Rhode Island Current

Health care providers, advocates and executives gathered in the Rhode Island State House library on Thursday, May 14, 2026, to show support for a package of bills meant to ease rising costs and provider shortages. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)For the second consecutive year, the cost of healthcare for Rhode Islanders blew past the target agreed to by state regulators and private insurers. That’s why Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King is backing a budget proposal t

Chris Kearns, acting commissioner of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, speaks as an iPhone records a presentation of Gov. Dan McKee's recommended fiscal 2027 budget on Jan. 15, 2026. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)If you think the Washington Bridge fiasco was a bummer, wait until you see the sequel. That horror movie is in production right now and will be coming to a theater near you if the governor’s cuts to clean energy programs are approved by the legislature. It w

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Lori Urso sponsored the first bill of its kind adding workplace accommodations for menopause- and perimenopause-related conditions to state law in 2025. A generational shift in recent years has led to more legislation in statehouses around the country. (Courtesy of the Rhode Island Senate)When Jacqueline Perez started experiencing symptoms of menopause in her early 50s, the brain fog was so severe, she thought she had early-onset dementia. Perez, who founded a websit

Alina Jade Barnett, an assistant professor of computer science and statistics at the University of Rhode Island, specializes in machine learning, deep learning, and healthcare-centric AI. (Photo courtesy of Alina Jade Barnett)Some uses of AI are low-stakes, like asking ChatGPT to draw up a grocery list or summarize some emails. And then there are high-stakes uses of the increasingly robust and everyday technology based in machine learning — like, say, diagnosing cancer. Alina Jade Barnett, an as

The interior of Providence City Hall. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)The Providence City Council’s signature policy effort this year — an effort to install a 4% ceiling on annual rent increases for select apartments in the city — failed to overpower a mayoral veto during a special vote Friday night. City Councilors who supported the ordinance, including Council President Rachel Miller, needed 10 votes — a supermajority for the 15-member body — to override Providence Mayor Brett

The 2026 Point-in-Time count recorded 416 people who were unsheltered and 1,820 staying in shelters on the night of Jan. 27, 2026. (Getty image)Rhode Island saw a slight decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness in the annual one-night count in January of individuals staying in shelters and unsheltered locations, according to new data released Friday. The 2026 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count identified 2,236 individuals in Rhode Island experiencing homelessness on the night of Jan. 27

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that telehealth access to abortion medication can continue according to current rules from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday to preserve telehealth access to the abortion drug mifepristone until after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the merits of the high-stakes federal lawsuit Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence

Emergency crews work at the site of a US-Israeli strike on a residential building that also destroyed the adjacent Rafi-Nia Synagogue on April 7, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.  (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Thursday rejected a proposal to rein in President Donald Trump’s months-long military actions in Iran that have left more than a dozen U.S. military members dead, while killing thousands of civilians and displacing millions in the Middle East, according to thir

Rhode Island House Majority Leader Katherine Kazarian, left, and House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski, right, present the case for establishing a new Office of Inspector General at a press conference Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)With six weeks until the end of the legislative session, Rhode Island House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski looked to merge pragmatism with impact in his first act as the new heavyweight of the chamber. Enter a state inspector gener

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys Jordan Campbell, left, and Brantley Mayers leave U.S. District Court in Providence after a Tuesday, May 12, 2026, hearing over a federal subpoena seeking Rhode Island Hospital records tied to transgender minors’ medical records. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed notice Thursday morning that it will appeal a Rhode Island federal judge’s order Wednesday night blocking a federal attempt to secure transgend

Thirty-nine new affordable apartments, part of The Avenue development in Providence’s Federal Hill and the Elmwood neighborhoods, are shown under construction at 434 Atwells Ave. on May 5, 2026. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)I was a renter long before a housing provider, and I understand how deeply housing affects stability. I grew up in a working-class family in Chicago. My mother emigrated from Guatemala. She worked as a waitress, learned English, and later became a teacher.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies before the House Committee on Education and Workforce on May 14, 2026. The hearing examined the policies and priorities of the Department of Education. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon took heat Thursday over forthcoming changes to the federal student loan system that will impose new borrowing limits for professional and graduate students.   Lawmakers took specific aim at stricter loan caps s

SEIU Local 580 President Matthew Gunnip speaks at a rally in Providence on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, for Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families unionized staff to protest proposed staff cuts to address an anticipated $4.6 million deficit at the agency. But the deficit goes unaddressed in Gov. Dan McKee's plan for what to do with a state surplus. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)Gov. Dan McKee is upholding his pledge to put money back in the pockets of Rhode Islanders

Shipping cranes stand above container ships loaded with shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles on Feb. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, Calif. The fiscal leaders of several states are demanding transparency and consumer fairness as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to refund billions in international tariffs. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)The fiscal leaders of several states are demanding transparency and consumer fairness as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to refu

Thirty-nine new affordable apartments, part of The Avenue development in Providence’s Federal Hill and the Elmwood neighborhoods, are shown under construction at 434 Atwells Ave. on May 5, 2026. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)Housing shortages have eased in most states since 2020, as new construction has made apartments and houses more affordable. Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island are the only states that have lost housing units per capita since 2020, according to a State

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy speaks to reporters during a vote at the U.S. Capitol on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved a resolution Thursday that will prevent lawmakers in that chamber from receiving their paychecks during any government shutdowns that begin after this year’s midterm elections.  The voice vote on the measure from Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy will not impact members in the House of Representatives since each chamber of

The Davis Global Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus, which holds the National Quarantine Unit, is seen on May 11, 2026 in Omaha, Nebraska. Sixteen U.S. passengers on the MV Hondius, which had three passengers die from Hantavirus last month and eight more reported cases, were brought to the National Quarantine Unit at the Omaha-based University of Nebraska Medical Center to be isolated and monitored. (Photo by Dylan Widger/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — Officials from the Cente

Rhode Island Child Advocate Katelyn Medeiros, center, leaves U.S. District Court in Providence after a Tuesday, May 12, 2026, hearing on her office’s motion to quash a federal subpoena seeking Rhode Island Hospital records tied to transgender minors’ medical care. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy on Wednesday night nullified a U.S. Department of Justice subpoena seeking roughly six years’ worth of medical records of young patients at Rhode Island H

The exterior of U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island at 1 Exchange Terrace, Providence. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)The Trump administration is doubling down on its criticism against the Rhode Island federal judge who released a man from immigration detention without being told he was wanted for a homicide in his native Dominican Republic. James Percival, general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), wrote an op-ed for the conservative on

The U.S. Capitol is pictured on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)WASHINGTON — The seventh effort to stop President Donald Trump’s military campaign in Iran until he obtains congressional approval failed Wednesday in the U.S. Senate. The vote marked the first test for Senate Republicans’ support for a War Powers Resolution after the expiration of the statute’s 60-day period granted to the president for military operations. The vote failed 49-50, though notably Sen. Lis