By Alexander Castro | Reporter
Happy Saturday!
High tide in Bristol is at 3 p.m. Low tide is at 7:20 a.m. and 9:27 p.m. Sunrise is at 6:29 a.m. and sunset is at 6:47 p.m.
Gresh Laing is shown with his Tesla Cybertruck on the Goat Island Causeway in Newport. The Newport Pell Bridge, across which he commutes each workday, is in the distance. (Photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Gresh Laing, who lives in North Kingstown and works in Newport, loves the pre-owned 2024 Tesla Cybertruck he bought last May. Then he noticed his E-ZPass account started refreshing more frequently. He learned he was being forced to pay a nonresident rate of $4 instead of 83 cents to cross the Pell Bridge because his EV truck exceeds 8,000 pounds.
Alan Gordon, the Republican nominee running for Rhode Island attorney general, stands next to a statue of 19th century antislavery activist and women’s suffragist Elizabeth Buffum Chace on the second floor of the State House on Sept. 15, 2026. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
Republican attorney general nominee Alan Gordon said he’s confident in his legal analysis of the 19-page plan he unveiled Tuesday in his campaign’s first press conference at the Rhode Island State House. “I ran it through three AIs,” he told the only reporter who showed up. His idea: to criminally charge men whose consensual sex results in an unwanted pregnancy.
The Woonsocket Wastewater Treatment facility is poised for new management under an agreement between the city and Veolia North America. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
By Nancy Lavin
Woonsocket plans to bring in Veolia to temporarily operate its wastewater treatment plant as the city continues working on plans to close its controversial regional sewage sludge incinerator. The City Council approved a six-month contract on Monday night to replace the company that is leaving over a payment dispute.
The Rhode Island Board of Elections met Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, to certify results from the state’s Sept. 9 primary. (Screenshot)
By Nancy Lavin
Reviews of three close primary races, including the Republican gubernatorial race featuring Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino, did not change the winners, the Rhode Island Board of Elections confirmed Tuesday. The 20% turnout also marked the highest participation rate in a state primary in the last decade.
The Airport Fire Department on Cedar Swamp Road in Warwick. Local 2873 of RI Council 94 President Steven Parent was ordered reinstated after an arbitrator found he was fired without just cause by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation October in 2024. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
An arbitrator found Rhode Island Airport Corporation officials failed to prove its misconduct allegations against firefighter Steven Parent and had effectively terminated him in 2024 before giving him a chance to respond at a hearing. Parent, president of Local 2873 of RI Council 94 for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, estimates back pay and lost benefits owed him could be as much as $350,000.
Rhode Island’s state employee payroll transparency portal is displayed on a laptop on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
Anyone visiting Rhode Island’s payroll transparency portal to find out how much a certain state employee makes will be looking at not-quite-fresh numbers. The portal hasn’t been updated since Oct. 9, 2025, as the state continues working to integrate data from its new $99 million ERP system.
ICYMI
Thanks for reading Swell. Did you know our daily morning 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.