By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief

A good Friday morning to you.

I remember where I was on this morning 25 years ago and even the clothes I was wearing then. But about 10% of Americans are too young to remember 9/11.

Cities and towns across the state will hold observances to remember the 3,000 people who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A 25th annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony takes place at 8:30 a.m. at the Wall of Honor at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in Exeter. Gov. Dan McKee will speak at the event.

Public school teachers can hold a brief moment of silence with their students under a law enacted last year that originated with legislation sponsored by Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat. Raptakis will be among those attending the Exeter ceremony.

Among other events, a remembrance ceremony outside the Adams Library on the Rhode Island College campus takes place from 8:46 a.m.— recognizing the time American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City — until 9:30 a.m.

* * *

High tide in Narragansett is at 8:18 a.m. and 8:40 p.m. Low tide is at 2:25 p.m. Sunrise is at 6:22 a.m. Sunset is at 7:02 p.m.

By Alexander Castro

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner called his Republican opponent Vic Mellor a “villain” for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, march on the U.S. Capitol during a 15-minute press conference outside the State House Thursday morning with two police officers who defended the Capitol that day. Mellor showed up to listen and defend himself to reporters.

Rhode Island Republican gubernatorial candidate Elaine Pelino gives an on-camera interview to WPRI’s Joe Cortese while campaigning at Hope Highlands Middle School in Cranston on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. She has asked for a recount after results showed less than 300 votes separated her from her primary opponent Aaron Guckian. (Photo courtesy of Elaine Pelino’s Facebook’s page)

By Nancy Lavin

Trailing by 279 votes in preliminary, unofficial primary results, Republican gubernatorial candidate Elaine Pelino asked for a recount in her matchup against Aaron Guckian, the Board of Elections confirmed. In a Facebook post just after noon Thursday, Pelino said her decision to file the request was about “election integrity and respect for our voters.”

A concentration of campaign signs for Democratic candidates in Wednesday’s primary are shown outside the Swift Community Center in East Greenwich. (Photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)

By Nancy Lavin

The League of RI Businesses’ unconventional campaign finance strategy to circumvent the state law capping political action committee donations at $2,000 per candidate per year and endorse conservative-minded candidates failed to unset a single progressive incumbent on primary night. Its co-founder blamed moderate voters for sitting out Wednesday’s election.

Federal election monitors and Common Cause Rhode Island volunteers checked in on Pawtucket polling sites during the Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, primary election. They found no issues with compliance with a 2024 consent order to provide Spanish-language voter information. (Getty image)

By Christopher Shea

Four federal election monitors and six volunteers from Common Cause Rhode Island found no problems while watching polling places in Pawtucket Wednesday to ensure city officials followed through on a Biden-era consent order to assist Spanish-speaking voters. 

People look out at Manhattan and beyond at One World Observatory at One World Trade Center in New York City. Twenty-five years after 9/11, the surveillance systems built in its aftermath continue to shape how Americans are watched and policed. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

By Amanda Watford | Stateline

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, transformed how American intelligence and law enforcement agencies collect, share and analyze information. Twenty-five years later, that infrastructure has merged with a digital world capable of generating vast amounts of data about Americans — and artificial intelligence is making it easier to connect and analyze that information. The result is a surveillance system far more powerful than anything imaginable in 2001, raising new questions about privacy, policing and civil liberties.

ICYMI

Thanks for reading Swell. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.