Monday, August 17, 2026 | Edition #51
GOOD MORNING, WARWICK. For all of those who attended the Washington County Fair this weekend, I hope the cow you bet on won, the turkey leg you gobbled down was tah-die-for, and the mosquito bites on your ankles go away at some point between now and Labor Day. If you were too busy city-slickin' or watching Netflix on the couch with Han Palace General Tso's Chicken in hand like me, there's always next year.
We are already halfway through August, plummeting towards the start of the school year, which means I'm just a few weeks away from waking up at 5:45 AM every morning whether I like it or not. My wife's morning routine involves lots of back and forth in the closet, and a "hair wand" that barks like a Doberman pinscher. I'll enjoy these last few weeks of "sleeping in" until 7 AM. I know I'm not alone.
In today's newsletter, we'll look at:
Governor McKee's Supreme Court pick, and why it means Shekarchi's lifetime robe dreams have been halted
A kindergarten enrollment boom that's somehow happening while the rest of the district shrinks
An 18th-century Pawtuxet Village home that quietly vanished from Post Road
TODAY’S SNAPSHOT
⏱️ Sunset Time: 7:42 PM
🌊 Daytime High Tide: 11:30 AM
⛽ Avg. Gas Price: $3.92 (click here to find the cheapest gas near you)
☀️ UV Index: 2.0
☔ Chance of Rain: 80%
🗓️On This Day: August 17, 1978. Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman became the first people to complete a transatlantic balloon flight, taking six days to fly from Presque Isle, Maine to a barley field near Paris in a balloon called the Double Eagle II. Imagine having balloon access to cross from West Bay to East Bay. The Washington Bridge would be a problem of the past.
WEATHAH THIS WEEK
WHAT’S GOIN’ AHN
📢 The Top 5:
#1 ⚖️Governor McKee appoints Matos over Shekarchi
After weeks of drama, ethics reviews, and appeals, Governor McKee picked Judge Luis Matos to fill the open seat on Rhode Island's Supreme Court, passing over former House Speaker Joe Shekarchi. It felt about as anticlimactic as a late ninth-inning rally that ends in a bunted foul ball for out three. Matos has been a judge since 2012 and was one of five names on the shortlist, but the whole thing turned into a mess once people started asking whether a powerful lawmaker should be allowed to walk straight into a lifetime seat on the state's highest court right after leaving office. That led to an ethics complaint and a legal fight, and it's still not fully settled: the Ethics Commission is now appealing an earlier court ruling that had cleared Shekarchi to apply in the first place. Even with a pick made, state lawmakers say they won't vote to confirm anyone until after the November 3 election, so nothing's official yet.
As for Shekarchi, he gave up one of the most powerful jobs in state government chasing a seat he didn't get, which is a rough way for that bet to play out.
#2 📵Warwick Schools' New Cell Phone Ban is Officially Official
Remember that phone policy I told you about a few months back, back when it was still just a "coming soon" rumor floating around group chats (ironically)? Well, the wait is over, and so is your kid's TikTok scrolling during third period. As of August 1, Rhode Island General Law 16-21-43 is officially in effect, meaning Warwick students can't use personal devices during the school day, full stop, phones silenced and stored like it's 2003 and we're all back to passing paper notes and praying the bell rings faster. There are exceptions for 504s, IEPs, medical needs like glucose monitoring, and language access, because the state isn't totally heartless, just mostly heartless toward anyone trying to text "wyd" during algebra.
First and second offenses get your phone confiscated and held hostage in the main office until dismissal, like a tiny rectangular hostage negotiation. Third offense, though, and now mom or dad has to physically show up, sit through a parent conference, and muster up all the mental strength in the world just to not throw the phone into the Pawtuxet River. Consider this your back-to-school PSA: tell your kid the phone stays in the bag, or prepare to become a recurring character in the main office's daily drama.
#3 🚸Warwick's Kindergartens Are Bursting While the Rest of the District Shrinks
Just when everyone assumed Warwick's public school enrollment would keep sliding into oblivion like every other prediction about this state, kindergarteners showed up and said “nah.” As the School Department preps for the first day of school, the usual story of shrinking enrollment ran into an odd contradiction: kindergartens are bursting at the seams. We're talking a room built for 20 five-year-olds suddenly hosting what feels like a Black Friday doorbuster crowd, if the doorbusters were three feet tall, sobbing about missing their moms, and occasionally eating glue.
The School Committee approved funding this week for an extra teacher and teacher's assistant to open a brand new kindergarten classroom at Norwood Elementary. Meanwhile the rest of the district is apparently still shrinking, so picture a school system that's simultaneously overflowing at the front door and hemorrhaging out the back, like a bathtub with the faucet cranked and the drain wide open. Somewhere out there, a wave of 2021 pandemic babies just collectively enrolled themselves and made Norwood Elementary's front office reach for the good coffee.
