By Nancy Lavin | Senior reporter
It’s Friday.
If ticks are the star of the summer, University of Rhode Island researcher Thomas Mather is a close second. Long before alpha-gal syndrome became part of the zeitgeist, Mather, aka “The TickGuy” had established himself as one of the foremost public health researchers on all things ticks. The alarming surge in ticks, and the illnesses and allergens they cause, has only increased Mather’s celebrity, evidenced by his recent appearance on “The Daily Show.”
So bring your finest autograph supplies to Buttonwoods Beach at Warwick City Park at 11 a.m. today, where Maher is scheduled to appear with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed to advocate for an extra $90 million in tick-related research funding in the federal fiscal 2027 budget. Or perhaps just douse yourself in an extra dose of mosquito repellant, just in case.
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High tide in Providence is at 5:12 p.m. Low tide is at 9:42 a.m. and 10:49 p.m. Sunset is at 8:12 p.m.
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Gov. Dan McKee joins legislative sponsors and immigrant advocates at 10:30 a.m. Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island in Providence to ceremonially sign a series of bills that protect immigrant communities and strengthen due process rights in interactions with federal immigration authorities.
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Newport Folk Festival begins today, with gates opening at Fort Adams State Park at 10 a.m., featuring a stellar lineup of performers across five stages. Wish I was there.
Gov. Dan McKee criticized the lawmakers and environmentalists who opposed his previous, $1 billion energy savings plan for "advocating for their own personal interests" during a press conference on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
In declaring a state of emergency over rising energy prices, Gov. Dan McKee simultaneously declared war on the environmental groups, lawmakers and state regulators who he alleges are standing in the way of relief for struggling families.
A construction worker retrieves plywood sheets lifted to the roof of the Ade Bethune House, a 54-unit affordable housing complex for seniors under construction on Bristol Ferry Road in Portsmouth on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Nolan Page
Renters earning an average wage would have to work 70 hours a week to afford a standard two-bedroom apartment, according to a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition in partnership with the Housing Network of Rhode Island.
The court order freezing Rhode Island's cannabis retail licenses may soon be lifted, clearing the way for the stalled licensing process to resume. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose indicated Wednesday that she would dissolve the preliminary injunction she issued April 8 now that the Rhode Island Cannabis Act no longer requires all retail license holders to be majority-owned by Rhode Island residents.
By Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor
Twenty-six states, including Rhode Island, accuse the Trump administration in a new lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island Thursday of illegally threatening to withhold billions in counterterrorism and emergency preparedness funds from states that don’t adopt sweeping election changes or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
By Christopher Shea
The rotunda to the Rhode Island State House will remain open for public use and peaceful protests during future governors’ annual addresses to lawmakers under a settlement reached Wednesday between Gov. Dan McKee and the state’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Thursday, July 23, 2026 criticized committee Democrats opposed to the nomination of Todd Blanche as attorney general. (Screenshot from committee webcast)
U.S. Senate Judiciary holds over vote on Blanche nomination for AG as Grassley slams Dems
By Ashley Murray, D.C. Bureau
Members of the U.S. Senate tasked with advancing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to be the nation’s top law enforcer on Thursday pushed the vote one week.
ICYMI
ICE detains Providence man facing deportation to country he has never known | Christopher Shea
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