White House Boasts of Trump’s Plan for Gold-Covered Arch

Just what we need, right?

Brad Reed

On the same day that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that inflation spiked at its fastest monthly rate in four years, the Trump administration unveiled renderings of Donald Trump’s proposed gold-covered 250-foot-tall arch to be built at Memorial Circle in Washington, DC.

The renderings, which were produced by architecture firm Harrison Design and posted on social media by the White House’s rapid response account, show a gigantic arch that would be flanked on its corners by four gold lions and topped by a 60-foot-tall gold statue of what appears to be an angel.

According to a Friday report in The Washington Post, some preservationists have expressed concerns that the arch, which would be more than twice the height of the Lincoln Monument, would disproportionately tower over the DC skyline, and would block views of Arlington National Cemetery.

Barron wants to know

Richmond rise up!

Donald Trump attacks Pope Leo while declaring himself to be the Savior

And then, Trump posted this image - not a joke - of himself:

Looks like Trump is trying to bring Jeffrey Epstein back to life. Trump later deleted this post. In response to the question "Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ, " Trump said "I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross. Only the fake news could come up with that one." YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Nearly Half a Million in Grants Awarded to Local Farmers, Fishers, and Food Producers

Two went to Charlestown producers

Blue Acres Aquaculture grows and harvests in Quonnie

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) today announced the 2026 Local Agriculture and Seafood Act (LASA) grantees at Johnson & Wales’s Harborside Campus in Cranston.

Twenty-five LASA grants totaling $450,000 were awarded for projects across RI to support the growth, development, and marketing of local farms, seafood harvesters, and food businesses, strengthening small businesses while enhancing the state’s food security.

In this grant round, the awards were distributed across various categories, including agriculture, aquaculture, seafood or fishery-based projects, and food organizations. The LASA committee conducted a thorough evaluation to ensure funding recommendations were equitable and diverse, promote smart agricultural practices, and support small business development.  The final grantee list reflects the program’s commitment to expanding the scope and diversity of its awardees. Over the last 12 years, LASA has provided $3,111,238 in grants of up to $20,000 with no direct match required.

Parcel of Paradise Farm on Shannock Road
in Charlestown

“The LASA grant program taps into our state’s incredible potential by building on our existing strengths,” said Senate Environment & Agriculture Committee Chairwoman V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown). “These grants enhance food security, boost small businesses and make Rhode Island more sustainable and resilient. They are an investment in our people and our future, and in the agriculture and seafood industries that mean so much to our state. I am grateful to the many supporters and stakeholders who continue to make this program possible.”

“Since its inception, LASA has helped grow a robust, resilient and sustainable local food industry right here in Rhode Island, a mission that becomes more important every year as federal programs that support our local food industry face budgets cuts and continued funding uncertainty on the horizon,” said Representative Teresa A. Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett). “Meanwhile, our local farms, shellfishing, aquaculture, commercial fishing and other food businesses continue to provide us with high quality and nutritious food sustainably produced in our own back yard, thanks in part to support from LASA grants. I am excited to see the continuing success stories of these grant recipients.”

“Today’s LASA awards will help Rhode Island’s farmers, fishers, and food producers expand their operations, improve efficiency, and implement sustainable practices,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “At a time when federal programs that support local food systems face increasing uncertainty and potential cuts, small business owners face incredible challenges. Continued state investment for LASA is more important than ever to strengthen the resilience and long-term viability of Rhode Island’s local food system and the small businesses that are so vital to our economy.”

LASA 2026 grantees:

Roger Williams Research Program Sets Sights on Ocean State’s Iconic Quahogs

Save our clamcakes!

By Bonnie Phillips / ecoRI News staff

Three wire bins containing roughly 20 quahogs each sit inside a giant tank burbling with rust-colored water in a basement marine laboratory at Roger Williams University.

Although they may look like they aren’t doing anything special besides existing, these quahogs are part of an innovative effort to study and boost the population of the iconic, native hard clam in Narragansett Bay.

Funded through a Partnership for Research Excellence in Sustainable Seafood (PRESS) grant from the University of Rhode Island supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the initiative will help expand hatchery production, strengthen disease monitoring, and accelerate quahog restoration in Rhode Island.

“The aim of this work is to address commercial and recreational harvester concerns about the declining clam population in Narragansett Bay,” said Robert J. Holmberg, RWU assistant professor of marine biology and the Center for Economic and Environmental Development’s (CEED) shellfish aquaculture and hatchery specialist.

