Fascia (Cranston).

Sam is at least as conservative as most of these LORIB incumbents.

But nonetheless, he is being challenged by developer Christopher Stanton (R). LORIB has put no money into Stanton’s campaign. Stanton loaned his campaign $7000 of his own money, and he received $1500 from the Westerly Republican Committee. His balance going into the last month was $1,911.15 compared to Sam’s balance of $20,129.92.

What's next for LORIB?

Overall, the numbers show Levesque cut his payments to his slate of candidates drastically after his September 9 ass-kicking. Clearly, he’s still licking his wounds. Of his remaining candidates in the General Election, I doubt any of them will beat any of the Democratic incumbents. 

I believe the best Levesque can hope for is that some of his endorsed conservative incumbents will hold their seats, allowing him to claim some victories, though those claims would be hollow given how much he scaled back the amount he has doled out.

Will LORIB be back in 2028? Levesque hasn’t said anything yet, though he must be thinking about what comes next. The Nov. 3 General Election results will certainly factor into his decision.

House has-been hopes for a political comeback

Circling back to District 39, a familiar figure is attempting to re-kindle his political career. Former state Rep. Justin Price lost to incumbent Megan Cotter in 2022 and again in 2024, ending his General Assembly career as one of its leading MAGA cranks. 

Price self-destructed after he took part in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol on Donald Trump's behalf. 

Price sealed his fate with his debunked claim that it was "antifa" who actually did the deed, although he did not explain why he, a red-blooded Marine patriot, did nothing to stop them. 

Justin Price wants to get back into politics by campaigning for a seat on the Richmond Town Council. If you look at his campaign statement on the Richmond GOP town committee website, you'll see that he has NOTHING to say about what he would do for Richmond, relying instead on a fanciful recap of his career in the state House of Representatives. He omits his long campaign while a state Rep against the menace of "chemtrails."

Maybe Justin is hoping he can get fellow insurrectionist and GOP candidate for Governor Vic Mellor to campaign for him. Or maybe he's banking on getting LORIB money in 2028 to make another run at Megan Cotter.

Green Bond Would Add $25 Million to Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund

Green Bond important to protect Rhode Island from effects of climate change

By Rob Smith / ecoRI News staff 

It’s not every day that lingering rain and wind from a rare, offseason nor’easter is an auspicious event.

Last week, just as the last of the weekend storm began to fade, state and local officials gathered inside the Looff Carousel in Crescent Park to launch the campaign for one of November’s ballot questions: the semiannual Green Bond.

The bond, a regular feature on election day in Rhode Island, is the ballot question that asks voters to approve funding for a number of environmental and climate resilience projects. The Sept. 28 event was aimed at encouraging people to vote yes on Question 5 this year.

Local state Rep. Megan Cotter worked hard to get
more funding for the Green Bond

The $55 million bond includes funding for state beaches, parks, and campgrounds; watershed restoration around Narragansett Bay; brownfield remediation; and farmland and open space preservation.

The Green Bond is one of five bond questions on the ballot this year, as voters are being asked to approve $600 million in new borrowing. Other bond questions include funding for capital improvements at the state’s three public higher education institutions; an affordable housing fund; economic development for Quonset Business Park and the I-195 District; and a new State History Center.

The clear winner this year for the Green Bond is climate resilience; $25 million from the bond would go toward the Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund administered by the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank (RIIB).

Groundwater must be part of development planning

Critical issue in communities without public drinking water

By Rep. Megan L. Cotter

There is no question that developing more homes is imperative to address Rhode Island’s housing crisis.

There is also no understating the importance of ensuring that every home, new or existing, has access to a consistent supply of the clean, healthy water its inhabitants need.

Water capacity is readily available for areas served by public water systems. But in rural communities that rely on private wells, like those in my district, how do we know the impact new development will have on groundwater? And how do we plan and manage this critical resource as we develop the housing we desperately need?

These are the questions I seek to answer with the new study commission I am chairing in the House. I sponsored the legislation to create the water supply planning commission because water capacity must be part of any serious conversation about housing growth.

Housing development and water supply planning shouldn't be framed as opposing goals. Rhode Island needs more housing, and all Rhode Islanders need safe drinking water. The underlying goal of our bipartisan commission — which includes experts and stakeholders from housing development, state and municipal decisionmakers and managers of water resources — is to connect these objectives and set our state on the path toward succeeding at both.

