The council chambers at Providence City Hall transformed into an impromptu overnight warming center on Tuesday night. Volunteers dropped off hot pizza, fresh fruit, bottled water, and winter coats as unhoused people filtered in off the streets. “I’ve got to stay here because I have nowhere else to stay. I’ve been sleeping outside,” 62-year-old Bill […]
Metro Desk
Posted inLabor, Local, Metro Desk
Rhode Island Hospital medical residents win union election, 464 to 27
Medical residents with Brown University Health, formerly called Lifespan, have formed a doctors’ union at Rhode Island Hospital. In a small fluorescent-lit room in the Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. federal building in Boston Tuesday afternoon, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) employees spent more than 90 minutes opening envelopes and counting ballots. When it came time […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk, Politics
Providence legislative priorities to center around schools and housing
The City of Providence has announced its priorities for the legislative session that starts at the Statehouse Tuesday. Among them are plans to shore up more cash to cover the millions of dollars the city owes in funding for its schools, and measures meant to entice developers to build more housing. Schools When a judge […]
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 inCriminal Justice, Local, Metro Desk
RI reaches agreement with Feds over care for kids in psychiatric wards
The state of Rhode Island and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement on how to ensure that children in state care without a medical need to be in psychiatric wards will be able to go home and receive care integrated into their daily lives. Hundreds of young teenagers and adolescent kids were […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
Independent Man returns to the top of the Rhode Island State House
A crowd of locals, amateur photographers, construction workers, and families gathered to watch the glistening 15-foot Independent Man statue as it touched down above the Rhode Island Statehouse dome a little after 10 in the morning on Wednesday. The icon of the Statehouse was removed about a year ago after drone footage revealed a wedge-shaped […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
Providence takes steps toward solidifying its new housing-forward comprehensive plan
The Providence City Plan Commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt some zoning ordinance changes based off of the city’s new comprehensive plan. Broadly speaking, the zoning changes would allow greater density in most neighborhoods in Providence, with the exception of Blackstone and some pockets of the West side. While the comprehensive plan is a […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local, Metro Desk
Judge expands attorney’s authority over Rhode Island Recycled Metals
On Friday, Associate Justice Brian P. Stern granted Special Master Rick Land authority to guide Rhode Island Recycled Metals through its environmental permitting process, including permits related to land remediation and stormwater control. Land, an attorney for Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman, LLP, says the judge’s decision on Friday is good news. “I’m encouraged that we’re […]
Posted inEconomy, Local, Metro Desk
Providence Place mall is now in permanent court-ordered receivership
During a hearing on Wednesday, Rhode Island Superior Court Associate Justice Brian P. Stern made attorneys Mark Russo and John Dorsey of the Rhode Island-based law firm Ferrucci Russo Dorsey the permanent receivers of the Providence Place Mall. The pair had served as temporary receivers since Nov. 1. The mall had to enter court-appointed receivership […]
Posted inHealth, Local, Metro Desk
More than a third of Rhode Islanders are facing food insecurity, according to a new survey
A report from the Brown University School of Public Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island shows that 38% of Rhode Island households–a five year high–are experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity is more prevalent for families of color than white families, with 55% of Rhode Island Latino households and 47% of Black households experiencing […]
