UPDATED: Dept. of Homeland Security puts R.I. on notice as a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction.’

It’s unclear why Trump is targeting us

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

Yet another bizarre AI-image posted by Trump

UPDATE: In another classic TACO move, Homeland Security Barbie Secretary Kristin Noem pulled this list off the DHS website after protests from a conservative national sheriffs' association. The sheriffs said the list was compiled with no input from them and “violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement”. TACO, which stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out," is becoming a more frequent occurrence as Trump and his minions continue to do stupid things they are then forced to withdraw.  - W. Collette

Exactly what court order the Trump administration is using to base its declaration that Rhode Island is defying federal immigration policy remains a mystery. But the head of the state’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has a theory.

The state as well as Providence and Central Falls are on a list of 500 “sanctuary jurisdictions” that may lose federal funding released Thursday night by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

The list was compiled based on factors like noncompliance with federal law enforcement, information-sharing restrictions, and giving legal protections to undocumented immigrants, the department’s website stated.

Federal fallout

The website also states that Rhode Island made the list because of a “Court Order Requiring State Sanctuary Requirements.” Rhode Island Current reached out to Homeland Security for specific details and received a statement reiterating the designation factors on the department’s website. 

Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, hypothesized that the federal government may be citing a 2014 federal court order that ruled police officers in Rhode Island cannot hold a person in custody based upon an U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer alone for more than 48 hours.

If you have a low to moderate income, where can you afford to live in RI?

Zero RI communities have affordable homes for a household earning under $100K 

Charlestown came in at #24 among 39 RI cities and towns

by Janine L. Weisman, Rhode Island Current

And then there were none.

Two years ago, households earning under $100,000 a year could afford to buy a home in 14 of Rhode Island’s 39 municipalities. Last year, the number dropped to just one: Central Falls.

But as the release of HousingWorks RI’s annual Housing Fact Book Friday shows, the task of charting the decline of housing affordability in the Ocean State mirrors the plot of an Agatha Christie murder mystery.

That’s because not a single community in the state is affordable to any household earning the median income of $107,452 a year, based on an analysis of year-end 2023 single family home sales via the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service and U.S. Census Bureau data. 

An annual income of at least $120,430 is now needed to buy a home in Central Falls, according to the 2024 edition of the report from the housing policy research group based at Roger Williams University. The report uses the most recently available federal, state and local data sets.

The median price of a single-family home climbed 112% in Central Falls since 2018, the biggest increase of any municipality. But the median household income in Rhode Island’s smallest and most densely populated city is $43,092, according to the U.S. Census’ 2022 American Community Survey. 

All three communities on Aquidneck Island — Portsmouth, Middletown and Newport — along with six others — Bristol, Hopkinton, Narragansett, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket — also saw the price of a single family home rise 50% or more.

Woonsocket topped the list for most affordable home prices. Yet the minimum household income required to buy a home in Woonsocket was $119,123. The median annual household income there is $54,398.

Burrillville is the only municipality where the state’s median household income for renters —$45,560 — is sufficient to afford to rent the average-priced 2-bedroom apartment.

“We’ve just been simply underproducing housing particularly at the lower-income level for such a long period of time,” said Brenda Clement, HousingWorks RI executive director. “It’s troubling. It’s certainly an economic development issue because it’s a workforce recruitment and retention issue.”

More than a third of Rhode Island households, or 143,023 of them, spend more than 30% of their annual income on rent, mortgage payments, and other housing costs. Beyond that threshold, a household may struggle to afford food, health care, transportation and child care expenses. 

“One of out three Rhode Islanders are cost-burdened,” Clement said. “So what that means is that either you are the one, or somebody within your network, or somebody in your family or who works for you.”

Rhode Island’s median household income of $81,370 requires a monthly budget of $2,043 for housing and utilities combined to avoid being housing cost-burdened.

For the median household income among renters of $45,560, housing-related costs cannot exceed $1,139.

