As Donald Trump prepares for his second term in the White House, Sarah Austin, staff attorney with GLAD Law, spoke with Luis Hernandez about possible threats to LGBTQ rights, and what members of the local LGBTQ community can do to prepare. Interview highlights: On possible threats to LGBTQ rights: Sarah Austin: I think it’s very […]
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Posted inLocal, Politics
New year, new laws: The RI laws that go into effect on Jan. 1
Minimum wage in Rhode Island finally ended its years-long march to $15 an hour on Wednesday — one of a number of state laws that go into effect or change on the first of the year. In 2021, Gov. Dan McKee signed a law that gradually raised the minimum wage from $11.50 an hour on […]
Posted inLocal, Politics, Technology
Hackers released some RI data on the dark web
Cyber-criminals have released on the dark web an unknown quantity of Rhode Islanders’ personal data from RIBridges, the state’s health and benefits portal. Speaking about two weeks after the breach was revealed, Gov. Dan McKee said it was unclear if the exposure of data involved all or part of the information from RIBridges. About 650,000 […]
Posted inLocal, On Sports, Stories
Passages overshadowed championships in 2024
I usually launch this year-end review with upbeat anecdotes about championship teams, unexpected success stories, and feel-good memories of the previous 12 months. This time I chose a different approach. Jim Donaldson was an excellent sports reporter and entertaining columnist for the Providence Journal for close to 38 years. He had an acerbic wit and […]
Posted inLocal, Politics
RI lawmakers prepare to return to the Statehouse
Rhode Island lawmakers will face a tougher fiscal climate when a new legislative session begins on Jan. 7 — with a looming deficit of about $300 million for the next fiscal year. The state has enjoyed a string of consecutive surpluses in recent years, thanks to a gusher of federal COVID aid. But the cost […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
Contentious zoning issues to dominate Providence city planning in early 2025
In the New Year, the City Plan Commission is set to discuss possible changes related to: the rules requiring developers to add off-street parking to some new residential buildings, regulations guiding the development of polluting industries in the Port of Providence area, and whether to add rules that dictate how new developments must look. At […]
Posted inLocal, South Coast Bureau
MassDOT unveils early plan to replace New Bedford-Fairhaven bridge
During the day, traffic on the New Bedford-Fairhaven bridge comes to a halt once an hour. The 120-year-old steel bridge slowly spins 90 degrees until it’s perpendicular to the road, opening up a pair of narrow channels on both sides for fishing boats and barges to squeeze through. Cars don’t start moving again until the […]
Posted inLocal, On Sports
Christmas 2024: RI sports gifts received and awaiting delivery
We are still a few hours from Christmas, but some of us have received presents already. If you wore your Keaney Blue to the Ryan Center on Dec. 7, you went home celebrating URI’s 69-63 victory over Providence College. What a gift! The Rams improved to 9-0 and continued the program’s best start in 76 […]
Posted inLocal, Politics, TGIF
TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for Dec. 20, 2024
The local pols were all snug in their beds, while visions of plush campaign checks danced in their heads. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and what we used to call the twitters. My column is taking next week off — happy holidays! — so this missive will next materialize on […]
Posted inLocal, Politics, Technology
Jim Langevin on fallout from the RIBridges cyber attack
State officials are still navigating the fallout of a massive data breach that potentially compromised the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders. An investigation is underway to determine what went wrong when hackers gained access to data kept in the R-I Bridges software system. And already a class-action lawsuit has been filed against the company that manages the database.
