President Trump’s new budget proposal calls for cutting the main source of federal funds for state and local libraries. The president’s budget outline, released earlier this month, would eliminate a little known federal agency called the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The proposed cuts weren’t exactly a surprise. Executive Order 14238, signed by […]
David Wright
David Wright is a veteran TV, radio, and digital reporter who has contributed stories to Rhode Island PBS Weekly since 2022 and more recently joined The Public’s Radio team.
For more than 20 years, he was a correspondent at ABC News. Career highlights include covering the White House during President Trump’s first term, the Vatican during 3 different papacies, and reporting from numerous global conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and Gaza. Past interviews include Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Hamid Karzai, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Elon Musk.
He recently won a New England Emmy and a NETA award for a story he did for Rhode Island PBS Weekly. Other awards include several national Emmy and Murrow Awards, plus a Peabody, a DuPont, and an Overseas Press Club award.
David began his career in public radio as a reporter and host at WBUR and KQED. A native of Buffalo, he is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford. He and his wife Victoria met when they were both covering the 2005 papal conclave in Rome. They have 3 teenage daughters and a German Shepherd Dog.
Posted inArts And Culture, Local, Sports
A parting shot from the PawSox
McCoy Stadium will soon be gone for good. But heartbroken fans of the PawSox have one last bit of trivia left to savor. Demolition workers have recovered not one, but two time capsules buried at the ballpark. Pawtucket officials plan to open them in June. “It’s the denouement of some tragic decisions by the state […]
Posted inLocal, Politics
Rhode Island congressmen fight for emergency food aid
Ever since the Trump Administration abruptly dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, emergency food supplies have been piling up at the North Kingstown warehouse of Edesia Nutrition. As of last week, Edesia had stockpiled more than 120,000 boxes of Plumpy’Nut, a specially formulated mixture of ground peanuts, powdered milk, sugar and oil created to […]
Posted inLocal, Religion
Providence officially has a new Bishop
Just a few weeks after the Roman Catholic church elected a new pope, the Diocese of Providence finally has a new bishop. Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, the former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, is now the 10th Bishop of Providence after a solemn Mass of Installation Tuesday at the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. A representative […]
Posted inLocal, South County Bureau
Jury finds former high school basketball coach not guilty of sex crimes
After a trial that lasted a month, the jury deliberated a little over 8 hours before finding a former North Kingstown High School boys basketball coach not guilty of two felonies — second degree child molestation and second degree sexual assault. But the same jury found Aaron Thomas guilty of two misdemeanors — two counts […]
Posted inEducation, Local, Politics
DOGE copycat at Brown cleared of wrongdoing
Defiant and undaunted, Brown sophomore Alex Shieh celebrated the fact that he won’t be sent down for breaking university rules. “I’m happy that I’m not being charged anymore, but I’m upset,” Shieh said. “I’m upset that I was charged in the first place.” Earlier this year, Shieh used AI to scrape contact details of all […]
Posted inEducation, Local, Politics, Technology
RI Senate votes to ban cell phones in schools
The movement to ban cell phones in public schools is gaining momentum in Rhode Island. On Tuesday, the state senate unanimously passed a measure to do just that. The bill would not just cover phones. Tablets, computers, and smartwatches would also be prohibited, starting in August, along with any other electronic device that connects to the […]
Posted inLocal
Rhode Island Catholics welcome Pope Leo XIV
When white smoke finally appeared above the Sistine Chapel Thursday evening, seminarian Nathan Ledoux of Newport had a front row seat. He and several other Rhode Islanders currently studying in Rome to become priests went straight to St. Peter’s Square to see the new pope. “It was truly, truly an amazing time,” Ledoux said. They […]
Posted inStories
ACI inmate wins to right to wear an Apache headband
A Tiverton man incarcerated at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston has been granted the right to wear an Apache headband in accordance with his religious beliefs. The Rhode Island Department of Corrections repeatedly denied the inmate’s request to wear a White Mountain Apache Tribe headband, but backed down in response to a lawsuit brought […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Local
JWU cuts 91 jobs
Like many New England colleges and universities, Providence-based Johnson & Wales University has been hit hard by declining enrollments. But university officials say their efforts at cost cutting haven’t kept pace with the smaller student body. On Tuesday, university officials announced they are laying off 52 faculty members and 39 staff people — 91 people […]