The report’s release comes just two and a half weeks before Election Day when Rhode Island voters will consider a $120 million bond to increase the availability of long-term affordable homes and support community revitalization. About $80 million of that amount would subsidize the availability of low- and moderate-income affordable housing production. 

If voters approve the bond, the investment would address a fraction of the need to increase the supply of affordable housing. A recent report by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council calculated that the bond would yield just 586 more income-restricted housing units in a state that needs over 26,000 of them to close the supply gap.

In addition to the housing bond, the report highlights a pilot low-income tax credit program of up to $30 million  annually for five years, though it is not yet operational. Both are important steps in the right direction, but the report notes that the looming expiration of the $332 million in federal pandemic aid — which must be allocated by Dec. 31 2024 and spent by 2026 — Rhode Island will need to increase state investments in order to support its housing needs.

Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said the report’s findings are sobering, but hardly shocking, given a national shortage of housing units and the fact that the median price of a home in the smallest state has doubled in the last five years.

“It took many years to get to where we are, and I am acutely aware of the scale and duration of effort required to get to a remedy,” Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said in a statement. “Since I became Speaker in 2021, I have each year introduced a comprehensive package of housing legislation. The General Assembly has passed nearly 50 new housing laws, which underscores the complexity of addressing our housing shortage.”

Last month, Shekarchi outlined Rhode Island’s success in increasing the number of building permits before a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing at the invitation of the committee’s chairman, Rhode Island’s Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Shekarchi spoke in support of Whitehouse’s proposed legislation, The Affordable Housing Construction Act of 2024, which would leverage federal tax credits to encourage investment in housing. 

“Unfortunately there is not a quick fix, but I have pledged that as long as I am Speaker, I will continue to keep housing as my top priority,” Shekarchi said.

The 2024 Housing Fact Book was scheduled to be released Friday morning during a breakfast event at the Providence Marriott Downtown. The report can be found online at www.housingworksri.org.

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Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and X.

Thank you, George

Rhode Island labor leader George Nee announces his retirement

By Will Collette

The day after Labor Day, RI AFL-CIO President George Nee announced that he will officially retire on October 11 after a lifetime of service. While local media is focused on his prominent leadership of the state's labor movement, George has been much more than that. Like others of his era, such as famed late community organizer Henry Shelton, George was an inspired organizer dedicated to building people power at every opportunity.

George is part of a long chain of organizers who were inspired by Saul Alinsky, including George's mentor Cesar Chavez, who sought to help the powerless gain the power to have control over their lives. Part of the model was to teach others the craft of organizing, often young college kids, as well as seasoned community leaders.

I first met George in 1974 when he was staff director of the RI Workers Association (RIWA), a group similar to the unemployed councils that sprang up during the Great Depression. I was a senior at RI College and did my social work internship at RIWA. Right after I graduated, George hired me to organize in Central Falls and Pawtucket.

I wasn't very good at it, but in the process, I learned that I am good at strategic research and campaign planning. I collaborated with George on the country's first successful grassroots organizing campaign to make non-profit hospitals honor their duty to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.

George taught me the values of helping people speak for themselves, of accountability (i.e. don't promise what you can't deliver) and the joys of being a professional troublemaker, values I carried with me for the next 30+ years.

Thank you, George, for not only giving me a start in my career, but also for the countless others you inspired. Happy retirement!

What the new Kids Count annual report says about Charlestown

Under the CCA, kids DIDN'T count

By Will Collette

Kids Count Rhode Island is a non-profit organization largely known for its exhaustive collection of statistics on the status of children in the state. Their new report for 2023 just came out and contains a mind-numbing 200 pages of data.

Charlestown and, in some cases, Chariho school district appear in every table allowing you to measure local conditions against those in other municipalities. I was especially interested in the ways Charlestown differs from its neighbors (Westerly, South Kingstown, Richmond and Hopkinton).

My compliments to Kids Count for compiling data on virtually every subject important to the raising of kids in such detail. It is now up to citizens and public officials to examine that data, draw conclusions and take action.

