Brown University plans to reopen its Providence campus this fall, with an extra semester of coursework and routine COVID testing. The university will add a third semester, in the summer, to reduce the number of students on campus over the year. Upperclassmen will begin in the fall, and freshmen will begin in the spring. All […]
John Bender
Reporter
John Bender was the general assignment reporter for The Public's Radio for several years. He is now a fill-in host when our regular hosts are out.
Posted inArticle, Education
RIDE to roll out assessment to measure quality of distance learning
Schools shut down for good in mid-March to help stem the surging COVID-19 pandemic. Districts across the state had just days to create plans to teach the state’s 140,000-plus students from home. But for some students, including multi-lingual, special education, and differently-abled, remote instruction fell short. Ultimately, districts will be responsible for handling any learning […]
Posted inArticle, Education
In spite of COVID pandemic, state pressing on with Providence schools improvement efforts
The state education department and school district have released a so-called turnaround plan outlining five-year goals for the system. The document is the result of hours of community forums and discussions, which began in before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools in mid-March. The plan comes about a year after an independent report from Johns […]
Posted inArticle, Education
Three months ago they were high school seniors. Now, they’re young adults in a changed world
SPECIAL SERIES The young people leaving high school this year enter a world reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, a surging economic crisis, and the protests roiling the nation. Several recent high school graduates in Rhode Island shared their thoughts on their lives and the future with The Public’s Radio. Click here to explore the project.
Posted inArticle
Back in the barber’s chair: A trim and some human connection
Barbershops and hair salons were among the non-essential businesses that shut down at the start of Rhode Island’s COVID response. For the last three months, a lot of us have been without professional grooming, and are shaggier for it. But this month, the shops were allowed to reopen again, with new COVID regulations. And despite […]
Posted inArticle, Politics
Providence Finance Committee hears demands to cut police funding, as hundreds rally downtown
Hundreds of people demonstrated in downtown Providence Wednesday, as the Finance Committee heard from community activists, pushing the city to defund its police department.
Posted inArticle
‘We’re on the precipice,’ an artist and activist reflects on the moment
Protests over the death of George Floyd continued across the country, and included days of demonstrations in Rhode Island, from Providence to Newport. In the crowd of more than seven thousand that gathered in the capital city Friday, reporter John Bender spoke with Rose Weaver, who joined the protest from the steps of city hall.
Posted inArticle
Protesters gather in Providence demanding racial justice, end to police violence
Thousands of protesters are gathered Friday evening at Kennedy Plaza, demanding racial justice. Protesters, holding signs that read Black Lives Matter, began marching toward the plaza around 4:30 p.m., from Central High School. The demonstration continued on to the Rhode Island State House. The event is the third protest in Providence since the death of […]
Posted inArticle
‘No credible threat’ of violence, Providence police say, of scheduled Friday protest
The capital city is bracing for another protest in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, the black Minnesota man who died in Police custody, after an officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. On Monday night a gathering linked to those protests devolved into chaos and looting. More businesses in […]
Posted inArticle
Looting delays reopening for some small businesses
Looting and vandalism through downtown Providence left store owners with little inventory and new concerns about getting back to business.