Elon Musk's New Far-Right Nazi Party for America

Trump is interested only in building a vehicle for his own self-advancement. Musk is far more dangerous.

John Feffer, Foreign Policy In Focus

There are always worse political figures waiting in the wings.

In Israel, for instance, Benjamin Netanyahu is a relative moderate compared to some members of his cabinet, like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who believes that letting two million Palestinians die of hunger in Gaza is “justified and moral.” In Russia, ultranationalists to the right of Putin espouse racist and anti-immigrant views, while the country’s Communist Party recently declared that Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin was “a mistake.”

And then there’s Donald Trump, whom scholars consistently rank as the worst president in U.S. history. Even here, in a country of only two main parties and a blanderizing political discourse, worse options abound.

Imagine if Trump’s successor actually believed in something other than his own enrichment and self-aggrandizement? What if Trump is simply preparing the ground for an authentically far-right leader to take over, someone even more extreme than Vice President J.D. Vance or Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)?

Elon Musk is prepared to use a lot of his considerable fortune to test that proposition.

What Musk Believes

It’s tempting to believe that Elon Musk decided to create a new political party in a fit of pique because of his personal falling-out with Donald Trump. In public, however, Musk links his decision to the recent passage of Trump’s legislative package and the several trillion dollars that the measure will add to the national debt. After bonding with Trump over eviscerating government, Musk was no doubt appalled to discover that the president, in the end, turned out to a more conventional tax-less-and-spend-more Republican.

Either way, Musk announced last week the creation of his new America Party. The details of the party platform are scant, as you might guess from a party created by tweet. Musk has naturally emphasized “responsible spending,” debt reduction, and deregulation. He has also added pro-gun and pro-crypto planks to his expanding platform along with “free speech” and “pro-natalist” positions.

Pedo in chief

Rhode Island's first detection of West Nile Virus this year

Dangerous virus showed up in East Providence sample

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) have confirmed the first detection of West Nile Virus (WNV) in the state this year. 

The virus was found in a mosquito sample collected by DEM in East Providence on July 21 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 updated weekly test results. 

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. 

Butler workers reject hospital management's "final" offer

Strike for a fair contract grinds on

By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

Striking Butler Hospital workers mark outside Care New England headquarters at 4 Richmond Square in Providence on June 12, 2025. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)

Butler Hospital’s unionized nurses, social workers, mental health and support staff voted Tuesday to reject the “last, best, and final” contract offer that management had submitted two and a half weeks ago. 

The Providence psychiatric hospital owned by Care New England and about 800 workers represented by SEIU 1199 NE have been unable to reach a new contract since the previous agreement expired March 31. The union has been on strike since May 15.

According to a post on the union’s blog, 98% of workers voted to reject the contract Care New England offered on July 11.

Flu vaccine averted up to 42% of US flu cases in 2022-23, despite lower uptake

Vaccination confers direct, indirect benefits

Mary Van Beusekom, MS

New research estimates that protection from influenza vaccine in the United States was 33% to 42% in 2022-23 and also benefitted unvaccinated people, despite a second study noting a decline in vaccine coverage from 2022 to 2024, even among groups with a history of strong uptake.

For the first study, published last week in JAMA Network Open, University of Pittsburgh researchers simulated different levels of flu virus transmissibility, vaccine effectiveness (VE), and vaccine uptake among the 1.2 million residents of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in 2010 to estimate the burden of flu and direct and indirect benefits of vaccination under different conditions. 

The team noted that case numbers vary widely even within an influenza subtype in different seasons, likely due to factors such as immunity from previous infections, antigenic drift, and vaccine protection in the current season, which depends on match to circulating strains and vaccine uptake.

The investigators ran agent-based simulations using the Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, and Recovered model and overall vaccine uptakes of 22% to 71% from August 2022 to May 2023. The median participant age was 40.6 years, and 51% were female.

"Vaccination also provides indirect benefit, effectively shielding unvaccinated portions of the population from infection by decreasing the number of exposures unvaccinated individuals receive," the study authors wrote. "Both direct and indirect benefits decrease the number of infections required to reduce the effective reproduction rate [number of people an infected person will transmit the virus to] to less than 1 and halt transmission." 

