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🗓️ Join us for Rhode Map Live on Jan. 22 where we'll discuss reforming the education funding formula. You can sign up here.
Now that Governor Dan McKee has delivered his State of the State address and will unveil his proposed budget today, he’ll soon confront his next big political decision in a reelection year that will be chock full of them:
Judicial appointments.
The Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission is meeting at 5 p.m. to interview three candidates to be presiding justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court, and they all have plenty of political juice.
The candidates vying to replace retired Presiding Justice Alice Gibney are Justice R. David Cruise, Justice Richard A. Licht, and Justice Joseph A. Montalbano.
Cruise is a Cumberland guy who was appointed by former governor Gina Raimondo but sworn in by McKee (he's also McKee's second cousin). Licht, a former lieutenant governor, and Montalbano, a former Senate president, were appointed to judgeships by former governor Lincoln Chafee.
The buzz around the State House is that Montalbano is the favorite for the job, but the commission will forward its recommendation to McKee. Once McKee makes his pick, the Rhode Island Senate will hold a confirmation hearing.
The Providence Journal's Katie Mulvaneyhas a great breakdown of what the presiding justice does.
McKee has several other significant openings to fill in the judiciary, including for a District Court judgeship that was vacated when Melissa R. DuBose was promoted to a US District Court judgeship last year.
The favorite for DuBose’s spot has long been former Senate majority leader Michael McCaffrey, and Senate President Val Lawson has already said she supports the appointment (advocates have criticized McCaffrey’s record in the Senate, which included opposing same-sex marriage and abortion rights).
🤔 So you think you're a Rhode Islander...
In the election of 1926, Aram J. Pothier was reelected governor of Rhode Island, but he didn't finish his term because he died in office. Who became the governor when Pothier died?
(Answer at the bottom.)
Do you have the perfect question for Rhode Map readers? Don't forget to send the answer, too. Send me an email today.
The Globe in Rhode Island
⚓ On this week's edition of the Rhode Island Report podcast, Ed Fitzpatrick talks to Meko Lincoln, who spent 17 years behind bars before earning associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees from the Roger Williams University Extension School. Listen here.
⚓ State officials are discussing arming police at public colleges after a shooting at Brown University last month. Read more.
⚓ A new video released by the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office Wednesday shows the moment a gunman fled campus after a shooting last month that killed two students and injured nine others. Read more.
⚓ The city of Providence will hire an external consultant to review the city’s response to the shooting at Brown University last month. Read more.
You can check out all of our coverage at Globe.com/RI
Also in the Globe
⚓ Inflation has hit everyone hard, but specialty food business owners say it’s been more like a sucker punch, as their narrow suite of suppliers and customers, and their particular sensitivity to tariffs, amplify the price increases of the last five years. Read more.
⚓ The US Department of Education said Wednesday it’s investigating 18 schools, districts and departments across the country – including four in New England – over policies allowing transgender students to participate in sports. Read more.
⚓ Four days after third baseman Alex Bregman agreed to a five-year free agent deal with the Cubs, the Red Sox on Wednesday shifted their resources to the mound, signing free agent lefthander Ranger Suárez.Read more.
⚓ Rhode Map readers, if you want the birthday of a friend or family member to be recognized Friday, send me an email with their first and last name, and their age.
⚓ Governor McKee will submit to the General Assembly his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
⚓ The Judicial Nominating Commission is meeting at 5 p.m. Here's the agenda.
Norman S. Case, a former US attorney, was the Republican lieutenant governor when Pothier died. He became the governor, and then won two full terms as governor before losing to Democrat T.F. Green in 1932.
RHODE ISLAND REPORT PODCAST Ed Fitzpatrick talks to Meko Lincoln, a former spent 17 years behind bars before turning his life around. Listen to all of our podcasts here.
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