WEDNESDAY is Primary Day

Your vote is important

By Will Collette

Primaries in Rhode Island during non-Presidential years are often seen as inconsequential, especially in Charlestown. It’s been 20 years since Charlestown’s last primary, 2006, when Donna Walsh defeated incumbent DINO Rep. Matt McHugh.

This year, House District 36 is once again going to be decided in the Democratic primary where progressive incumbent Rep. Tina Spears is being challenged by DINO self-proclaimed sex crimes defense lawyer Leah Boisclair.

Boisclair is a product of the insidious MAGA-inspired political action galaxy of 40 PACs under the umbrella of the League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB). LORIB is also backing the primary challenge of DINO Mark Mesrobian against Narragansett state Sen. Alana DiMario as well as several other LORIB challengers in several other primary races.

LORIB is also backing candidates in the general election, including challengers to Charlestown’s Sen. Victoria Gu, as well as Rep. Megan Cotter, Rep. Kathy Fogarty and Rep. Carol McEntee.

The differences between Tina Spears and her DINO challenger are so stark that there can be little doubt who will do better to serve Charlestown voters. Tina has deep roots in the community and a proven track record in the General Assembly. Boisclair does not. She has chosen to make her living by advertising to and representing accused pedos and baby rapers. I’m not making this up: check her own website.

Boisclair is also going to serve LORIB’s agenda of cutting taxes for the rich, rolling back sensible gun control measures and curbing environmental protection.

Please, for Charlestown’s sake, support the re-election of our outstanding state Representative Tina Spears.

Besides when will Boisclair have time to represent House District 36 when she's busy representing guys accused of these crimes:

I’ve already voted by mail (eat it, Donald Trump) in this and the rest of the Democratic ballot.

I voted for Helena Foulkes over our hapless incumbent Governor. This one was easy. Even though I have no illusions about Foulkes being a classic corporate Democrat of the Gina Raimondo-type, she’s bound to be better than McKee. McKee has shown himself to have no fixed principles, no talent for picking and managing qualified people and a tin ear for ethics and corruption.

I voted for Keith Hoffman for Attorney General. He is in a close race with former co-worker Kim Ahern, when both worked for term-limited incumbent Peter Neronha. Neronha picked Hoffman as his choice and I like and trust Neronha’s judgement. But I will shed no tears if Kim Ahern wins.

I would however, be pretty upset if LORIB-adjacent attorney general candidate Joe Solomon wins. If you look around Charlestown, nearly every Leah Boisclair sign has a Joe Solomon sign next to it. Solomon has adopted LORIB’s strategy of encouraging Republicans to change their party registration so they can vote for him in this Primary. No real Democrat does that.

The other hotly contested race is for Lieutenant Governor, currently held by ineffectual incumbent Sabrina Matos. She faces several challengers in the Democratic primary and may make it through with the vote split about the crowded field. I voted for “Jay” - Xay Khamsyvoravong – former mayor of Newport based on his effective leadership there.

There is either no challenger or only token opposition to the re-election of General Treasurer James Diossa, Secretary of State Greg Amore, Senator Jack Reed and Rep. Seth Magaziner.

Labor Day message from the US Department of Labor

Why did no one challenge this?

New mRNA Flu Vaccine Makes This Flu Season ‘One to Watch’

The FDA’s approval of an mRNA flu shot presents a new, long-awaited option

By Annalies Winny

An mRNA flu vaccine is on its way.

On August 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna's mFlusiva, the first influenza vaccine to use mRNA technology, for adults 50 and older.

The approval gives many older Americans a long-awaited new option for protection. Tens of thousands of Americans typically die from the flu every year, and the vast majority of them are 65 and older. 

It’s long been a public health priority to evolve flu vaccine technology—a process which currently takes more than six months to produce a shot and is prone to mismatches with the circulating strains—so that manufacturers can respond more quickly to the evolving virus, ultimately making flu shots more effective.

When it comes to those goals, Moderna’s mRNA shot is “very, very promising,” says Anna Durbin, MD, a professor in International Health and director of the Center for Immunization Research.

“Most vaccinologists believe that mRNA vaccines are the future,” says Durbin, who sits on the FDA panel that recommended the vaccine. Regulators in the EU, Canada, and Australia are also reviewing the vaccine, and the European Medicine Agency has separately authorized a combined mRNA COVID-flu vaccine, also by Moderna.

For now, Durbin says, the FDA approval provides a welcome new option for older Americans—but the price, demand, and availability of the shot, and what it means for existing vaccines, remain open questions.

Forget Bobby Jr.

Here are the recommendations from REAL experts for vaccines

Meghan Holohan

Fall brings many new changes, including a new school year and a surge of respiratory illnesses. With little direction from the federal government, many people are confused about whether they need a flu, COVID-19, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine.

To fill the information void, the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP) at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP, publisher of CIDRAP News), and the American Medical Association (AMA) published the results of their independent evidence review of the influenza, COVID-19, and RSV vaccines today in JAMA. 