Cognitive collapse and the nuclear codes: When leaders lose control

What could go wrong with a "stable genius" with his finger on the trigger?

University of Otago

A shocking study reveals that many leaders of nuclear-armed nations—including US presidents and Israeli prime ministers—were afflicted by serious health problems while in office, sometimes with their conditions hidden from the public. 

From dementia and depression to addiction and chronic diseases, these impairments may have affected their decision-making during pivotal global crises.

Many former leaders of the world's nine nuclear-armed nations were impaired by health conditions while in office, raising concerns over their decision-making abilities while they had access to nuclear weapon launch codes, a study from the University of Otago, New Zealand, has found.

The study analyzed the health information of 51 deceased leaders of nuclear-armed countries: China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

Eight of the leaders died from chronic disease while still in office, five from heart attacks or strokes. Many of the leaders had multiple serious health issues while in office, including dementia, personality disorders, depression and drug and alcohol abuse.

The research was led by Professor Nick Wilson, from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington - Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke, with Associate Professor George Thomson and independent researcher Dr Matt Boyd. 

Professor Wilson says that of the leaders who left office while still alive, 15 had confirmed or possible health issues which likely hastened their departure.

"Probably all of this group of 15 leaders had their performance in office impaired by their health conditions. In some cases, the degree of impairment was profound, such as in the case of two former Israeli Prime Ministers: Ariel Sharon, who became comatose after suffering a stroke in office, and Menachem Begin, whose depression was so severe he spent his last year as leader isolated in his home. 

Impairment during crises was also seen in the case of Richard Nixon's bouts of heavy drinking - including during a nuclear crisis involving the Middle East.

"There have also been occasions where health information about leaders has been kept secret at the time."

Trump now says his "breakup" with Jeffrey Epstein was because Epstein "stole" teenage girls who were working for Trump's Mar-A-Lago spa

WTF? How could Trump possibly think this helps him with his child sex problem?

Judd Legum

On Tuesday, President Trump offered a detailed new explanation for his rift with child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein. 

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that he had a falling out with Epstein because he "stole" a 16-year-old girl, Virginia Giuffre, from Trump's Mar-a-Lago spa. 

Giuffre, who committed suicide this April, was one of Epstein's most prominent victims.

This is the key exchange:

Q: Mr. President, Epstein has a certain reputation, obviously, but just curious, were some of the workers that were taken from you, were some of them young women?…

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken, and it was the concept of taking people that work for me is bad, but that story has been pretty well out there, and the answer is yes, they were. Yeah.

Q: Yes, they were young women? What did they do? Like, what were their jobs?

TRUMP: In the spa.

Q: In the spa?

Here is Virginia Giuffre, 17, a year after Jeffrey Epstein
recruited her from Trump's Mar-A-Lago spa. 
Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (shown, right) pimped her
out to Prince Andrew leading to his ouster from the Royal
Family. (Photo courtesy of Giuffre via Courthouse News)

TRUMP: Yeah, people that work in the spa. I have a great spa, one of the best spas in the world at Mar-a-Lago, and people were taken out of the spa, hired by him. In other words, gone. 

And other people would come and complain this guy is taking people from the spa. I didn't know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him, I said, "Listen, we don't want you taking our people."

Whether it was spa or not spa, I don't want them taking people, and he was fine, and then not too long after that, he did it again, and I said, out of here.

Q: Mr. President, did one of those stolen persons, did that include Virginia Giuffre?

TRUMP: I don't know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people. Yeah. He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.

Giuffre was sexually trafficked and abused by Epstein over a two-year period from 2000 to 2002. During that period, she frequently traveled with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. It was Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, who was also convicted of sex trafficking, who personally recruited Giuffre. In 2002, after attending a massage school in Thailand, Giuffre escaped.

So if it was Epstein's poaching of Giuffre that prompted the end of Trump's relationship with Epstein (or someone else “not too long after that”), the rift would have occurred around 2000.

