Providence’s New Urban Trail Section Will Connect Washington Secondary, Woonasquatucket Paths

by Eric Halvarson

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by ecoRI. Republished with permission. Highway traffic flows just below the new shared-use paths built in Federal Hill between Tobey and Waverly streets. Cyclists and pedestrians are enjoying their new separate lane, but should they be concerned about the [...]

ProvPort Master Planning Continues with Port Sustainability Fund Primed to Support Environmental Projects

by Eric Halvarson

At the end of this year Providence will begin distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to sustainability projects in South Providence neighborhoods afflicted by the contamination by industrial facilities in the Port of Providence. Community groups are hopeful the funds will support their fight against [...]

Now Go: The Insistent Story of “Little Neck” by Darcie Dennigan

by Diane Josefowicz

Little Neck by Providence’s Darcie Dennigan is the book that Gertrude Stein would have written, if only she’d had a side hustle in death. Told in spooky retrospect by a knowing teen who works at a gravestone-cutting shop, the novel begins with a four-sentence revelation [...]

Butler Caregivers Raise Money and Volunteer to Restore the Blackstone Boulevard Park

by Steve Ahlquist

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Steve Ahlquist’s Substack on October 19. Reprinted with permission. Two months after settling a contract with Care New England, and after enduring the longest hospital strike in Rhode Island history, Butler Hospital caregivers represented by SEIU 1199 NE partnered with the Blackstone Parks Conservancy and the Providence [...]

Massive Schools Plan Proves Hard to Pin Down

by Jonathan Howard

Providence is halfway through a decade-long capital improvement plan to replace or renovate its aging and long-neglected stock of public school buildings to “new or like-new” conditions. Generations of current and past Providence Public School Department (PPSD) students and families know that a major district-wide [...]

New Providence Police Surveillance Software Has Civil Liberties Groups Asking “Who’s Watching?”

by Eric Halvarson

Inside Providence’s new Real Time Crime Center, blue lights illuminate a dark room filled with desks holding computer monitors and a wall covered in screens. The screens reveal a map of the city covered in green dots. Each dot represents a police officer body camera [...]

Tiny But Mighty Providence Garden Showcases Natural Diversity in BioBlitz

by Bonnie Phillips

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by ecoRI. Republished with permission. The two young boys looked dubiously at the brightly colored flower Doug Victor was holding out to them. “Go ahead, eat it,” Victor said with a grin. “It’s a little spicy,” he added, as [...]

City Council Ordinance to Ban Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Goes to Final Vote

by Andrea Gutierrez

A long goodbye is underway in Providence for gas-powered leaf blowers. The controversial lawn equipment is considered an environmental risk because of the noise pollution and the toxic emissions created by the combustion engines, according to the proposed ordinance by the Special Committee for Environment [...]

Protecting Our Waterways: From Geese to Garden Runoff, How Local Actions Make a Difference

by Amber Ma

The Stormwater Innovation Center (SIC)’s recent “Rain Harvest Festival,” a vibrant celebration of science, art, environmental stewardship, and water awareness highlighted stormwater challenges and ways people can address them. Reducing water pollution and improving the resilience of city and state waterways played center stage. Groups [...]

Joe Wilson Jr. Takes Center Stage at ACT

by Judith Clinton

Joe Wilson’s vision for culture as community wealth blends history, activism, and infrastructure Providence has always lived on its cultural heartbeat. From the noise and ingenuity of the Industrial Era to the DIY brilliance of neighborhood festivals and avant-garde theater, this city thrives when its [...]