By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Tuesday morning!
Bad news if you are on vacation this week. Good news for gardeners and thirsty wildlife.
About 1 to 2 inches of rain will fall across Rhode Island between tonight and early Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
Providence year-to-date rainfall is 3.32 inches below normal, according to National Weather Service data. New rainfall doesn’t replenish the area’s water deficit in a one-to-one way, Torry Dooley, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Norton, Massachusetts, said.
“People often think, ‘Oh we just had a lot of rain. Can that completely wash away the drought?’” Dooley said. “It’s not going to erase the drought, but it will be beneficial.”
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High tide in Warwick is at 7:57 a.m. and 8:16 p.m. Low tide is at 1:07 p.m. Sunset is at 8:07 p.m.
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Gov. Dan McKee visits the West Warwick Fire Department’s Station 4 on Cowesett Avenue at 10:30 a.m. to ceremonially sign legislation (H7135A/S2181A) establishing a statewide electric vehicle identification database to be maintained by the State Fire Marshal's Office and the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles.
The Judicial Nominating Commission meets at 4 p.m. to interview five candidates for a vacancy on the Rhode Island Supreme Court. They include former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi.
Former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi listens as attorneys present oral arguments in Kent County Superior Court for his lawsuit seeking to halt a state ethics investigation on July 20, 2026. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
One day before the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission is scheduled to interview former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and other candidates to fill a vacancy on the state’s high court, Superior Court Judge Richard Licht declared Monday that there’s no constitutional reason preventing a sitting lawmaker from taking the job. “The clear and unambiguous rule of law won today,” Shekarchi said in a statement Monday.
Left-handed Gov. Dan McKee signs the fiscal 2027 budget at Children’s Friend in Providence on Friday, June 12, 2026. In center background looking on is Senate President Valarie Lawson. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
A dual-language public charter school blocked from opening in Providence in the fall of 2027 under a moratorium passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Providence. De La Comunidad Bilingual Public Charter School had moved partially, but not entirely, through the necessary approval pipeline when the state legislature OK’d a three-year moratorium on new charter school approvals.
Gov. Dan McKee, left, and his Democratic rival Helena Buoanno Foulkes, right, have scored respective wins securing endorsements from various unions. (Photos by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
The Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals has thrown the weight of its 12,000 members behind Gov. Dan McKee's reelection campaign, citing McKee's support for a controversial charter school moratorium as one reason for its support. The endorsement marks a significant win for the embattled incumbent.
A mail ballot drop box is seen at a polling station on Nov. 4, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Jacob Fischler | D.C. Bureau
After a Boston federal appeals court over the weekend denied the Trump administration’s request to restrict vote-by-mail before November’s midterm elections, time is running out. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court ruling last month that blocked President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order restricting mail-in voting because the U.S. Constitution grants states — not the president — authority to administer elections. Rhode Island is among 23 states and the District of Columbia that brought the suit challenging the executive order.
ICYMI
A closer look at Foulkes’ record on opioids | Philip Eil
Washington Bridge closure lengthened East Bay ambulance trips, study finds | Alexander Castro
Trump urges US Senate to hold off on August recess until SAVE America Act passes | Jennifer Shutt, D.C. Bureau
Flood of poll watchers, observers, monitors to descend on midterm voters | David Lightman, D.C. Bureau
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