Body ID’d as missing woman; mystery food show in RI; Westerly soupy: Top stories this week

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• What was most popular with Providence Journal readers during the week of March 30? Here are 5 stories that got people talking.
• ICYMI: The Rhode Island State Police are marking their centennial in a time of big technological change – much like the one they were born into. What will the next 100 years bring?
• The Bryant University men’s basketball team wasted no time in announcing their new head coach to replace the departing Phil Martelli Jr. What to know about Jamion Christian.
• Providence has a record four chefs and restaurants in the finals for James Beard Foundation Awards, the Oscars of the food world.

Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of March 30, supported by your subscriptions.

• Tuesday marked the centennial of the Rhode Island State Police, born in a time of rapid technological advances – radio broadcasts, aviation and automobiles, to name a few. At the 100-year mark, the state police are operating in a similar landscape of high-tech change, with ghost guns, drones, artificial intelligence and internet predators. What will the next century bring? The Journal’s Mark Reynolds looks back at key moments in the force’s history, and what challenges may lie ahead.
• Rebounding from their March Madness loss to Michigan State and the news that coach Phil Martelli Jr. was moving on to VCU, Bryant University’s men’s basketball team announced this week that they’ve found their new coach. Sportswriter Bill Koch explains what Jamion Christian will bring to the Bulldogs. For that and more college and high school sports news, go to providencejournal.com/sports.
• Providence has a record four chefs and restaurants in the finals for the James Beard Foundation Awards, the Oscars of the food world. Find out who the finalists are, and also which spot has Rhode Island’s best zeppole, according to voters in The Journal’s bracket challenge.

Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:

The remains of a missing 56-year-old Warwick woman have been found in a wooded area near Plainfield Pike in Foster, and the circumstances of her death are suspicious, the state police said Monday.

Michele Romano’s body was found at the location on Wednesday and a group of investigators from multiple agencies worked together to confirm the identity of the remains. Romano was reported missing by a family member on Aug. 18, state police say. Her last known address was 112 Hazard Ave., Warwick.

In a later story, the owner of that home in the Oakland Beach neighborhood told The Journal about his reaction when police notified him that his friend and roommate Romano was dead: “I couldn’t move,” Charles Parisi said. “It just hit me.”

Local news: Human remains found in Foster identified as Warwick woman missing since August

One of the state’s top Republicans wants public housing built in his rural town, though he’s not exactly calling it that.

House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale says Foster badly needs subsidized housing for elderly residents. And since the market isn’t providing that, he’s proposing that the town build the units itself.

Some might label that socialism. But Chippendale sees it as a small town “taking control of its own destiny, rather than being at the whim of a private entity.”

Across Rhode Island, the housing crisis isn’t letting up. And the idea that the government should create affordable housing – rather than funding it in roundabout ways while outsourcing responsibility to private developers – is gaining traction in some unexpected places. Political Scene explores how the public housing issue is creating common ground for the left and right.

Political Scene: Which issue seems to be uniting the political right and left in RI? Public housing.

NARRAGANSETT − Is celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay preparing to film a restaurant renovation show in town?

Ads posted on social media seem to suggest the possibility.

“Eat with us for free,” the ad says in all caps. “Come be a part of an exciting televised dining experience for a brand new show in your community.”

Read the full story to see why Ramsay, star of the Fox reality TV series “Kitchen Nightmares,” is a likely contender, and how you can sign up to be a diner during filming at the as-yet-undisclosed Narragansett restaurant.

Entertainment: Mystery TV food show is coming to a Narragansett eatery. Here’s who it might be.

Bryce Hopkins will leave Providence College and spend his final college basketball season with a Big East rival. 

Hopkins committed to St. John’s and will transfer to Queens for an expected fifth year, according to his social media accounts. He will pursue a medical redshirt through the NCAA to replace what was a lost 2024-25 season.  

Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino made it two straight years securing a standout player from a conference foe. St. John’s will be hoping Hopkins can recapture the form that made him one of the league’s premier performers before he suffered a major left knee injury in January 2024. 

Read on to see what the loss means to the Friars, who went just 20-30 in the 50 games Hopkins missed over the last two seasons and missed the NCAA Tournament both years.

College sports: Ex-Providence basketball star Bryce Hopkins heads to another Big East team. Which one?

What is a soupy? And why is there a documentary about it, a festival celebrating it and a street marker noting that Westerly is the home of it?

In one word: tradition. In two words: family heritage.

Soupy is the Westerly term, a short nickname, for soppressata, a dry-cured, spicy Italian sausage. It has the texture of a pepperoni or hard salami, but the comparisons end there.

Ever since their relatives from Calabria settled in Westerly, families have been gathering in their homes to make soupy together using their family recipes and traditional techniques brought to Rhode Island from southern Italy in the early 1900s.

Food editor Gail Ciampa explains why each stick of soupy is as unique as the family that made it.

What and Why RI: What’s soupy and why is Westerly obsessed with it? The story behind the tradition

To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.