By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Tuesday morning!
It’s Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day today, otherwise known as Christmas in April.
***
High tide in Providence is at 6:08 a.m. and 6:32 p.m. Low tide is at 11:48 a.m. Sunrise is at 6:06 a.m. Sunset is at 7:25 p.m.
***
The Rhode Island Ethics Commission meets at 9 a.m.
The State Properties Committee meets at 10 a.m.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo and NASA Astronaut Raja Chari visit Henry J. Winters Elementary School in Pawtucket at 10:15 a.m.
The Cannabis Control Commission meets at 11:30 a.m. It’s the panel’s first meeting since U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose last Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction, forcing regulators to halt their retail license lottery and application review. Three federal lawsuits have been filed against the commission by out-of-state entrepreneurs over the state’s residency requirement for retail licenses.
The Rhode Island Library Association and School Librarians of Rhode Island host a 3 p.m. State House press conference to promote legislation to ensure certified school librarians are in every public school in Rhode Island.
The Senate Finance Committee meets at approximately 5 p.m to hear the revised fiscal year 2026 and proposed 2027 budgets for the Departments of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals; the Mental Health Advocate; and the Department of Health; as well as testimony on funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and Rural Health Transformation Program.
The Coastal Resources Management Council meets at 6 p.m.
Andre Dev, a listed owner of PVD Flowers and founder of the Community Cannabis Network of Rhode Island, speaks during a press conference outside the proposed site of a worker-owned cannabis cooperative on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Frustrated retail cannabis license applicants called on the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission to respond quickly to a federal order temporarily halting the lottery process to award 20 licenses because of legal questions about the state’s residency requirement. The process, said one applicant, has been as “slow as molasses.”
A bottle of an injectable prescription medication for testosterone. Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a bill that would remove testosterone from the state’s prescription drug monitoring database and require the state to remove existing records on the drug’s dispensation and prescription. (Photo illustration by Alexander Castro)
By Alexander Castro
The Rhode Island Senate Committee on Health and Human Services is considering a bill that would purge the hormonal drug testosterone from the state’s prescription drug monitoring database to extend privacy protections for patients. The drug is routinely prescribed to older men but is also indispensable to transgender care.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in December 2025. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
By Ashley Murray | D.C. Bureau
President Donald Trump lashed out at Pope Leo XIV Sunday night following the pontiff’s sharp criticism of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and wider Middle East conflict. In a lengthy post, littered with falsehoods, on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump accused the first U.S.-born pope of being “WEAK on crime” and of supporting Iran having a nuclear weapon.
Three wind turbines, including one with a damaged blade, at the Vineyard Wind offshore site in November 2024. (Photo by Eleonora Bianchi /The New Bedford Light)
By Anastasia E. Lennon | The New Bedford Light
Massachusetts’ only offshore wind project is under serious threat again, but this time, it’s not at the hands of the Trump administration. Vineyard Wind on April 8 sued its turbine supplier, GE Renewables, in civil court in Boston, alleging GE is breaching its contract and planning to abandon the project by April 28 — during the critical final stage of coming fully online.
ICYMI
COMMENTARY: Right-sizing RIPTA is the wrong move | Daria Phoebe Brashear
More states make it easier for physician assistants to practice | Nada Hassanein, Stateline
Rep. Eric Swalwell and three more US House members may face rare expulsion votes | Jennifer Shutt, 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.