Happy Saturday! Here's another edition of my weekend column for WPRI.com -- as always, send your takes, tips and trial balloons to tnesi@wpri.com and follow me on Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Nesi's Notes SIGN UP NOW 1. D-Day for the future of Hasbro appears to be getting closer. After a century headquartered in the Ocean State, the toymaker is expected to make a decision by the end of this month about whether to move to Greater Boston. And there are serious doubts about whether the company will stay. One inauspicious sign: Governor McKee has reached out to Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks, but hasn't heard back, though his aides said Friday they have been in touch with other executives. Speaker Shekarchi similarly reports he hasn't heard anything from the company of late, though he's also monitoring how the new tariffs being put in place could shift executives' calculations. "We haven't heard an answer to the question that we want to have answered," McKee told our Alexandra Leslie on Friday. "They're on their own time clock," he said, adding, "We haven't heard that a decision has been made." State officials sound sincerely proud of the pitch they made to Hasbro, offering prime land in downtown Providence for a new HQ as well as all sorts of other enticements. But they've been on the back foot from the start, only learning about the company's dalliance with Massachusetts from news reports months into the process. "We would prefer Hasbro stays in the state," McKee said. "But if they decide to leave then we'll all wish them well and thank them for the years they've been here." That said, Hasbro may not make a binary stay-or-go choice. One option for the company would be to move its official headquarters to Boston -- including the C-suite -- but leave some back-office operations at its current facility in Pawtucket. 2. If Hasbro does decamp, Rhode Island will be down to just six companies on the Fortune 1000 list, leaving CVS (#6), United Natural Foods (#144), Textron (#308), Citizens (#337), FM Global (#418) and Amica (#940). For state leaders, a concerning fact about that list is the age of those businesses. UNFI is the youngest, founded in 1976, but the company was already well-established when it moved from Connecticut to Providence in 2009. So it's been two generations since Rhode Island added a major new publicly traded company that remains a major employer today; by contrast, Massachusetts has one that was founded this century (Wayfair) and several that were created in the 1980s. 3. The upheaval unleashed by President Trump's administration continues to reverberate locally, as Tim White and I discuss with Globe reporter Steph Machado on this week's Newsmakers. No Trump move seemed to generate more attention than his executive order to begin dismantling the U.S. Department of Education (though full elimination of the agency would take an act of Congress). Steph, who covers education, said the impact of the order remains unclear. "There could be a number of effects in K-12 schools in Rhode Island," she said. "I don't think we would see them immediately. But down the line, if a child with disabilities is having their civil rights violated, will the Education Department be there to investigate it?" Rhode Island also made headlines on immigration, after a Brown Medicine doctor from Lebanon was deported last Friday under murky circumstances. Federal authorities didn't disclose until Monday morning that the doctor had allegedly shown sympathy for Hezbollah and its leader -- and even then, reporters had an arduous time accessing the relevant court documents, as Nancy Lavin explains in this detailed story. Additionally, there was continued fallout from the attempted elimination of USAID for Edesia, the Rhode Island nonprofit founded by Navyn Salem that sells nutritious food which the federal government buys for poor countries. Salem disclosed this week she just laid off 10% of her staff because of conflicting signals from the administration about contracts and payments. And in higher education, Brown President Christina Paxson sent out a new letter explaining the university's approach to changes by the administration. "Some of these demands raise new and previously unthinkable questions about the future of academic freedom and self-governance for those that are committed to continuing to serve this country as leading research institutions," she wrote. 4. The drumbeat of criticism targeting federal judges, including Rhode Island U.S. Chief Judge John McConnell, escalated enough this week that Chief Justice Roberts took the extraordinary step of releasing a public statement of rebuke. "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," Roberts said. "The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose." Coincidentally, Rhode Island's congressional delegation was spotted this week paying a visit to federal court in Providence. Chip Unruh, a spokesperson for Senator Reed, confirmed that the four lawmakers were there for what he described as an annual lunch with the state's federal judges, as well as their clerks and probation leaders. "And to be clear," Unruh added, "the purpose of the gathering is to discuss the judiciary’s budget and other administrative issues and never the specifics of open cases." 5. So far, the Providence City Council is giving united backing to Mayor Smiley as he seeks General Assembly approval for a tax hike over the state-mandated 4% limit, though council leaders emphasize they set 8% as the maximum possible increase, not a target for the final amount. (Our Alex Leslie reports from City Hall that the unanimous council vote was actually 14-0, because Councilman John Goncalves missed it.) 6. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio's health remains a source of concern, with the veteran Democrat missing both sessions this week despite previous suggestions that he'd try to return on Tuesday or Thursday. Ruggerio has been out of sight since his release from the hospital following a bout of pneumonia, and hasn't attended a Senate session since Feb. 4. Asked for an update Friday, Ruggerio issued this statement through his office: "I am recuperating at home and feeling much better. I look forward to returning to the Senate, and to the rostrum, in the near future. While I have been unable to be physically present in the chamber over the last few weeks, I am grateful to all of my colleagues for ensuring that the Senate never skipped a beat. Throughout this temporary setback, I have remained in constant contact with Majority Leader Valarie Lawson, Whip David Tikoian, the committee chairs and the members." 