Energy efficient, newly constructed homes with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a garage. Located in the Broad Rock area of South Kingstown, close to downtown. They offer a pathway to low-to-moderate income homeownership.
Information Session:
July 8th - 6PM In person and virtual
We will be hosting an information session to present information about the homeownership program and application process. Refreshments will be provided.
DEM says pesticide won't harm fish but wants you to keep pets away and not fish for at least three days
The Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management (DEM) announces Carolina Trout Pond in Richmond,
Shippee Sawmill Pond in Foster, and Meshanticut Lake in Cranston will be
treated for invasive
aquatic plants on Wednesday, July 15.
Anglers and boaters should avoid
using these waterbodies during treatment to not impede the licensed
applicators. Temporary water use advisories will be posted where applicable and
nearby residents and visitors should keep pets from drinking from these waters
for at least three days.
These EPA approved herbicide treatments will target
specific invasive aquatic plants including variable water milfoil, fanwort,
water chestnut, sacred lotus, and various algae species. The treatment will not
harm fish. All three waterbodies are popular with anglers and boaters and are
annually stocked
with trout.
A Heat Advisory is in effect from 11 AM Tues - 8 PM Wed for much of southern New England. Afternoon temps in the mid to upper 90s combined with higher humidity will make it feel like 95F-103F both days. #MAwx#CTwx#RIwx
EDITOR'S NOTE: Also expect air quality to suffer. You can check current air pollution levels HERE.
In the wake of a Supreme Court decision this week upholding the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, the Trump administration and fellow Republican immigration hardliners are exploring alternative routes to limit citizenship rights for children born within the United States to foreign tourists.
Markwayne Mullin, the head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, suggested on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning that this effort could include banning pregnant foreigners from traveling to the United States.
“There are tourist visas that they get to come into the United States or into our territories just simply to give birth; they’ll come in the eighth month, maybe one, two, three weeks left, give birth here,” Mullin said. He did not offer any evidence that the practice is widespread.
They “have a child who may move back to China, raise the person in a communist regime — even though they’re a citizen of the United States — and they come back over here, and in some cases, they go to universities, stealing intellectual property. It’s absolutely been a national security issue,” Mullin continued.
Mullin added that there was a “long conversation at the White House” on Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled in the birthright citizenship case. He met with Trump; Stephen Miller, a top adviser to the president and the architect of many of his far-right immigration policies; and Tom Homan, the president’s “border czar.”
With every new decision, EPA brings this Onion parody closer to reality
The US Environmental
Protection Agency on June 30 continued its betrayal of President
Donald Trump’s campaign promise to “Make America Healthy Again,” approving the
use of multiple “forever chemical” pesticides on crops
despite public
health concerns.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are called forever chemicals because
they don’t naturally break down—instead accumulating in human and animal bodies
as well as the environment. They have been used in everything from fabrics for
clothing and furniture to firefighting foam to nonstick cookware, and are tied
to various health problems, including increased risk of some cancers.
The Trump EPA finalized its approval of using
two PFAS pesticides, diflufenican and epyrifenacil, on corn and soybeans, the two most widely
grown crops in the United
States.
The agency also expanded its allowances for another
previously approved forever chemical pesticide, bifenthrin, and greenlighted the first food use of chlormequat, a non-PFAS pesticide tied to reproductive issues.
Spring migration has taken flight, but with rising temperatures and shifting seasons, birds are adjusting when and how they migrate to keep up with a rapidly warming climate.
Morgan Tingley, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, studies the effects of climate change on birds.
Morgan Tingley discusses how climate change is affecting bird migration and behavior.
The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, edited for brevity and clarity.
How is climate change affecting birds?
Morgan Tingley: In the spring, birds migrate north across the United States in order to get to where they will be spending their spring and summer. They try to time their migration so that they can arrive at their breeding grounds, build their nests and lay their eggs at the time of year when there’s going to be maximum food available.
But climate change is causing spring to happen earlier, which can cause real problems for birds. These earlier springs can result in birds falling behind local springtime because they arrive too late on their breeding grounds.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This past winter during the deep cold spell, I saw a bluebird visit our bird feeders and saw several Baltimore Orioles in the trees outside our Charlestown home. And robins on the ground. In the 25 years we've lived here, these winter sightings were a first. - Will Collette
Researchers uncovered why H5N1 bird flu attacks cows’ udders
instead of their lungs: the virus’s preferred receptors are concentrated in
mammary tissue. The breakthrough could help scientists predict future bird flu
jumps and spot unusual infections before they spread widely.