This timeline is inconsistent with previous public statements made by Trump and his representatives.

In an October 2002 New York Magazine profile, Trump called Jeffrey Epstein "a terrific guy" who is "a lot of fun to be with." 

Trump added that Epstein "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." Trump would have made these comments about two years after Epstein allegedly "stole" Giuffre from the Mar-a-Lago spa.

In 2003, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump wrote Epstein a birthday message calling him his "pal" and concluded, "may every day be another wonderful secret."

Message pads obtained by investigators from Epstein's Palm Beach mansion and published by Vice News in 2016 indicate that Trump called Epstein at least twice in November 2004. 

That month, four years after Giuffre's recruitment, they squared off against each other to purchase a Palm Beach mansion, The Maison de l’Amitie. Trump secured the property with a bid of $41.35 million.

In July 2019, after Epstein was charged a second time, Trump said he "had a falling out" with Epstein and "haven’t spoken to him in 15 years." At the time, Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten told the Washington Post that Trump did not ban Epstein from Mar-a-Lago until 2007. 

According to the Washington Post, Garten said the ban was "a reaction to criminal charges that had been filed against Epstein" in July 2006. According to a 2020 book, The Grifter’s Club, Epstein was a member of Mar-a-Lago until October 2007. Neither Garten nor Trump mentioned any issues concerning Epstein's hiring of Mar-a-Lago staff.

Trump did not raise the issue of Epstein poaching his staff at a Monday press conference. He added the information about Giuffre's involvement on Tuesday. Earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for "being a creep."

The contradictory accounts raise a number of important questions: What occurred at the Mar-a-Lago spa, and what did Trump know about it? What actions did Trump actually take after learning Epstein had "stolen" underage girls from his club? Why has Trump offered several inconsistent accounts of his relationship with Epstein? What information might Maxwell, who Trump may pardon, have about all of these topics?

Tariff tax you will pay on Friday

Clothes, cars, food tariffs supposedly going into effect on Friday when King Donald's national sales tax takes effect

Epstein, Epstein, Epstein

August 2: Rage Against the Regime!

How blue-green algae dominates ponds

Toxic algae releases chemicals to suppress competitors

By Krishna Ramanujan, Cornell Chronicle

Thomas Bjorkman/Provided

An alga that threatens freshwater ecosystems and is toxic to vertebrates has a sneaky way of ensuring its success: It suppresses the growth of algal competitors by releasing chemicals that deprive them of a vital vitamin.

The finding was reported in a new study, published July 2 in the journal mBio. It describes how the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa manipulates its environment to give itself advantages to take over the water column, leading to harmful algal blooms and mats in lakes during hot summers.

Price spikes in coffee, chocolate driven by climate change (and tariffs)

Weather Extremes Caused by Climate Change Are Driving Up Food Prices, a New Report Says

By Georgina Gustin

Environmental Research Letters

Extreme weather has stoked food prices around the world in recent years and could lead to more political instability and inflation, with the world’s poor bearing most of the economic pain and health impacts, according to new research.

A report published in the journal Environmental Research Letters tracks 16 weather events, many directly attributed to climate change, including extreme heat and flooding, and connects those to specific price surges.

“We can see that there’s a broad global context for this happening in recent years that extends all the way from East Asia through Europe and also to North America,” said Maximillian Kotz, a post-doctoral fellow at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the lead author of the study. “We think our paper is really a call to action for us to consider these wider effects of food price increases in response to climate change for our societies.”

In California and Arizona, extreme heat and dry soil conditions in the summer of 2022 drove an 80 percent increase in vegetable prices that November. In Spain and Italy, a drought spanning 2022 and 2023 led to a 50 percent spike in olive oil prices by 2024.  

