By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Tuesday morning!
It’s day two for candidates to file paperwork declaring their intention to run in the September primary or general election in November. The two Democratic frontrunners had not done so by 4 p.m. Monday. But Democrat Steven R. “Wil” Gregersen and Republicans Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino did. The deadline to file is 4 p.m. Wednesday.
* * *
High tide in Bristol is at 4:04 p.m. Low tide is at 9:02 a.m. and 10:35 p.m. Sunset is at 8:23 p.m.
* * *
The Rhode Island Ethics Commission meets at 9 a.m. An executive session on the complaint aginst former House hearing on
The Public Utilities Commission holds a hearing starting at 9:30 a.m. at its Warwick office in Warwick on The Narragansett Bay Commission’s requests for an across-the-board 11.35% increase on all residential and non-residential rates, effective on July 1, 2026.
The State Properties Committee meets at 10 a.m.
The Coastal Resources Management Council meets at 6 p.m. to consider applications from the city of Pawtucket for a variance and special exceptions for the Tidewater Stadium Development project.
A poster of Newport Democratic Rep. Lauren Carson, who introduced in her chamber legislation to regulate e-book licensing terms, hangs at the Newport Public Library in July 2025. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
Legislation that became law last week without Gov. Dan McKee’s signature would bar libraries from entering into or renewing certain digital licensing contracts that interfere with core operations, such as interlibrary loans or collection building efforts. But it won’t take effect immediately and will require several other states to enact similar laws.
Neither Gov. Dan McKee, right, nor his challenger Helena Buonanno Foulkes, left, received the Rhode Island Democratic Party’s endorsement following a split vote at its convention Saturday, June 20, 2026, in East Providence. (Photos by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Neither Gov. Dan McKee nor challenger Helena Buonanno Foulkes will get the top spot and asterisk signaling the party endorsement on the September primary ballot after the Rhode Island Democratic Party declined to endorse either at its state committee convention Saturday. Democratic party leaders were also divided in the primaries for lieutenant governor and attorney general, with no candidate receiving enough votes to win the endorsement in their race.
A glider is deployed in the Gulf of Alaska as part of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative program. Gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that can gather data for weeks or months. The glider was deployed as part of Global Station Papa Array, a collection of instruments positioned in the Gulf of Alaska through the Ocean Observatories Initiative. (Photo provided by the Station Papa Science Team)
By Yereth Rosen | Alaska Beacon
Over 900 sophisticated monitoring instruments will remain in place in the nation’s oceans, thanks to a National Science Foundation reversal of its plan to partially dismantle the system. The federal agency announced last week that it is dropping its plan to remove hundreds of instruments from the Ocean Observatories Initiative program, a day after the U.S. Senate approved a bill to prohibit federal spending for decommissioning of any of the initiative without a thorough review.
Voting at the Portland Expo in Maine’s June 9, 2026 primary election. (Photo by Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)
By Jonathan Shorman | D.C. Bureau
The Trump administration illegally overhauled a U.S. Department of Homeland Security computer program in its hunt for noncitizen voters, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Monday in a stinging decision that laid into federal officials for violating the privacy of millions of Americans.
A construction worker balances atop a roof. States and cities are loosening building code requirements in an effort to lower construction costs and boost affordable housing. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
By Robbie Sequeira | Stateline
States and cities are loosening building code requirements in an effort to lower construction costs and boost affordable housing. Some of these changes include allowing apartment buildings to have just one stairway, reducing how often building codes are updated and rolling back specific electrical or fire safety standards. But critics have raised safety concerns, noting that rules were shaped by past tragedies and aim to prevent future harm.
ICYMI
COMMENTARY: Higher auto insurance rates in store if Gov. McKee signs these bills | Christopher S. Stark
Mildly blue or a blue tsunami? 9 states will decide if Dems flip control of U.S. Senate | Jacob Fischler and Jonathan Shorman | D.C. Bureau
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.