☕ Madness Szn

Friday, March 20, 2026 | Edition #18

GOOD MORNING, WARWICK. Spring officially arrives this morning at 10:46am - yes, that’s a real fact - and all 82,000 of us are letting out a sigh of relief at the exact same time. Today we say goodbye to a winter that brought nearly 70 inches of snow, hundreds of condominium-sized potholes, and a heating bill that had you and your significant other briefly considering selling your cat’s jungle gym just to stay afloat.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Winter.

Not a Warwick headline, but the only headline that matters this weekend - March Madness officially tipped off yesterday, and roughly 70 million brackets were filled out - all of which will likely be busted by Sunday. For context, there are 9.2 quintillion possible bracket outcomes, meaning your odds of a perfect bracket are roughly 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning while holding a winning lottery ticket. Twice.

Every year, millions of Americans fill out their brackets with supreme confidence, convinced that their system - whether it's based on analytics, mascots, uniform colors, or pure gut instinct - is the one that cracks the code. Every year, they are humbled by halftime of the first game. Duke, Michigan, Arizona, and Florida enter as the four No. 1 seeds, the chalk picks to go deep - but the whole point of March Madness is that the chalk rarely survives the weekend. For anyone interested, click here to access this year’s perfect bracket tracker.

Closer to home, Rhode Island has its own reason to tune in this Saturday. The URI Women's basketball team is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 30 years, heading to Louisville as an 11-seed to take on No. 6 Alabama. The Rams finished 28-4 and won the A-10 Tournament title - a season that by any measure has been historic. Rhode Island doesn't get many moments like this. Make sure you're watching.

Warwick seniors, your one-night cram session just became a four-year lifestyle. Starting with the Class of 2028, the district is scrapping the traditional senior capstone in favor of a multi-year portfolio - internships, community service, career exploration, real-world experience - all building toward a final showcase before graduation.

Gone is the "wing it senior year and pray" strategy. In its place: proof that you actually did something between 2025 and 2028 besides perfecting your lunch table seating chart.

School officials call the new model more "organic" - which is either a glowing endorsement of experiential learning or the most reassuring word they could find for "yes, this is more work."

At the end of the day, this is what preparing young men and women for life actually looks like.

For the first time since 2015, Warwick high schools will compete in a girls hockey state championship. Initially reported by The Warwick Beacon, The newly formed Warwick/La Salle/West Warwick co-op team punched their ticket last week with a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime win over Smithfield/Coventry/Moses Brown in the state semifinals. Tied 1-1 after regulation and scoreless through the first OT, Noelle Pezzeli found the back of the net with just 43 seconds left in the second extra period to send them through. Senior Lauren Bastien said it best: "This group is really special." Warwick knows the feeling - and it's been a while. Don't miss this one.

On the boys side, top-seeded Bishop Hendricken held off Pilgrim 4-2 in the Frozen Four to advance to the Division I state championship for the sixth straight year, where they'll face rival La Salle Academy.

Kent Hospital isn't just aging gracefully - it's renovating aggressively.

The hospital is planning a three-story, 80,000-square-foot expansion that would add a new main entrance, improved access points, and a modern ambulatory services building designed to make navigating care actually... navigable. The project is pending approval of an $85 million loan expected next month. Officials are quick to clarify this isn't growth for growth's sake - it's about upgrading aging infrastructure and meeting the real needs of the community.

The expansion would support roughly 70 jobs between new and retained positions, and arrives right as the hospital approaches its 75th anniversary - a birthday gift to itself and to every Warwick resident who'd prefer shorter hallways and clearer signage on their worst days. Not a bad way to turn 75.

Access the full story here.

A Bug’s Life - Roger Williams Park Zoo is opening "A Bug's World" on April 11 - a new immersive exhibit where ants are the size of dogs, butterflies are larger than life, and you can crawl through honeycombs and come face to face with larger-than-life caterpillars, beetles, and ladybugs. It runs through August 9, and yes, the bugs are enormous on purpose. If your kids have been begging to see a wasp the size of a school bus, their moment has arrived. Tickets are an add-on to general admission and should be purchased in advance at rwpzoo.ticketapp.org. Worth the trip - just maybe don't go if you already have a thing about bugs.

A Storybook Ending – On Wednesday night, Blackstone Valley Schools won their first-ever Division II state hockey championship, defeating Lincoln 3-2 in quadruple overtime - capping one of the most emotional runs in Rhode Island sports history. Senior Colin Dorgan, who lost his mother, brother, and grandfather in the Lynch Arena shooting six weeks ago, returned to the ice and delivered: his deflection goal tied the game with 30 seconds left in regulation, and four overtimes later, his team had a title. Pointing to the heart patch on his jersey stitched with his family's initials, Dorgan said he felt them with him the whole time. Coach Chris Librizzi summed it up simply: "We won this tournament because of love." Check out WPRI’s full coverage on this amazing story here.

Rhode Island: The Car Wash Capital of the World – Another day, another car wash ribbon cutting in Warwick. ScrubaDub opened its new location on Division Street this week, and look - we’re happy for them. But at some point, someone has to ask the question: how many car washes does one state actually need? There are now 228 car washes in Rhode Island, which feels like a number that should require some sort of permit on its own, and Warwick is doing its part to keep the total climbing. At this rate, your car could get washed three times on the way to the grocery store without ever taking a left turn. We’re not complaining… just mildly confused and extremely clean.

Do you know what this rock structure is called and where it’s located in Warwick?

Perfidious (adj.) - Deceitful and untrustworthy. As in: "March weather in Rhode Island."

📍Where in Warwick Answer: That’s Drum Rock - tucked behind the Cowesett Hills area. For generations, this massive glacial boulder was balanced so precisely that people could rock it back and forth, creating a deep booming sound that gave it its name. Local legend says the “drum” could be heard from miles away - some even claimed up to 8 miles - and that Native Americans once used it as a signaling rock. It became one of Warwick’s most unique landmarks before eventually being moved due to noise and safety concerns, bringing an end to the city’s original low-budget sound system.

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That's it for today. Have a tip or a story suggestion? Send it over - I promise to pretend I already knew about it.

Stay safe, Warwick ☕

The Warwick Wake Up | Keeping Warwick in the know in 10 minutes or less.