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Thursday, April 2, 2026

Charlestown Democrats announce April events

 

C-Town Dems News

April 2026

Mark Your Calendars…

Tuesday, April 7th
Vote on the Chariho school budget

 

The Chariho District Financial Referendum will be held Tuesday, April 7, 2026 from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM

 

All Charlestown voters can vote at:

Charlestown Town Hall, Council Chambers

4540 S County Trail, Charlestown RI  02813

Saturday, April 4th

Thanks to everyone who came out for March's Tea with Tina.

 

Join Tina this Saturday, from 10 AM – 12 noon at Caf Bar.

 

Tina will be joined by Andrew Kettle, Chief, Charlestown Ambulance Rescue. They'll be discussing HB 7485 which aims to improve ambulance services by requiring insurance to reimburse for care even when no transport to a hospital occurs. This legislation supports community paramedicine and "treatment in place" models, aiming to lower costs and improve care access, particularly in rural areas. All are welcome, no RSVP necessary.

Wednesday, April 8th

Keith Hoffman, candidate for Attorney General of RI will be attending our regular committee meeting.*

6 PM in the Charlestown Police Station
4901 Old Post Road

*Note this is one week later than usual due to scheduling conflicts.

Call for Volunteers

Your Charlestown Democratic Town Committee needs you! We are looking for active participants who want to help support Democratic candidates and causes. If interested, send us a note. to info@charlestowndemocrats.org. Please consider joining us!

Get our latest updates

The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee manages the affairs of the Democratic Party in the town of Charlestown, RI subject to RI Election Law, State Party rules and its own bylaws. We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6:00 PM at the Charlestown Police Station. Any Charlestown registered Democrat is welcome to attend.

Son of long-time Charlestown Assistant Solicitor Bob Craven declares candidacy to replace his father

Robert Craven Jr. is running for House District 32

Steve Ahlquist

When Robert Craven Jr. announced he was running for the State Representative seat his father was vacating, I reached out to request an interview. We met at Cafe Nero in Downtown Providence, a place so busy neither of us had coffee. The interview has been edited for clarity:

Steve Ahlquist: I don’t want to start on a negative note, but in this state, we oftentimes have what I think of as “inherited” seats. That is, the child of a politician taking over an elected position from their parent. Your father is the current State Representative from District 32, so what do you bring to this position that makes it earned rather than inherited?

Robert Craven: Two things. One, I’m running not because I have his name; I’m running despite having his name. I’m running in North Kingstown because it’s where I grew up and where I know the state and the country best. I’m running because I have the specific experience to deliver meaningful results for North Kingstown. My father represented well. He had his own experience to rely on. I have some of the same skills, but a different skill set and perspective on much of it, which will let me either expand on or add to what he accomplished.

Steve Ahlquist: You do have an impressive resume. Do you want to talk about that?

Robert Craven: I’m glad to. For the past three years, I’ve been the policy director for Rhode Island’s Treasurer. In that capacity, I’ve helped champion legislation that expanded wealth opportunities for low-income Rhode Islanders, helped towns like North Kingstown protect themselves from the threats of climate change, helped survivors of sexual assault access the funds and support systems they need, and pushed Rhode Island forward in financial well-being. Before that, I ran the Treasurer’s campaign, as you know...

Steve Ahlquist: Which is when I got to know you a little bit.

Robert Craven: Exactly. And before I got into the politics and policy side of things, I practiced law for a few years at a litigation firm in Downtown Providence, where I practiced banking law, complex commercial disputes, and class action lawsuits.

Steve Ahlquist: That put you in the position to be in the Treasurer’s office

Robert Craven: Yeah. It was a good foundation for understanding the issues the office usually deals with. And I dealt with a lot of land use and Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) law when I was practicing law, which gave me the CRMC’s perspective on things and where some of these communities and their zoning boards are in terms of being able to construct (or not construct) what they’re comfortable with, and what’s environmentally sound.

Steve Ahlquist: Land use and the CRMC are two hot topics at the State House right now. We’re dealing with land use issues and possibly reorganizing the CRMC or folding it into the Department of Environmental Management (DEM).

