Breaking News
Rapidly breaking news, usually short takes.
Rapidly breaking news, usually short takes.
A new “variant of concern” (VOC) for the virus that causes COVID-19 has today been assigned Greek letter “Omicron” by the World Health Organization (WHO) at an emergency meeting of the organization’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). In the particular case of the new Omicron variant, designated B.1.1.529 in the PANGOLIN nomenclature, […]
Maureen O’Gorman was so eager to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination for her 10 year-old daughter Charlotte that she began refreshing her web browser repeatedly 15 minutes before appointments opened yesterday at 2:00pm. They were able to obtain a 7:30am slot this morning at the state-run Sockanosset facility when it opened, making Charlotte one of the […]
Children in RI could start receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on November 8, 2021, “give or take a few days,” Department of Health (DoH) staff member Tricia Washburn told a meeting of the DoH Vaccine Sub-Committee on October 27. The prior day, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) […]
The Rhode Island arm of the national right-wing foundations — Koch, Bradley, Scaife, and others — have targeted Jennifer Lima, a school committee member in North Kingstown, with totally ridiculous accusations about critical race theory, marxism, and brainwashing impressionable minds. The Gaspee Project, a secretive conservative Rhode Island political group, is funding the gathering of […]
September 17, 2021 — In an all-day meeting that became somewhat disorganized at the end, the Vaccines and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended, by unanimous 18-0 vote, authorization for third booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, officially now called Comirnaty, but restricted to those […]
Last week hell froze over as RI Congressional Rep Jim Langevin came forward in an editorial supporting a woman’s right to choose (Providence Journal, September 9, 2021). In case you missed it, the Texas legislature has enacted legislation essentially putting bounties on women who opt to terminate a pregnancy after the first six weeks. As […]
My first few years at the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals were spent standing behind a cart, selling ice cold drinks to festival attendees. I’d chase the shade with my umbrella, while listening to legends and newcomers play, and daydream about what it must look like from up there on the historic stage. As I’d […]
In an unsigned “per curiam” opinion — supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/21a23_ap6c.pdf — the US Supreme Court tonight ruled that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lacks legal authority for an extension of a nationwide eviction moratorium past July, immediately placing an estimated 3.5 million Americans at risk of homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three justices, […]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved full licensure for the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that was given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on December 11, 2020, for recipients age 16 and older. It will now be known under the trade name “Comirnaty” (pronounced koe-mir’-na-tee). The identical vaccine will continue to be available under […]
Providence Police at 5pm today released 41 separate body cam video recordings from a July 9 incident where three juveniles were arrested following a vehicular pursuit. Some of the video appears to show police officers punching and spitting on the juveniles, as well as threatening to arrest bystanders for talking disrespectfully. The video was posted […]