Month: December 2020

We’ve Turned a Corner: A summary of the governor’s December 22 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo, DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, DOA director Brett Smiley and Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor gave the weekly COVID press briefing today at 1pm. DOH reports 880 new cases of the novel coronavirus since yesterday, from around 12,000 tests taken yesterday. The positive test rate is 7.1%. There are 440 people hospitalized with […]

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Court TV: Senate confirms Lynch Prata, Long for high court

The most recent meeting of the state Senate, with pols sitting in auditorium chairs using iPads to cast their votes, looked more like a university debate club than a session in the storied Smith Hill chamber. After a five-month pause, legislators met offsite to allow adequate separation. The Senate convened in Rhode Island College’s Sapinsley […]

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Mind the Gap: Inching toward judicial equality

While expected by political observers, the announcement that the General Assembly had finally confirmed the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s first non-white associate justice – and the first Asian American Superior Court judge, and the first Latina to the Family Court – might have come as a surprise to many, given the state’s overall racial diversity […]

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Double Shot: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine second to be approved in RI

The Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 was unanimously approved for use in RI this morning at an emergency meeting of the RI Department of Health (DoH) Vaccine Sub-Committee, following the issuance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on Friday, December 18. Doses are expected to begin arriving in […]

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Above the Noise: Hello, Atlantic talk about what drives their band forward

Hello, Atlantic is probably the top techno-based emo-pop band in the local scene right now. With alternative styles ranging from stadium-wide emotional ballads like “Lapse” to dance-party anthems like “Night Life,” the band tackles complicated emotions with thoughtful sonic imagery and analogies that make anyone feel included and heard. In a world increasingly populated by […]

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Ready for Reform: An interview with Senator-elect Kendra Anderson

“I don’t have career goals in politics – I’m just doing this because I want better for people.” says State Senator-elect Kendra Anderson summing up her reasons for running for office. She has a background as an educator, a lifelong activist, and most recently the President of Climate Action RI. Anderson was elected last month […]

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Death Sentence: First COVID-19 inmate death at RI ACI

The first inmate death due to COVID-19 at the RI Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) was confirmed today to Motif by the Department of Corrections (DoC), having occurred on Saturday, December 19. The deceased was a 66-year-old male “who had other complicating co-morbidities that likely contributed to his death [and] was at Rhode Island Hospital being […]

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