By Christopher Shea | Reporter
Happy Independence Day!
This Fourth of July marks 250 years since the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, severing the 13 American colonies' political ties to Great Britain and creating a nation founded on the idea that all people are endowed with certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Though if you ask me, all the cool colonies ended their relationship with the British Crown two months earlier on May 4, 1776.
***
The Bristol Fourth of July Parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Chestnut and Hope streets.
The 100th annual Ancients and Horribles Independence Day Parade steps off at 4 p.m. at the intersection of Routes 100 and 98 in Chepachet.
The RI Philharmonic will perform at the State House starting t 7:15 p.m. ahead of a special Fourth of July WaterFire Providence lighting.
***
Fourth of July Fireworks go off in Portsmouth at 9 p.m at Escobar’s Farm. That same time, the sky will light up over North Kingstown’s Town Beach.
Newport’s Independence Day Fireworks show over its harbor starts at 9:15 p.m.
Pawtucket’s fireworks are scheduled to launch at 9:45 p.m. following Rhode Island FC’s Independence Day game against Orange County SC.
Providence is saving its festivities for 8:30 p.m. Sunday at India Point Park.
***
Here’s your look at what happened in the days leading up to the nation’s semiquincentennial:
Cristina Marino, 19, is this year’s Miss Fourth of July for the Bristol parade. (Photo by Nolan Page/Rhode Island Current)
By Nolan Page
While prepping for Bristol’s big parade day on Saturday, Cristina Marino talks tradition, the answer she thought she flubbed during the Miss Fourth of July pageant in May and the question she abhors in this Q&A.
An exam room at Brown University Health Middletown Primary Care. (Courtesy of Brown University Health)
By Nancy Lavin
Roughly 1,900 seniors and disabled residents on United Healthcare's Medicare Advantage plans will no longer be covered to see Brown University Health primary care and specialty doctors starting July 1. The coverage is ending because of contract disputes between the two companies.
The Rhode Island Department of Corrections maximum security for the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Gov. Dan McKee has named Lynne Corry as interim director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections after Wayne Salisbury Jr. departed June 26 to join the team charged with helping reform New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. Corry has been with the department since 2002, most recently serving as acting assistant director of community services, where she oversaw probation and parole services. She is the former warden of the maximum and high-security units of the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.
Independent Ken Block speaks to the dozens of policy analysts and smart growth advocates in the audience for Grow Smart Rhode Island's gubernatorial candidate forum on Friday, June 26, 2026. Moderator Jim Hummel is on stage at left. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Gov. Dan McKee did not attend Grow Smart Rhode Island's gubernatorial forum, but his administration was a central focus of the three challengers who participated: Democrat Helena Buonanno Foulkes, Republican Aaron Guckian and independent Ken Block. Most of the jabs they took against the governor were indirect, worked into responses to audience questions about housing, public transit and environmental concerns.
The exterior of U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island in downtown Providence. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Nolan Page
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday filed suit against both Rhode Island and Massachusetts over higher education tuition benefits for noncitizens. The two are the only New England states on the list of 12 states the Trump administration has sued, claiming they superseded a federal law, discriminate against U.S. citizens and incentivize illegal immigration.
Second Amendment supporters in yellow shirts and gun safety advocates in red and orange stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in the gallery over the Rhode Island Senate on June 20, 2025, in this photo that received an honor in the 2026 Rhode Island Press Association Editorial Awards competition. That night Senate voted 25-11 to pass an amended bill banning the manufacture and sale of assault-style weapons. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
COMMENTARY
By Janine L. Weisman
Rhode Island Current won a dozen awards, including for first place honors, in the Rhode Island Press Association’s 2026 Editorial Awards presented June 26 at the Quonset O Club in North Kingstown. The awards included third place for freelancer Michael Salerno’s photo of people on different sides of the gun debate participating in a ritual of American democracy.
ICYMI
RIDOT picks the company that will restart Rhode Island’s truck tolls | Christopher Shea
New barriers save the day for Bristol July 4th concerts in the park | Jordan J. Phelan
Revived abuse law triggers 34 lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church on first day | Christopher Shea
Thanks for reading Swell. Did you know our daily morning digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.