| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Chariho United organization makes the case for your support for new elementary school
25 Democratic-led states sue Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements
We're suing Trump again
By Anna Claire Vollers, Rhode Island Current
At issue is a “medically frail” designation that the states say is too narrow and will make it too difficult for ill and disabled people to remain on Medicaid.
They’re challenging the administration’s guidance on who can be exempt from the work requirements included in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the broad tax and spending measure President Donald Trump signed a year ago.
Medicaid is the publicly-funded health insurance for people with low incomes. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, states that have expanded Medicaid eligibility to more adults under the Affordable Care Act — 40 states plus the District of Columbia — must require those adults to prove they’re working, going to school or serving their communities for at least 80 hours a month to receive Medicaid. Georgia, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, which have used federal waivers to expand their Medicaid programs, are also subject to the new work rules.
The new lawsuit specifically targets new federal guidance that narrows the definition of who can qualify as “medically frail,” a key exemption used to excuse Medicaid recipients from work requirements if they have serious disabilities or illnesses. The guidance came in the form of an interim final rule published this month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Monday, July 6, 2026
South County Democratic women get a wave of legislation passed at the end of the General Assembly session
Coffee autocrat wants to push them out to MAGAtize South County
By Will Collette
To further his dream, Levesque set up the “League of Rhode
Island Businesses (LORIB)” with a statewide political action committee and a local
version in all 39 Rhode Island cities and towns. Don’t bother looking for the “Charlestown
LORIB” or the “Westerly LORIB” because they only exist on paper filed with the
Board of Elections.
This panoply of PACs serve the useful purpose of allowing
Levesque to get around state law that limits PAC donations to $2000 per
candidate. His clever solution: set up each of his candidates with multiple
donations from his array of PACs.
Charlestown’s challenger to our state Rep. Tina Spears,
self-described “sex crimes defense attorney” Leah Boisclair, received her
initial cash from five different Levesque PACs.
According to declarations filed with the Board of Elections,
Levesque is challenging these incumbent Democrats:
- Rep. Tina Spears (Charlestown, So. Kingstown, Westerly and Block Island) faces a Sept. 9 primary challenge
- Rep. Megan Cotter (Hopkinton, Richmond, Exeter and West Warwick)
- Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (South Kingstown et al.)
- Rep. Kathy Fogarty (South Kingstown et al.)
- Open seat left by Rep. Julie Casmiro
- Open seat left by Rep. Bob Craven Sr.
- State Sen. Alana DiMario faces a Sept. 9 primary challenge
- Sen. Victoria Gu (Charlestown, Westerly and South Kingstown)
- Plus conservative Democrat Rep. Sam Azzinaro (Westerly)
Levesque supported Laura Turini to
challenge Sen. Bridget ValVerde in the Sept. 9 Democratic Primary, but Turisi didn’t
file a declaration. He also failed to find candidates to challenge one of his
prime targets, Rep. Teresa Tanzi as well as Sen. Sue Sosnowski. Tanzi,
Sosnowski and ValVerde are now running unopposed.
If records make any difference, Levesque bevy of challengers
will have to confront the incredibly productive General Assembly session these Democrats
achieved as well as their earlier achievements.
Just before the Assembly closed this session, the following bills were passed. I am using the descriptions produced by the State House News Bureau.
Legislation enacted to provide safety guidelines for AI chatbots and AI use in mental healthcare
Much needed protection
.webp)
“As the incorporation of AI in uses that directly impact
human health and safety rapidly expands, it is imperative that we recognize the
potential harm from these systems, whose operation is often inconsistent with
professional standards,” said Senator Urso (D-Dist. 8, Pawtucket). “We have all
read about the tragic instances in this country in the last few years involving
distressed individuals who have turned to chatbots for companionship, advice or
counsel and whom, evidence has shown, have been encouraged to, or not
appropriately discouraged from, engaging in self-harm. It is time to put
safeguards in place to protect Rhode Islanders of all ages from this rapidly
expanding technology, both at home and in a clinical setting.”
The first bill (2026-S 2195Aaa, 2026-H 7350Aaa) requires developers to incorporate
protocols to protect vulnerable users who may express suicidal ideation,
desires for self-harm or desires to physically harm others while interacting
with a chatbot. The systems must also refer users to a crisis service provider
as soon as it detects any of these expressions, and developers will have to
submit annual reports to the Attorney General’s office showing the number of
safety protocol activations and related metrics.
No, your drinking water isn’t contaminated by abortion pills
Jenae Barnes, Climate Reporter
Anti-abortion advocates, including Republican lawmakers and state officials, want the EPA to review mifepristone as a water contaminant. Scientists say there’s no evidence it harms the environment or people.
While there is no scientific evidence that abortion medication is contaminating Americans' water supply, it has nonetheless become a central claim by the anti-abortion movement. Activists, Instagram influencers and Republican Party officials — including state and federal lawmakers — are doubling down on what experts describe as a disinformation campaign that mixes environmental policy and reproductive rights, and risks exploiting legitimate concerns about clean water.
“What if I were to tell you that every time you fill up a glass of water at your kitchen sink from the tap, you were actually *drinking* someone else’s abortion,” influencer Isabel Brown wrote in an Instagram post in May. In the accompanying video, the Gen Z conservative content creator, who has more than 1 million followers on her platform, talks to Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, a national anti-abortion organization, and contends that anti-abortion medication is “poisoning” the water.