Just leave those kids alone!

Far-right legal group lodges federal complaint against North and South Kingstown’s transgender student policies

Steve Ahlquist

Jocelyn Foye, Executive Director of The Womxn Project

“I want to bring to the Commission’s attention that Rhode Island is consistently on the radar of the Moms for Liberty hate group organizing that’s going on across the country,” said Jocelyn Foye, Executive Director of The Womxn Project, speaking before Thursday’s meeting of the Rhode Island Commission on Prejudice and Bias. 

“While every nonprofit has the opportunity to do whatever they want with their messaging and the way they behave, I’d like to draw attention to some extremely prejudicial behavior that’s now being specifically targeted at trans students in North Kingstown and South Kingstown.”

Specifically, Executive Director Foye was there in response to a complaint filed by America First Legal Foundation with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education, “calling for a federal investigation into Rhode Island’s South Kingstown School District, alleging that its policies directing staff to facilitate students’ ‘gender transitions’ without parental notification are unlawful.” The America First Legal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit far-right public interest organization founded in 2021 by white nationalist Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.

This complaint follows a similar complaint the group made against the North Kingstown School District on July 22. Both complaints allege that the current school district policies regarding transgender and gender-expansive students violate the law, when in fact the policies comply with local, state, and federal law, as determined by the Rhode Island Department of Education and the Rhode Island District Attorney’s Office.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Moms for Liberty leader Jasmine Roy (R) is running against local state Representative Megan Cotter for House District 39 covering Richmond, Hopkinton and Exeter. Roy is supported by the ultra-rightwing League of RI Businesses that also supported Rep. Tina Spears' opponent, sex crimes defense lawyer Leah Boisclair.  - Will Collette

How did progressives do in Rhode Island's Sept. 9 Primary?

Discussing the progressive election night wins with the Working Families Party’s Anusha Venkataraman

Steve Ahlquist

The WFP’s Anusha Venkataraman addresses the crowd at Riffraff

The day after David Morales’ historic Democratic Primary win in the Providence Mayoral race, I sat down with Anusha Venkataraman, the Rhode Island State Director of the Working Families Party (RIWFP). The RIWFP is celebrating a wave of primary victories that “mark a generational shift in Rhode Island politics, as working-class champions won across the ballot.”

Alongside Morales, the RIWFP helped House District 7 candidate Amy Santiago sail to victory, as well as Providence City Council candidates Miguel Martinez Youngs (Ward 1), Yulyana Torres (Ward 3), Jackie Goldman (Ward 5), AnnaJane Yolkien (Ward 13), Justin Roias (Ward 4), and Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6). Every RIWFP-endorsed candidate in Providence won their primary.

The following has been edited for clarity:

Anusha Venkataraman: We’re so excited to sweep our Providence races, and some races we thought would be close didn’t end up close. The closest ones were incumbents. Overall, incumbents didn’t do well statewide, and the incumbents who did win had the Progressive Coalition’s backing. We saw that in Providence, and we saw it with our other incumbents statewide who also faced challenges from the business lobby.

Steve Ahlquist: The League of RI Businesses didn’t win any races. That’s a lot of money they flushed down the toilet. That makes me feel pretty good; you shouldn’t be able to game the system and win races.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, Steve is right to point out how badly LORIB was beaten in their attempt to game the Democratic Primary, but they're not quite done. They have a number of candidates they are backing in the November 3 General Election, especially in South County. These include incumbent MAGA Senator Elaine Morgan, and MAGA challengers to state Reps. Carol McEntee, Kathy Fogarty and Megan Cotter. Sen. Victoria Gu, who represents the southern half of Charlestown, faces a LORIB-backed MAGA guy she's already beaten twice. 

We need to help Sam Wilcox unseat Elaine Morgan and we must defeat the remaining LORIB acolytes.   - Will Collette

League of Rhode Island Businesses crashed and burned in Charlestown and across the state

Conservative business group’s multi-PAC strategy flops as General Assembly incumbents prevail

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

In contrast to the stunning primary day upsets in which Democratic challengers dethroned Rhode Island’s governor and the mayors of Providence and Pawtucket, every sitting state lawmaker seeking reelection won Wednesday night.