Chocolate lovers have had to shell out more cash after cocoa prices jumped nearly 300 percent following a 2024 heatwave in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce 60 percent of the world’s cocoa. Coffee drinkers were similarly hit after a 2023 drought in Brazil led to a 55 percent jump in arabica bean prices, and a 2024 heat wave in Asia doubled prices of robusta coffee.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Donald Trump sent Brazil a letter saying the US will impose a 50% tariff on all Brazilian goods starting August 1 because Trump wants Brazil to drop prosecution of his ally and ex-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is on trial for attempting a coup after he lost his 2022 bid for re-election. Brazil supplies the majority of US coffee.  - Will Collette

Unhealthy air, high heat continue until tonight

Strengthening collective labor rights can help reduce economic inequality

Unions are our best bet to rebuild the American Dream

Skip Mark, University of Rhode Island and Stephen Bagwell, University of Missouri-St. Louis

Despite the strength of the U.S. economy, the gap between rich and poor Americans is increasing.

The wealthiest 1% of Americans have more than five times as much wealth as the bottom 50%, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. That’s up from four times as much in the year 2000. In 2024 alone, the wealthiest 19 families got a total of US$1 trillion richer – the largest one-year increase on record.

And yet 59% of Americans don’t have enough money saved up to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense.

We are political scientists who study human rights and political economy.

In a 2023 study, our team looked at 145 countries, including the U.S., to understand the link between labor rights and inequality. We found evidence that strengthening collective labor rights may reduce economic inequality.

Empowering workers

Collective labor rights include the rights to form and join a union, bargain collectively for higher pay and better working conditions, go on strike, and get justice if employers punish workers who exercise these rights.

In the U.S., where less than 10% of workers belong to unions, union members typically earn higher wages than their nonunion counterparts.

Through negotiations on behalf of their members, unions can pressure employers to provide fair wages and benefits. If negotiations break down, the union can call for a strike – sometimes winning better benefits and higher wages as a result.

Some U.S. unions don’t have the right to strike, including air traffic controllers, teachers and those working on national security issues. But most unions have some ability to implement work stoppages and impose costs on employers to negotiate for raises and better benefits and conditions.

'You Don't Thank a Burglar for Returning Your Cash'

Trump Admin Finally Says It Will Release Education Funds

But where's the money?

Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams

The Lunatic-in-Chief actually posted this

While welcoming reporting that the Trump administration will release more than $5 billion in federal funding for schools that it has been withholding for nearly a month, U.S. educators and others said the funds should never have been held up in the first place and warned that the attempt to do so was just one part of an ongoing campaign to undermine public education.

The Trump administration placed nearly $7 billion in federal education funding for K-12 public schools under review last month, then released $1.3 billion of it last week amid legal action and widespread backlash. 

An administration official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Washington Post that all reviews of remaining funding are now over.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

"There is no good reason for the chaos and stress this president has inflicted on students, teachers, and parents across America for the last month, and it shouldn't take widespread blowback for this administration to do its job and simply get the funding out the door that Congress has delivered to help students," U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Friday.

"This administration deserves no credit for just barely averting a crisis they themselves set in motion," Murray added. "You don't thank a burglar for returning your cash after you've spent a month figuring out if you'd have to sell your house to make up the difference."

Facts and Fiction about wind energy heard at Rhode Island's Energy Facility Siting Board

Wind NIMBYs spew Trumpish nonsense

Steve Ahlquist

Europe already gets 20% of its energy supply from
wind energy

On July 23, the Rhode Island Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) held a public hearing on the SouthCoast Wind project at Portsmouth Middle School. The SouthCoast Wind project is in Massachusetts waters and has been approved to build the turbines, but a critical part of the project involves Rhode Island. To get the wind power from the turbines to the regional

About 20 miles of electric cables must pass through Rhode Island waters and Aquidneck Island to reach the transmission system at Brayton Point in Somerset.

Proponents and opponents of wind energy filled the middle school auditorium, and the three-member EFSB listened for over four hours. Twenty-seven people spoke in favor of the project, noting the benefits of cheaper, more environmentally safe energy and the jobs the construction of the project will bring. Twenty-six people spoke against the project, most seemingly regurgitating the talking points of fossil fuel-backed right-wing think tanks.