Robert Craven: I think CRMC needs a revisit. That organization has served the state well enough since its creation, but the policies surrounding it are changing. The needs of the state have shifted, and there’s going to be a lot more urgency in what they do as we head towards an era where we might see a dramatic change in what’s happening on our shoreline.

Steve Ahlquist: I think we’re already seeing dramatic changes. We’re looking at parts of Newport going underwater...

Robert Craven: ... and Warren, North Kingstown, Westerly...

Steve Ahlquist: Yeah. Whole sections of the state - land, houses, businesses, whatever - are going to be flooded if we can’t figure out something.

Growing up in a political household, what was that like? Mine is a firefighter family, so we were somewhat political, union politics...

Robert Craven: My mom was a union president in Narragansett. I grew up hearing about the Department of Education and how it was not funding teachers. When I was in middle school, I remember hearing about pension reform from my mom, who was one of the people affected by it. Growing up in that kind of household with a father always interested in policy and politics shows you that the system is accessible, right? I went to George Washington University down in DC, but I came back to intern in health and housing policy for Governor Lincoln Chafee.

That experience, along with what I had growing up, showed me how accessible the system can be. And then, if you learn how the system works, you can really accomplish something through it. There’s this impression that politicians are inaccessible or that they’re in it for malicious intent, but that’s not the case. You have a lot of good people out there who are trying to accomplish something - trying to do the right thing. That’s kind of the lesson that I learned growing up around it.

Scientists solved the mystery of missing ocean plastic—and the answer is alarming

The plastic didn’t disappear—it went invisible and spread everywhere.

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research


Scientists have uncovered something surprising in the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of plastic pollution may no longer be visible at all. Instead, it exists as nanoplastics, particles so small they are measured in billionths of a meter.

"This estimate shows that there is more plastic in the form of nanoparticles floating in this part of the ocean than there is in larger micro- or macroplastics floating in the Atlantic or even all the world's oceans!" said Helge Niemann, researcher at NIOZ and professor of geochemistry at Utrecht University. In mid-June, he received a 3.5 million euro grant to further investigate nanoplastics and what ultimately happens to them.

Ocean Expedition Reveals Tiny Plastic Particles

To gather data, Utrecht master's student Sophie ten Hietbrink spent four weeks aboard the research vessel RV Pelagia. The ship traveled from the Azores to the European continental shelf, where she collected water samples at 12 different locations.

Each sample was carefully filtered to remove anything larger than one micrometer. What remained contained the smallest particles. "By drying and heating the remaining material, we were able to measure the characteristic molecules of different types of plastics in the Utrecht laboratory, using mass spectrometry," Ten Hietbrink explains.

First Real Estimate of Ocean Nanoplastics

Previous studies had confirmed that nanoplastics existed in ocean water, but no one had been able to calculate how much was actually there. This research marks the first time scientists have produced a meaningful estimate.

Niemann notes that this breakthrough was made possible by combining ocean research with expertise from atmospheric science, including contributions from Utrecht University scientist Dusân Materic.

27 Million Tons of Invisible Plastic

When the team scaled their measurements across the North Atlantic, the results were striking. They estimate that about 27 million tons of nanoplastics are floating in this region alone.

"A shocking amount," Ten Hietbrink says. The finding may finally explain a long-standing mystery. Scientists have struggled to account for all the plastic ever produced. Much of it appeared to be missing. This study suggests that a large share has broken down into tiny particles that are now suspended throughout the ocean.

Wow! Trump’s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Cases in Shift to Immigration

To pander to Trump's obsession with immigrants, thousands of real criminals go free

  • ICE Detention Statistics: As of early 2026, about 73.6% of people in ICE detention had no criminal convictions.
  • Conviction Types: Among those detained, only about 5% have convictions for violent crimes, while the majority of those with convictions have nonviolent, minor offenses like traffic violations.

In the first days after Pam Bondi was appointed attorney general last year, the Department of Justice began shutting down pending criminal cases at a record pace.

The cases included an investigation into a Virginia nursing home with a recent record of patient abuse; probes of fraud involving several New Jersey labor unions, including one opened after a top official of a national union was accused of embezzlement; and an investigation into a cryptocurrency company suspected of cheating investors.