Incumbents typically hold an advantage, especially in Rhode Island, where the rigor of the job coupled with low pay and a dominant Democratic party suppresses competition. Nearly two-thirds of the 113 General Assembly seats featured a single candidate this election cycle, with just 13 sitting lawmakers — all Democrats — facing primary challengers (excluding open seat contests).

“It’s very hard to go against General Assembly leadership,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “They put a lot of resources into protecting their members.”

But a new political group with an unconventional campaign finance strategy to unseat progressive lawmakers focused more attention on the few contested races by endorsing conservative-minded candidates. The League of RI Businesses champions gun rights, lower taxes and business-friendly policies, and backed a slate of challengers by circumventing the state law capping political action committee donations at $2,000 per candidate per year.

Yet The League’s 40 PAC strategy — one for every city and town plus a statewide organization — and open solicitation of anonymous donations failed to notch any wins on primary night. 

All seven of the Democratic challengers endorsed by The League in state legislative races lost, some defeated by a 50- or 60-point margin.

“Not only did we not win, we just got clobbered,” said Dave Levesque, co-founder of The League. “It’s an embarrassment.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Despite their monumental losses in the Primary, LORIB is still running a number of candidates in the November 3 General election. Among their targets: Charlestown's Sen. Victoria Gu, local Reps. Megan Cotter, Carol McEntee, Kathy Fogarty and (oddly) Sam Azzinaro. I say oddly because Sam is at least as conservative as Rep. Leonidas Raptakis who was endorsed by LORIB. Plus, Sam is male and nearly all of LORIB's targets are progressive Democratic women. 

LORIB tried and failed to find challengers to local Democrats Sens. Sue Sosnowski and Bridget Valverde and Rep. Teresa Tanzi. They will all retain their General Assembly seats since they face no opposition on November 3.

LORIB is also endorsing MAGA nut Sen. Elaine Morgan who, in her own way, represents the northern half of Charlestown. She faces a powerful challenger in Samantha "Sam" Wilcox, Richmond Town Council President - Will Collette

Primary results: LORIB loses, real Democrats win

MAGA gun PAC seems to have lost EVERY Democratic primary

By Will Collette

EDITOR'S NOTE: Am having tech problems with graphics. So in the absence of that, check out this one Tina posted on Xitter yesterday: Tina Spears on X: "Are you HOOKED on civic engagement??? 🎣 I know I am! Early voting wraps up today, and tomorrow is your last chance to CAST your ballot. Make your voting plan and REEL in that vote! https://t.co/ep8qJXDxDZ" / X

Well, the top story for Charlestown is our respected state Representative Tina Spears absolutely crushed her opponent, sex crime defense lawyer Leah Boisclair, by a margin of 82% to 18%, despite a ton of money poured into Boisclair by the ultra-rightwing League of Rhode Island Businesses, and the gun lobby. 

Based on the posted results as of 9 PM, Tina’s margin of victory is the highest for a Democrat facing a LORIB-funded challenger.

Since Tina has no Republican challenger in the General Election unless LORIB boss Dave Levesque wants to spend more money running a write-in campaign. Otherwise, Tina wins a third term as Charlestown’s Rep.

State Senator Alana DiMario, representing neighboring South Kingstown and Narragansett, beat her LORIB challenger Mark Mesrobian by 72% to 28%. She also has no opponent in the General Election.

Bob Craven Jr. won his primary to replace his dad as state Representative for North Kingstown by 74 to 26 beating LORIB-backed Kevin Hoyle.

LORIB lost all six of the Democratic primary challengers they paid for upstate: three in the Senate and three in the House. Only two of those races had margins of less than 10 points.

There will be a second chance for LORIB in November when its remaining clients, all running as Republicans, attempt to beat Democratic incumbents. We have many of those in South County where LORIB is going to try knocking out Charlestown’s state Senator Victoria Gu by backing a guy Victoria has already beaten twice.

In South Kingstown, Rep. Carol McEntee also faces a loser, Jessica Drew Roy, who also lost to McEntee twice already. Rep. Kathy Fogarty will face Jennifer Nerbonne whose main political experience was as a Donald Trump delegate at the 2024 GOP Convention.

Rep. Megan Cotter will face climate-change denier and Moms for Liberty maven Jasmine Roy.