“Thanks to the support from this grant, we’re working with the state to provide data on isolated populations and their ability to reproduce, and also what diseases or pathogens they might face in these specific areas,” said Malcolm Bowen, RWU’s aquaculture extension specialist and manager of the university’s marine aquaculture farm.

Here’s what the Constitution says can happen when the president is crazy

Stop him before he kills us all

Kirsten Matoy Carlson, Wayne State University

Bipartisan calls for President Donald Trump’s removal from office increased on April 7, 2026, after he issued threats to destroy “a whole civilization” if Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

These calls have come from across the political spectrum, from Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico to former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and right-wing pundit Alex Jones. Unlikely allies seem to agree that the president has gone too far and needs to be reined in.

Their concerns have emerged as Iran has walked away from talks to end the war and Trump’s language suggests that he plans to escalate it by destroying the country’s power plants and bridges.

Concerns over Trump’s fitness for office have grown in recent weeks as his commentary has become more erratic.

If lawmakers do attempt to remove Trump from office, here’s what would happen:

25th Amendment

The Constitution’s 25th Amendment provides a way for high-level officials to remove a president from office. It was ratified in 1967 in the wake of the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy – who was succeeded by Lyndon Johnson, who had already had one heart attack – as well as delayed disclosure of health problems experienced by Kennedy’s predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower.

The 25th Amendment provides detailed procedures on what happens if a president resigns, dies in office, has a temporary disability or is no longer fit for office.

It has never been invoked against a president’s will, and has been used only to temporarily transfer power, such as when a president is undergoing a medical procedure requiring anesthesia.

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment authorizes high-level officials – either the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet or another body designated by Congress – to remove a president from office without his consent when he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Congress has yet to designate an alternative body, and scholars disagree over the role, if any, of acting Cabinet officials.

The high-level officials simply send a written declaration to the president pro tempore of the Senate – the longest-serving senator from the majority party – and the speaker of the House of Representatives, stating that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. The vice president immediately assumes the powers and duties of the president.

Why did Melania hold a news conference denying any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?

Some theories

Robert Reich

Trump’s rule for “flooding the zone” has been straightforward: Whenever the subject that everyone’s talking about becomes too uncomfortable for him — he changes it.

Too much Jeffrey Epstein? Send federal agents to Minnesota to brutalize American citizens. Too much brutality by federal agents? Fire the head of Department of Homeland Security and start a war with Iran. War goes badly? (Well, we’ll soon find out.)

So, why did Melania Trump hold a news conference? Standing at a lectern in the Grand Foyer of the White House, the first lady labeled as “lies” unspecified allegations linking her to Epstein, and said they “need to end today.”

“The false smears about me from mean-spirited and politically motivated individuals and entities looking to cause damage to my good name to gain financially and climb politically must stop.”

But who’s even been thinking about Melania and her potential relationship with Epstein or Maxwell in the midst of Melania’s husband’s threat to obliterate 90 million Iranians? 

Who cares about Melania and Maxwell when the price of gas is through the roof? Why would anyone be interested in such “unspecified allegations” when Iran still possesses 970 pounds of highly-enriched uranium and now has more motive than ever to turn it into nuclear weapons?

Besides, there hasn’t been the faintest whiff of scandal about the relationship between Melania and Maxwell, let alone Epstein.

Back in January (which seems years ago), the Justice Department released an email Melania sent to Maxwell. But the email got little attention. It was part of millions of pages of correspondence released about the Department’s investigation into the disgraced financier. Also, the correspondence took place in 2002, more than two years before Melania became Trump’s third wife.

A 2002 email from Melania Trump to Ghislaine
Maxwell was released in the Jeffrey Epstein files
on Friday, January 30, 2026. (Justice Department)

There’s not even a smoking gun in her email. Melania merely expressed friendliness toward Maxwell and says she can’t wait to visit her in Palm Beach.

Melania also refers to a “nice story about JE” in New York magazine — presumably the 2002 story in which Donald Trump indicated he knew about his former pal’s penchant for young girls. It was in that story that Trump boasted:

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Granted, this quote suggests Trump was on to Epstein’s proclivities and may have even shared them. But the quote is old news. It’s been circulating ever since Trump was first discovered to be cavorting with Epstein.

Why, then, did Melania hold today’s news conference?

I can think of three possible reasons:

ICE babies

Sen. Whitehouse translates "TrumpSpeak"

Loony-in-Chief declares HE will block the Strait of Hormuz. World wonders "WTF?"

