STORY OF THE WEEK: Although getting an appointment with a doctor is a fundamental need, doing that has become increasingly difficult due to the shortage of primary care physicians in Rhode Island. Primary care makes all the sense in the world; Costa Ricans have a longer life expectancy than Americans, at least in part because that country places more of an emphasis on lifelong health than end-stage disease. But a number of factors complicate efforts to improve the situation in Rhode Island. Specialists earn more money, and doctors can earn more money in Connecticut and Massachusetts. “But also we have an aging workforce and we’re not training enough primary care providers to come and stay in Rhode Island, or incentivizing them to come and stay in Rhode Island,” state Sen. Pamela Lauria (D-Barrington) said during an interview on Political Roundtable this week.

With URI President Marc Parlange, Lauria co-chairs a legislative panel examining the potential benefits of creating a state med school at URI. The panel is not due to report its findings until December 2025, and Lauria said she hasn’t yet come to her own conclusion. At the same time, she said, Rhode Island is one of only two states without a public medical school, and going out of state or to a private school is very costly. The state remains in the early innings of confronting a host of healthcare-related challenges, from fiscally troubled hospitals to a heavy reliance on Medicaid. For supporters like former state Health Director Dr. Michael Fine (a member of the URI study Commission), a heightened emphasis on primary care helps address a lot of issues, but getting from here to there remains a big lift.

WASHINGTON BRIDGE: As an East Bay lawmaker, Sen. Lauria is among those dealing with ongoing bridge fallout. Westbound traffic continues to move well since RIDOT reconfigured lanes a few months ago, but extended backups continue eastbound, along with periodic snarls of traffic in and around Providence. As far as the bridge, Lauria said, “It has had an enormous impact on all of the East Bay residents, which is my entire district. So I think that right now we need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to get that situation fixed as fast as we can.” She said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti has been meeting virtually with East Bay lawmakers on an almost weekly basis. However, an RFP has yet to be issued for a new bridge and the state has no answer for when the project will be completed, as Gov. Dan McKee told Kim Kalunian this week. McKee’s office said Wednesday he was traveling out of state to spend time with his family and will return on Oct. 5.

NOT TALKING: With the Washington Bridge remaining a top statewide story, Gov. McKee and Director Alviti declined interview requests for a Boston Globe report updating the bridge saga this week. In response to requests for an interview with Alviti, RIDOT Communications Director Lisbeth Pettengill told me in June that the agency was “not booking interviews, other than those we have been doing on a regular schedule for several years, until we start work on the Washington Bridge.” McKee last appeared on Political Roundtable more than a year ago, in May 2023, despite repeated invitations this year.

RI SENATE: Will 2025 be the year when Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, 75, cedes his leadership? Asked who she would support if there’s a change, Sen. Lauria told me on Roundtable, “Nobody has told me that the president plans to step away. He certainly hasn’t said that to me. I look forward to getting back in January and the president being there to lead the Senate as he has for many years. So right now we’re looking at the election. I have many colleagues that have elections coming up in November, so I’m looking to help, you know where I can, in those elections, and then we’ll see what happens come January.”

HOUSING: House Speaker Joe Shekarchi made a pitch in DC this week for more federal money to help Rhode Island confront its housing crisis. While the phrase “affordable housing” is widely misunderstood, Shekarchi made the point that a wide range of people are being affected by soaring housing prices: “In Rhode Island, a household earning our state’s median income of $74,000 would not be able to buy an affordable house in any of our cities and towns. These families include our teachers, nurses, firefighters, healthcare aides. These workers are the backbone of our community and they should be able to live in the communities they serve.”

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY: The indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams sparked allusions to the late former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, who had a robust 61 percent approval rating around the time when he was indicted in 2001. Cianci remained popular as the case against him moved forward and even after he wound up serving a few years in prison on a single count of racketeering conspiracy. During his last comeback, in 2014, Rhode Island’s rascal king fell short to Jorge Elorza, but he still got 45% of the vote. As controversy swirled around Adams, The New York Times’ Ginia Bellafante asked Cianci biographer Mike Stanton what accounted for Buddy’s enduring popularity. “The charisma trumps the corruption,” Stanton responded. “It’s a cynical view of the world that Robert Penn Warren expressed. Everyone is corruptible. Politics is corrupt. But Buddy got things done. He made us feel good about ourselves. He put a second-tier city on the map.”

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: Rhode Islanders will vote in November on whether to organize a constitutional convention, and there are strong arguments on both sides, as Kathy Gregg reported this week. Supporters say a ConCon could offer a work-around in the face of a reluctant legislature on issues like creating an Office of Inspector General. Opponents say a convention would offer an opening for a range of reactionary ideas. Regardless, if voters do approve a ConCon, a special election would be held next year to elect 75 delegates, and since those delegates are elected through RI House districts, the House leadership would still have considerable influence over the process. Rhode Island’s last constitutional convention was held in 1986.

SHORT TAKES:

— URI President Marc Parlange used his latest annual address to celebrate what he called a year of tremendous growth and success for RhodeI Island’s flagship public university. The Wall Street Journal recently ranked URI as the top public university in New England.

— There’s still a critical mass of reporters from different outlets focused on top stories in and around Providence. But the demise of the ProJo’s once-vaunted network of statewide bureaus means that a number of communities get less day-to-day coverage in the past. Fiscal problems in Coventry, coming on the heels of a questionable land deal in Woonsocket, point to fertile reporting turf beyond the capital city.

— Rest in Peace, Maggie Smith.

— The second nationwide “Week Without Driving” starts Monday and runs through Oct 6. Via release: “The #WeekWithoutDriving is a challenge for elected leaders, advocates, and individuals to step into the shoes of those who cannot or choose not to drive. Participants are encouraged to engage in all their daily activities without driving themselves, employing any other form of transportation. This endeavor aims to broaden understanding and empathy towards the everyday barriers faced by nondrivers, be it due to disability, age, economic circumstances, or personal choice.”

— Is Boston’s Triston Casas the quirkiest player in all of baseball?

— Track 15, the Marsella family’s new food hall in the back of One Union Station, has announced plans to open in February. The planned culinary attractions include Little Chaska, Tolia, Dune Brothers, Dolores, There There, Giusto PVD, and Mother Pizzeria PVD for “a variety of fare, from burgers and seafood to Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Italian.”

DEEP BLUE: Back in June, before reports emerged about octopuses partnering with fish while hunting, U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, introduced the OCTOPUS ACT, a bipartisan bill banning octopus farming. “Octopuses are among the most intelligent creatures in the oceans,” Whitehouse said at the time. “And they belong at sea, not suffering on a factory farm. My bipartisan bill with Senator Murkowski would preemptively prevent U.S. companies from participating in this brutal practice before it takes root.” Now, Leonardo DiCaprio has given the measure his support via IG.

KICKER: The 2024 Red Sox performed better than expected for part of the season before going into a tailspin. The team has some strong players and may get better with prospects, even if pitching remains a big question. But the Sox’ most recent World Series appearance, in 2018, is receding into the past and Boston was eliminated from the postseason for the third consecutive year. The penurious ways of wealthy team owner John Henry will become a sore spot for more fans if the Sox remain in the baseball wilderness.

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@thepublicsradio.org.