One of the most powerful men in Rhode Island has cancer. As a proud − and some close to him say "stubborn" − 75-year-old Italian man who has been a part of Rhode Island's political life for more than four decades, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio was not keen on talking about his health − or the very private conversation he had about it with his No. 2.

But he broke his silence earlier this week about his health, his slow, cane-assisted gait, the Senate sessions he missed earlier this year and his election-year plans amid a swirl of fresh and not entirely unfounded rumors.