Friday, July 10, 2026
Trump rejects Rhode Island’s request for blizzard relief.
McKee vows to appeal.
By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
On July 2, President Donald Trump denied requests from both Rhode Island and New York for federal funding to recover from the historic storm while granting disaster aid relief for red and purple states, along with blizzard recovery help for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts.
“The Trump Administration’s denial of Rhode Island’s disaster declaration appears to be yet another case of the White House putting politics ahead of people,” McKee, a Democrat, said Monday in a statement. “Despite the significant documented damage and our state’s compelling case for federal assistance, Rhode Island and our communities are being denied the support we deserve.”
McKee’s office officially submitted the request under the federal Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act on April 7. The federal law allows governors to either request support for disasters caused by severe weather or if “the situation is beyond the capability of the state.”
The governor specifically sought out a declaration with public assistance, which provides reimbursements to state and local governments for storm-related expenses.
Rhode Island’s Emergency Management Agency received an email from FEMA denying the application a little after 11:30 a.m. July 2, according to records obtained by Rhode Island Current.
An attached letter from acting FEMA Administrator Robert J. Fenton offered no specific reason for the decision, saying only that “based on our review of all of the information available, it has been determined that supplemental federal assistance under the Stafford Act is not warranted.”
“Therefore, I must inform you that your request for a major disaster declaration is denied,” he wrote.
Over 3 feet of snow fell across many parts of Rhode Island, with 37.9 inches of snow recorded at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport when the blizzard hit on Monday, Feb. 23.
West Nile Virus Detected in Providence
Early arrival
The virus was found in a mosquito sample collected by DEM in Providence
on June 29 and tested by the Rhode Island State Health Laboratories. The
other mosquito samples collected statewide showed no signs of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)
virus, Jamestown Canyon Virus (JCV), or
additional WNV. Check RIDOH’s arboviral surveillance data webpage for
weekly test results.
Rhode Island’s risk
level for WNV is medium statewide. WNV is the main mosquito-borne
disease in the US. While most people with WNV don’t get sick, about one in five
people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. There are no
vaccines to prevent or medications to treat WNV in people. For more information
about WNV, visit www.health.ri.gov/wnv.
To learn ways to prevent mosquito bites and the diseases
carried by mosquitoes, please visit health.ri.gov/mosquito. For mosquito
control info, visit dem.ri.gov/mosquito.
For more information on DEM programs and initiatives,
visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter/X
(@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Sign up here to receive the latest
press releases, news, and events from DEM's Public Affairs Office to your
inbox.
Latinos in U.S. are indispensable to nation's prosperity, health, future
Trump attacks are against US self interest
By Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Edited by Sadie Harley,
reviewed by Andrew Zinin
At the same time, they warn that false narratives and
discriminatory policies are exacting a measurable toll on Latino communities,
contributing to rising rates of preventable illness, psychological distress,
and death.
In "Correcting False Narratives—Indispensable Latino
Contributions to U.S. Population Health," Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, RN,
founding director of CLAFH and executive director of the Institute for Policy
Solutions at the School, and colleagues document the breadth and depth of
Latino contributions across economic, social, health, and political sectors—and
make clear that addressing the health and social needs of the U.S. Latino
community is not about serving outsiders: Latinos are not loose fringe at the edges
of the great United States of America tapestry, they are essential threads
woven throughout its core.
The paper presents striking data that overturn prevailing
assumptions about the U.S. Latino community and what they contribute to the
nation's well-being:
- Four in five Latinos in the United States—approximately 79%—are U.S. citizens by birth or naturalization, and one in four U.S. children is of Hispanic origin. Latinos are the second-largest racial/ethnic group in the country; by 2060, they are projected to reach nearly 100 million, or 27% of the U.S. population.
- The U.S. Latino economy generates more than $4 trillion in annual economic output. If measured independently, it would rank as the world's fifth-largest economy—larger than the United Kingdom, Germany, India, or France.
- Latinos hold the highest labor force participation rate of any racial or ethnic group. They represent more than one-third of the U.S. construction workforce, making crucial contributions to combating the nation's housing shortage. They also are contributing to U.S. wealth creation through higher rates of new homeownership than any other racial or ethnic group.
- Far from draining the health care system, undocumented immigrants (a small share of the overall Latino population) contribute more than $50 billion annually in health insurance premiums and taxes, five times as much as the system spends on their care. They effectively subsidize the care of U.S.-born citizens and sustain the system for everyone.