The data in the report extends from 2010 in some cases to 2022 at the latest. For Charlestown, that exactly coincides with the length of time our town was ruled by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) who made it a core priority to block housing for families with children and to reducing the number of children in Charlestown.

CCA leader and town planning commissar Ruth Platner even went so far as to concoct a mathematical formula to prove her contention that children are parasites who drive up taxes while contributing nothing to the community's well-being. Her calculations are no longer featured on the CCA website, but if you look deep, you can find it HERE. 

Spoiler: her formula is Impact=(T*A-(S*C+M))* H. You’ll have to go to her piece to find out what the components mean. 

Well, the very first table in the Kids Count report shows just how successful Ruth was in curbing the plague of children. Table 1, page 9 shows that Charlestown had 1,506 children in the 2010 Census but only 1,161 in the 2020 Census, a drop of 22.9%. 

Among the 39 Rhode Island cities and towns, only Narragansett had a greater slump in the number of kids at 27.2%. 

The Platner-CCA anti-child policy is also reflected in the low number of births. In 2022, only 51 babies were born. Only six other towns had a lower number of births (Table 2, p.11). 

Most of Charlestown’s children are white (82.4%), followed by Latinx kids (3.8%) and Native Americans (2.5%). Table 6, p. 19. 

Most of these kids (70%) live in two-parent households and another 20% live in single-parent households. The remaining 10% mostly live with grandparents or other relatives. Table 3, p. 13. 

You may be wondering how a municipality goes about excluding families with kids. The answer is to choke off housing through exclusionary zoning practices, and that’s exactly what Platner-CCA did. New affordable housing for families is almost non-existent in Charlestown. 

This is illustrated in the Kids Count data. 

For Charlestown families with incomes defined as “very low,” that means an annual income of $43,550, compared to the $85,571 median income for all families with children. For low-income families, the cost of home ownership in Charlestown consumes 80% of their annual income (Table 8, p. 29). There is no data on rentals since year-round rentals scarcely exist. 

I was surprised at the poverty and income data for Charlestown. 

Even though Charlestown's $85,571 median income for families with children is more than double that of Central Falls, the poorest community in Rhode Island ($36,196), it’s considerably less than our neighbors. Westerly’s median family income is $100,955. Richmond is $116,410. South Kingstown is $117,356. Hopkinton is $123,214. Table 7, p. 27. 

Our childhood poverty rate is higher than our neighbors with 12.9% of Charlestown’s children living below the poverty line ($23,030). Compare that to 8% in Hopkinton, 9.1% in South Kingstown and 11.2% in Westerly. No data for Richmond. Table 11, p. 41. 

Kids Count devoted many pages to data on kids and crime and justice and education. 

I was surprised at Table 31, p. 109 that gave the rate per 1,000 for children subjected to abuse and neglect. Charlestown’s rate is 14.6. Only five communities had higher rates: Pawtucket (14.8), Westerly (15.2), Central Falls (17.8), West Warwick (19.2) and Woonsocket with 28.5. 

I wonder if Charlestown has a lot of unreported cases, given the minimal presence of DCYF in town. 

Charlestown’s great wealth gives it an obvious edge over most Rhode Island cities and towns. Thus, whenever I see sub-par statistics such as childhood poverty, child neglect and abuse and the lack of affordable housing, I get angry that we either leave people out or or keep them from ever getting in. 

In 200 pages and 55 data charts, Kids Count seems to be at great pains not to draw conclusions but I’m not. I do not feel Charlestown should tolerate our rates of childhood poverty, lack of affordable housing and rate of child abuse and neglect. 

I hope our town will study the data and figure out ways to do better for the sake of our future.

Charlestown's Rep. Tina Spears co-sponsors school lunch bill

Rep. Caldwell introduces universal free school lunch bill

Rep. Justine Caldwell has introduced legislation to make school lunch free for all public school students in Rhode Island.

The legislation, introduced yesterday, is aimed at ensuring that all students are well-fed so they can focus on learning at school, and to eliminate distinctions among children based on family income.

