By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Monday morning!
A wise fictional character once said that life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. Take what happens after voters pick the winner in a primary election.
Gov. Dan McKee endorsed Helena Buonanno Foulkes the day after she won the Democratic primary. But on Friday, Republican Aaron Guckian was still waiting for his concession call from primary opponent Elaine Pelino, never mind an endorsement. And Providence Mayor Brett Smiley opted out when asked if he would endorse his opponent Rep. David Morales.
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High tide in Providence is at 4:42 p.m. Low tide is at 9:48 a.m. and 10:48 p.m. Sunrise is at 6:32 a.m. Sunrise is at 6:44 p.m.
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U.S. Sen. Jack Reed joins Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Terry Gray and Rhode Island Farm Bureau Executive Director Heidi Quinn at 11 a.m. at Snake Den Farm in Johnston to announce nearly $15 million in disaster relief assistance available to eligible farmers and agricultural producers affected by weather events in 2023 and 2024.
Helena Buonanno Foulkes relishes her win over Gov. Dan McKee on primary night with supporters at Track 15 in Providence. McKee endorsed her for governor the next day. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Gov. Dan McKee quickly endorsed his Democratic primary challenger, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, after losing the Sept. 9 primary. But losers in other bruising primary battles have not given the same support to their opponents, including in the Republican gubernatorial contest and the Providence mayor's race.
Providence City Hall is pictured in downtown Providence. The city received 19 anonymous tips during the first year of its new whistleblower hotline, four of which led to full investigations. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
Providence's new whistleblower hotline, SpeakUp!PVD, uncovered improper health insurance payments for a retired police officer's ex-wife, one of four full investigations conducted by the city’s internal auditor in the hotline’s first year. The hotline received a total of 19 anonymous tips during the 2025 calendar year.
Alabamans hold up signs that read “No Data Center” at a County Commission meeting on Aug. 24, 2026, in Hayneville, Alabama, in the Lowndes County Courthouse. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
By David Lightman | D.C. Bureau
The rare 2026 issue that draws huge support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress is the same one that’s mobilized many Americans: restrictions on giant data centers. But there are more questions to resolve. Should state and local governments to decide whether and how data centers should function? Should they restrict the size of them? Should they ban them altogether?
School reform programs in two states made a single grade’s standardized test the cornerstone of student achievement success. (Photo by Spenser Heaps/Utah News Dispatch)
COMMENTARY
By Julia Steiny
For powerful lessons for improving student achievement more than protecting adult concerns, look to two states that begin with the letter M. Both Massachusetts and Mississippi focused school reform programs on a single grade’s standardized test with accountability standards. But student success rates in one of them dipped after a graduation requirement was eliminated.
ICYMI
Trump administration faces second lawsuit to block ICE agents at polls | Ariana Figueroa, D.C. Bureau
Rural women who got C-sections more likely to be prescribed opioids at home, study finds | Nada Hassanein, Stateline
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