When H5N1 bird flu began infecting U.S. dairy cattle in
early 2024, veterinarians struggled to identify the cause. The virus was
difficult to recognize because it behaved very differently in cows than it does
in other mammals. Rather than primarily infecting the lungs, H5N1 caused severe
infections in the udders while leaving the respiratory system largely
unaffected.
Now, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of
Public Health have uncovered the biological reason behind this unusual pattern.
Their findings, published in Science Advances, provide the first
detailed explanation for why bird flu took such an unexpected form in cattle.
The work could also help scientists better anticipate how H5N1 might behave if
it spreads to new animal species in the future.
Bird Flu's Unusual Appearance in Dairy Herds
The outbreak first emerged in dairy cattle in the Texas
Panhandle, where animals developed severe cases of necrotizing mastitis, a
painful inflammatory disease that damages tissue in the mammary glands.
How Trump and Musk cuts have led to increased danger
By Stephanie Armour
As beachgoers flock to water during the busy July Fourth weekend, danger could be lurking in some areas.
Researchers this spring discovered flesh-eating bacteria in water in several coastal locations across New York’s Long Island, and town officials in the Hamptons vacation destination posted an alert about the findings. Eight people in Florida have been infected this year, and Mississippi health officials in June urged people to take precautions.
About 1 in 5 people infected by the bacteria die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet. The bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, can enter open wounds and cause tissue death and systemic sepsis.
“Many people with Vibrio vulnificus infection can get seriously ill and need intensive care or limb amputation,” the CDC says.
The risk of such public threats is mounting because climate change is expanding the territory of certain pathogens, but researchers say there’s another concern. The Trump administration has cut investments in programs and agencies that prevent, track, and respond to health hazards the federal government is now confronting.
Consider the reemergence of screwworm, which can infest and kill livestock, in the U.S. in June. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lost 18% of its workforce in the first six months of 2025, according to a report from the USDA’s Office of Inspector General, and the agency’s winnowed-down inspection service is helping lead the response to the parasite.
Or malaria. A freeze on foreign aid disrupted international malaria prevention efforts, and new federal guidance in May warned that the U.S. is vulnerable to the reintroduction of the infectious disease.
Right-wing tech
billionaire Peter Thiel is accusing Pope Leo XIV of doing the work of the
Chinese Communist Party with his criticisms of artificial
intelligence.
According to a Thursday report from CNN, Thiel told the
Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado on Tuesday that the pope was inadvertently
serving as a “Chinese communist agent” when he released a 42,000-word encyclical that called for strict
regulation of AI, a technology that
the pontiff said heightens the “risk of dehumanization” throughout the world.
Thiel argued that this sort of thinking was dangerous, CNN
reported, because it could result in the US losing the “race” to build more
advanced AI to China. Because of this, Thiel continued, the pope is essentially
“working for the Chinese communists” by trying to tap the brakes on AI
development.
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has long decried
AI critics in harsh terms. Over the last year, he has been delivering a series of lectures in which he has said
that opponents of AI development are working as agents for the Antichrist.
A parasite that causes severe, watery diarrhea is spreading
across the United States, and health officials in Michigan are racing to
explain an unusual surge in cases.
Michigan's outbreak has grown fast. It has recorded 572
cases of cyclosporiasis as of July 4, up from 170 on June 30, according to the
state's Department of Health and Human Services. The state typically sees about
50 cases in an entire year.
The recent infections span seven counties in southeast
Michigan, and a source has not been identified. Officials are urging anyone
with symptoms to seek care.
Nationwide, at least 145 people in 17 states became sick
with cyclosporiasis between May 1 and June 16, according to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those figures do not include
Michigan's more recent spike or updated figures after June 16.
A Heat Advisory is in effect from 11 AM Tues - 8 PM Wed for much of southern New England. Afternoon temps in the mid to upper 90s combined with higher humidity will make it feel like 95F-103F both days. #MAwx #CTwx #RIwx
This story was originally reported by Amanda Becker of The 19th. Meet Amanda and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
“There are tourist visas that they get to come into the United States or into our territories just simply to give birth; they’ll come in the eighth month, maybe one, two, three weeks left, give birth here,” Mullin said. He did not offer any evidence that the practice is widespread.
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