Mark Richards was on the phone, but I had trouble hearing him. There was a lot of banging going on.
“Get out of there,” Mark shouted. The clanking only grew louder. Then it went …
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By JOHN HOWELL
Warwick Beacon Editor
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7/17/25
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It’s no wonder that the Warwick Neck Fourth of July parade has become a tradition. It’s too much fun to not keep going year after year.
But it’s changed. That’s not a bad …
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By JOHN HOWELL
Warwick Beacon Editor
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7/10/25
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My son Ted stood back, looking at the table.
He held a tape measure and stretched it out. It was 6 feet long. We should all have intuitively known it was 6 feet. The metal-top table has been a …
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By JOHN HOWELL
Warwick Beacon Editor
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7/3/25
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Imagine the scene. You have just graduated from a four-year college and are probably still feeling the effects of celebrating with your friends and families. Or more likely it’s something else …
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By JOHN HOWELL, Warwick Beacon Editor
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6/11/25
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Gloria was outrageous in a good way.
She was colorful and commanded attention no matter where she was. That was her trademark, but as I learned, not her defining attribute.
Gloria Walker …
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By JOHN HOWELL
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6/5/25
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I got another perspective of Kent Hospital on Friday, one that I haven’t seen in more than 50 years of reporting news in Warwick. I was a patient at the hospital’s ambulatory care center, …
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5/28/25
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“He’s there.”
Sure enough just as Carol told me, the sparrow that befriended us was looking in the dining room window. Between perching on the windowsill, he would flutter up, …
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By JOHN HOWELL
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5/15/25
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Yet another charming and venerable homestead at Old Buttonwoods is about to bite the dust. Built in 1896 by the family of Hope Austin, our one-time neighbor, the Elsbree-Austin Cottage is not long …
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By RICHARD and JO-ANN LANGSETH
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5/15/25
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After Val Lawson won election last Tuesday as the new president of the Rhode Island Senate, she faced a battery of reporters’ questions about her dual role as head of that chamber and president …
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By IAN DONNIS
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5/8/25
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As a kid I never really thought too much about time. It seemed limitless.
Then school came along and you had to be there on time and, of course, get homework done on time. Time became both an …
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By JOHN HOWELL
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5/7/25
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The Warwick Center for the Arts was packed Saturday night. A huge display of fruits, cheeses, meats, crackers and hot hors d’oeuvres that were being replenished from the kitchen …
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By JOHN HOWELL
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5/1/25
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The unexpected death of Rhode Island Senate President Dominick Ruggerio at age 76 a week ago Monday marks the end of an era in more ways than one.
Ruggerio, widely revered by his members, was …
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4/30/25
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There’s no slowing Marcia Beagan down.
Whether it’s the Hendricken graduation, a wedding, a chorus concert or a church service, she’s there at her electric piano. She never …
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By JOHN HOWELL
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4/23/25
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If the sine qua non of President Donald Trump is about pushing boundaries, the apex of that tendency is coming front and center. The showdown over Kilmar Abrego Garcia in particular, and federal …
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4/22/25
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Notices have appeared faithfully in my email around the first of every month for years from Nathaniel Nazareth under the heading “Gorton Lunch.” In reality, Nat is forwarding messages …
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4/17/25
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“Do you know why schools are so expensive?”
I was all ears, waiting for Joe Crowley to give me the answer.
I should have expected such a question following Saturday morning …
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4/10/25
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I spotted the “coffee and donut man” as soon as I entered the Green Airport terminal about 5:20 a.m. Sunday. I hadn’t expected it to be so easy.
The place was packed. A …
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4/3/25
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There was no way of missing Gloria.
She made a point of standing out wherever she went in her bright orange bug with a bouquet of plastic flowers on the roof. And if you didn’t see her …
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3/27/25
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How can you measure hope?
I found myself asking the question after talking with Mike and Angelica “Gel” Penta at Mayor Frank Picozzi’s fundraiser Wednesday.
Mike and Gel …
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3/20/25
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Retired [and that word is used loosely] Providence Fire Chief George Farrell is always looking to raise money and to get a good deal. That’s why I figured he had come up with something when he …
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3/13/25
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