With so many people testifying, a comprehensive overview would be time-consuming. So instead, I chose, as best I can, a representative testimony from each side, starting with wind energy opponent and Portsmouth resident Sal Carceller:

“I’m a resident of Portsmouth. Not only am I a resident of Portsmouth, with a view of the Sakonnet River. I’m blessed where I live. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the Northeast. I’ve traveled throughout the world. I spent considerable time at McCorrie Point with my family, friends, and others. I even spend evenings there.

“I have a question for the siting board. Have you visited any sites along the Sakkonet in Portsmouth? You don’t have to answer, but I will make a suggestion. Please go to McCorrie Point so that you understand what you’re about to approve. I don’t have an opinion, but I can tell you that it doesn’t make sense. You are not crossing a river just to cross it. You’re traversing that river from its mouth to Brayton Point, the entire river, a class A, class one waterway, the only one in Rhode Island, and one of the few. It is imperative that we get this correct.

“What’s going to happen is - I’m not a scientist, I’m a statistical analyst by trade. I’ve done data science and analytics, so I look at numbers. I’m going to ask the siting board to consider this: Would you ever approve a project that you knew was destined for failure and would never be used? You don’t have to answer that, but ask yourself while sitting at McCorrie Point, and then let’s talk about where we are today.

“Why is offshore wind no longer favored under the current administration? They were voted in, whether you like it or not. I’m going to go through a couple of bullet points:

“One. Executive Order halts offshore wind expansion. In January of 2025, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order¹ that withdrew the entire outer continental shelf from the future of offshore wind leasing. Not only did he do that, he paused all new and renewable lease permits and rights of way for wind energy on federal lands and waters. Next, he’s also initiated a review of the existing leases with potential cancellation/modifications.

“Two. New federal oversight delays projects. All wind and solar projects on federal lands and waters must now receive personal approval from the Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum. This change adds significant regulatory delays and uncertainty to project timelines. I’m just telling you what the lay of the land is, compared to when we first started these conversations. High costs from tariffs and subsidy rollbacks - tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, and turbine components have increased project costs. That’s going to turn into increased electric rates.

“I’m no fool. New tax legislation, signed by the President, is rolling back clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, making it financially harder for offshore wind developers.

“Now let’s talk about what has been done to the industry: industry pullbacks and writedowns. Ecuador recorded a $955 million write-down on its U.S. offshore wind portfolio. Citing administration policy changes, they’re divesting. Shell withdrew from the Atlantic Shores project off New Jersey, and this one. Projects like SouthCoast Wind have been delayed by years, losing hundreds of millions of expected value. SouthCoast wind knows it’s in trouble. They already said they are likely going to delay by four years.

“I only have a few more points—impact on the state climate goals. States like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island rely heavily on offshore wind to meet their emission targets. The targets were made under a different administration. I don’t know if the targets are right or wrong. What if we’re wrong? We’re going to ruin a river. That’s going to delay timelines, create potential energy supply gaps, and pose challenges to meet the climate mandates.

“We’ve heard that from our president’s mouth. He favors fossil fuels and nuclear over renewables. He has repeatedly criticized wind energy as visually unappealing, environmentally harmful, and economically inefficient.

The children know

Trump caught cheating at golf AGAIN

Trump once again cheats and shows us his character. MAGA doesn't care

 

Brown continues some health research without federal funding

$1.3 million grant to Brown to expand research on the role of blood-brain barrier in decision making

By Nicole Maranhas, Associate Director of Strategic Communications for the Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University

A $1.3 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to Brown University will fund research on how brain blood vessels relay real-time signals across the blood-brain barrier directly to the brain.

The research, which aims to shed light on the potential role of the blood-brain barrier in decision making, may provide valuable insights into treating brain diseases and disorders and reveal ways that the protective barrier is more dynamic than currently understood. 

Led by Professor of Brain Science Christopher Moore, associate director of the Carney Institute for Brain Science at Brown University, the research team has found that blood vessels send signals through “plume events” that allow flashes of permeability across the otherwise highly restrictive barrier, which blocks toxins and harmful molecules from entering the brain.

“These moments when the blood-brain barrier opens allow the blood vessels to send signals where they are needed, and only when the risk is worth the reward,” Moore said.

