Providence Mayor Brett Smiley on Tuesday released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2026, which begins on July 1. “This year’s City budget was exceptionally difficult to balance,” he said. According to the mayor, the city had to dig into its finances this year to find funding for its public schools, due to a lawsuit […]
Olivia Ebertz
Olivia Ebertz comes to The Public’s Radio from WNYC, where she was a producer for Morning Edition. Prior to that, she spent two years reporting for KYUK in Bethel, Alaska, where she wrote a lot about how the warming climate is forcing local Indigenous communities to change their traditional lifeways.
Prior to her career as a journalist, Olivia worked in film. Her documentaries have screened at festivals worldwide.
Olivia likes to pursue stories inspired by questions from community members.
Ella habla español, lei parla italiano, и она говорит по-русски.
Posted inEducation, Local, Politics
Federal government investigates Brown for civil rights violations
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has expanded its inquiry into Brown University for a Title VI Federal Rights Violation, according to a campus-wide email sent from Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey and the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Matthew Guterl. Previously, the HHS investigation, which began in […]
Posted inImmigration, Local, Metro Desk
Trump administration targets Brown University with visa revocations
One student at Brown on a student visa and a “small number” of recent alumni on post-graduate student visas have had their visas revoked. That’s according to an email obtained by The Public’s Radio sent by the Brown University Office of International Student and Scholar Services to its international students and scholars. “We recognize that […]
Posted inEducation, Local, Metro Desk
Hundreds at Brown University sign letter in support of free speech on campus
A group of 255 professors at Brown University have joined hundreds of alumni and other Brown community members in signing a letter addressed to university administrators underscoring their support for academic freedom on campus and safety for international students and faculty. The letter comes following the news that the federal government plans to withdraw $510 […]
Posted inImmigration, Local, Metro Desk
Trump administration revokes visa for RISD student
According to a campus-wide announcement published Monday by Rhode Island School of Design President Crystal Williams, an undergraduate student has had their visa revoked. “A revocation of one’s student status is rare, personally and professionally impactful, and especially heartbreaking,” she said in her statement. Williams wrote that the RISD’s Office of International Students and Scholar […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk, Transportation
Advocates push back against potential RIPTA hub sites
Advocates are pushing back against the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) after its board introduced to the public a slimmed down list of potential new bus hub locations: the smaller lawn in front of the Providence train station, and the larger lawn behind it. Amy Glidden, co-chair of the Rhode Island Transit Riders, said […]
Posted inEducation, Immigration, Local, Metro Desk
Deportations and detainments are having a chilling effect at Brown
On a recent sunny day in early spring, the Brown University main green space was filled with students sun-bathing. It’s hard to imagine now, but this time last year, the university was a major hub of pro-Palestinian activism. Now, with the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian territories collapsing and a Brown Medicine doctor deported, […]
Posted inImmigration, Local, Metro Desk
Lawyer for Fabian Schmidt says his client is in legal ‘limbo’ while held by ICE
A lawyer for a New Hampshire green card-holder who is being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Donald W. Wyatt detention facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, says his client’s spirit is starting to deflate. Lawyer David Keller told several dozen protesters and three reporters outside the jail where Fabian Schmidt is […]
Posted inImmigration, Local, Metro Desk
Alawieh protest draws Brown University community members to Statehouse
Dozens of Rhode Islanders turned out at the Statehouse Monday night to protest the deportation of a Rhode Island kidney doctor detained at Logan Airport last week. Although it’s been a mostly quiet year in terms of campus related protests, the deportation of Brown affiliate Dr. Rasha Alawieh mobilized the university’s community to the state […]
Posted inImmigration, Local, Metro Desk
Judge postpones hearing after feds deport Rhode Island doctor
A hearing has been postponed for a Rhode Island kidney transplant specialist employed by Brown University Medicine who was refused entry into the U.S. last week and flown out of the country. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin granted the motion to continue the hearing on the grounds that Dr. Rasha Alawieh […]
