By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Thursday morning!
“Hold my beer” only works if you give it to someone you trust when you need to use the restroom. That’s the wisdom behind two bills in the General Assembly calling for bars to offer tamper-proof lids with a seal upon a customer’s request.
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High tide in Westerly is at 1:45 p.m. Low tide is at 8:22 a.m. and 8:37 p.m. Sunset is at 8:05 p.m.
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The Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government meets after 4:30 p.m. to vote on several bills, including a Homeless Bill of Rights that would set procedures that must be followed before an encampment can be removed or relocated.
Gov. Dan McKee speaks at General Dynamics/Electric Boat's High School Signing Day at 5 p.m. at Cranston West High School. The event celebrates graduating seniors who have accepted offers to work at EB’s Quonset Point facility.
The Providence City Council meets at 6 p.m.
A second floor hallway at the Rhode Island State House outside the Senate Chamber looking toward Smith Street is shown. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Rhode Island House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski's bill to create a state inspector general's office has a preliminary hearing before the House Committee on Finance Thursday — at the same time a dueling inspector general proposal inspector by Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz gets its own preliminary vetting two floors up. With a total of four proposals in all, debate on Smith Hill now shifts to how much power to give the appointed government watchdog.
A Mrs. Potato Head stands outside Hasbro headquarters on Newport Avenue in Pawtucket. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
A cybersecurity attack on Hasbro Inc.’s network is expected to cost the company $20 million in legal bills and “remediation” expenses, Gina Goetter, chief financial and operating officer, told investors on a virtual earnings call Wednesday. The final bill, including another $60 million in delayed income from a temporary operational shutdown, has not been determined.
The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Rhode Island Office of Child Advocate’s petition for emergency relief, clearing the way for the release of medical records for transgender youth treated at Rhode Island Hospital. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston refused to block the initial transfer of anonymized medical records for transgender youth from Rhode Island Hospital to a Texas federal court. The three-judge panel rejected an emergency motion filed by the Rhode Island Office of Child Advocate arguing that even anonymized sharing would constitute harm.
U.S. Coast Guard Academy Class President Cadet Savannah Riera, right, gifts President Donald Trump a football helmet during the commencement ceremony on Cadet Memorial Field at the United States Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in New London, Conn. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
By Lisa Hagen, Emilia Otte and Mark Pazniokas | Connecticut Mirror
President Donald Trump received a warm reception on a blistering hot day at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s 145th commencement, despite the presence of a few hundred protesters gathered outside of the New London campus. He delivered the keynote address, proclaiming cadets will enter the service in a “golden age” of America and projecting confidence at a time when the country is reckoning with an unpopular war.
Rhode Island lawmakers acknowledged that the risk of sexual assault caused by drink-spiking exists, they did not cite any data on its prevalence in Rhode Island. (Getty image)
By Christopher Shea
Despite objections from the hospitality industry, legislation that would require bars and nightclubs to provide drink lids to patrons to prevent spiking overwhelmingly passed in the both chambers of the Rhode Island General Assembly Tuesday.
Rhode Island’s state tax on Social Security benefits undermines the purpose of Social Security, which was to lift older adults out of poverty, AARP Rhode Island says. (Getty photo illustration)
COMMENTARY
By Catherine Taylor
Eliminating the state tax on Social Security, as 42 other states have already done encourages residents to age in place and remain active members of their communities. Thousands of Rhode Islanders have signed a petition organized by AARP Rhode Island urging lawmakers to add Rhode Island to the list.
ICYMI
Shekarchi will be one of five interviewed for RI Supreme Court opening | Christopher Shea
Protesters at the US Capitol rally for voting rights after Supreme Court ruling | Ashley Murray, D.C. Bureau
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