By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Wednesday morning!
The Judicial Nominating Commission is sending five names to Gov. Dan McKee for consideration to fill a vacancy on the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Four of them received unanimous support from the nine-member panel Tuesday night.
They are Superior Court Judge Luis Matos; Christopher Bush, an assistant attorney general; Family Court Judge Laureen D’Ambra; and John E. Roberts, an attorney who is a partner with the Boston firm Proskauer Rose LLC.
The fifth, former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, made the list of names with the approval of seven commission members. On Monday, a Superior Court judge ruled that Shekarchi’s application to join the Rhode Island Supreme Court is still permitted despite the state’s revolving door law barring lawmakers from accepting certain state appointments within a year of leaving office. The law exempts lawmakers who seek or accept election to a constitutional office.
We’ll have a story up later this morning.
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High tide in East Greenwich is at 8:33 a.m. and 8:50 p.m. Low tide is at 1:50 p.m. Sunset is at 8:07 p.m.
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The Energy Facility Siting Board meets at 9:30 a.m. for a final hearing on the proposed new transmission line between the Woonsocket Substation in North Smithfield and the Nasonville Substation in Burrillville.
The Inspector General Independent Advisory Commission meets at 3:30 p.m.
A Providence federal judge has tossed the town of Johnston’s attempt to take land from a family-owned homebuilding corporation for a new municipal complex. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Nolan Page and Christopher Shea
U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose on Tuesday ruled Johnston's attempt to seize land for a new town hall and public safety complex violated constitutional requirements, handing a victory to developers planning a 252-unit affordable housing development on George Waterman Road.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore has asked the Division of Motor Vehicles to audit records tied to the state’s transaction system after the same software mistakenly registered thousands of noncitizens to vote in New Jersey. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore has asked the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to audit records covering the first two years of the state’s contract with Idemia, the company now under scrutiny for a software glitch in New Jersey where 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote.
The Emergency Department entrance at Newport Hospital is shown in 2024, before reflecting the rebranding of the health system that owns it as Brown University Health. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Amanda Seitz, Maia Rosenfeld and Darius Tahir | KFF Health News
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, responsible for tracking and issuing recalls of dangerous products sold in the U.S., is demanding that some of the nation’s biggest health systems turn over detailed, personally identifiable medical records of all patients who seek help at their emergency rooms. But hospital lawyers and other industry experts question the agency’s authority to collect, its ability to safeguard such a swath of sensitive information, and whether it has followed the legal process to overhaul its surveillance system.
The exterior of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Johnston. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Ariana Figueroa | D.C. Bureau
A new Department of Homeland Security rule published Tuesday removes language that asylum seekers have the “right” to an interview, which could have the effect of speeding up deportation proceedings.
ICYMI
Administration asks US Supreme Court to uphold sweeping Trump order restricting vote-by-mail | Jacob Fischler, D.C. Bureau
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