Providence, Central Falls sue Jeff Sessions and Justice Department
The cities of Providence and Central Falls—and in a separate suit, the state of Rhode Island—are taking the Department of Justice and US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to court over its manipulation of federal grant funds to support the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agenda. The grant in dispute is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice […]
Council Ordinance Committee rejects Fane Tower zoning change
After an extensive public hearing Wednesday night, the Providence Council Ordinance Committee voted three to one, with one member abstaining, to recommend the full council deny the zoning amendment necessary for the 600-foot Fane Tower proposed for Route 195 redevelopment land located in the Jewelry District. The proposal had been previously shot down by the […]
Jewelry District garage gets public funding for private parking spaces
Construction is underway on a new parking garage in downtown Providence, Providence Business News reports, and while the project is publicly-funded most of the parking spaces will be for private use. 900 of the structure’s proposed 1250 spaces will be dedicated to tenants at Wexford Science & Technology’s innovation center under construction in the neighborhood. […]
Justice Gaines announces her run for Providence City Council
At one of the coziest campaign kickoffs in recent memory, Justice Ameer Gaines announced her bid for Providence City Council for Ward 1, encompassing the Fox Point, Wayland, and Downtown neighborhoods. A well-regarded local activist, Gaines promises to be one of the most progressive candidates running for a municipal seat in the city. She has […]
Nika Lomazzo reflects on activism, Pride after stepping down from District 8 race
Those who attended Nika Lomazzo‘s first stand-up show at AS220 were met with a bit of an apt misnomer: the show was titled “Imposter Syndrome,” but it was clear that Lomazzo, an outspoken figure in her neighborhood of Federal Hill in Providence, was nothing but the real deal. Her trenchant critiques of local politics, delivered […]
Two cheers for speed cameras, but not three
There has been a well publicized backlash against Providence speed cameras placed in school zones ticketing those going at least 11 mph over the speed limit. But the anger is not because there is so much speeding in school zones, it is because their were so many tickets! The apparent sense of entitlement that some motorists feel to speed […]
Rhode Island public schools are pretty segregated
There’s at least one metric by which urban schools in Rhode Island equal their suburban and rural counterparts – racial segregation. People of color comprise 80 percent of the combined student bodies at public schools in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket while the rest of the state’s public schools are 78 percent white, according […]
RI seeks to boost school breakfast
Eating in the classroom once resulted in detention. At the Veazie Street School in Providence, it’s a part of the curriculum. The K through 5 elementary school in Wanskuck, where 94 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, serves breakfast in the classroom to start the school day. “We know that every child […]
Police shot and killed a man, Rhode Island still doesn’t know why
Rhode Island police officers shot and killed a man and wounded a woman in a pickup truck on Interstate 95 near downtown Providence Thursday. It remains unclear why officers shot at the pair in the pickup, or to what extent the incident was related to a stolen police car earlier that morning. State Police Col. […]
Pawtucket ends lunch shaming, moves toward free food for all students
Pawtucket is employing a two-part strategy to changing its approach to school lunch. The first part was to stop lunch shaming. In April, RI Future flagged the Pawtucket School District as one of several in Rhode Island that serves cold cheese sandwiches to students if their parents don’t pay their food bill on time – […]
Providence elementary school students eat free this year
School meals will be free for every elementary school student in the Providence Public School District this year, according to a press release from PPSD. “Providence Public Schools are committed to creating educational environments that support health and wellness,” said School Board member Robert Gondola, the chairman of the board’s Health and Wellness Committee. “The […]
Governors face the crisis of innovation in Providence Summer Meeting
Perhaps the clearest example of the much-discussed challenge of innovation came in the closing session of the National Governors Association (NGA) in Providence. The outgoing chair, Virginia’s Terry McAuliffe, attempted to pass the gavel to incoming governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada. They had arranged for a drone to buzz in from offstage and drop it […]
Lunch shaming in RI, part 2: Urban schools and cheese sandwiches
The suburbs aren’t the only place lunch shaming happens in Rhode Island. Some urban school districts have also experimented with the so-called cheese sandwich policy – when public school cafeterias serve students a cold cheese sandwich in lieu of a hot lunch because their parents are delinquent on the bill. Pawtucket: cheese or sunbutter sandwich […]
Annual Kids Count Factbook on child poverty, in 19 tweets
The annual Kids Count Factbook on child well-being in Rhode Island, now in its 23rd year, is a local rite of spring – but it’s nothing like the first tulips or tufted titmouse. Instead it’s an annual reminder of just how segregated – economically and otherwise – the Ocean State is. The massive 194-page report […]
Saudi Arabia divests of Providence fuel terminal
Say goodbye to Providence, Saudi Arabia. The corporate dissolution of Motiva, a multinational partnership between Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco that operates the LNG and ethanol facility on Allens Avenue, means the Saudi Arabian government will no longer be doing business on the South Providence waterfront. “Rhode Island will go to Shell,” said Motiva […]
Aponte says PVD City Council will schedule recall vote today
Providence City Council President Luis Aponte plans on attending a special meeting tonight to schedule a recall election against Councilor Kevin Jackson, and he expects there will be a quorum. “There will be at least eight, probably more” he said, referring to the number of councilors who need to attend to hold the meeting. WPRI […]
After ethanol train accident, activists call for an end
Environmental activists are calling for an “end to ethanol deliveries” in Providence after an early morning train accident at the Motiva Enterprises terminal in Providence Wednesday. The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island (EJLRI), Sierra Club, The FANG Collective (Fight Against Natural Gas) and the No LNG in PVD Coalition said the accident shows why […]
Javier Montanez has degrees from RIC, J&W and the school of hard knocks
Javier Montanez, the principal of Leviton Dual Language School in Providence, interrupts a second grade class with a message in English. He then walks down the hall and delivers a similar message to a fifth grade class in Spanish. Both classrooms know what Montanez said because this is how education is delivered at Leviton – […]
Activists demand PVD officer be fired
Some 40 people forcibly crammed into Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s office and refused to leave until staff personally delivered to him a petition calling for police officer Matthew Sheridan to be fired. Led by Direct Action for Rights and Equality and the Providence Youth Student Movement, they chanted, “No justice, no peace. No racist police.” […]
Elorza in State of City: PVD is ‘creative capital of the United States of America’
In stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s “American carnage” inauguration speech, Mayor Jorge Elorza painted a picture of a thriving Providence on the rise in the annual State of the City speech Wednesday night. Citing stronger finances, far fewer potholes, a more citizen-friendly City Hall and a better functioning city government, he indicated the city […]
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