By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Wednesday morning!
The Providence forecast calls for a partly sunny day with a high near 85.
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High tide in Providence is at 6:25 p.m. Low tide is at 10:53 a.m. and 11:46 p.m. Sunset is at 8:10 p.m.
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The House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources meets at 4 p.m. to hear bills including the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Paper Act, that would establish a comprehensive program for recycling beverage containers and paper and packaging products.
The Quonset Development Corporation Board of Directors meets at 5 p.m.
The Providence School Board meets at 6 p.m.
‘We cannot run a district in perpetuity,’ Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green told the state’s K-12 council Tuesday night, May 26, 2026. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
After seven years, the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education Tuesday night gave its approval to returning control of the Providence Public School Department to the capital city effective July 1. “It’s not like turning on a light switch, which is what everybody is thinking,” Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green told the council.
Michelle Reddish, Rhode Island’s cannabis administrator, has been nominated to chair the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. (Courtesy photo from the Office of the Governor)
By Christopher Shea
Gov. Dan McKee has nominated the state’s top cannabis administrator, Michelle Reddish, to chair the panel overseeing Rhode Island’s cannabis industry, which has not been without a leader for over seven months. The position was left vacant last October after then-Chairperson Kim Ahern resigned to pursue a run for state attorney general. Reddish has served as administrator of the Rhode Island Cannabis Office since her appointment by the governor in 2024.
Rebecca Aitchison was selected by the Rhode Island’s federal court to be its newest magistrate starting in October. (Courtesy photo)
By Christopher Shea
An assistant federal public defender will become the newest magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island following the retirement later this year of the first woman to hold the position. Rebecca L. Aitchison will begin an eight-year term beginning in October, taking over the seat of Patricia Sullivan, who is retiring on Oct. 2 after serving 14 years as a federal judicial officer.
Three of the nominees for the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council rise after the Senate confirmed the appointments on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (Screenshot/Capitol TV)
By Janine L. Weisman
Five of Gov. Dan McKee’s six nominees for the downsized Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council easily won confirmation from the Rhode Island Senate Tuesday afternoon. The remaining nominee still awaits a date with the full chamber’s calendar. The most opposition surfaced in the Senate’s 29-8 vote to confirm the council’s chairman, Raymond C. Coia, for a term expiring Jan. 31, 2028.
Rooftop guards stand in October 2025 at the Broadview immigration detention center in Illinois, which was accused in a lawsuit of pressuring immigrants to sign voluntary departure papers during detention in squalid conditions. (Photo by Andrew Adams/Capitol News Illinois)
By Tim Henderson | Stateline
A seven-fold increase in voluntary departure agreements in immigration courts is raising concerns that Trump administration tactics are unfairly pressuring immigrants into leaving the United States, even if they have a legal right to stay.
ICYMI
Bally’s picked to launch Rhode Island’s second online sportsbook | Christopher Shea
Senate OKs Bill to create URI medical school, moving it to the House | Alexander Castro
COMMENTARY: Why Medicaid should cover blood pressure cuffs for pregnant and postpartum women | Kayle Shapero MD, PhD and Jamil Halaby III, MSN, AGNP-C, AACC
Trump administration will make green card hopefuls return to home countries before applying | Tim Henderson, Stateline
Trump administration seizes on shooting to make case again for White House ballroom | Ashley Murray, D.C. Bureau
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