“Every child needs to be fed during the school day. Period,” said

CHARIHO to receive support under new state fund

RIDE Launches $15 Million 21^st Century Technology and Equipment Fund 

elearninginfographics.com

State and local officials announced a $15 million 21^st Century Technology and Equipment Fund during a special event at Stephen Olney Elementary School in North Providence.

The initiative will provide innovative technology and equipment that fosters a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) project-based learning approach and career and technical education (CTE) pathways to ensure all students have access to high-quality learning spaces. 

“Our children will rise to the opportunities we give them. This investment ensures that schools in every single community of our state will get much-needed equipment upgrades and, in turn, give our kids the tools they need to succeed,” said Lieutenant Governor Matos. “Especially in career and technical education classrooms, where they will be able to learn in-demand job skills with the state-of-the-art tools that professionals are using right now, this program will make a major difference.”

“Rhode Island students deserve to attend schools that are warm, safe, dry and equipped for 21^st century learning,” said Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. “In addition to this funding, we have already invested more than $2.2 billion to transform over 200 schools across the state into 21^st century learning spaces over the last four years, benefitting more than 100,000 Rhode Island students annually. I encourage all Rhode Island voters to continue this historic investment by approving a $250 million school construction bond on the ballot this November.” 

The case for Diossa

“Economic development” or economic development?

By Tom Sgouros in UpRiseRI

Through years of watching changes in Rhode Island economic development personnel, I’ve noticed that a successful career in the field is not necessarily related to a successful economy. I was reminded of this recently when I heard Stefan Pryor, candidate for General Treasurer, express pride that Rhode Island came back from the COVID slump second-most quickly among all states.

People who follow the local economy recognize that as a statistic that is likely true, but doesn’t mean at all what Pryor wants you to think. It was a weak economy that COVID upended, and if you can’t fall far, you won’t have far to climb back: this is the same reason toddlers don’t bruise while learning to walk. A look at the detailed data bears this out; right after us in that list are Nebraska, South Dakota, and West Virginia, none exactly economic powerhouses. Should we be proud to be a competitor of West Virginia?

This is how you succeed (personally) as an economic development professional: by learning to make a sow’s ear sound like a silk purse. 

In truth, the economic development industrial complex rests on a mirage everyone agrees to see: that lasting prosperity can be created by directly affecting the location and investment decisions of rich people and large corporations. Time and again we see the fleeting nature of these deals, where a corporation extorts a government by moving somewhere or promising to hire people. But when the tax breaks expire, usually the benefit does, too. This kind of “economic development” often seems little more than a game by which rich people and corporations suck money from the public treasury.

As neighbors of Massachusetts, we are accustomed to saying its economic success is due to all those universities and research, but think what that says: patient investment in higher education led to prosperity. Over recent decades, Massachusetts also made similarly long-term investments in elementary and secondary education and public transportation. With patience, they built a middle class proportionally much larger and more prosperous than Rhode Island’s. Boston booms, while Providence… doesn’t. This was not the result of “economic development” but it certainly was economic development.

So sure, you can criticize Stefan Pryor’s multi-state record: as Deputy Mayor of Newark, he oversaw an economic development agency so troubled its auditors recommended it simply stop making loans; as Connecticut Education Commissioner he was so controversial he resigned rather than threaten his governor’s reelection; and as director of CommerceRI, Rebuild RI tax credits were managed so they cannot possibly meet the original goals, according to a study by Pryor’s colleagues at the Department of Revenue. But the real danger here is a fundamental misunderstanding of economic development. Rhode Island doesn’t need more “economic development” that are just bad tax deals, we need fundamental reform of how our government thinks about our economy. We need real investments in education, in public transit, in housing, in making the lives of Rhode Islanders better. And we need the patience to see that work make good.

