News

Uprise RI: Community leaders accuse PVD Public Schools of retaliation and discrimination

Pilar McCloud, David Morales, and Ty’Relle Stephens By Steve Ahlquist Community members gathered in front of the Providence Public School Department (PPSD) offices on Westminster Street in PVD on Tuesday morning to express their concern regarding issues in the Providence Public Schools, as well as the state intervention in the district. Pilar McCloud, CEO and […]

Read More

Budding Local Industry Kickoff: Squid’s Ink Special Edition

December 1 Wake and bake it wasn’t. On RI’s recreational marijuana opening day, scads of reporters swarmed the several buyers who turned up at 7am at the spanking new Mother Earth Wellness Dispensary. With microphones and cameras stuck in their faces, the buyers kept their mouths shut even as they opened their wallets and collected […]

Read More

RI Recreational Cannabis Sales Begin Dec 1: Five retail venues licensed to open

Recreational cannabis sales begin Thu, Dec 1, under a new state statute signed into law on May 25. “Five licensed medical marijuana compassion centers have been approved for hybrid retail licenses, which allow them to sell both medical and adult use marijuana products in retail settings,” the office of RI Gov. Daniel McKee said in […]

Read More

ComicCon recap: RI ComicCon 2022 provides a feast for the popculturally curious and true believers

  There’s no way to do a comprehensive overview of an event as big as RI ComicCon, so here’s a sampler of impressions from some of the Motif team. Overall, the Con was full and robust. Merchants we talked to reported mostly positive experiences and sales. Friday is the day to go if you’re crowd-averse, […]

Read More

RI Election 2022 — Magaziner, McKee, cannabis sales win big: Democrats sweep all state general offices

Republican candidates, expected to mount strong challenges in marquee races, went down to defeat against Democratic opponents in RI in the Nov 8 election, although by varying margins. For the seat being vacated by retiring James Langevin (D) in the US House of Representatives for the 2nd congressional district, Allan Fung (R), who served as […]

Read More

EcoRI News Roundup: November 2022

R.I. Supreme Court Ends Years-Long Battle Over Block Island Marina Expansion The RI Supreme Court has rejected a controversial agreement between the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and Champlin’s Marina & Resort that would have allowed the Block Island marina to expand, ending a nearly 20-year-old legal battle. In its 54-page decision, the court affirmed […]

Read More

Uprise RI: Neighborhood Land Bank: Creating interest in underused property

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza announced the creation of the Providence Neighborhood Land Bank, a new program through the Providence Redevelopment Agency, funded by the Providence Housing Trust Fund, that will acquire, hold, and transfer underused vacant land throughout the City with the goal of generating new affordable housing and revitalizing Providence neighborhoods. The City is […]

Read More

It’s About More Than Land: Raymond Two-Hawks Watson and Dr. Taino Palermo establish Center for Indigenous People’s Rights

In 2006, Raymond Two-Hawks Watson’s grandma passed away. She had raised him in PVD and been his principal connection to his Narragansett Indian heritage. Before that, Watson says, he was just tenuously connected to his Indigenous culture, attending an occasional powwow on special days; after her passing, he decided to take his grandma’s example more […]

Read More

Moving Morely? Not so Surely: Pawtucket’s plan to relocate Morely Field hits legal snags

PAWTUCKET, RI: The City of Pawtucket’s latest effort to reallocate greenspace in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Pawtucket to the Oak Hill neighborhood has found some obstacles.  Over the past several months, the Pawtucket City Council and mayoral administration has worked to allow for the expanded footprint of the Blackstone Distribution Center, a trucking center planned […]

Read More