By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Wednesday morning!
It was raining Monday when independent Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Bobby Carr stood outside the Dunkin’ on East Main Road in Portsmouth with a clipboard in hand. Twelve people signed his nomination form in an hour and a half. The Little Compton resident still has a long way to go and a short time to get there.
Candidates for governor — of which there are nine independents — must collect 1,000 signatures from registered voters by Friday’s deadline to qualify for the ballot. Nolan Page, our summer reporting intern, talked to some of these unaffiliated hopefuls about the challenges they face for today’s top story.
Alas, Nolan, a Tiverton resident and journalism major at the University of Maryland, is about halfway through his internship! We only have him with us for a short time. But his great reporting has already made this a memorable summer.
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High tide in Providence is at 3:00 p.m. Low tide is at 7:49 a.m. and 8:49 p.m. Sunset is at 8:22 p.m.
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U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, U.S. Reps. Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley attend the 11 a.m. official opening of a new veteran-owned software company in downtown Providence. Rise8 is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Its founder and CEO Bryon Kroger welcomes the congressional delegates to the “Collabor8” center at 56 Pine Street, 7B.
Gov. Dan McKee ceremonially signs two pieces of legislation at noon at the site of the former McCoy Stadium and future Pawtucket High School on Ben Mondor Way in Pawtucket. The first, H7674/S2822, defines and encourages public-private partnerships for proposals for state purchases. The second, H7972/S2735, clarifies the requirements for project labor agreements on large-scale construction projects.
Lisa Cafferty, a Portsmouth voter, signs Robert “Bobby” Carr’s nomination papers outside Dunkin’ and Allen’s Wine & Spirits in Portsmouth on Monday, July 6, 2026. (Photo by Nolan Page/Rhode Island Current)
By Nolan Page
Rhode Island’s Democratic and Republican parties organize events at local restaurants, clubs and other venues where candidates can meet with large groups of registered voters to collect lots of signatures in just a few hours. But unaffiliated candidates have no choice but to go to the voters. That’s why independent gubernatorial candidate Robert “Bobby” Carr, 50, of Little Compton was standing in front of the Dunkin’ on East Main Road in Portsmouth on a rainy Monday afternoon. In 90 minutes, he collected only 12 signatures. He needs 1,000 by Friday.
The view out the window of a home in Newport at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, reveals snow drifts covering the entrance to the house next door. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island's congressional delegation are pushing back after the Trump administration last week denied federal disaster aid for February's record blizzard. On July 2, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied requests from both Rhode Island and New York for federal funding to recover from the historic storm while granting disaster aid relief for red and purple states, along with blizzard recovery help for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts.
Early voting during the 2023 special Democratic primary for Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District seat took place in this room on the ground floor of Newport City Hall. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Rhode Island's Board of Elections on Tuesday approved new regulations governing early in-person voting, creating uniform statewide rules ahead of the 2026 elections. But the new rules leave unresolved whether political signs and candidates can be within 50 feet of early voting sites.
Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett in July 2025. (Photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)
By Nolan Page
Rhode Island beachgoers have five opportunities to receive free skin cancer screenings this summer thanks to a partnership between the Rhode Island Department of Health and Brown Health Dermatology. Screenings start Friday, July 10, at Easton’s Beach in Newport and will continue at sites in Narragansett and Lincoln through Saturday, Aug. 22.
Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, said he told U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine he should “step aside.” In this photo, Sanders, right, rallies with Platner in Portland on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
By Jacob Fischler
Following Politico’s explosive report that an ex-girlfriend of Maine’s Democratic party nominee Graham Platner alleged he sexually assaulted her in 2021, Platner’s supporters in Congress and Democratic circles in Washington, D.C., rescinded their endorsements and sought a new candidate in the race to unseat Susan Collins. “The allegations against Graham Platner in the Politico story are extremely serious and I am withdrawing my support,” Rhode Island's Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement released by his office.
ICYMI
Fabian Schmidt chose America long ago. A year after getting trapped in ICE’s net, he still does. | William Skipworth, New Hampshire Bulletin
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