The job of state Commerce Secretary is mostly about being nice to businesses that want to grow here. But by Stefan Pryor’s telling, he’s in charge of the Rhode Island economy. My advice is if you think that our state’s economy is fine — if you think he built the conditions for long-term growth — vote for him. Otherwise consider James Diossa, who is familiar with struggle and has managed a city with near-zero resources to great effect. Diossa understands that government exists to help people who need help, and to make those long-term investments that will pay off — in a permanent way. That’s why I’ll vote for Diossa.

EDITOR'S NOTE: As on many other things, I agree with Tom in his comparison of James Diossa to Stephan Pryor. I too support Diossa whole-heartedly. He took Central Falls from the deepest hole possible and helped to make it a liveable city again. CF was such a write-off that the state tried to pay Pawtucket to absorb the city - and Pawtucket refused. Diossa involved the community and built a great team to bring the city back from beyond the fringe. And he modestly credits others rather than take the credit he deserves.

Stefan Pryor, on the other hand, takes almost sole credit for everything he even comes near. Sure, he was involved in some high profile efforts, such as the rebuilding of lower Manhattan. But that's not so hard when you are running a project with limitless cash and national priority. Pryor's campaign is now throwing rocks at James for "not being ready" for the job of General Treasurer because he "only" saved Central Falls, while Pryor is clearly an ubermenchen. 

No thanks, Stefan. I'm voting for James.     - Will Collette

What’s Coming at Us in Rhode Island – Covid, Omicron, Division and Democracy

“This will happen because two governors valued commerce over human life.”

By Dr. Michael Fine, MD in UpRiseRI

GoLocal graphic

Michael Fine, MD, is a writer, community organizer, and family physician. 

He is the chief health strategist for the City of Central Falls, RI, and a former Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, 2011–2015. 

He is currently the Board Vice Chair and Co-Founder of the Scituate Health Alliance. 

He is the recipient of the Barbara Starfield Award, the John Cunningham Award, and the Austin T. Levy Award.

Take-home points

• The Covid-19 vaccine does not protect people from getting or spreading Covid-19.
• We can expect 70 to 100 preventable deaths in December and between 100 and 600 or more deaths in January, mostly among people over 60.
• 18 to 25 of those deaths in December will be among people under 60
• 25 to 150 of those deaths in January will be among people under 60
• About half of those deaths will be in people who were vaccinated.
• Masks help prevent Covid-19 from spreading but they only reduce spread by 53 percent.
• Government has failed to protect Rhode Islanders. We can protect one another by avoiding parties, stores, bars and restaurants. Starting now.
• Omicron is going to upend our lives in January, whether we are tired of all this or not. 

I am writing on December 19, 2021, from Scituate, Rhode Island. Scituate is a little place, population 10,000, in a little state, population one million. I work sometimes in Central Falls, Rhode Island, the smallest, poorest and most densely populated city in the smallest state in the union. 

Still, I have the sense of being on the front lines of a war we are losing, at least at the moment, against Covid-19. Rhode Island is once again the most infected state in the nation. Central Falls had a similar dubious honor for a time in the spring of 2020. It was briefly the most infected place in the world, the most infected place in the nation and the most infected place in Rhode Island.

Central Falls is struggling with Covid-19 again, but it is pretty well vaccinated because of the courage and dedication of committed mayors, a city council who went door to door registering people for vaccination, and because of the incredible heroism of my friend and colleague Dr. Beata Nelken, who opened a pediatric practice in January of 2020 and since then has taken it upon herself to stop Covid-19 in Central Falls. She and her staff test 100-150 people a day themselves and vaccinate 30-40 people a day of all ages, including many who are undocumented, people no one else seems to care about.

I am writing to tell you about a clear and present danger that I and many other public health professional fear will impact everyone in Rhode Island, everyone in the U.S. and around the world by the middle of January, and to tell it to you straight.

I’ll discuss Covid-19 and the vaccines to prevent hospitalization and death and our ineffective, and perhaps pathetic response first, then the Omicron variant and the unique risks of social disruption it presents, and then discuss how our political polarization has both inflamed our risk and incapacitated our response, in three separate but interconnected essays, which will come out once a day for the next three days.

