By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Wednesday morning!
Say it ain’t so. But it is so. The National Weather Service issued a frost advisory for parts of Providence, Kent and Washington counties overnight through 9 o’clock this morning.
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High tide in Newport is at 6:10 p.m. Low tide is at 11:52 a.m. Sunrise is at 6:48 a.m. Sunset is at 6:17 p.m.
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Gov. Dan McKee signs a proclamation at the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association's celebration of National Manufacturing Month at Goodwin Bradley Pattern Company, Inc. in Providence at 10:45 a.m.
The special legislative commission studying water supply planning for new housing developments in the state’s rural towns meets at 3 p.m.
A hallway in Hope High School in Providence. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
A new Rhode Island Department of Education analysis raises questions about assumptions that went into a plan released earlier this year to overhaul the state’s school funding formula. The report was prepared for state lawmakers about to study the findings of the Rhode Island Foundation-led Blue Ribbon Commission.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, right, speaks to reporters about the arrest of William “Billy” Morton in the 1985 murder of Hillary Hellewell at his Providence office on Oct. 6, 2026. At left is Newport Police Chief Ryan Duffy. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Janine L. Weisman and Christopher Shea
DNA evidence has led to the arrest of a 61-year-old Smithfield man in connection with the May 1985 murder of Hillary Hellewell in Newport. It’s the fourth case solved by a special cold case investigative unit within the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General.
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, at a July 2026 rally in Minneapolis. Flanagan and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, an Alaska Democrat, could become the first Native American or Alaska Native women elected to the Senate. (Photo by Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Reformer)
By Jennifer Shutt | D.C. Bureau
The number of women in the U.S. Senate is unlikely to increase and may decline following the November midterm elections, though there are still opportunities for candidates to make history in the upper chamber. And at least 271 women on the ballot for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving voters the opportunity to surpass the previous record of 127 women in that chamber at one time.
Voters head into a polling site at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
By Jonathan Shorman | D.C. Bureau
On Tuesday, several groups — including the Save America Movement, the American Federation of Teachers labor union and the National Action Network — launched Vote Safe, an initiative that will put local volunteers at polling locations in areas where they say pressure on Black, Latino and Asian voters is highest.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for governor, campaigns at a September town hall in West Des Moines. Democrats in November could win a majority of governor’s offices for the first time in 16 years. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
By Kevin Hardy | Stateline
This November, voters will choose governors in 36 states, and Democrats could win a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010. Currently, Republicans boast a 26-24 gubernatorial advantage over Democrats.
ICYMI
Sanchez says he has votes to become next Providence City Council president | Alexander Castro
Americans’ water bills are growing faster than groceries, overall inflation | Kevin Hardy, Stateline
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