The most peculiar LORIB challenge is an effort to unseat Westerly state Rep. Sam Azzinaro, funding his opponent developer Christopher Stanton. Sam, a very conservative Democrat, doesn't fit the LORIB target profile. Indeed, in other districts, LORIB has backed DINO incumbents, such as Coventry-West Greenwich state Senator Leonidas Raptakis and several others.

The November race that may be the most high drama is the effort by Richmond Town Council President Samantha (Sam) Wilcox to finally rid South County of the embarrassing MAGA nut, Sen. Elaine Morgan who represents the top half of Charlestown and is backed by LORIB. Go, Sam, go!

Cold consolation

While Dave Levesque ponders where all his money went while crying into his iced latte, there were some LORIB-adjacent scores that may give him some cold comfort.

Levesque and LORIB did not endorse any candidates for state office or Congress, but there were still such characters as Florida carpetbagger and MAGA nut Vic Mellor who hung around LORIB a lot. He won the GOP primary by 58% to 42% for the green light to challenge Charlestown’s US Representative Seth Magaziner in the November election. I just wonder how serious Mellor would be about representing RI District 2 since he is already a registered representative of government of Cuba. Not joking.

LORIB-adjacent Republican Aaron Guckian appears to have edged his MAGA-nut opponent Elaine Pelino by 298 votes. We’ll see if that result holds up.

In Charlestown, lots of Leah Boisclair signs were paired with LORIB-adjacent Democratic candidate for Attorney General Joe Solomon. He lost, coming in third out of four candidates, losing to winner Kim Ahern by a wide margin. If Rhode Island had run-off elections when no candidate gets 50+% of the vote, Solomon would not have made the run-off.

Bye, bye Dan

The marquee event of the day is of course the battle for Governor between inept incumbent Dan McKee versus Helena Foulkes. As expected, McKee got waxed by a margin of 62 to 38.

I think everyone in the state knew this was coming, given McKee’s unprincipled and incompetent management of the state’s business. Democratic voters chose corporate Democrat Helena Foulkes to move on to the three-way November election. She will definitely face so-called independent Ken Block and most likely Republican challenger Aaron Guckian.

I have no illusions about Foulkes being far more corporate than progressive. Despite that, I kind of like her but expect, as I am with nearly every politician, that I will probably be disappointed. However, she could be great. And I believe she will be a far better Governor than either Guckian or Block.  

South County Democratic women get a wave of legislation passed at the end of the General Assembly session

Coffee autocrat wants to push them out to MAGAtize South County

By Will Collette

MAGA millionaire Dave Levesque, owner of the Brewed Awakenings coffee shop chain wants to change the political landscape of South County to fit his vision of a MAGA paradise by ousting virtually every South County Democratic woman holding a General Assembly seat.

To further his dream, Levesque set up the “League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB)” with a statewide political action committee and a local version in all 39 Rhode Island cities and towns. Don’t bother looking for the “Charlestown LORIB” or the “Westerly LORIB” because they only exist on paper filed with the Board of Elections.

This panoply of PACs serve the useful purpose of allowing Levesque to get around state law that limits PAC donations to $2000 per candidate. His clever solution: set up each of his candidates with multiple donations from his array of PACs.

Charlestown’s challenger to our state Rep. Tina Spears, self-described “sex crimes defense attorney” Leah Boisclair, received her initial cash from five different Levesque PACs.

According to declarations filed with the Board of Elections, Levesque is challenging these incumbent Democrats:

• Rep. Tina Spears (Charlestown, So. Kingstown, Westerly and Block Island) faces a Sept. 9 primary challenge
• Rep. Megan Cotter (Hopkinton, Richmond, Exeter and West Warwick)
• Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (South Kingstown et al.)
• Rep. Kathy Fogarty (South Kingstown et al.)
• Open seat left by Rep. Julie Casmiro
• Open seat left by Rep. Bob Craven Sr.
• State Sen. Alana DiMario faces a Sept. 9 primary challenge
• Sen. Victoria Gu (Charlestown, Westerly and South Kingstown)
• Plus conservative Democrat Rep. Sam Azzinaro (Westerly)

Levesque supported Laura Turini to challenge Sen. Bridget ValVerde in the Sept. 9 Democratic Primary, but Turisi didn’t file a declaration. He also failed to find candidates to challenge one of his prime targets, Rep. Teresa Tanzi as well as Sen. Sue Sosnowski. Tanzi, Sosnowski and ValVerde are now running unopposed.

