Friday, June 5, 2026 | Edition #40
GOOD MORNING, WARWICK. Here's something to chew on. On this day in 1876, Americans laid eyes on a banana for the first time. They were unveiled at the World's Fair in Philadelphia, individually wrapped in foil, and sold for less than ten cents apiece. Which in today's money is roughly equivalent to the cost of a Ford Bronco. People had no idea what to do with them. Some ate the peel. Some ate them with a knife and fork. One newspaper described the flavor as somewhere between a pear and a melon, which tells you these people had never been within a hundred miles of an actual banana.
A century and a half later, the banana is the most popular fruit in America. It travels thousands of miles from a tropical farm, survives a boat, a truck, and a warehouse, and arrives at the Market looking flawless, all so it can sit on your counter and turn brown in 36 hours flat. We solved global logistics. We did not solve the part where you forget you bought them.
Anyway, it's the first Friday of June, the weekend is loaded, the sun is high and the sky is blue.
Here's what's goin' ahn.
🤜🏼🤛🏼Thank you for your feedback!
In addition to the high level of engagement on last edition's quick survey, I received a ton of kind words and support from you all, so thank you, genuinely.
For those who missed it on Monday: I'm moving to a weekly cadence going forward. The majority of you voted for Monday, and you read my mind. My wife gets the Sunday scaries every weekend, so I might as well join her. Homework due before the week starts.
Don't hold me to it, but I may also spin up a standalone weekend events feature so you know what's goin' ahn before the weekend hits. We'll see. Either way, I'm still excited and committed to producing informative, entertaining, and one-of-a-kind newsletters for you each week.
Thanks again. New cadence kicks off on Monday. Now back to the main thing.
TODAY’S SNAPSHOT
⏱️ Sunset Time: 8:18PM
🌖 Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
⛽ Avg. Gas Price: $4.23 (click here to find the cheapest gas near you)
💧 Chance of Rain: 0%
WHAT’S GOIN’ AHN
😐 Rhode Island Ranked 5th Worst Economy
Look, nobody likes getting a bad report card. But the first step to fixing something is knowing where you stand, and WalletHub's 2026 state economy rankings just handed Rhode Island a pretty clear picture. We landed at No. 47 out of 51. Woof.
Massachusetts took the top spot for the second consecutive year, powered by its research universities and innovation economy. It's mind boggling that two states that border each other can be in such different economic situations. You could argue smaller state, smaller cities, less stimulation — and you wouldn't be wrong. But that gap is real and worth acknowledging. Rhode Island dropped 14 spots in a single year, which is the kind of movement that gets your attention whether you want it to or not. For reference, that's the same number of spots you'd drop if you showed up to a job interview in a Tweety Bird t-shirt.
Rhode Island ranks 49th for economic activity, 25th for economic health, and 31st for innovation potential. Unemployment sits at 4.1% and has been ticking up. Despite the bad ranking, Rhode Island has real advantages — a coastline, a creative economy, world class universities, and a quality of life that doesn't show up in any ranking or dolled up spreadsheet. They say you can't have everything, but it would be nice to not be at the back of the line next to West Virginia and Kentucky… no offense to any Appalachian subscribers.
🤹🏼The State Budget Balancing Act
Here's a fun exercise. Take your grocery bill from 2017 and imagine it grew by two thirds. Same store, same items, roughly the same number of people eating. You'd have questions. Rhode Island taxpayers have questions.
The FY2027 budget proposal comes in at $14.34 billion, up $523 million from last year, growing at twice the rate of inflation. Governor McKee says it's manageable because the state collected roughly $230 million more in revenue than expected, so technically the math works. Critics say that's exactly what someone says right before the math stops working. The budget has grown by nearly $6 billion since 2017. Six billion dollars. In a state you can drive across in 45 minutes. In one decade.
Then the House got involved. A fresh $228 million surplus turned up in updated May revenue estimates, and lawmakers bumped the total to $15.2 billion. A surprise surplus appeared and we spent it before it finished loading, which is a very Rhode Island move. The proposal also includes hiking the tax rate on income over $1 million from 6% to 9% over three years, which depending on who you ask is either a reasonable ask from people who can afford it or the single fastest way to make a wealthy person quietly Google "Sarasota waterfront homes."