- Politically, a record 16.6 million Latinos voted in the 2024 presidential election—the highest U.S. Latino participation ever recorded, and a decisive factor in several key states. With approximately 1.4 million more becoming eligible to vote each year, Latinos are the second-largest racial/ethnic voting bloc in the country and a growing force in shaping federal, national and state policies.
Thursday, July 9, 2026
League of Rhode Island Businesses: Republican business owners seeking power by subverting campaign finance rules and misleading voters
Behind the mask
You can see a “Lively” interview with him where he calls
women’s rights and the repeal of Roe v. Wade “little
bitty issues” and tries valiantly to avoid saying that Joe Biden was
elected President in 2020. (Kudos to Bill Bartholomew for
pursuing him on the points.)
Levesque was to be a featured speaker at a “Rhode Island First”
rally planned for this past May, featuring Roger Stone. Yes, that Roger Stone,
the treasonous fop with a Nixon tattoo on his back, was
sentenced to prison for covering up for Donald Trump’s campaign
collusion with Russian operatives in 2016. Trump commuted his sentence, leaving
him free to become centrally involved in the 2021 “Stop the Steal” event
that led to the January
6 assault on Congress.
To me, the remarkable part is that they boast, right there on the website, that they are doing this to evade disclosure requirements. ➜
⟵ But for the sake of comparison, here is a chart of information from the Board of Elections showing all the organizations who control multiple PACs. (Thank you, Nancy Lavin, of the Rhode Island Current.) Sometimes a difference in degree becomes a difference in kind, and I marvel that any union would lobby to preserve this kind of disadvantage.
As Levesque has explained, the organizing base of the League is the pro-gun activists who show up to the state house every year to lobby against any proposed regulation of guns. Their website features lots of calls to action like this one. ⬇
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with advocating for positions I do not agree with. Obviously, I think people who hold positions I disagree with are misguided (that’s what it means), but go ahead and take those positions and defend them.
What’s remarkable about the League is the extent to
which its candidates seek to obscure those positions, mainly by running in
Democratic primaries on an essentially Republican platform.
Take Kevin Hoyle, for instance, a candidate in
the Democratic primary for House District 32 in North Kingstown. Here’s how he
introduces himself on Facebook, an image he included in an email exchange with
me.
Challenged to endorse the state’s Democratic Party platform, Hoyle emailed me a detailed list of where he agrees and where he does not.
I suspect he thought this would end a conversation about what kind of Democrat he actually is by allowing him to say he agrees with most of it.
But his endorsement is filled with cautions and careful wording, such as saying “Recent IPCC reports may change some of this” in response to the platform’s Environment and Climate section, or noting that investment in transportation and infrastructure is important but not through taxes.
He supports the party platform on voting rights, but felt it was important to emphasize that he only wants voting rights for citizens. Imagining that there is anyone out there advocating for voting rights for non-citizens is a standard part of the MAGA fever dream, of course. Hoyle even included a strange hedge on the civil rights plank, questioning its use of the word “equitable”.
As an exercise in power, running very conservative, if not covertly Republican, candidates in September’s Democratic primary is not a terrible strategy. As we have seen all too well, many voters are not inclined to do much research on the candidates they vote for, and it is relatively straightforward to mislead them.
Blake Filippi, who was the
Republican leader in the House from 2018 to 2022, first won his seat in a
Democratic primary in 2014. After defeating Donna Walsh, one of the
leaders of Progressive Charlestown, he was unopposed in November
and promptly disaffiliated upon his election. Eventually, he became the House
Minority leader, successfully — and repeatedly — winning re-election while
never using the word “Republican” on his campaign website. You can say this is
essentially dishonest, but you can also say, hey, it worked.
EDITOR'S NOTE: While Rep. Donna Walsh was a Progressive Charlestown favorite and I personally work with Donna on issues and her campaigns, she never had any official connection to Progressive Charlestown. - Will Collette
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Charlestown Conservation Commission holds July 23 on the safety of your well water
Cool, crisp, clear … safe to drink?
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| In Rhode Island, private well owners are responsible for testing and maintaining the quality of their own well water. |
To provide residents with information on private well water testing, treatment, and maintenance, research associate Lisa Hollister with the University of Rhode Island’s Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program and private well specialist Shannon Nakama with the Rhode Island Department of Health Private Wells Program will hold a free program on Thursday, July 23, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Cross’ Mills Public Library, 4417 Old Post Road, in Charlestown.