Iran: I'm blockading the Strait of Hormuz .... US: no, I'm blockading the Strait of Hormuz

Fire prevention controlled burns planned for woodlands around Charlestown

DEM Resuming Prescribed Burns

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Forest Fire Program plans to conduct low-severity prescribed burns on state lands in Exeter, West Greenwich, Coventry, Richmond, Glocester, Jamestown, and South Kingstown. Weather permitting, the first prescribed burns of 2026 will begin this week. Prescribed (planned) burns depend on weather and wind conditions and are typically announced a day in advance. Prescribed burns help maintain healthy habitats and reduce hazardous fuels, protecting communities from extreme wildfires.

DEM will provide additional public notice through social media, website updates, and flyers to nearby landowners once a burn window has been identified. A burn window occurs when fuel, moisture, and weather conditions align to safely meet management goals, including fuel reduction, habitat improvement, and ecological restoration.

DEM burn managers are targeting parcels at Durfee Hill Management Area in Glocester, Arcadia Management Area in Exeter, Nicholas Farm Management Area in Coventry, Big River Management Area in West Greenwich, Dutch Island in Jamestown, Carolina Management Area in Richmond, and Great Swamp Management Area in South Kingstown.

URI pharmacy professor part of major federal microplastics effort

One of the few health and environmental programs Trump hasn't killed. Yet.

Patrick Luce 

University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy and George and Anne Ryan Institute of Neuroscience Assistant Professor Jaime Ross is taking her extensive research into the scourge of microplastics to the nation’s capital after being invited to join a nationwide $144 million program “to create the definitive toolbox for measuring, researching, and removing microplastics and nanoplastics in the human body.”

Ross received an invitation to attend the historic announcement of STOMP: Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics, revealed by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.. The STOMP program, led by program managers Ileana Hancu and Shannon Greene, aims to find a way to measure microplastics in human organs, understand which plastics affect the body negatively, and seek methods to remove the contaminants. The program aims to protect people from plastic contamination and help lower the potential downstream costs that microplastic-related disease could otherwise impose on the nation’s health care system.

“Microplastics are in every organ we look at—in ourselves and in our children. But we don’t know which ones are harmful or how to remove them,” said Alicia Jackson, director of HHS’ Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). “Nobody wants unknown particles accumulating in their body. The field is working in the dark. STOMP is turning on the lights.”

Ross has been shining the light on the extensive dangers of microplastics for the last five years. She has found that the microscopic plastic particles infiltrate all systems of the body, including breaching the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from harmful substances as small as viruses and bacteria. In a subsequent study, published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, Ross’ team has found the accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics in the brain leads to cognitive decline, and can trigger Alzheimer’s-like behavior in test mice.

“It was riveting to receive an invitation to attend the monumental event, ‘Confronting Microplastics,’ and discuss the STOMP initiative with policymakers and other leading scientists in the field,” Ross said. 

Ken Block is running for governor again. This time as an independent.

Yeah, just what Rhode Island needs. Right.

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

A Barrington software engineer who searched for voter fraud on behalf of the Trump campaign — and found none — is making his third attempt to run for the governor’s office.

This time, Ken Block is running as an independent candidate.

“My flavor of politics doesn’t align well with either political party,” Block, 60, said in a phone interview. “Political parties by definition imply a healthy dose of partisanship — I am a problem solver, a manager, and the problems that Rhode Island suffers from aren’t problems that partisanship can address.”

Block unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010 as the Moderate Party’s candidate — a party he founded. He finished fourth with 6.5 % of the vote in the general election. He ran again as a Republican in 2014, losing the GOP primary to then-Cranston Mayor Allan Fung by 10 percentage points.

He announced his campaign in a post on X last Thursday.

Trump's military threatens Pope Leo for demanding peace

Will Trump launches air strikes against the Vatican?

Julia Conley

Pope Leo, the first American to be named the head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has spoken out against Donald Trump’s policies frequently this year as the US has invaded Venezuela and Iran and threatened Cuba’s 10 million people with an oil blockade that has crippled the island’s economy and healthcare system—and according to new reports, his criticism has followed a warning from a Pentagon official who demanded the Vatican take the “side” of the White House in foreign disputes.

The Free Press originally reported this week that after the pope’s “State of the World” address on January 9, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby called Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s US diplomatic representative, to Washington.

Colby told Pierre that the US “has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world.”

“The Catholic Church had better take its side,” he said, according to The Free Press.

Another Pentagon official alluded to the Avignon papacy, a period in the 14th century in which the French monarchy ordered an attack on Pope Boniface VIII and forced seven successive popes to relocate from Rome to Avignon in France.