By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Monday morning!
Hope you had a great weekend. Congratulations to the University of Rhode Island Rams football team for receiving the silver trophy from Gov. Dan McKee Saturday after defeating Brown University Bears 13-10 in the Governor’s Cup.
And happy National Rhode Island Day. Yes, it’s an internet thing, apparently to observe our little state becoming the last of the 13 original colonies to join the union by ratifying the U.S. Constitution on May 29, 1790. Which means Oct. 5 has no historical significance for this event, but the National Day Calendar folks picked the date anyway.
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High tide in Warwick is at 4:15 p.m. Low tide is at 9:03 a.m. and 11:44 p.m. Sunrise is at 6:46 a.m. Sunset is at 6:20 p.m.
By Rhode Island Current staff
Want to vote by mail? Find your polling place? Look at a sample ballot? Know who’s even running and what they stand for? Check out our voter guide before early voting starts on Oct. 14.
The Newport Fire Department was awarded FEMA funding to purchase a Lucas CPR device for each of its three rescues. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Fire departments and other first responder organizations across Rhode Island are getting more than $4.5 million in grants for new equipment, training and emergency response upgrades, federal officials and Rhode Island’s congressional delegation have announced.
Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus 69, which serves the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus, waits at a stop in Galilee. URI students, faculty and staff can now ride public buses for free with their school IDs now that the school has joined RIPTA’s U-Pass program. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
University of Rhode Island (URI) students, faculty and staff can now ride public buses for free with their school IDs without paying the typical $2 fare under an agreement announced last week between the university and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). URI will pay a flat $135,000 fee to join RIPTA’s U-Pass program.
Officers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at a traffic stop in Memphis in October, 2025. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
By Ariana Figueroa | D.C. Bureau
Arrests of immigrants in the United States soared over the summer due to an unprecedented increase in cooperation between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration officers. Collaborations known as 287(g) agreements have become an arm of Trump’s mass deportation campaign, and Republicans in Congress have provided billions in federal funding for local departments that accept the agreements.
A page on the Uprise RI news site explains how it reports news using AI. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
COMMENTARY
By Philip Eil
A human journalist shares thoughts about progressive news website Uprise RI’s use of AI-generated “reporters,” which raise broader questions about transparency, trust and what it means when machines begin reporting the news in Rhode Island.
ICYMI
Healey wants Trump administration’s help on bringing more gas into Massachusetts | Jordan Wolman, CommonWealth Beacon
Anxiety is growing Trump may try to disrupt the midterm elections. States are prepping. | Jonathan Shorman, D.C. Bureau
Hiring slows in September with job growth of 29K | Tim Henderson, Stateline
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