Filling in gaps left by federal vaccine-process breakdown

“We are living in unprecedented times when it comes to modern vaccine review and recommendation,” said Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, CIDRAP director and coauthor of an accompanying commentary. “The VIP program will never replace ACIP [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices]. In the interim, it’s the stopgap measure that allows us to continue recommending these vaccines based on a comprehensive review of both effectiveness and safety.” 

During a press briefing yesterday on the evidence reviews, four of the country’s major medical organizations—the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)— provided their vaccine recommendations for the 2026-27 respiratory illness season.

“We cannot allow the breakdown of a federal process to create a vacuum in evidence-based vaccine guidance,” Bruce Gellin, MD, MPH, chair of the VIP Board of Advisors, said during the briefing. 

‘Can’t Message That Away’: GOP Frets as Trump Administration Desperately Spins Record-High Diesel Prices

Home heating oil will be the next big shock - lowest current price in Charlestown is $5.18

Brad Reed for Common Dreams

The price of diesel fuel in the US hit another record high on Saturday, as data published by the American Automobile Association showed the average cost for a gallon of diesel now stands at $5.88.

According to a Saturday report from Axios, incumbent Republicans are fretting about the impact that skyrocketing gasoline and diesel prices will have on the 2026 midterm elections, particularly since their own internal polling shows voters are placing blame for the price hikes on Donald Trump’s illegal war with Iran.

“Diesel’s at an all-time high,” one GOP operative told Axios. “Gas is about $4 a gallon. We can’t message that away.”

Another Republican source told Axios that GOP candidates don’t even have the option of distancing themselves from the president and his unpopular war given the iron grip he has on voters they will need to turn out in crucial races.

“We have no choice,” said the source. “We’re stuck on the boat with him whether we like it or not.”

Dan McKee’s climate sabotage

The opposite of leadership

By Christian Roselund

Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee has an exceedingly bad record on climate issues, spanning many years, multiple sectors, and countless destructive actions. In fact, it’s hard to think of a Democratic governor in this country in recent memory who has been worse - though New York’s Kathy Hochul seems to have ambitions in this regard as well.

The McKee Administration’s attempt to delay the targets in Rhode Island’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) by decades in the most recent budget process was perhaps the clearest and most public demonstration of McKee’s willingness to sabotage climate action in the Ocean State. 

But this cynical delay of decarbonization in the electricity sector comes as the culmination of years of weakening, delaying, and otherwise undermining climate action. This includes actions that were never fully connected to climate, such as defunding public transit.

As an activist and organizer who has worked in multiple sectors that intersect with the climate crisis in this state, I have had a front-row seat to just how bad Dan McKee has consistently been on this issue. 

The following is a list of the four major areas and actions that are particularly damning for McKee’s climate record. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, but rather the biggest-ticket items and areas that I personally participated in.

Some things you can't unsee

And here's a real shot:

Who's your friend?

September 10: kick-off meeting of Charlestown Climate Resilience Commission

URI biologist to lead $4 million NSF grant to advance wetland restoration in Rhode Island and Louisiana

Funding supports Ying Zhang’s project to advance wetland resilience across U.S. coastal systems

Kristen Curry 

Students in Ying Zhang’s lab conduct field
sampling at Succotash Marsh in South Kingstown
this summer, part of the groundwork
assessing biomarkers in marsh
monitoring. (URI Photo / Y. Zhang)

Ying Zhang, professor of cell and molecular biology at the University of Rhode Island, recently received a $4 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to co-lead a collaboration with Louisiana State University to improve coastal wetland management in both states.

A computational biologist, Zhang, of South Kingstown, brings to the project a background that includes computer science and expertise in microbial diversity and molecular ecology. 

Now she’ll bring that interdisciplinary background to lead this new project at URI, with Hui Zhou in URI’s Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Erin Peck in URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, and colleagues at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Roger Williams University. 

Zhang’s diverse training gives her a unique perspective on solving problems across traditional disciplinary boundaries, she said.

The Ecological-Economic Collaboratory for Advancing coastal wetland REstoration and REsilience (EcoCARE) project addresses the need for expanded research on coastal wetland restoration in both regions. A team of scientists, practitioners, policy experts, and stakeholders from Rhode Island and Louisiana will develop innovative methods in AI-enhanced modeling, wetland valuation, molecular biomonitoring, and restoration financing.

Although Zhang has led previous NSF grant-funded initiatives, including a CAREER award and an EPSCoR fellowship, she is now leading the multi-institutional EPSCoR project for the first time under the Focused Collaborations Program. She has been meeting with the team since last fall and is looking forward to the work getting underway.

Almost All Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Contain Mycotoxins

Risks attached to meat substitutes

By Cranfield University

Plant-based meats and drinks are often marketed as modern alternatives to traditional animal products, but many still rely on ingredients that face an age-old food safety problem: mold. A new study found naturally occurring fungal toxins known as mycotoxins in every one of 212 plant-based products tested in the UK.

Researchers detected 19 different mycotoxins across plant-based meat alternatives and beverages, with some products containing several at once. The study, led by the University of Parma in Italy and coauthored by Cranfield University, examined everything from vegan burgers, sausages, and chicken-style pieces to oat, almond, and soy drinks.