🛍️ The Rhode Island Mall Just Sold Again - This Time to Canada
You probably drove past the Rhode Island Mall a hundred times as a kid without thinking twice about it. Sears on one end, a food court that smelled like Sbarro, escalators that may or may not have been working. Then one day it was just... gone. The mall closed in 2011, got bulldozed into an outdoor strip, and quietly became Midland Commons - home to Dick's, Kohls, Planet Fitness, and the ghost of your teenage Saturday afternoons.
Well, it just changed hands again. Atlantic Capital Partners announced the sale of Midland Commons to Montreal-based Brasswater Inc. for $20.5 million. The 160,000-square-foot property sits on 23 acres along Bald Hill Road - the same patch of earth where, fun fact, a hill was leveled and the course of the Pawtuxet River was actually altered just to build the original mall back in 1967. We moved a river for a Sears. Very us.
Brasswater secured a $15 million loan alongside the purchase, with plans to lease up two currently vacant suites at the property. So more tenants are coming to Bald Hill Road - which, at this point, has enough retail per square mile to outfit the entire nation of eSwatini. The property has now sold for $38 million in 2012, and $20.5 million in 2026 - a trajectory that tells you everything you need to know about what happened to American retail in between.
WEATHAH THIS WEEKEND
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QUICK HITTERS
🛒 RI Senate Votes to Put a Real Human Back at the Register | Link| The Rhode Island Senate passed a bill requiring grocery stores to staff at least one human checkout lane for every three self-checkout machines, and that employee can't be pulled away to do anything else while they're on duty. Senate President Valarie Lawson, along with Warwick's own Sen. Matthew LaMountain, cited elderly shoppers who struggle with the technology as a key motivation. Opponents say it's government overreach that'll end up hiking your grocery bill. The bill now heads to the House, where similar legislation is already waiting. One thing's for sure: somewhere, a Dave's checkout lady with a happy smile just felt vindicated.
🎬 Lights, Camera, Warwick | Link | If you've been driving down West Shore Road this week wondering why there's a vintage drive-through kiosk in the Bay Plaza parking lot next to Alice's Restaurant, that's not a new condom business - that's Hollywood. Filming on "Rubber Hut," the debut feature from director Hanna Gray Organschi starring Grace Van Patten, is officially underway and runs through June 11. The film tells the true story of Emanuella DelVecchio, who converted a film drop-off booth in Cranston into the infamous Condom Hut in 1992 and promptly became a controversial hero in Rhode Island's Italian-Catholic community. Warwick Police are working details to keep traffic moving. So if you're stuck behind a vintage car on West Shore Road this week, that's not a classic car show. That's a movie.
⚖️ Shekarchi's Supreme Court Bid | Link| Warwick's own former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi wants a seat on the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The Rhode Island Ethics Commission would like to have a word first. The commission voted 6-to-1 this week to investigate whether Shekarchi's bid violates the state's "revolving door" law, which bars sitting legislators from taking a state job within one year of leaving office. Shekarchi argues the Supreme Court is a constitutional office and therefore exempt. The professor who filed the complaint says the facts "aren't particularly complicated." Shekarchi is still scheduled to be publicly interviewed for the seat on July 28. The race isn't over. It now has a subplot.
EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Friday, June 5: 🚚 Food Truck Friday | Roger Williams Park Carousel Village, Providence 5 PM - 8:30 PM | More Info | Every Friday night through September, Roger Williams Park transforms into the best reason to end your week outside. More than 15 local food trucks, live music, cold beverages, and family-friendly fun at Carousel Village. Free admission. You just pay for what you eat and drink. Grab a blanket, find a picnic table, and let someone else do the cooking tonight. Free parking at the Zoo lot, about a seven minute walk to the village.
Saturday, June 6: 🥬 Conimicut Village Community Market | Conimicut Village 9 AM - 12 PM | More Info | The Conimicut Village Community Market is back for its 2026 season, running every Saturday morning through September 26 right in the heart of one of Warwick's most charming waterfront neighborhoods. Local vendors, fresh produce, and the kind of Saturday morning energy that makes you feel like you have your life together even if you definitely do not. Free admission, walking distance from the water, and done before noon so the rest of your weekend is still wide open.
Saturday, June 6: 🎶 Symphony in the Park | Pawtuxet Park 5 PM - 8 PM | More Info | The Warwick Symphony Orchestra takes the stage at Pawtuxet Park for a free outdoor concert featuring a carefully curated set of classical masterpieces. Bring a chair or blanket, grab a beer or a bite from the grill, and enjoy one of the better Saturday evenings Warwick has to offer. All proceeds help fund this year's Burning of the Gaspee reenactment.