Apologies in advance for writing these just before the holidays. The timing stinks, but the virus isn’t taking time off for the holidays, unfortunately. Most likely the holidays will spread the virus faster and farther, as people gather and spend time together.

But first, some good news: Young people and kids are not at significant risk from Covid-19 or its Omicron variant; and the damage done by the Omicron variant, which I fear may be significant, is likely to be done by the middle of February or the beginning of March. Even though the variant will be gone, the damage to our culture and our politics will be with us for years to come.

Now some facts, which some public officials don’t seem to want you to know, but which you need in order to think clearly about the Delta and Omicron variants of Covid-19 so that you can protect yourself, your family and your community.

Rhode Island today has the highest rate of Delta variant virus spread in the nation. More than 1100 people are testing positive every day when you adjust for the number of daily tests, which means 11,000 or more people, or one to two percent of the population, have and are spreading the virus every day. That number is doubling every two weeks or so. 

Rhode Island hasn’t done anything effective at all to stop the spread of the virus, so that this number is likely to continue doubling every two weeks, at least until the Omicron variant arrives in force. The Omicron variant spreads at least twice and perhaps three or more times as fast as Delta. We don’t know how Omicron will impact Delta spread or the number of hospitalizations and deaths or whether both variants can infect the same person at once or what that might mean.

We are now losing about six to seven people every day, or about half the number we were losing at this time last year, when the then Governor, acting far too late to save lives, mandated masks and restaurants, bar, and school closings. 

We are doing nothing to prevent the spread of the virus this year besides vaccination, so it is likely the virus will spread. Last week the new Governor announced very weak measures to reduce viral spread – masking at large events, and masking or vaccination for smaller venues. 

These measures cannot do more than reduce the speed at which the spread doubles by a few percentage points. Key health professionals endorsed the Governor’s weak measures as the best outcome they could hope for politically. Their inability to speak clearly about what we must do failed Rhode Island.

Our hospitals are nearing capacity; health care workers, already exhausted, are burning out; many health care jobs are unfilled. It is likely that hospitals will overflow in the next week and/or need to move to crisis standards of care, because of which some people will die unnecessarily because we will lack the capacity to care for them. 

More misadventures in economic development…

“The obsession with growing the economy for the wealthiest is what is killing the planet”

By Greg Gerritt in UpRiseRI

It has recently been in the news that the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation is giving multi million dollar ($3.5m) subsidies to very rich folks from Texas to put a few jobs in Rhode Island. 

This is what passes for economic development in Rhode Island. The state subsidizing the rich to create a few well paying jobs. 

The most recent year we have records for show a total subsidy for this type of thing of $52 million.

What is most galling is that the decision makers of the Commerce Corporation and the people accepting the money claim to be supporters of capitalism. 

This should preclude subsidies to the wealthy, but as it seems to be business as usual, subsidies seem only available to those who do not need them, but are powerful enough to demand them, it seems closer to banana republic cronyism than anything resembling free markets, with the added catastrophe of the displacement of community residents as the money given out by the government flows towards gentrification.

Population density and virus strains will affect how regions can resume normal life

Harder to return to normal in, for example, Central Falls than Charlestown

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Charlestown has had 322 confirmed COVID cases -
7% of the population. Central Falls has had 3,568 cases
 - 30% of the population (RIDOH)

As a new, apparently more transmissible version of the virus that causes COVID-19 has appeared in several countries, new research finds that the transmissibility of viral strains and the population density of a region will play big roles in how vaccination campaigns can help towns and cities return to more normal activities.

The findings suggest that directing vaccines toward densely populated counties would help to interrupt transmission of the disease. Current vaccination distribution plans don't take density into account.

Tony Ives at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Claudio Bozzuto of the independent data research company Wildlife Analysis GmbH studied the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. at the start of the pandemic, before people changed their behavior to avoid the disease. 

This let them uncover factors that may affect the transmission of COVID-19 when masking and physical distancing start to wane and behavior once again resembles the pre-pandemic normal.

