☕ Gambler's Paradise

Friday, May 29, 2026 | Edition #38

GOOD MORNING, WARWICK. Welcome to the final Friday of May. Jinkies. That went by fast.

Today would have been John F. Kennedy's 109th birthday — the 35th President of the United States, beloved son of Massachusetts, and a man who spent enough time sailing the waters of New England that Rhode Island has claimed a spiritual kinship with him for decades whether Massachusetts likes it or not. He did not live to see a second legal sportsbook app in Rhode Island, but he did once say we choose to go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard, and we choose to believe he would have said the same thing about a functional parlay interface.

Great men are not born every day. Today was apparently the exception.

A distinguished Warwickian named Mitchell also celebrates his birthday today. He may or may not be reading this right now. He almost certainly did not know until this exact moment that he shares a birthday with a president, though in certain circles he is equally well known as an above-average co-commissioner of a long-standing fantasy football league. History will remember him accordingly. Happy birthday, Mitch.

Here's what's goin' ahn.

⏱️ Sunset Time: 8:12PM

🌔 Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous

⛽ Avg. Gas Price: $4.39 (click here to find the cheapest gas near you)

💧 Chance of Rain: 10%

If you've ever watched the Red Sox load the bases in the seventh inning and felt, deep in your soul, that something beautiful was about to happen, only to watch them strand all three runners on a weak popup to second, you already understand sports betting. You also understand why Rhode Islanders have wagered over $2.7 billion on sports since 2019 despite having exactly one legal app to do it on, an app so universally loathed that an Apple reviewer described it in March as "without a doubt the worst sportsbook experience you could get anywhere, legal or otherwise." Woof.

We all have that one friend who would rather drive 23 minutes to South Attleboro, park in a gas station lot that has seen better decades, and hunker down with FanDuel on his phone like a fugitive rather than open Sportsbook RI. The state has apparently clocked this behavior and taken it personally. The Rhode Island Lottery just awarded Bally's Corp. a tentative five-year deal to become the state's second legal online sportsbook, launching as early as November. Massachusetts has seven competing apps. Rhode Island had one. Now it will have two. Whether that finally keeps your friend out of the Sunoco parking lot in Attleboro is, at this point, entirely up to Bally's.

Read the full story here

Breeze Airways turned five years old this week, which is a milestone worth celebrating if you are a passenger, an airport, or a travel blogger. If you are one of the airline's 680 pilots, the anniversary has a slightly different vibe. Fifteen of them stood outside T.F. Green International Airport on Wednesday morning, backs turned to the terminal, holding signs in complete silence while travelers rolled their bags past. It was the most restrained act of protest you could possibly stage at an airport and it was staged in Warwick, which tracks perfectly.

The ask is not complicated. The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, want their first collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations have been going on for three and a half years. Not three and a half months. Three and a half years. Master Executive Council chair Alex Kluge, a 31-year pilot veteran who has never once in his career worked without a contract until now, put it as plainly as a man holding a sign outside an airport can: "Every airline, except the very smallest ones, have a contract. This is the industry norm." In January, ALPA sued Breeze in federal court in Utah, accusing the airline of intentionally running out the clock at the bargaining table. Breeze has not commented publicly on the picket.

The planes are still flying. The pilots are still showing up. And TF Green, a place that has survived a pandemic, a terminal renovation, and seventeen years of parking garage construction, has now added "backdrop for a labor standoff" to its résumé. Happy anniversary, Breeze.

Read the full story here

A Sundance-supported indie film called Rubber Hut is currently shooting on location in Warwick, and the production has set up a drive-thru condom kiosk in the parking lot of the Warwick Liquors plaza on West Shore Road. Between the tackle shop and the liquor store. This is a real thing that is happening right now.

The film, directed by Hanna Gray Organschi and starring Grace Van Patten of Hulu's Tell Me Lies, is set in 1992 Rhode Island and follows an ex-Pan Am stewardess who opens a drive-thru condom kiosk in her Italian Catholic town, overnight becoming a community lightning rod and unlikely folk hero. It participated in all three Sundance Labs, was selected for Film Independent Fast Track, and is produced by Anne Carey, whose credits include the Sundance winner The Persian Version, and Jason Michael Berman, known for Ben Affleck's Air. The original short it's based on was produced by Spike Lee. Some cities wait decades for their Hollywood moment. Ours arrived with a condom kiosk and zero warning.

Read the full story here

Pawtuxet Village is fighting to keep its neighborhood, one zoning hearing at a time. Zoning designations exist to make sure a heavy machinery operation doesn't set up shop next to a daycare, or a truck depot doesn't park itself beside a neighborhood of 250-year-old colonial homes. Light Industrial zoning, the designation for 175 Post Road on the edge of Pawtuxet Village, is meant for low-impact businesses like small auto shops, contractors' offices, or storage facilities. Nothing that rattles windows or backs semis into a residential street at six in the morning.

The Warwick Zoning Board ruled in November that whatever is operating at 175 Post Road has blown so far past those limits that the city issued a formal Notice of Violation in February to do something about it. Which brings us to the part where it gets very Rhode Island: instead of addressing the violation, the property owner is now appealing the notice itself, which is the legal equivalent of getting called for a foul, arguing with the ref, and then filing a complaint about the whistle.