This program is held in partnership with the Charlestown Conservation Commission and the Cross’ Mills Public Library. Attendees will learn about well maintenance and protection, the importance of regular well water testing, and resources available to interpret results.
New research suggests that heavy soybean oil intake may disrupt the gut
America’s Most Popular Cooking Oil May Be Harming Your Intestines
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| A diet high in soybean oil is found to encourage the growth of harmful bacteria such as adherent invasive E. coli in the gut. Credit: Sladek lab, UC Riverside |
Soybean oil or “vegetable oil” is everywhere in the American
diet. It is used in salad dressings, sauces, fried foods, packaged snacks,
frozen meals, and many restaurant meals. Most people may consume it regularly
without realizing how much they are getting.
New research from the University of California,
Riverside suggests that high soybean oil intake may affect more than
body weight. In mouse studies, it has been linked to changes in gut bacteria, a
weaker intestinal barrier, greater susceptibility to ulcerative colitis, and
metabolic problems.
The findings do not prove that soybean oil causes these diseases in people. But they do raise concerns about how often this inexpensive, widely used oil appears in processed and restaurant foods.
Anti-vaxxer mom likely to have her lawsuit dismissed
She is charged with murdering her twins whom she claimed were killed by vaccines
Andrea
Shaw, 23, formerly of Payette, Idaho, was arrested on Tuesday after a grand
jury returned an indictment, charging her with two counts of first-degree
murder, which requires premeditation, in connection with the deaths of her
18-month-old twins, Dallas and Tyson. Police found the twins unresponsive in
their shared bed on May 1, 2025 after responding to a 911 call.
Shaw blamed the flu, hepatitis A, and DTaP (tetanus,
diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccines the children had received days earlier, but
the indictment
alleges that she suffocated the toddlers. The arrest concludes “a
lengthy and thorough” multi-agency investigation led by the Payette Police
Department, according to a press release posted to
the department’s Facebook page. That investigation was launched last year as
foul play was suspected.
Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine advocacy
group founded and previously led by Kennedy before he became Health and Human
Services Secretary, picked up Shaw’s story and promoted it for months. Days
after her children’s deaths, Shaw appeared on a CHD podcast, claiming that her
husband’s side of the family all suffered allergic reactions to the flu shot
that the pediatrician ignored. In the days after the vaccines, she said, her
children deteriorated, prompting a hospital visit. On the eighth day, they
died.
Shaw later became the lead plaintiff in a racketeering
lawsuit filed by the group against the American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP)—while under investigation for murder.
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
‘Brazen Crypto Corruption’ Helps Trump Pocket $2.2 Billion During First Year Back in Office
Explains why Trump has been pushing crypto so hard
Jake Johnson for Common Dreams
The disclosure report shows that Trump pulled in $635
million in royalties from Celebration Coins, an entity linked to the
president’s meme coin. The president also disclosed around $527 million in
proceeds from token sales by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto
venture spearheaded by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
“It is completely unprecedented,” Megan Gorman, a tax attorney who has studied the history of presidential wealth, told The New York Times of the president’s windfall.
Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy
group Public
Citizen, said in a statement that “Trump’s obscene income is driven by
various cryptocurrency schemes, leveraging his political position to exploit a
scam-driven industry that he once said was nothing more than a racket.”
“In doing so, he’s ripping off investors—to the tune of
billions—who want to get in on the game with him, or think that buying his
crypto products is an innocent means to show their support,” said Weissman.
“Most troubling, Trump’s personal profit interest has now aligned him with the
crypto industry, paving the way for dangerous legislation that will facilitate
mass rip-offs and even threaten financial system stability.”
Trump’s massive profits from an industry he’s tasked with
regulating represent what the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center (CLC)
described as an “unprecedented” conflict of interest, notwithstanding the White
House’s laughable claim that “neither the president nor his
family has ever engaged—or will ever engage—in conflicts of interest.”
“We have never seen a president have direct conflicts of
interest with his financial holdings and the policies he supports, and it’s
another example why we need widespread ethics reform now,” Kedric Payne, CLC’s
senior director of ethics, told The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal noted that, in addition to crypto profits,
“Trump reported $4.7 million in income last year from Trump-branded watches, as
well as $1.9 million in royalties from his ‘Save America’ book.”
Trump tells NATO the US is back to a shooting war with Iran, still thinking about taking over Greenland and is launching a new trade war against Spain
Trump won't stop his war against the world until he gets the Nobel Peace Prize
This week's Tea with Tina to focus on housing
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