Westerly Land Trust one of three ECRI grantees

Environment Council of Rhode Island announces winners of the 2021 Loraine Tisdale Environmental Education grants

Environment Council of Rhode Island

Westerly Land Trust photo

Each year the Environment Council of Rhode island Education Fund awards three school or afterschool programs small grants to enhance environmental education.  The awards are named after a long time Rhode Island activist, Loraine Tisdale, renowned for her work on keeping children safe from pesticide sprays.  

This year the $250 grants will go to :

The Westerly Land Trust to expand the Living Laboratories program to involve students from Westerly and surrounding towns in outdoor experiential learning on a variety of preserves, including the Barlow Nature Preserve which features multiple farms. The tools gained through the fund will allow students to engage in research projects incorporated into their environmental education lessons as they explore these farms, compost operations, and conserved land.

Rhode Island to sue Trump over census memo

Constitution requires ALL people to be counted

By Steve Ahlquist for UpRiseRI

In response to United States President Donald Trump‘s memorandum that seeks to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in in the apportionment of congressional districts, the State of Rhode Island and the cities of Providence and Central Falls will be suing the administration, according to Central Falls Mayor James Diossa, during a July 22 press conference.

“Our City Solicitor, Matt Jerzyk, just informed me that we should expect a lawsuit to come from the State of Rhode Island, Providence and Central Falls, shortly,” said Diossa.

Short Takes: how RI is coping with the pandemic

Cases up in Charlestown and the rest of coastal RI as beaches fill up

By Will Collette

By Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rhode Island earned national praise for its effective early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A combination of credible information, strict rules, effective enforcement and cooperation from the public “flattened the curve” and kept us out of crisis.

We ended up not needing the emergency hospital space Gov. Gina Raimondo had leased (drawing criticism from our local right-wing politicians led by Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi). I just wonder what they would have said if we had needed the extra beds and not had them.

Unfortunately, like the rest of the country, we’re starting to slip backwards slightly as Phase 3 re-opening kicks in. Between relentless politicization against anti-virus measures by Republicans and plain old pandemic fatigue, we’re seeing some significant warning signs such as a rise in the rolling 7-day average of cases to 99 a day.

Rhode Island’s confirmed cases just topped 18,000 and the death toll is at 997. Gov. Raimondo said that when the death count hits 1,000, she will order flags lowered to half-staff.

What do Charlestown and Central Falls have in common?

Both are seeing sharp new spikes in cases. WPRI investigative reporters found “cities and towns along the shoreline – including Middletown, Charlestown, Narragansett, Jamestown, Barrington, Newport and Bristol” – are showing the highest percentage increase in new COVID cases.

Charlestown and Middletown led with positive case spikes of 25%, though for Charlestown that meant we now have a total of 30 confirmed cases, a relatively small number.

State and local authorities are drawing the logical conclusion that crowded beaches, reopened bars and restaurants and some lapses in mask wearing and social distancing are behind these spikes.

The data shows that 3% of the new confirmed cases are out-of-state “summer people.” Oh, PLEASE set up the State Police checkpoints again!

The state and towns have been adjusting beach parking to reduce the crowds at the beach and have been aggressively ticketing cars parking illegally on streets near the beaches after the Governor was most critical of Misquamicut and Scarborough beach crowding.

Central Falls is also showing an alarming increase over its already high numbers. Around 5% of Central Falls’ population have tested positive compared to the state average of 1.7%

Businesses and events continue to take a beating

By Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News

Businesses that have re-opened are having a hard time with assholes who refuse the follow the rules. Some loud and abusive customers not only refuse to wear masks and maintain social distance but also abuse the staff with Trump-like slurs. 

This led Brickley’s Ice Cream to shutter its Wakefield store for the season. The Narragansett location is still open, at least for now.

I reported on other closures or service cutbacks in the last Short Takes along with my hope that these incidents are being caused by summer people and not locals.