This matters because 175 Post Road sits right on the edge of a residential neighborhood and directly abuts the Pawtuxet Village Historic District, one of the oldest and most irreplaceable stretches of colonial-era homes in the state. The Pawtuxet Village Association is asking residents to pack the room at the June 4 hearing at the Sawtooth Building on Centerville Road at 6PM. A full room sends a message. An empty one sends a different one.

Read the full story here

Whether you're flipping vintage concert tees on eBay to fund a laser hair removal package, or you're finally tracking down the fondue set you've been looking for since Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" was number one on the charts, Family Treasures at 2067 West Shore Road is your spot. John and Kathy Dale selectively source their inventory, which means you'll find clothing, houseware, books, décor, and the kind of random gems that stop you mid-aisle. They also hunt down specific items for customers who are on the lookout for something particular, so if you've been searching for that one thing, tell them. They're on it.

And here's the part that makes it a full Saturday: Family Treasures is right down the street from Oakland Beach. Grab a doughboy. Get some sun. Then walk into a thrift store where John and Kathy will not let you leave without a free lollipop, just like the jar on the bank counter your mom used to bribe you with on Saturday mornings while she asked someone in a blazer about her CD rates. Same idea. Better inventory. No mortgage talk. Only great finds and great deals.

Support local small businesses. Go find some treasure. Visit them today!

📍 2067 West Shore Road, Warwick | Family Treasures Thrift Store

Saturday, May 30: 🎷 Providence Porchfest | Info Link | East Side of Providence, all afternoon. Live music off porches, stoops, and front yards across the neighborhood. Free, no wristband, no cover, no excuses.

Saturday, May 30: 👮 RI State Police Fitness Training for Prospective Troopers | RSVP | Rhode Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave, Providence, 9AM-11:30AM. Free session covering the physical fitness test standards for anyone considering a career as a State Trooper. Arrive by 8:45AM. Bring your grit. Additional sessions June 20 and July 11.

Saturday, May 30: 🔥 WaterFire Providence — 500th Lighting | Info Link | Providence River, starts at sunset. WaterFire has been lighting up the Providence River for over 30 years and Saturday marks the 500th lighting. If you've never been, this is the one to go to. If you have, you already know.

Saturday, June 6: 🎶 Symphony in the Park | Info Link | Pawtuxet Park, 5PM. The Warwick Symphony Orchestra takes the stage with fireworks over Salter's Grove to close it out. Bring a blanket. Outside food welcome. Best free Saturday night in June.

Saturday, June 6: ⚾ Sandlot Saturday | Info Link | Norwood Field, 42 Frederick St., 6:30PM. 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.

Beginning Saturday, June 6: 🥬Conimicut Village Community Market | Info Link | 9AM-12PM. Free admission. I will be there filling up the basket. Come meet your neighbors and support local vendors.

Saturday, June 13: 🏃🏼‍➡️Gaspee Days 5K | Sign Up Here | One of Warwick's most iconic events is just 2 weeks 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.

For anyone who’s tuning in for the first time, I typically highlight an Amazon item that my wife bought without warning. But I've got to give credit where credit is due. My wife was pretty good this week. No items showed up on our front steps. I know. It's like a school construction project wrapping up under budget, on time, without a single emergency bond referendum, and then cutting taxpayers a check for the difference. With interest. Unequivocally unheard of.

Since she finally stuck to the budget, I figured I would take a peek at what showed up on my in-laws’ front steps.

My father-in-law is a guy with a Prime membership that has seen it all. A man who looks for solutions to every problem with the click of a button at lightning speed, armed with the unshakeable confidence of someone who has never once stopped to think "do I actually need this?" The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Neither do the Amazon packages. Ladies and gentlemen, here’s what my father-in-law bought on Amazon this week.

👉 See what showed up here.

Where in Warwick was this photo taken? Answer shown at the end.

Gavone (gah-VOHN) | Noun: A person of spectacular indulgence. Italian-American dialect, rooted in the Southern Italian "cafone."

Every neighborhood has one. Mine is my buddy John, who shows up to the family party at the exact moment the cake is being cut, secures a corner piece with the most frosting before anyone has said happy birthday, and retreats directly to his recliner with a plate, a fork, and a sigh of relief so deep you genuinely can’t tell if it's satisfaction or a back problem. Textbook Gavone.

Sorry John, I couldn’t help myself.

Thanks to Corey L. 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!

✅ Where in Warwick Answer: Conimicut Point Park, right at the western tip of the Conimicut neighborhood where Narragansett Bay opens up toward Providence. One of the more underrated sunset spots in the state, which is saying something for a city that sits on the water the way Warwick does. If you have never walked out to the point on a clear evening, that is your assignment this weekend. You are welcome.

Thanks again to Family Treasures Thrift Store for sponsoring today's edition of The Warwick Wake Up. If you'd like to join our growing group of local sponsors and get your brand or business in front of Warwick’s most caffeinated consumers, just hit reply.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Warwick Wake Up. If you did, share it. Forward it. Send it to your most active group chat. Tell the world about it. If you didn’t, pretend this never happened... either way, have a great weekend, Warwick.

Thanks for reading. Keep smiling!