In total, the DOJ quietly closed more than 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of President Donald Trump’s administration, abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses as it shifted resources to pursue immigration cases, according to an analysis by ProPublica.

The bulk of these cases, which were closed without prosecution and known as declinations, had been referred to the DOJ by law enforcement agencies under prior administrations that believed a federal crime may have been committed. The DOJ routinely declines to prosecute cases for any number of reasons, including insufficient evidence or because a case is not a priority for enforcement.

But the number of declinations under Bondi marks a striking departure not only from the Biden administration but also the first Trump term, according to the ProPublica analysis, which examined two decades of DOJ data, including the first six months of Trump’s second term. ProPublica determined the increase is not the result of inheriting a larger caseload or more referrals from law enforcement.

In February 2025 alone, which included the first weeks of Bondi’s tenure, nearly 11,000 cases were declined, the most in a month since at least 2004. The previous high was just over 6,500 cases in September 2019, during Trump’s first administration.

Some of the cases shut down were the result of yearslong investigations by federal agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. For complex cases, the DOJ can take years before deciding whether to bring charges.

The shift comes as the DOJ has undergone an extraordinary overhaul under the Trump administration, with entire units shuttered, directives to abandon pursuit of certain crimes and thousands of lawyers quitting or, in some cases, being forced out of the agency.

In doing so, the DOJ is retreating from its mission to impartially uphold the rule of law, keep the country safe and protect civil rights, according to interviews with a dozen prosecutors and an open letter from nearly 300 DOJ employees who have left the department under Trump. The Trump DOJ, the employees wrote, is “taking a sledgehammer” to long-standing work to “protect communities and the rule of law.”

The change in priorities was outlined in a series of memos sent to attorneys early last year. Trump’s DOJ has said it is “turning a new page on white-collar and corporate enforcement” and emphasizing the pursuit of drug cartels, illegal immigrants and institutions that promote “divisive DEI policies.” Trump, in an address last March at the department, said the changes were necessary after a “surrender to violent criminals” during the past administration and would result in a restoration of “fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.”

The department prosecuted 32,000 new immigration cases in the first six months of the administration, which was nearly triple the number under the Biden administration and a 15% increase from the first Trump term. It has pursued fewer prosecutions of nearly every other type of crime — from drug offenses to corruption — than new administrations in their first six months dating back to 2009.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Bobby Jr. has become a political threat to Republicans

Republicans Fret Over RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Policies While MAHA Moms Stew

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fielding pressure from the White House to relax his controversial approach to vaccine policies as the midterms near, but his most steadfast supporters are pressing for more aggressive action — like restricting covid-19 vaccines and pesticide use — to carry out the Make America Healthy Again agenda.

The tensions risk fraying Kennedy’s dynamic MAHA coalition, potentially driving away critical supporters who helped fuel President Donald Trump’s 2024 election win.

The movement’s grassroots membership includes suburbanites, women, and independents who are generally newer entrants to the GOP and laser-focused on achieving certain results around the nation’s food supply and vaccines.

Promoting healthy foods tops their list and will be at the center of the White House’s pitch to voters during the midterm election cycle.

“President Trump’s mass appeal partly lies in his willingness to question our country’s broken status quo,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. “That includes food standards and nutrition guidelines that have helped fuel America’s chronic disease epidemic. Overhauling our food supply and nutrition standards to deliver on the MAHA agenda remains a key priority for both the President and his administration.”

At the same time, with most Americans opposing efforts to undermine vaccines, the White House has cooled on Kennedy’s aggressive policies to curb vaccines and MAHA’s interest in tamping down environmental chemicals that are linked to disease.

The result: Republicans are realizing just how demanding the MAHA vote can be. Moms Across America leader Zen Honeycutt warned that Republicans are facing their biggest setback yet with the MAHA movement, after Trump signed an executive order to support production of glyphosate, a herbicide the World Health Organization has linked to cancer.

“It has caused the biggest uproar in MAHA,” Honeycutt said during a CNN interview in late February.

MAGA don't care

New hand's-on education program from Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association