Local hero Arrowhead Dental just announced the cancellation of its annual “Dentistry with a Heart” event – postponed until Fall 2021 – due to the pandemic. Arrowhead has been doing this for years, serving all comers for a day of free dental services ranging from cleaning to oral surgery. Last year, they helped more than 150 patients.

It’s only July, but the annual Charlestown New Year’s Eve bonfire has already been cancelled. Frank Glista has been treating the town to this magical event for years now, but it takes a lot of lead time to put the donated wooden pallet supply together.

Since we don’t know whether we will still be in the throes of the pandemic come New Year or whether it will “magically disappear, Frank decided to pull the plug, breaking a 13-year string.

This is the kind of “cancellation culture” that worries me, not Trump’s worries over the Confederacy.

Rising Waters, from Central Falls to Charlestown

Climate Crisis Escalates Inland Flood Risk
By ROGER WARBURTON/ecoRI News contributor

The First Street Foundation (FS) model shows an increase in flood risk across Rhode Island. Flooding risks are by zip code. (Roger Warburton/ecoRI News)

Many people who live inland believe that the risks of flooding from hurricanes, sea-level rise, and coastal storms don’t apply to them. Surely, they only impact shoreline properties?

Those assumptions are incorrect.

A new report by the First Street Foundation analyzes the flood risks of every building in the United States. One of the most surprising findings is that there is a much higher risk of inland flooding than previously believed.

The image above illustrates the significant increase in inland flooding risk. The current risk for a substantial flood is defined as a 0.4-inch inundation with a 1 percent annual risk.

Flood risk is traditionally analyzed using the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In Rhode Island, FEMA maps identify some 23,900 properties as having substantial flood risk (the left map in image above).

In comparison, the First Street Foundation flood model identifies an additional 9,000 properties as facing this same level of risk (the right map in image above).

RI Community Bank fights hunger during this crisis

Donate Now COVID-19 Update Reminder: Live Video Town Hall Tomorrow  This Friday at 9 am, join us for a Live Video Town Hall where you can learn more about the work of the Food Bank during the COVID-19 public health emergency. CEO Andrew Schiff will be joined by Heather Hole Strout, Executive Director of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Newport, to talk about the ways we’re responding to the increased demand for food. Advanced registration is required. Click here to sign up.  Meeting the Need in Central Falls  Wednesdays at the Progreso Latino food pantry are a hub of activity. That’s when their weekly food distribution serves hundreds of people from the city of Central Falls, an area hard hit by the COVID-19 public health emergency. A half hour before the doors open, the parking lot comes alive with people walking, parking and getting in line to receive food assistance. Guests range in ages from small children to seniors - who are served first to limit their exposure to large crowds and COVID-19. One senior, Humberto, who receives food at the pantry, shared his experience and how things have changed for him during the pandemic. He spoke very openly with the staff at the pantry and it was clear that they built a close relationship over time. “I get everything they give out here, all the food. And even when I can’t come, Helen [a staff member] is able to bring it to my house and it’s a big help for me. I live here in Central Falls. I’m always very grateful because it’s really good food. Just being closed off has been the hardest part. I’m very, very grateful.” Distributing Food and Much More  The RI Community Food Bank has been delivering much larger donations than usual to this location, as the volume of guests has greatly changed. Progreso staff member, Jack, shared: “We used to see 15 families [come to our food pantry], now we are reaching up to 300.” On this day, guests received boxes of fresh, local produce packaged by Farm Fresh RI as part of the USDA Farmers to Families program, which is meant to help farmers and distribute fresh food to families in need during the pandemic. Guests also received staples like pasta, beans and rice. Additionally, there was onsite testing for COVID-19, sponsored by a local pediatric practice. Dominga, the food pantry coordinator, pictured right, said that it is critical that all people know they are welcome at the pantry, especially for something as important as testing. “Sometimes they are concerned about getting tests done because of their immigration status. It's their choice whether they want to get tested or not, but we make it easy for them to feel comfortable.”

Donate Now Our mailing address is: Rhode Island Community Food Bank 200 Niantic Ave Providence, RI 02907-3150