Rob Smith

“Take This Seriously”: A summary of the governor’s November 25 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo, and DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott gave the weekly COVID press conference at 1pm today. “The only option we have is to take all of this seriously,” said the governor today. COVID runs rampant in the Ocean State, as metrics of measuring the virus’s spread surge. DOH reports 845 new cases of […]

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Not in Kansas: RI Dems running in Trump territory

Received political wisdom in Rhode Island says the coastal and metro areas are more liberal, while the state’s interior towns elect Republicans. These are areas that don’t see a strong Democrat opposition, where Republicans have long held sway without much effort. After all, with Democrats controlling state government for close to 100 years now, why […]

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COVID Cases Continue to Rise: A summary of the governor’s November 12 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo and DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott gave the weekly press briefing today at 1pm.  COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the Ocean State. DOH reports 936 new cases since yesterday, the second day in a row new case numbers exceeded 900. Rhode Island now has officially exceeded two out of the three […]

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New Restrictions Start Sunday: A summary of the governor’s November 5 press conference

Governor Raimondo, DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor and DEM director Janet Coit gave the weekly COVID press briefing today at 1pm. The Ocean State is in the mindset of a second wave; today marked the third day in a week new coronavirus cases exceeded 500 in one day. There were 566 […]

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The (Unofficial) Results Are In!: RI appears to award its electoral votes as expected, but local races deliver some surprises

Rhode Islanders went to the polls yesterday along with the rest of the nation. While the Ocean State dutifully awarded its four electoral votes to Joe Biden, there’s a slew of local races and ballot questions to sort through. Election night went relatively smoothly. The state board of elections was off by the timetable it […]

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Woonsocket Democrats: A united slate aims to eliminate toxic political culture

Last year, Alex Kithes (literally) upset the Woonsocket political establishment by winning a special election for a seat on the city council. He defeated his opponent, former city council president Roger Jalette, in a special snap election following the resignation of then-city-councilwoman Julia Brown. Now, Kithes is back again, and he’s not alone; he’s brought […]

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Way More Cases Than We Want: A summary of the governor’s October 30 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo and DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott held a special COVID press briefing today at 1pm. “There are way more cases than we want there to be,” said Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott. COVID rates surge in the Ocean State — that was the theme of the special press conference state officials held today. DOH […]

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Drawing the Line: Ensuring proper representation in city councils

Last month, Woonsocket’s Racist Policies Review Advisory Board, a deliberative body intended to identify discriminatory practices in city policy, voted to recommend the city council’s seven at-large seats switch instead to seven warded seats. Municipal legislature races rarely get much notice during election cycles in the Ocean State, a fact that can mask crucial issues. […]

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What Did We Miss?: While we’ve been watching the big stories, the little stories still have legs

The pandemic and the election have completely taken over our minds, so many of the stories of yesteryear have been forgotten by most people (and news outlets) at large. We here at Motif thought we’d give a quick update on stories we’ve covered over the last few years and where they are today. Hope Point […]

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