The new grant-funded research will build on emerging knowledge that cell types beyond neurons — including endothelial cells that line blood vessels — contribute to brain function.

“Mammalian brains evolved to make complex choices,” Moore said. “The blood carries a rich range of signals from the body, so it makes sense that your brain might sample this information during moments of learning and choice in order to make those computations.” 

Prior to the team’s research, it was unclear how the blood-brain barrier — thought to be mostly restrictive and only capable of slow, delayed transmissions — could relay signals in real time for decision making. According to Moore, plume events resolve this paradox.

EDITOR'S NOTE: While this $1.3 million grant from a private foundation is no doubt welcome, Donald Trump has refused to pay more than $45 million for work already performed by Brown researchers from federal grants that have already been awarded. Trump has also cancelled at least $8 million in grants and is either delaying or not renewing millions more. Despite Brown's extensive resources, these cuts exceed the university's ability to absorb and will harm vital health research in service of Trump's culture war against American education.   - Will Collette

Trump’s Tariff Chaos Crushes RI Small Businesses While Big Corps Get Free Pass

Bad for Rhode Island businesses and consumers

By Uprise RI Staff

A new Bloomberg report reveals the devastating impact of Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies on American small businesses, while a comprehensive survey of Rhode Island manufacturers shows local companies are bearing the brunt of what amounts to a massive tax on U.S. consumers.

The reality that Trump’s administration refuses to acknowledge is simple: tariffs are a tax paid by American consumers and businesses, not foreign countries. When the administration boasts about “billions” in tariff revenue flowing into U.S. coffers, they’re celebrating money extracted from the pockets of American companies and working families who ultimately pay higher prices for goods.

A devastating survey conducted by Polaris MEP, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, and the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association between May 20 and June 27, 2025, reveals the carnage. Of nearly 100 Rhode Island manufacturers surveyed, a staggering 78.3% reported they either have or plan to adjust prices due to federal tariff changes – meaning Rhode Island families will pay more for everything from food to medical devices.

TODAY, Tuesday: high heat and autos lead to UNHEALTHY ground level ozone pollution.

Until 8 PM Wednesday, Charlestown is under a heat advisory

By Will Collette

Source: National Weather Service 7-Day Forecast 41.38N 71.66W

Please watch out for the heat for the next few days and, if you have respiratory problems, try to stay in air conditioning. 

Combined heat and humidity will produce heat index values between 95 and 100 degrees.

This heat will combine with drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, plus automobile emissions to produce air over Charlestown ranging from "moderate" (which is not good) to "unhealthy" tomorrow.

As you can see in the table below, DEM gives its forecast for both ground level ozone (vehicle-related) and fine particles (usually smoke-related).

The air quality forecast is pretty much in synch with the hot weather forecast.

Be careful out there.

Source: Air Quality Forecast | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

TUESDAY ALERT: 

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) forecasts that air quality will reach unhealthy levels for sensitive groups due to elevated ground-level ozone on Tuesday, July 29. This alert is being issued for Washington and Newport Counties only.

Key Details:

• The highest ozone levels are expected in southern portions of Rhode Island at the immediate coastline.
• Peak levels begin late afternoon continuing well into the evening after sunset.
• Fine particles continue to be elevated, with moderate readings due to Canadian wildfire smoke.

Health Impacts:

Unhealthy ozone levels may cause:

• Throat irritation, coughing, and chest pain.
• Shortness of breath and increased risk of respiratory infections.
• Worsening of asthma and other lung conditions - particularly for children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing respiratory issues.

Recommended actions:

• Reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion. 

• Take frequent breaks and choose less strenuous activities. 

• Monitor for symptoms like coughing or shortness of breath.

• People with asthma or lung conditions should follow their action plans and carry quick-relief medications.

• Schedule outdoor activities in the morning when ozone levels are lowest and typically good on the Air Quality index.

Stay Informed:

Air quality can change throughout the day. To stay informed, download the AirNOW app or visit www.airnow.gov for real-time updates and forecasts.

Additional information is also available on DEM’s air quality forecast page at www.dem.ri.gov/airquality.

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.