President Donald Trump signed the combined $900 billion pandemic relief bill and $1.4 trillion omnibus funding bill around 8pm on Sunday, December 27, after almost a week of issuing implied threats that he might not do so. The delay already allowed critical unemployment insurance (UI) provisions to lapse the prior day, although the bill provides […]
In the last few days, there has been a near-panic reaction to the discovery of a mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The mutated lineage – in virology, a “lineage” suggests a variant somewhat closer to its immediate ancestors than a “strain” – is now named “Variant of Concern 202012/01,” having been referenced […]
A second inmate has died from COVID-19 at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI), according to a statement from the RI Department of Corrections (DoC) on the afternoon of Friday, December 25. Motif previously reported the first inmate death on Saturday, December 19, and the first staff death on Monday, December 14. “The inmate requested ‘Comfort […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
Governor Gina Raimondo, Dr. Jim McDonald and Dr. Philip Chan gave the weekly COVID-19 press conference today from the Vets. Today’s data is as follows: 395 new cases of COVID-19, with a positive test rate of 4.4%, a low number the governor was particularly proud of even with the lower testing numbers due to the […]