#4 🏚️ An 18th-Century Pawtuxet Village Home Just Got Demolished
If you drove past 98 Post Rd this week and thought "wait, wasn't there a house there," you weren't imagining it. The 18th-century home at the gateway to Pawtuxet Village came down on August 4, and the history behind it is heavier than your average teardown. The property once belonged to Thomas Remington, a slave owner and ship captain who bought the lot from Peter Rhodes back in 1785, according to a 2010 write-up by former Historic District Commissioner Ginny Leslie. Property owners Kingsley Catalucci and Michael Hechavarria, who live next door in their own 1790 Colonial, got the green light from the Historic District Commission back in January, on the condition that they also get their rebuild designs approved. Two months later they came back with architect David S. Okerlund and got the new design unanimously approved.
The commission decided the home wasn't a "great loss" to the city and that restoring it would've been a financial nightmare for the owners. That decision was backed by testimony from a restoration expert and a structural engineer, both of whom called the place unsafe. A local broker added that the couple had already tried and failed to sell the home outright.
The new house going up in its place will echo the original with nine-panel divided windows, clapboard siding, and a faux chimney as a nod to the real one that used to be there. They'll still need to go before the Zoning Board for dimensional relief to build on the same footprint, so this one isn't fully wrapped up yet.
#5 🌯 New Qdoba on Bald Hill Road Gave 100 People Free Burritos for a Year
Warwick's new Qdoba celebrated its grand opening Friday at 1020 Bald Hill Road, though technically the doors have been open since early July, so this was more of a victory lap than a debut. Starting at 11 AM, the first 100 people in line scored free burrito bowls for an entire year, which is the kind of math that makes a person seriously reconsider their Friday plans. There was also a live DJ and giveaways going all day, and on the community side, Qdoba donated $1,000 to Winman Middle School during the ribbon-cutting. The new spot employs around 30 people and is open daily from 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM, so Warwick's queso options just got a lot more convenient.
RETAIL
Wedding season is in full swing, and this weekend featured a bride, a groom, and an Amazon package being delivered on my front doorstep at 5:30 AM.
BRAIN FOOD
🧠 Where in Warwick
🧐 Where was the above photo taken? Click the location you think is correct below. No cheating! Answer revealed at the end.
📸 Have a photo you want featured in next week's edition? Reply to this email with the image attached!
EVENTS THIS WEEK
🚔 Bump with the Blue | Saturday, August 22, 10 AM - 2 PM | Go bumper to bumper with the men and women in blue. Greenwood Credit Union Plaza. Bumper cars and time with Warwick's finest, bring the whole family.
🦪 Shuck Yeah! | Sunday, August 23, 1 PM - 4 PM | Apponaug Brewing | Live music & fresh oysters, Shuck Yeah! Join them on the patio for live music with Winelight and fresh oysters from 401 Oyster Co.
Have an event you’d like me to plug? Just shoot me an email with the details! —> [email protected]
RECURRING EVENTS
🥬 Conimicut Village Community Market | Saturdays, 9 AM-12 PM through Sept 26. Free. Local vendors and a waterfront village to wander on a Saturday morning. Info
🌽 Goddard Park Farmers Market | Fridays, 9 AM-1 PM through October. Fresh local produce in a waterfront park. A solid excuse to be outside before noon. Info
📚 Warwick Public Library | Ongoing events each and every day of the week across all locations. Tell your kids to put the Fortnite down. Time for a story and a Capri Sun. Info
🏛️ City Council Meetings | Select Mondays, 6:30 PM, City Hall Chambers. Ordinances, budgets, and the occasional spicy public hearing. Check the calendar first. Calendar
ONE LAST SIP
✅ Where in Warwick Answer: Gel’s Kitchen.
This week's spot is a diner that leans hard into its retro roots, and it shows. Gel's Kitchen sits at 3003 West Shore Road in the Buttonwoods neighborhood, tucked behind that unmistakable red door and checkerboard trim. The whole place is a family operation. Angelica and Michael Penta own it, and Angelica always worked in restaurants and wanted a place named after her, which is where "Gel," her nickname, comes from. Michael had owned a restaurant himself years earlier before stepping away to run his construction business full time, and when he met Angelica and heard about her dream, he decided to get back into it. The original West Warwick location opened in 2011, and the Warwick spot followed as Gel's Kitchen 2.
Expect familiar favorites, daily specials, and get this… they even do hot weiners. All served in a diner packed with vintage toy cars, old gas station tins, and a pinball machine watching over the whole thing. It's open 7 AM to 2 PM on weekdays and 7 AM to 1 PM on weekends. Check it out this week!
That's it for today. Have a story suggestion, a tip, or just looking for a Spotify playlist that features every song you’ve ever heard at Dave’s Marketplace? Yup, I’ve got that too. Just hit reply. Thanks for reading!
Keep smiling!