If records make any difference, Levesque bevy of challengers will have to confront the incredibly productive General Assembly session these Democrats achieved as well as their earlier achievements.

Just before the Assembly closed this session, the following bills were passed. I am using the descriptions produced by the State House News Bureau.

President Lawson, Rep. Cotter bill to establish limits on grocery self-checkouts signed

Thank you, Megan!

Bill sponsors Senate President Valarie J. Lawson and Rep. Megan L. Cotter were joined by Governor Dan McKee for a ceremonial signing establishing limits on the use of self-checkout lanes at grocery stores in Rhode Island.

The legislation (2026-S 2342B, 2026-H 7290A) requires grocery stores with self-checkouts to have a minimum of one staffed checkout for every three self-checkouts operating, with at least one of the self-checkout stations meeting the accessibility standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It also requires that grocery store employees be relieved of all other duties, including operating a manual checkout station, while monitoring self-checkout stations.

President Lawson and Representative Cotter said they introduced the bill out of concern for those who work as cashiers, and for customers who struggle with frustrating self-checkout experiences, particularly elderly customers.

Local state reps getting measures passed by getting them folded into the state budget

Local Democratic women legislators use the budget to get good legislation passed

By Will Collette

Progressive Democratic state Representative Teresa Tanzi used the legislative budget process to get two legislative priorities through the General Assembly. Rep. Megan Cotter got more funding for wildfire fighting and prevention as well as increased Green Bond funding. Sen. Alana DiMario used the budget to win stable funding for mental health support for children and new parents.

While some may call this cheating, it is a time-honored method of getting bills passed that might otherwise fail, either because they are low-visibility or easily defeated by opposing lobbyists. 

The US Congress uses what they call the "reconciliation" process to accomplish this, most recently when Republicans used it to pass a full funding for ICE immigration thuggery. Generally, this procedural device can only be used for issues that involve direct spending.

I used it once when I worked in DC as staff director for the Citizens Coal Council. Our priority legislation aimed to protect and compensate people when their water is threatened by underground coal mining. The coal industry blocked this bill when it stood on its own but couldn't stop it from passage when we got it into the federal budget.

Reps. Tanzi and Cotter, and Sen. DiMario had news releases sent out to describe the measures they inserted into the budget. The following summaries are taken from those news releases.

BBQ for RI rural Dems, June 14

Richmond Takes Action on Climate Resilience

Climate change-driven storms threaten more than the coast

By Jonmaesha Beltran / ecoRI News staff

As climate-fueled disasters rise, municipalities are no longer asking if a catastrophe will strike but whether their communities will be prepared when it does. 

In Richmond, where a little more than 8,000 people live, Town Councilor Daniel Madnick is working to close gaps that recent wildfires and brushfires across the state revealed in the town’s environmental planning. 

Bottom of Form

Madnick proposed creating an environmental resiliency commission to prepare the town for threats, including drought, flooding, hurricanes and wildfires, while monitoring its hazard mitigation plan.

“We don’t have a board or commission that their sole focus is to make sure that we are prepared for any environmental issues that come,” he said during a May 19 town council meeting. 

The proposal is modeled after the Charlestown Climate Resilience Commission, which was established in 2021 and worked with state Rep. Megan Cotter, D-Exeter, Hopkinton, and Richmond, on forest management and fire prevention.

Cotter, who serves on the Northeastern Forest Fire Prevention Commission, urged the commission to reach out to Charlestown landowners with five acres or more to connect them with resources and federal funding available for private land management.

Cotter proposes sales tax holiday weeks for restaurants

Gives customers and restaurants a welcome break

Rep. Megan L. Cotter has introduced legislation to create two tax-free weeks each year for restaurants in the state.

“This is a bill to help boost small businesses,” said Representative Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton). “Mom-and-pop businesses make up a substantial portion of the restaurant industry. A tax-free week is a great way to encourage people to visit a restaurant they’ve never tried, hopefully one they’ll want to visit more often. This will put more money directly into the hands of servers and small business owners alike and encourage Rhode Islanders to enjoy the many fantastic restaurants we are fortunate to have all over the state.”

The legislation (2026-H 8512), which Representative Cotter introduced May 1, would establish one sales tax-free week in the summer and one in the winter for restaurants statewide. The specific dates would be determined by the General Assembly.