Saturday, June 6: 🎆 Fireworks Extravaganza | Salter's Grove, Narragansett Pkwy 9 PM | More Info | The City of Warwick's annual fireworks display lights up the sky over Narragansett Bay just off the coast of Salter's Grove starting at dusk. Food and novelty vendors will be on site. Rain date is Sunday, June 7.
Saturday, June 6: ⚾ Sandlot Saturday | Norwood Field, 42 Frederick St., 6:30PM | More Info | Free pickup softball followed by an outdoor screening of The Sandlot, hosted by the Norwood Neighborhood Association. Rain date June 13. If you’re not going, you’re killing me, Smalls.
Sunday, June 7: 🎸 Brian James Quartet | Apponaug Brewing Company 2 PM - 5 PM | More Info | Live music on the patio at Apponaug Brewing, featuring the Brian James Quartet, who blend classic rock, blues, jazz, and funk into something that doesn't fit neatly into any one category. Which is honestly the best kind of Sunday afternoon music. Grab a beer, grab a seat outside, and let someone else worry about Monday.
LOOKING AHEAD
Wednesday, June 10: 🍽️ Taste of Rhode Island | Crowne Plaza Hotel, 801 Greenwich Ave 6 PM - 9 PM | Tickets The best restaurants, caterers, bakers, wineries, and local breweries in Rhode Island all under one roof for a single night. Live music, surprise entertainment, and enough food to justify skipping dinner beforehand. Held at the Outdoor Pavilion at the Crowne Plaza right here in Warwick. Come hungry. Leave happy.
Now through Sunday, June 21: 🎭 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd | Tickets | Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is back at The Gamm. The Pollitt family gathers in the sweltering Mississippi heat for Big Daddy's birthday, and absolutely nobody is being honest about anything. Brick drinks, Maggie schemes, secrets simmer. Classic Williams. Tickets run $67-$77 with discounts for students, seniors, and groups of 8 or more.
Saturday, June 13: 🏃🏼➡️Gaspee Days 5K | Sign Up Here | One of Warwick's most iconic events is just 1 week away. The streets will be decked out in red, white, and blue. My friends will be trying to keep pace with my dad. I better see you there.
BRAIN FOOD
🧠 Where in Warwick
Where in Warwick was this photo taken? Answer shown at the end.
📖 The Warwick Word of the Day
Sesquipedalian (ses-kwi-peh-DAY-lee-un) — adjective
Definition: Characterized by the use of long, obscure words.
We've all met a sesquipedalian. It's the guy who can't order a coffee without describing its "robust olfactory complexity." It's the coworker who replies-all with words you have to look up just to figure out if you've been insulted. Ironically, the word for using needlessly big words is itself a needlessly big word, which means somewhere out there a linguist made a joke 2,000 years ago and we're all still falling for it. Use it wisely this week, or don't use it at all and simply enjoy knowing you could have.
Thanks to Zachary J. (a total sesquipedalian) for submitting today’s word of the day! You can submit a word of the day yourself, here. I’ll be sure to include it in the next edition!
ONE LAST SIP
✅ Where in Warwick Answer: Apponaug Village Creamery. Those purple Adirondack chairs are a dead giveaway if you've been there before, and if you haven't, consider this your wake up call. Apponaug Village Creamery sits right on Music Lane in the heart of Apponaug Village, right next to the Walgreens, and it’s exactly the kind of place that makes you feel good about living here.
A friendly staff, endless flavors, and unlimited toppings for just 95 cents, which is the best deal in Rhode Island and possibly a clerical error nobody has the heart to correct. Pile on so much hot fudge, sprinkles, and crushed Oreo that the ice cream becomes a rumor. They cannot stop you. I once built a sundae so structurally unsound it qualified as a building code violation, and not even Mayor Picozzi peeking out his office window across the street could stop me. No regrets.
And those chairs are so comfortable you'll need a legitimate reason to leave, like a job, or the sun going down. The kind of spot that exists in every great small town and that we get to call ours. If your summer doesn't include at least one stop here, we need to have a serious conversation.
That's it for today. One final shoutout - My parents are celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary today. If you see my dad walking down aisle 6 or my mom driving down Sandy Lane, goge them a shout. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! Love you both.
Have a great weekend, Warwick. Thanks for reading. Keep smiling!
