Warwick Winter Wonderland

Friday, January 30th, 2026 | Edition 04

GOOD MORNING, WARWICK. Hope your back has recovered, your chiropractor is on-call, and your boss has forgiven you for working from home all week. We’ve got (yes) another weather-maker rolling into town this weekend, and meteorologists are calling this system a “bomb cyclone”… sounds like a form of late-stage cold war weaponry… But hey, it can’t be all that bad. We’ve got just 48 days until Spring and a Super Bowl party to plan for next weekend. Plus our mayor is quite literally in the streets pushing cars out of snow banks and plowing roads like someone’s filming a cinematic campaign ad. What a time to be a Warwickian.

Here's what's going on in your city today.

Just when you thought it was safe to put the shovel away, meteorologists are throwing around terms like "bomb cyclone" — which, again, sounds like something the Pentagon would classify. This weekend's sequel features 40+ mph winds, potential blizzard conditions, and wind chills hitting -20°F. Oh, and there's a full moon, so tides will be extra dramatic and werewolves will scour through Goddard Park. AccuWeather says 5,000+ flights could be cancelled. Looks like another Sunday indoors, which would be great except for the fact that instead of watching a real game, we’ll be placing wagers on grown men yanking flags off their belts in the (now) annual flag football NFL pro bowl. Riveting.

By the way, word on the street is that there’s an even bigger storm brewing for next weekend… woof.

With Sunday's blizzard bearing down, Mayor Picozzi did something any concerned abuelita would do: he posted to Facebook asking residents to drop off food for DPW workers pulling all-nighters on the plows.

The response? Overwhelming.

More than 100 households contributed — bottled juices, water, snack bars, chips, and homemade cookies. DPW workers were in awe of the level of support.

Hats off to all the DPW night owls who grinded through the 36-hour plow-a-thon. Some workers were on the streets for nearly two days attempting to clean up the shlop.

Of course, no good deed goes un-Karenned. When school resumed Tuesday, a few residents took to socials to report that the sidewalks outside Warwick Veterans Middle School hadn't been cleared yet. And look — fair point. In addition to the school sidewalks, dozens of fire hydrants and bus stops were (and still are) blanketed by plowed snow. Luckily the school acted quickly and the sidewalks were cleared prior to the bell.

While we were hunkered down inside munching on meatballs and Doritos, you could find Mayor Frank Picozzi behind the wheel of his own plow truck (which he probably secretly calls the “Plow-cozzi Pickup” or the “Franky-F150”) clearing roads, pushing a spun-out car back to safety on Tidewater Drive, and occasionally tuning into the Patriots game via his truck’s radio dial. What a guy.

In the wake of the December mass shooting at Brown University, Warwick's own Sen. Peter Appollonio Jr. has introduced legislation to arm all police officers at Rhode Island's public colleges.

The bill (2026-S 2053) would mandate arming campus cops at CCRI, RIC, and URI and require officers to complete firearm training through the state Police Officers Commission.

Right now, CCRI cops are basically unarmed mall security. Warwick PD Chief Michael Lima and Mayor Picozzi are cheering it on, betting it'll finally pass this session after previous flops. Bipartisan backup from co-sponsor Sen. Todd Patalano calls it "long overdue"—because nothing says 'proactive' like waiting for a wake-up call.

🗳️ Early Voting Extended: City Hall opens extended hours this Saturday (8:30am-4:30pm) for the $50M school bond special election. Tuesday, Feb 3 is the big day — four questions on the ballot including funding for Pilgrim and Toll Gate athletic fields.

🔥 This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Someone at a Warwick marina thought it would be a good idea to light icy gutters alongside the exterior of the building up with a blow torch to help speed up the melting process. We can confirm: Bad idea. Firefighters responded to Masthead Drive Thursday after the genius plan sparked a fire in a warehouse partition. No injuries, quickly contained.

🏠 Historic Pawtuxet Village Colonial Home Coming Down: The 1775 house at 98 Post Rd in Pawtuxet Village was approved for demolition — restoration costs were just too high for the owners, so they had asked the town for approval to knock it all down and build it back up. The home survived 250 years of New England winters but couldn't survive the repair estimate.

🏀Local Hoops: The Bishop Hendricken-Classical rivalry stayed hot last week when senior Will Cary hit a game-winning shot with 2.3 seconds left to lift the Hawks to a 57-55 win. Despite the win, the Hawks sit 5 games behind Classical for third place in the Division 1 rankings with a record of 6-6.

A Providence man was shoveling his driveway this week when he discovered... a three-foot tegu lizard. Yes, a tropical, South American lizard. In a New England blizzard. The poor guy was extremely weak, underweight, and had frostbite on his tongue — which, same. He's now recovering at ET Reptiles after being gradually warmed back to life. No word yet on where he came from or who's missing a pet that absolutely did not sign up for this weather.

Tucked into Pawtuxet Village on Broad Street (technically in Cranston, but I’m claiming for the greater Warwick area because I make the rules), Beans & Buns has become the neighborhood's go-to for house-made pastries, creative breakfast sandwiches, and coffee that actually tastes like someone cared.

Open 7am to 2pm daily, it's the perfect pit stop before — or let's be honest, instead of — whatever you had planned for the morning. The cinnamon buns are the star — chewy, gooey, cinnamon sugar perfection. The scones have a cult following (try the whole grain with dried apricots). Feeling savory? The bacon, apple, and brie on brioche is dangerously good, and the pastrami reuben on country rye doesn't mess around either.

The vibe is bright, cozy, and the kind of place where you'll "just grab a quick coffee" and somehow end up staying for hours.

That's it for today. Got a tip, found a lizard, or just want to talk pats? Hit reply. See you Monday.

Stay warm, Warwick ☕

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

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