The tax holiday weeks could essentially create statewide “Restaurant Weeks” which several communities in Rhode Island currently organize. Such weeks usually include special menus and deals to entice customers who might not otherwise visit.

The legislation is supported by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

Rep. Megan Cotter sponsors bills to bolster regional school districts

Cotter fights for Chariho

Rep. Megan L. Cotter is sponsoring several bills to help school districts with finances, particularly the regional districts she represents.

Two of the bills address transportation costs and two address state aid for regional districts.

“Regionalization creates an economy of scale and allows schools to offer greater opportunities to students than they would have if their towns’ schools were separate and smaller. In theory, regionalization is encouraged by the state because it’s economical, but in practice, regionalization is complicated, and the funding mechanisms don’t address all its wrinkles. My bills are aimed at smoothing some wrinkles that are currently adversely affecting our regional districts,” said Representative Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton), whose district spans parts of the Exeter-West Greenwich and Chariho regional school districts.

Legislators’ Annoyance at Underfunded Green Bonds Grows

It takes real money

By Rob Smith / ecoRI News staff

Rockville is probably a farther drive than most Rhode Islanders prefer to make, but the ones who visit the area in Hopkinton are treated to some of the most beautiful forestland in the state.

Having an unbroken block of forest along the state’s western border has long been the conservation goal for environmental officials and environmental groups. 

The Department of Environmental Management, with The Nature Conservancy of Rhode Island, recently announced the state bought nearly 70 acres of forestland on the Princess Pine Estate in Hopkinton to be incorporated into the Rockville Wildlife Management Area.

The North Road purchase borders DEM, Nature Conservancy and Audubon Society lands, in a 2,140-acre block of preserved open and recreational space. It will also boost public access for boating and fishing along Wincheck Pond.

Environmental Council of RI seeks to protect Rhode Island's climate goals, expand conservation funding, decarbonize buildings, and save RIPTA

ECRI pushes green agenda

Steve Ahlquist 

The Environment Council of Rhode Island (ECRI), a coalition of more than 60 organizations “advocating for policies to protect and enhance the environment for all Rhode Islanders,” introduced its 2026 legislative priorities at a State House event on Tuesday. “These priorities were chosen by the membership of ECRI through a month-long democratic process and represent the diversity of the environmental community in Rhode Island,” said ECRI Executive Director Jordan Miller at the opening of the event.

Here’s the video: The Environment Council of RI 2026 Lobby Day; April 14, 2026

This year, ECRI announced four legislative priorities for the 2026 legislative session. As described by ECRI Vice President Tina Munter, “[T]hese priorities, in no particular order, include urging our legislators to oppose the rollback of state clean energy and energy efficiency programs that have been proposed in the governor’s FY2027 budget, the Green Bond plus crucial additional funding for conservation and open space measures, the Save RIPTA legislative package as put together by the Save RIPTA Coalition, and building decarbonization legislation, both building benchmarking and reporting and building performance standards.”

Wood River Health kicks off 50th anniversary celebration

Major source of health care for Charlestown 

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi Accepts Health
Center Champion Award. From L to R: Rep Megan Cotter;
Rep Tina Spears; Alison Croke; House Speaker K. Joseph
Shekarchi; Rep Samuel Azzinaro

On Friday, March 20, 2026, Wood River Health kicked off its 50th Anniversary by hosting an Anniversary Founders Day & Awards Ceremony at the Ocean House. The event brought together an inspiring assembly of community leaders and advocates to mark a major milestone: providing high‑quality, compassionate and affordable health care in the community for 50 years.

 

President and CEO Alison L. Croke opened the program by reflecting on the significance of the day and providing an overview of the origin of federally qualified health centers. With roots in the civil rights movement and the War on Poverty, there are now about 1,400 community health centers delivering care to more than 33 million people throughout the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Wood River Health is one of eight federally qualified health centers in the state, which serve one out of every five Rhode Islanders. 

Croke shared that since its founding in 1976, Wood River Health has grown from a modest clinic on Mechanic Street into a multi-site health center providing primary care, dental care, behavioral health and vital support services to 12,000 patients. She recognized the health center’s ongoing commitment to addressing health care access barriers including transportation, food insecurity and housing instability. Croke expressed gratitude to the dedicated board members, staff, providers and community partners who have worked diligently to forward the organization’s mission.