Mycotoxin exposure can lead to health concerns

Mycotoxins are especially common in foods made from plants because their raw ingredients, including grains, legumes, and seeds, can be exposed to mold during growing, harvesting, or storage.

The research team found that mycotoxin levels in the UK products they tested were below recommended EU guideline levels, a sign of the strong quality standards used by the UK food industry.

However, previous studies have shown that frequent consumption of even low levels of mycotoxins can increase overall exposure over time and may raise health concerns. Eating these products individually is unlikely to cause problems, but a diet based entirely on foods made from plants could lead to cumulative mycotoxin exposure if not properly managed. In very serious cases, exposure to mycotoxins can contribute to health problems such as liver and kidney damage, immune system suppression, and cancer.

Trump screws Rhode Island again by denying FEMA funding to cover state costs for historic blizzard

McKee calls FEMA’s denial of Rhode Island’s blizzard relief request ‘a new low’

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island’s congressional delegation are blasting the Trump administration after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) again rejected the state’s request for $19 million to cover recovery costs associated with February’s historic blizzard.

McKee’s office appealed FEMA’s initial denial of the state’s April request for funding relief  under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act on July 15. The law allows governors to either request support for disasters caused by severe weather or if “the situation is beyond the capability of the state.”

In a letter to McKee on Wednesday, FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton wrote the agency reviewed Rhode Island’s initial request and appeal only to determine financial aid was not warranted for the hurricane-strength blizzard that buried the state in over 3 feet of snow.

Hamilton’s letter did not explain why Rhode Island failed to meet the criteria for federal aid. But in a post on X around 5 p.m. Wednesday, he elaborated on the denial, which also applied to similar requests from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

“Winter weather is not new to the Northeast,” Hamilton wrote. “Federal disaster aid is not a backstop for routine state & local budgeting.”

South County Democrats: Beware of DINOs on the Sept. 9 Primary ballot

The League of RI Businesses is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

An oped from Bill Ibelle

There’s a new, big-money player on the Rhode Island political stage that’s targeting many of our finest environmental legislators because they also support gun control.

The League of RI Businesses is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, posing as a moderate, bipartisan, pro-business organization, when in fact, it was created last year specifically to knock off legislators who voted for a ban on assault weapons.

So if you feel safer knowing the guy down the street has an assault rifle hanging in his living room gun rack, then by all means, vote for a League-endorsed candidate. (listed below).

The League’s founder, David Levesque, knows that most Rhode Islanders don’t believe a deer hunter needs to pump out 60 rounds a minute to bag a doe. 

So Levesque and his cohorts rarely mention assault weapons when explaining why the League has targeted so many fine legislators. Instead, in an interview with Ocean State Media, he said that the League is merely targeting legislators who “fail to support the Constitution.” Only when pressed repeatedly by an interviewer does he concede that he’s referring exclusively to the Second Amendment—the right to bear arms.

Apparently, the League believes that James Madison had assault weapons in mind when he introduced the amendment to Congress in 1789. Never mind that an assault rifle, at that time, was a musket, a ramrod, a powder pouch, and a lead ball that took nearly a minute to load and, because it had no rifling, had the accuracy of a pea shooter.

He’s also against renewable energy because it’s unprofitable, doesn’t work, and has driven up electric rates by 27 percent — all untrue. What is true is that he revealed his true colors when he claimed that if we eliminated all state wind and solar programs, “we could literally put almost $30 million a month back in the hands of Rhode Island businesses.” Translation: The heck with our children’s future, we want bigger profits now.

Levesque insists that his group wants “middle-of-the-road, common-sense people” in office. This seems just a wee bit hard to believe, given that Levesque is a vocal Trump supporter who, when asked by the Providence Journal about our president’s second term, said, “I think it’s going awesome.”

So if ICE raids make you feel safer; if you think the war with Iran is the best use of $37 billion in taxpayer money; if you believe the skyrocketing price of oil is the path to affordability; and if you thrill at the grade-school insults our leader routinely hurls at our foreign allies—then by all means, take the League’s advice on who to vote for.

If you’re still not convinced that this organization is poison, consider the League’s subversion of the state’s campaign finance laws. To get around the state’s $2,000 limit on individual donations, they formed 40 separate Political Action Committees (PACs). In an interview with Channel 12, Levesque boasted that “What we did is extraordinary. It’s never been done before. We opened more PACs than anybody’s ever done [in Rhode Island]. This will allow us to give $80,000 to an individual candidate. There’s no other organization in the state of Rhode Island that can put that kind of money into a candidate’s hands.”

Just to be clear, the state donation limit is $2,000 and the League says its armada of 40 PACs makes it legal to give $80,000.

If you would like to reduce the influence of money in state politics, you might want to vote against the candidates the League is financing.

Here is a list of incumbents the League has targeted and the candidates it is backing to unseat them:

The League also endorsed nine incumbents: John Brien, Elaine Morgan, Leonidas Raptiakis, Patrick Maloney, Gregory Constantino, Marie Hopkins, Paul Santucci, Stephano Famiglietti, and six candidates running for open seats:

 

New names for things under Donald Trump's renaming things campaign