Jim Hummel

If you think you’ve heard everything about the dangers of smoking, just sit in on Jessica Walters’ class for half an hour and you might be surprised. Walters, who teachers 6th grade at the Woodlawn Regional Catholic School in Pawtucket, is using a new nationwide program called “Get Smart About Tobacco,” developed by Scholastic, the […]

It is full steam ahead for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, and by 2018 trucks entering the state can expect more than a dozen tolling gantries spread over five major highways across Rhode Island. The goal: to collect upward of $45 million a year and spend it on much-needed bridge repair. When the debate […]

Five years ago the Rhode Island Department of Transportation repaved part of Route 116 in Smithfield. The state told everyone living along Pleasant View Avenue — as it’s known locally — that the DOT would take down their mailboxes and the state would provide new ones, in part because new sidewalks were being laid. It […]

Frank O’Donnell has been a professional comedian for more than three decades, appearing in front of hundreds of audiences like one that gathered at Twin River on a Tuesday evening in March. Being on stage is a natural and comfortable place for O’Donnell. But this particular show — an annual event he’s done the past […]

Editor’s Note: Jim Hummel’s quarterly roundup provides new information and developments on previous Hummel Report investigations. One Man’s Junk: Last fall we told you about Lorraine LeClerc’s decades-long struggle to get dozen of junked cars cleared from her neighbor, Al Gaffney’s, property. In some cases the cars were just feet from her yard. The case has gone […]

It is 6:20 on a Tuesday morning and the Manzi family is already on the move. Stephanie Manzi, vice president of the Johnston Town Council, is driving her 16-year-old triplets to school and traffic is picking up on Route 6 heading east. Instead of making the 10-minute drive from their home to Johnston High School, […]

Providence is a city surrounded — and divided — by water. But if you actually want to get to the water, for boating or fishing or kayaking or maybe to take a long walk, there are only a handful of places to go. You have the popular India Point Park along Route 195, and the […]

In a remote section of Western Coventry the foundations for 10 wind turbines are taking shape. Three of them are projected to produce enough electricity to save the town of West Warwick, and its taxpayers, $40 million over the next 25 years. “We’ll be the first town in the state of Rhode Island — I […]