By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Friday morning!
Congratulations to Samuel Martin, a ninth-grader at Portsmouth High School, who made it to the second round in the National Civics Bee Championship in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. The Little Compton resident was in the top 25 in the competition but did not advance to the top 10.
A student from Colorado took first place and the prize of a $100,000 529 education savings plan.
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High tide in Providence is at 12:38 p.m. Low tide is at 6:54 p.m. Sunrise is at 6:59 a.m. Sunset is at 6:02 p.m.
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Secretary of State Gregg Amore, chair of the Rhode Island Semiquincentennial (RI250) Commission, participates in a 9 a.m. ceremony to plant a Liberty Tree at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter in honor of Rhode Islanders who served during the Revolutionary War.
Well, this seems like an unusual meeting time …the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Board of Directors’ Audit Committee meets at 10:25 a.m. to “consider matters in relation to the Corporation’s annual budget.”
Rhode Island Board of Elections staff begins the process of certifying mail ballots, and/or opening mail ballot envelopes and tabulating ballots for the Nov. 3 general election at 2 p.m.
The 2026 CubingUSA New England Championship starts today at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Up to 300 speedcubers will compete this weekend.
Rhode Island Health and Human Services Secretary Richard Charest is leaving state government to take a job as CEO of CharterCARE Health of Rhode Island, the local owners of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Rhode Island Health and Human Services Secretary Richard Charest has been chosen as the new CEO for CharterCARE Health of Rhode Island, the local owners of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. The naming of Charest to replace outgoing CEO Jeffrey Liebman has raised questions over the revolving door clause of state ethics code.
A Flock automated license plate reader records data on Main Road in Tiverton on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Photo by Nolan Page/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Rhode Island’s two-month pause on new Flock camera installations is set to expire Monday. As Rhode Island State Police prepare new rules for automated license plate readers, civil liberties groups say they were left out of the review and are calling for stricter limits on police use of the technology.
Finalists in the National Civics Bee Championship on Oct. 14, 2026, work on their answers to a question about gerrymandering. (Screenshot courtesy of C-SPAN)
By Shauneen Miranda | D.C. Bureau
Peter Daniell of Broomfield, Colorado, took home the grand prize Wednesday night after winning the National Civics Bee Championship in the nation’s capital. Rhode Island was represented by Samuel Martin of Little Compton, who made it to the second round in the competition.
The U.S. Capitol on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
By David Lightman | D.C. Bureau
Top Republican and Democratic U.S. senators have unveiled a 417-page bill to overhaul the approval process for new energy projects, a pathway for what’s known as “permitting reform.” “The wins from this could be very very big ones,” Rhode Island’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said. “This should lower electricity costs measurably for Americans. This should increase clean power significantly for Americans. This should significantly add construction and jobs across the country.”
The 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment announced Wednesday is slightly lower than September's 3.7% inflation rate. Most people feel they would need a 5 to 7% increase to keep up with inflation in a new AARP poll. (Photo illustration by iStock/Getty Images Plus)
COMMENTARY
By Catherine Taylor
The projected 3.6% Social Security cost of living increase for 2027, while welcome, falls short of inflation, as new polling shows many older Americans need a 5% to 7% increase to keep up with rising costs, AARP’s Rhode Island state director writes.
ICYMI
California sued by Trump administration over demand to purge 20,000 voters from rolls | Jacob Fischler, D.C. Bureau
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