Honestly, she probably didn't really consider it but is just saying so to sound respectful so she can run for Gov again in 2026.

I second all the spots in Warren! An underrated food scene, it really surprised me for a such a small town.

Any ideas on who might run to fill the seat? Maybe a few of the failed governor candidates from last year - Gorbea, Brown, Munoz

Didn't smell anything but I did notice a grey residue on my car this morning. Didn't think anything of it until now, I do wonder if its connected to the recent disasters but really I have no idea.

Same for me, I'm in East Bay

People want to get out earlier so they can have more sunlight in the afternoons. A lot of after school actives require sunlight - sports, scouts, marching band, etc.

Well there are multiple very sensible reasons to do it. (Whether those reasons actually outweigh the negatives is a different story though lol).

Given how far east Massachusetts is in the timezone, the sun rises and sets earlier here than most other parts of the country. Having enough sunlight in the morning is important to ensure kids can get to bus stops or walk to school safely. Older kids can navigate more safely with less light so they are sent in earlier. Having enough sunlight after school is also important for safe travel home and so kids can have more time to participate in after school activities that require daylight such as sports.

I think most people (at least in my experience) acknowledge its better for teens to start school later but they are unsure of how to fix the sunlight related safety issues. Installing more streetlights and lights around sports fields would be a solution but most towns don't have the money for that.

Kids I know are also worried about how that would impact their after school sports. The sun sets very early here for a good portion of the year meaning practice and games have to end early for outdoor sports and most districts can't afford to add lights to all of their sports fields.

I don't think that is a factor tbh. Back when schools start times were set 2 factors were mainly considered:

1. Being light enough out for it to be safe for kids to wait outside for the bus or walk to school. That time is earlier here in MA than in most parts of the country. Older kids could reasonably be expected to be safer with less light so they started school first. This is also a big reason why many parents and school employee oppose permanent daylight savings time, it would mean much darker mornings in the winter.
2. Sun rising earlier also means it sets earlier. In order to ensure safe travel after school and accommodate after-school actives, school had to end relatively early. Kids walking home in the dark is dangerous. And many schools don't have lights for all of their sports fields so practice and games have to be before sunset.

I also moved here from Dallas! Making that first friend is a real challenge but once you do, suddenly you've got a million friends and you'll never have a shortage of people to hangout with. For me I met my first friend by taking my dog to brewery - my dog and their dog became friends so we started chatting and suddenly I'm invited to the bar the next night and was part of their group from that day forward. I've found people here don't talk to strangers unless they have a legitimate reason to. But once you find that reason they'll talk your ear off about everything under the sun lol

Out of curiosity - where have you lived before that you think is better? I have lived in multiple parts of the US and find RI to be no more or less friendly as a whole. Every part of the country may have a different style of friendly, but people are people no matter where you go. Some places value pleasantries, other places value kind actions. RI is an action state. People in RI might give you shit but they'll say exactly what they mean and they'll say it to your face whereas in other places people are still thinking the same things, they'll just wait til you leave to gossip about it. Also people in RI always seem to go out of their way for others - either to insult them or to help them lol. I've never had neighbors that would just walk up and help me with a house project or snowblow my driveway without me even asking, until I lived in RI. Those same neighbors will also yell at me to roll my trash/recycling bins back in not even 10 mins after the trash truck comes by or honk at me on the highway if I'm going too slow.

Personally, I prefer RI's brand of up front honesty over people who are kind to your face but shit talk you behind your back. But to each their own.

Every state in the country lol I've lived in RI, MA, ME, TX, CA, and WA. Every state drove like this and every one of them thought they were unique for it

The Target in Millbury is pretty good and not that much further of a drive down 146 than the Worcester Walmart. Its a fair bit further down 146 but the Walmart in Northbridge is clean, stocked, and not very crowded.

What happened at SPM? My husband went there and never heard about issues with priests there, he said they didn't even have a priest on campus during his time there except once a month for an hour or so when we did school-wide mass. Not that he would be surprised to hear abuses happened at SPM, he just never heard about them.

For an eye related emergency its 100% worth the extra drive to Boston to go to Mass Eye & Ear. The UMASS system has some amazing ophthalmologists but they aren't emergency specialists and are actually located at the Hahnemann campus, not Lake Ave where the big ER is so they aren't even on site.

I think it stopped for COVID and no one has been motivated enough to start it back up

I honestly went into the debate looking for an excuse to like Kalus because I do not like McKee and would love the chance to vote for someone else if they were even half way decent. But frankly she lost my vote. Her "plans" were all vague, buzzwordy messes. She wants to improve education, okay cool, but she doesn't say any exact specifics on how. She wants to lower energy costs - by using executive mandate but then goes on to say she doesn't think executive mandates are effective when she talks about housing. She refused to even discuss if she would be open to supporting Trump in 2024 or not. She skirts around her only very recent RI residency. She says she won't change RI laws on abortion but is vague on if she'd fight a national ban. She wants to lower taxes but also spend more on eduation, small business funds, housing, etc. but has no plan to pay for that other than vaguely saying she'll "balance the budget".

tldr: Kalus doesn't seem to have any solid policy plans other than opposing McKee. She has correctly identified the big issues in RI (education, housing, energy costs) but she hasn't outlined any concrete plans to actually fix those issues other than she'd do it differently than McKee.