The claim isn’t new. For decades, anti-abortion advocates have argued that abortion medications, primarily mifepristone, pollute the environment and put pregnant people’s health at risk. But the argument has now become part of a widespread and often coordinated effort to create federal and state policy that further suppresses abortion access.
Energy costs are high and unaffordable
What utilities, governments, communities and you can do to help cut energy costs
Energy prices increased approximately 30% on average from 2021 to 2026. In some places, the rates of increase have been much steeper. In the Mid-Atlantic and eastern Midwest region where several of us live, the regional electricity grid is run by PJM Interconnection, and power prices in the first quarter of 2026 were 76% higher than the same period in 2025.
These rising utility costs are a shock to many people, including those already having a hard time paying for the energy they need. In 2024, 1 in 3 American households reported struggling to pay their energy bills, and 15.1 million homes were disconnected from their electricity or gas services because the residents couldn’t pay their bill. Energy insecurity is a pervasive and potentially dangerous predicament for these millions of households, and a growing challenge for America as energy bills rise.
Energy markets, which we study, are famously complex. But many parties in these marketplaces, from the federal government to individual consumers, have opportunities to help provide Americans with affordable energy. Some may not be obvious to the casual observer, or even to savvy energy wonks.
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Trump doesn’t own the government – even though he acts as if Congress is not his equal in constitutional power and authority
The Constitution does not give Trump the power he thinks he has
“I never thought about sending – never even thought about it, but I will,” Trump said. “I will send it to Congress. I like the idea.”
The most revealing phrase in the president’s statement was not “I will send it.” It was “I never thought about it.”
In a constitutional system built around separated powers, the consent of Congress should be more than an idea the president remembers after a reporter asks. Especially when it comes to questions of war, peace and foreign policy, Congress is where the public’s representatives play a crucial role in national decision-making.
Exactly what role Congress has in this particular agreement is not yet clear. The Constitution gives the Senate formal responsibility for approving or rejecting treaties. But presidents also enter many international agreements without submitting them for a Senate vote. As a result, lawyers and lawmakers often disagree about when congressional approval is legally required and when a president can act on his own.
That fits a larger pattern in Trump’s rhetoric. In his public remarks, he rarely describes Congress as a coequal branch of government. It appears as an obstacle, an audience, a pressure point, a rubber stamp or an afterthought.
As a scholar of media and presidential rhetoric, and an endowed professor for the Frank Church Institute, a center established to honor the former senator who once chaired a committee that aimed to ensure Congress’ role overseeing executive branch activities, I pay close attention to how presidents talk about power. The language they use often reveals not only what they intend to do, but how they understand America’s constitutional system itself.
SK Land Trust reopens trail
Welcome Back to Yawgoo Trail!
By the South Kingstown Land
Trust
SKLT is so proud to share with you that after 6 years of
planning, fundraising, conservation work Yawgoo Trail is officially reopened!
Address: 236 Barber’s Pond Rd, West Kingston, RI
02892
This milestone would not have been possible without the
generous support of the many organizations, grant programs, and individual
donors who believed in and donated to this project. We marked the occasion with
a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on June 12, 2026, and the trail is now fully open —
kiosk and all — and welcoming visitors.
A large study of more than 23,000 adults suggests that certain sleep habits may be linked to signs of brain aging years later.
These 3 Common Sleep Habits May Be Aging Your Brain Faster
By Niranjana Rajalakshmi, University of Arizona
The study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s
& Dementia, analyzed existing brain scans and questionnaire data from
more than 23,000 middle-aged and older adults in a large biomedical database.
The research is part of a wider collaboration involving the U of A Department
of Psychology, the Zuckerman College of Public Health and the University of
Southern California.
The researchers found that three sleep behaviors were
clearly linked to a marker of brain aging in otherwise healthy people: sleeping
outside the recommended range of seven to nine hours, frequent daytime napping,
and sleeplessness. Each was associated with a larger volume of white matter
lesions, which are areas of brain damage that can build up with age and are
connected to a greater risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Madeline Ally, the study’s lead author and a graduate
researcher at the Department of Psychology, said sleep is often examined as a
single overall measure instead of as a set of separate behaviors and patterns.
That approach can make it harder to see how specific aspects of sleep relate to
brain aging.
Medicare’s AI Push Snarls Patients and Doctors in Errors and Delays
Big help!
.webp)
But this year, because of a new Medicare program, Curry has traveled a little more often.
In February, during one trip, he was told unexpectedly that he needed preapproval for the procedure. Then he went again a month or so later to get the injection, for a total of 10 hours on the road. His clinic wanted him to come in a third time, which they had never asked of him before. That appointment was “just to fill out a piece of paper to tell them how you feel again,” Curry said, so he hasn’t gone.
In January, Oklahoma became one of six states to begin a pilot program testing the use of preapprovals in traditional Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older or with disabilities. Medicare had previously eschewed the practice — also known as prior authorization — which requires patients or someone on their medical team to seek insurance approval before proceeding with certain procedures, tests, and prescriptions.
Epidurals like Curry’s are among 13 medical services subject to the new program because the Trump administration says they’re prone to fraud or misuse. Powered by artificial intelligence, the program — called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Model, or WISeR — is intended to save the federal government money and protect patients from potentially unsafe or unneeded care.
Yet early reviews from Oklahoma and the other pilot states — Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Washington — suggest WISeR’s rollout has not been smooth. Patients, doctors, and other healthcare professionals who spoke with KFF Health News say the effort has created confusion, errors, long wait times, and stress. Some described the rollout as “horrendous” and say people enrolled in Medicare in the pilot states are now getting ensnared in the same red tape as those with private insurance.