A freshman state representative from East Providence will be the next leader of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski announced Wednesday. Rep. Jenni Furtado will replace former party chair Liz Beretta-Perik, who resigned Tuesday, following her husband’s indictment on federal fraud charges related to his former education firm in Ohio. Furtado, 33, […]

The Washington Bridge got only a fleeting mention during Rhode Island’s final gubernatorial debate Tuesday, eclipsed by fresh controversies over tax returns, public polling and federal lawsuits. But familiar tensions carried through the hourlong event at Rhode Island College, hosted by WPRI-TV 12, as candidates bickered over who was best suited to lead the state. […]

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Massachusetts fans are paying steeper and steeper prices to go to concerts and see their favorite bands. It’s a frustratingly common experience: sitting at the computer for hours continually refreshing the window just to get the […]

Union officials announced Tuesday that almost 700 resident physicians and fellows ratified their first contract with Rhode Island Hospital. The contract includes pay increases, better retirement benefits and other improvements for the early career doctors working at Rhode Island’s largest hospital in Providence, also the flagship facility of Brown University Health. The contract follows months […]

Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Liz Beretta-Perik has resigned in the wake of her husband’s indictment by an Ohio grand jury on felony fraud and racketeering charges, Katherine Riordan, party executive director, confirmed to Rhode Island Current Tuesday. Beretta-Perik did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.  Her husband, Michael Perik, of Jamestown, […]

Helena Buonanno was 13 years old when the Blizzard of 1978 left her stranded with her toddler sister and their panicked babysitter at the family’s Providence home. Her three other siblings were snowed in at their elementary school, and her parents were across the country attending a convention in San Francisco, unable to return home […]

Rhode Island’s precious historical documents and objects already have a place to stay: the State Archives, which occupies leased space on Providence’s Broad Street. What Secretary of State Gregg Amore wants is a place where more of these treasures can be shared and seen. This year’s ballot Question 4 will ask voters to decide if […]

A new poll released Tuesday by Salve Regina University’s Pell Center shows incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner holding a 13-point lead over Republican challenger Victor Mellor in the race for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Of the voters surveyed, 52% said they support Magaziner, while 39% supported Mellor. Undecided voters comprised 7% of […]

Rhode Island’s pause on new automated license plate reader installations, originally set to end Monday, has been extended indefinitely after Gov. Dan McKee announced he would leave it to the General Assembly to establish binding statewide safeguards for the surveillance technology. But the governor’s announcement Monday afternoon came with a framework crafted by the Rhode […]

Ken Block’s campaign calculus rests squarely on the numbers.  Battling against entrenched party politics as an independent candidate for governor with only modest name recognition and even less campaign cash, he looks to polling as proof he can beat Democratic rival Helena Buonanno Foulkes. “Her favorability, beyond anything else, where her numbers are, is the […]

As far back as grade school, Jennifer Walker was sure she’d become a teacher. Then, her experiences at Providence’s Classical High School super-charged her ambition with a passion to become a two-way bilingual teacher. Many of her Classical classmates spoke Spanish at home but got zero support for their native tongue at school. In 1989, […]

There were no chants, no speeches and only a handful of signs at a No Kings event Saturday morning in Providence. Instead, a few dozen volunteers fanned out across the Hope Street Farmers Market on the East Side, weaving through booths of locally grown produce and artisan baked goods with something else for sale. They […]

U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo and two other New England Democrats made an unannounced visit Friday to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regional headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts to follow up on reports of detainees being housed there for multiple days and sleeping on concrete floors with limited food available. Amo, who represents Rhode Island’s 1st […]

This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. When it comes to Connecticut’s increasingly troublesome relationship with black bears, both candidates in this year’s governor’s race are in agreement on a somewhat controversial solution. Gov. Ned Lamont, the Democratic incumbent, and his opponent, Republican […]

The rocky road to restoring Newport’s Cliff Walk has cleared a significant obstacle after the city secured permission from Rhode Island coastal regulators. The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) approved a revised repair plan at its meeting Tuesday. The unanimous vote, made with little discussion, paves the way to restore the public walking […]

A 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announced Wednesday is welcome news for older Americans facing higher prices for everyday essentials like groceries, utilities and health care. But new AARP polling finds most people feel they would need a 5% to 7% increase just to keep up with inflation, which hit 3.7% in September. Powered […]

Rhode Island’s two-month pause on new automated license plate reader installations is set to expire Monday, the same day State Police may be ready to announce new policies governing the surveillance technology. Lt. Col. Erik Yanyar, a State Police spokesperson, said officials were making final edits to the policy as of Thursday. But advocacy groups […]

In November, Rhode Island Health and Human Services Secretary Richard Charest’s covert courtship of another hospital buyer for Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital drew a strong rebuke from the head of the nonprofit already approved to buy the hospitals. Eleven months later, with the sale to The Centurion Foundation complete, […]

A recent state audit of 100 Medicaid claims over a two-year period by all five opioid treatment providers that billed Rhode Island Medicaid during that period found at least one problem with every single claim. But the state agency that oversees these providers failed to flag these problems consistently, despite visiting facilities every other year, […]

Healing takes time. For Chris Librizzi, the process remains ongoing nearly eight months after a gunman opened fire during a high school hockey game he was coaching at a Pawtucket rink, killing three people, including the shooter. Even after his Blackstone Valley Co-op hockey team won the state championship in March, Librizzi struggled with sleep […]

Five weeks after narrowly losing the Republican gubernatorial primary, Elaine Pelino is urging her supporters to cross party lines and vote for independent Ken Block in the Nov. 3 general election. The support from Pelino, who initially suggested she did not intend to make a public endorsement after the primary, comes amid pressure for GOP […]

This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The Trump administration is once again seeking to interrupt the development of Connecticut’s first offshore wind project, Revolution Wind. In a federal court filing on Friday, attorneys representing the U.S. Department of the Interior sought permission […]

One thing is true of Rhode Islanders: we love a good general obligation bond. We’ve approved 34 of the 35 put to us by the General Assembly in the last 20 years — upwards of $2.26 billion in taxpayer-backed debt. We haven’t just approved them. We’ve APPROVED them by a median margin of 66%. The […]

Voting booths were lit, ballots were stacked, and ID scanners were in place inside Warwick’s police headquarters the day before early voting begins in Rhode Island for the 2026 midterms. The setup offered a preview of the preparations underway across the state, as election and public safety officials Tuesday outlined their efforts to get voting […]

Democrat Helena Buonanno Foulkes continues to lead the five-way race for governor, even as independent Ken Block has narrowed the gap, according to a WPRI-TV 12 poll published Tuesday. The survey of 800 likely voters, conducted by Emerson College from Oct. 8 to 11, puts Foulkes 9 points ahead of Block — compared to the […]