By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Tuesday morning!
Our 2026 Primary Voter Guide launched Monday. I hope you will take some time to check it out. Rhode Island’s early voting and emergency mail ballot period begins Thursday, Aug. 20.
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High tide in Newport is at 7:07 a.m. and 7:36 p.m. Low tide is at 12:36 p.m. Sunset is at 7:50 p.m.
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U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is at the Barrington Police Department at 10 a.m. to promote the bipartisan Promoting Police Leadership Act, unanimously passed the Senate in June and now awaiting a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation, would support the development of a commander-level law enforcement leadership training and education to enhance police operations, increase officer accountability, improve resource management, and strengthen community relations.
The Board of Elections meets at 4 p.m. to discuss and possibly vote on a directive that would prohibit the presence of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees and agents from entering or remaining within 200 feet of any polling place while voting is being conducted.
Democrats running to be Rhode Island’s next attorney general — Kim Ahern, Keith Hoffmann, Jason Knight and Joe Solomon Jr. — are scheduled to debate at 7 p.m. at Roger Williams University School of Law. Moderated by WPRI’s Tim White and Ted Nesi. the debate will air live on Fox Providence and streamon the WPRI 12+ TV app and WPRI.com.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Photo by HUD Office of Public Affairs)
By Nancy Lavin
U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy on Friday again blocked the Trump administration from siphoning federal funds from no-strings-attached housing for formerly homeless individuals. McElroy ruled that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act by attempting to divert $4 billion in federal fiscal 2026 grants from programs that prioritize providing a stable living environment for people who have lived on the streets or experienced mental illness before addressing their health, education and social services needs.
By Rhode Island Current staff
Wednesday, Sept. 9, is the day when Rhode Island voters will decide who should win the competitive Democratic primaries for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general and the Republican races for governor and the 2nd Congressional District. Here’s our guide to find out where the candidates stand on the issues and what you need to know to cast your ballot.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives with his then-personal attorney Todd Blanche in court for opening statements in his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 22, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)
By Sam Gaunnt | D.C. Bureau
Todd Blanche took the oath of office as U.S. attorney general at a brief ceremony in the Oval Office Monday, following the Senate’s narrow vote to approve his nomination as the nation’s top law enforcement official over the weekend.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer watches a crowd of protesters at Delaney Hall, a detention center, in Newark, New Jersey, on May 25, 2026. Employing new tactics, ICE arrested more people in July than in any previous month of the Trump administration. (Photo by Ben Ackman/New Jersey Monitor)
By Tim Henderson| Stateline
Federal immigration agents are employing new tactics — from arresting academics at airports to setting up a checkpoint at a popular creek in a National Forest — to boost their arrest numbers, leading to 51,000 arrests in July, more than in any previous month of the Trump administration.
By Shauneen Miranda | D.C. Bureau
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order that aims to reshape guidance surrounding childhood vaccines, standing alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was met with immediate pushback.
ICYMI
Trump administration threatens to gut Head Start rules | Carolyn Jones, CalMatters.
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