News

Curtains at The Columbus Theater?

The Columbus Theatre is one of the quirky landmarks that makes Rhode Island special. It represents a cultural heyday of yore, with its exquisite interior and towering facade from an era when architecture in Providence was esteemed and ambitious. Named The Columbus because it originally had 1,492 seats, it hosted vaudeville and top-rate traveling shows. […]

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Severe Thunderstorm, Flash Flood Warnings: Reports of 1-inch diameter hail

At Providence, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for activity moving eastward about 30MPH across the region. The current warning expires at 12:30pm but is likely that further warnings will be issued as the storm moves. Reports have been received of 60 mph wind gusts and quarter-size hail, sufficient to expect vehicle damage from […]

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Everything Living Fights Back: A timeline of PC’s cancellation of local artists’ exhibition

March 20 – Providence College Provost Sean Reid and the Office of Mission and Ministry vetoes the group art exhibition Nothing Living Lives Alone, featuring the work of Shey ‘Ri Acu’ Rivera Ríos, Feda Eid, and Luana Morales, which was scheduled to run from March 27 to September 28. April 3 – Providence College faculty, […]

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Brett’s Bike Lane Blitz: Mayor Smiley’s siege at South Water St. threatens the future of bicycle travel

On the first Tuesday evening of this past April, a rain-soaked Kennedy Plaza saw a procession of constituents file into the ornate corridors of City Hall. The days-long deluge had only just broken as thick clusters of invested individuals climbed the marble stairs and crowded into the City Council chambers. There were no empty seats […]

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Carmageddon: Activating the bicycle network in response to the Washington Bridge debacle

Driving has recently taken a turn for the worse in RI. Last December, officials closed the westbound span of the Washington Bridge, narrowly averting an actual calamity, they say. In doing so, they also summoned the specter of Carmageddon across the East Bay and Southeastern Massachusetts. Traffic on I-195 now slows to a crawl in […]

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Subterranean Jungle: Between Euphoria and the Afterglow

Tall Teenagers – ChasmTall Teenagers mine the vortex of garage rock for fuzz-wrapped harmonies. I’ve always loved guitarists/vocalists Chelsea Paulhus and Damian Puerini vocals together but the call and response on “Never Leaving” works especially well on the new biscuit. Who doesn’t love a song called “Hot Trash Breath?” There isn’t a bad tune on […]

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Smoke in the Lobby: Organized policy influencing within the cannabis industry

The total sales by dispensaries in RI in 2023 was approximately $108 million, according to the Office of Cannabis Regulation. With that amount of revenue, and a slippery legal context in the years following cannabis legalization, I was interested to learn more about cannabis lobbying groups in Rhode Island. Lobbying is a professional or organized […]

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Heavy Rain, High Winds, Flooding Wed–Thu: Advisory for wind, watches for inland and coastal flooding posted

At Providence, a deceptively pleasant morning featuring sunny breaks through the overcast will quickly turn unpleasant with a late-season nor’easter, rain likely by 10am and becoming heavy by late afternoon, tapering off Thu morning and ending in the afternoon. Temperatures in the low 40s during the day and high 30s overnight will prevent any possibility […]

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