Wednesday morning, the Rhode Island National Guard Joint Task Force Guardian demonstrated one of the new “drive-thru” test sites opened to help meet Governor Gina Raimondo’s goal of testing 1,000 Rhode Islanders for the novel coronavirus each day. Three centers currently exist, one each at URI, CCRI and RIC. Each has the ability to process […]
Pandemonia. That is the best word to describe the current state of the cannabidiol (CBD) industry. Like a fresh batch of compost, it is slow to mature and stabilize, leaving producers and consumers at risk of obscurity and inconsistency. As the CEO of a Rhode Island seed-to-bottle CBD company, I have a front row seat […]
Thank God that’s over. I’m talking about the Democrats’ impeachment scheme to overturn the will of the people and circumvent the last election. The good news: It failed, and President Trump will certainly be re-elected. The Democrats’ latest virus hoax schtick isn’t going to work either. If you think I’m wrong, three intelligent women hugging […]
There is a famously sarcastic aphorism “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made,” but the Rhode Island General Assembly despite all of the unpleasant grinding often fails even to produce sausage. While the legislature has dithered for nearly a decade about legalizing recreational use of cannabis, […]
For homeless Rhode Islanders, the coronavirus has made a precarious life harder and more dangerous. “Our population is more vulnerable than the general public. The average mortality rate is 49.5 years… The solution is housing,” says Caitlin Frumerie, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. In addition to hardships such as extreme […]
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, those who make their lives through the gig economy have been dealt a tremendous blow from the general shutdown of society due to social distancing and other important mitigation strategies being put in place to thwart the spread of the disease. Some of those who have been hardest […]
After considerable discussion and research, Motif decided to publish our regularly scheduled print edition. We regard it as a valuable public service. We are safely distributing it with due regard for the coronavirus. Physical magazines cannot carry infection. Virus droplets break down harmlessly on paper or cardboard in a few hours even if coughed or […]
Heading For A Clampdown As much as I liked the idea of every Yankees, Giants or Jets fan being stopped on the highway without probable cause and the state police forbidding them from leaving their houses — that idea was bat shit crazy. And even though crossing our borders now gives automatic quarantine to people from […]
Vanessa Volz is the Executive Director of Sojourner House, which provides services and resources to victims of domestic violence and shelter for women and children, who are trying to escape abusive situations. Volz says that since the coronavirus outbreak, Sojourner House has had distress calls from current and new clients because, “People are literally trapped […]
Our local economy has collapsed in the wake of COVID-19, leaving thousands of people down and out in the Ocean State with an unemployment rate rapidly approaching Great Depression levels. Creatives have decided to organize. Artists, musicians and gig workers under previously existing rules were unable to collect unemployment or benefits for lost income. The […]