Prescription for Partnership: New Collaboration Provides Medications to Uninsured Rhode Islanders
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For 25 years, the Rhode Island Free Clinic, located in South Providence, has provided free medical care for Rhode Island adults who do not have health insurance and cannot afford to pay for primary care and other services. In 2022, the clinic reported treating 2,570 patients. Clinic services have [...]

06
Dec
Photo: URI Feinstein Pre-School
URI’s Laboratory Preschool Thrives in Downtown Providence
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From the exterior of 255 Westminster Street, you see the facade of the former Shepard’s Department Store, once a bustling and thriving shopping experience. Look deep into the windows along the street now and you will see a world of play and exploration, of process [...]

28
Nov
The helping hands of a CHW Credit: CHW Association of RI (CHWARI)
Taking Care of the Neighborhood:  Community Health Workers on the Front Line and Beyond
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In the last few years, if you visited a local health or community center for your Covid vaccine, spoke to someone who followed up with you after the visit, or were interviewed following a bout with the illness, you most likely met with a Community [...]

28
Nov
Exterior Cranston Armory Credit: Taylor Polites
Still Hoping for the Cranston Street Armory
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The Cranston Street Armory, one of Rhode Island’s most iconic treasures, remains lost in a morass of politics and funding questions despite years of State and community attempts to save it.  Even so, efforts like the current one continue, fueled not by greed but by [...]

22
Nov
Watching as the Bus System Drives Over the Cliff
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By this summer, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) will be facing a deficit of approximately $33 million.  The severe cuts in service and employment that may follow are the predicted cliff ahead in the road. In May 2023 the RIPTA staff presented its Board of [...]

22
Nov
Providence Streets Crash Data courtesy of Providence Streets Coalition
Providence Streets Crash Data Released
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A new interactive data and mapping initiative from the Providence Streets Coalition (PSC) is now available to the public, giving both residents and officials a block-by-block visualization of every reported motor vehicle crash involving a person walking or bicycling since 2010. The interactive map pinpoints and details [...]

15
Nov
Illustration by Habesha Petros
Dangerous Intersection: RIDOT Hides Crash Data from Public
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PROVIDENCE — Crash data — where they happen, how, and who is involved — is often reviewed by Rhode Island Department of Transportation staffers and consultants when making changes to the state’s roads or responding to safety issues. But requests for this information from the [...]

15
Nov
Mashapaug Pond, Providence’s largest, a deserted idyll in need of love
Why is Providence’s Largest Pond Invisible?
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On Saturday mornings between April and October, a group of volunteer URI Watershed Watch “citizen scientists” collect water samples from Mashapaug Pond in Reservoir Triangle. Mashapaug Pond, the largest freshwater pond in Providence, is part of a complex ecosystem, receiving outflow from Spectacle Pond in [...]

15
Nov
Giant sycamore in front of Betsey Williams cottage. The tree, according to Doug Still, was planted at the same time as a Mulberry, a tree Still named the Rhoda Williams Mulberry, that survived long enough to be in old photos but is no longer there. Since this photo, wooden props have been installed under the long horizontal branch.  Photo courtesy of the RW Park Conservancy
The Williams Family Tree, Roger and Betsey 
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The American Sycamore tree in Roger Williams Park between Betsey Williams’ cottage and the statue memorializing Roger Williams, has probably stood there nearly 240 years. The tree was the inaugural focus of Doug Still’s monthly podcast series, This Old Tree, featuring “heritage trees and the [...]

08
Nov
A Big Step for PVD: City Council Passes Major Climate Legislation
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On November 2nd, the Providence City Council passed its first major climate legislation, voting unanimously and enthusiastically in support of a new Building Energy Reporting Ordinance (BERO). The policy is designed to help large building owners better manage their energy use, reduce energy costs, and [...]

08
Nov