7. The absence of Senate President Ruggerio has added to the uncertain outlook for the proposed assault weapons ban. Supporters entered the year more bullish than they had been in previous years, with Ruggerio suggesting a potential change of heart on the issue and Governor McKee announcing he'd prioritize the measure by including it in his budget bill. But the budget move fell flat, with Speaker Shekarchi saying publicly it didn't belong in the tax-and-spending plan and also raising constitutional concerns about a proposed gun registry. There is also resistance from some municipal officials, with the Lincoln Town Council passing a resolution in opposition to the measure on Tuesday. Advocates on both sides of the issue are well-organized and fervent, which only makes the outcome harder to handicap. 8. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Baltimore bridge collapse has raised concerns about other spans around the country -- including the Pell Bridge. 9. When it comes to the housing crisis, Rhode Island saw quite a split screen this week. On Tuesday, the advocacy group Neighbors Welcome released a new poll of voters showing 57% think housing is one of the two biggest issues facing the state today, and 88% want lawmakers to work on the issue, reinforcing previous surveys that have also showed housing is a major concern. (For political junkies, the poll also pegged Governor McKee's job approval rating at 36%.) On the same day, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted a temporary restraining order against Johnston Mayor Joe Polisena Jr. as he tries to seize a property by eminent domain in order to avoid it being turned into affordable housing. Meantime, RIPEC is warning that the rapid rise in property valuations of recent years risks throwing tax policy out of whack. 10. More on housing: House GOP Leader Mike Chippendale is frustrated with administration officials over what he argues is a lack of transparency regarding the cost of the pallet shelters. 11. Don't miss this strange story about DCYF from Eli Sherman and Sarah Guernelli. 12. Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss has mostly demurred when reporters press him about whether he's contemplating a Democratic primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Ed Markey next year. But Markey is said to be taking the possibility seriously, and the 78-year-old incumbent isn't likely to be caught napping after nearly a half-century on Capitol Hill. Auchincloss has been even more ubiquitous in the media than usual as Democrats grapple with the party's future, positioning himself as a voice of generational change and aligning himself with the "abundance agenda" currently being touted by authors Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (not to mention Providence's Marc Dunkelman). A fresh wave of speculation swept Massachusetts politics Thursday evening after CommonWealth's Gin Dumcius reported on a new poll being conducted to test Markey's strength against five other prominent Democrats: Marty Walsh, Deval Patrick, Andrea Campbell, Ayanna Pressley, and Auchincloss. With a year and a half to go before the 2026 primary, and Democratic Party politics in such a state of ferment, the situation bears continued watching. (And remember -- if Auchincloss runs for Senate, that means yet another open U.S. House seat in our region, too.) 13. Speaking of Southeastern Massachusetts, Governor Healey will be all over Bristol County on Monday to celebrate the first day of MBTA train service to New Bedford and Fall River -- 33 years after her predecessor Bill Weld told the Fall River Herald News that locals could sue him if the commuter rail didn't get up and running. Per Healey's office: "Governor Healey and [MBTA] General Manager Eng will ride the train from Fall River inbound to East Taunton and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll and [MassDOT] Secretary Tibbits-Nutt will ride from New Bedford inbound to East Taunton. They will end with a celebratory press conference at the East Taunton station." And if you want to try out the trains during their inaugural trips, this is a great time to do it: the MBTA is making service free through the end of March (and free on weekends through the end of April). 14. South County Hospital remains in turmoil, with hospital executives now filing suit against activists who are pressing for a change in management, as our Eli Sherman reports. Separately, Attorney General Peter Neronha's office confirmed to me Friday that the AG recently met with South County Hospital leaders at their request, but declined to reveal more about what they discussed. 15. Next week is going to be a big one here at WPRI 12, and I hope you'll all join in the fun. Starting Monday, we will have a week of special coverage commemorating our 70th anniversary on the airwaves, kicking off with my two-part story at 5 p.m. about the history of the station all the way back to the black-and-white days of Mort Blender and Salty Brine. From there we'll have daily stories on everything from the Mafia and the PawSox to how TV technology has changed over the years. A big group of us at the station has worked together to digitize and organize loads of old film and tape so we can show you clips that haven't been seen in decades -- like this footage of Providence on the day of JFK's assassination -- and each of the reports is going to be a treat. Here's my preview of what you can expect, and don't miss some vintage political clips on this weekend's edition of Newsmakers, too. A half-hour 70th anniversary special featuring highlights from the weeklong coverage will air Thursday at 5:30 p.m on WPRI 12 and 10:30 p.m. on Fox Providence -- make sure you download our new 12+ smart TV app so you can stream that (and all our other local programming). 16. Condolences to the family and friends of David Graves, longtime spokesperson for National Grid, who has died at the age of 76. A U.S. Army veteran, Graves had a long career in Rhode Island media and communications, including stints at both WPRI and WJAR. He was always responsive and had a dry wit -- even when reporters were calling him every 15 minutes during a blizzard, desperate for some tiny new morsel of storm information for our next live shot. Word of his death came from Ted Kesse, who succeeded Graves at National Grid and is now with the state auto dealers association. "I’ll never forget the storm of October 2017, which came out of nowhere and really did some damage across the state, with outages everywhere," Kresse told me in an email. "Dave had only been retired a few months but was quick to post a selfie sitting in the dark with a scotch in hand and something to the effect of, 'Haven’t had power for 24 hours, and haven’t had to take one call from the media. Retirement doesn’t get any better than this!'" Rest in peace, Dave. 17. Set your DVRs: This week on Newsmakers — reporters' roundtable. Watch Sunday at 5:30 a.m. on WPRI 12 and 10 a.m. on Fox Providence, or listen on the radio Sunday at 6 p.m. on WPRO. You can also subscribe to Newsmakers as a podcast via Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you back here next Saturday. Ted Nesi (tnesi@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media:                     Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup SIGN UP NOW ...read more read less