On Thursday night the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education approved a plan from the state commissioner of education to keep the Providence Public School District under state control for up to three additional years. Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said during the council meeting that the schools should be “proud,” of the progress they’ve […]
Metro Desk
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk, Politics
Cranston Republican mayoral candidates trade accusations of corruption during debate
The two candidates vying for the Republican nomination in the Sept. 10 mayoral primary traded allegations of corruption and debated the finer points of education, homelessness, and the fate of Cranston’s storied recreational pool. Nearly a hundred people turned up for the event in the contentious primary race. Budlong Pool Hopkins defended his decision to […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk, Politics
With no bids to rebuild, RI officials decline to define timeline for opening westbound Washington Bridge
State officials declined on Tuesday to project when a new westbound Washington Bridge would open. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s administration plans to issue a request for information to determine why a proposal to rebuild the span attracted no bids by a recent deadline. The governor declined at a press conference to say what the […]
Posted inEducation, Local, Metro Desk
Brown reaches agreement to resolve complaint alleging antisemitism
Brown University reached an agreement with federal education officials to resolve a complaint over alleged antisemitism on campus, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said on Monday. The DOE received a complaint in December 2023 alleging violations of the federal law that bars discrimination based on race, color, or national origin — […]
Posted inEconomy, Local, Metro Desk
No contractors have submitted bids to rebuild the Washington Bridge
After coming up empty-handed, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation chalks up the lack of bids to the ambitious August 2026 timeline for the project to rebuild the bridge. The initial request for proposals was publicized in April and focused on incentivizing bidders with cash for completing a bridge rebuild by August of 2026. It […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
Hisham Awartani joins Brown University students presenting divestment proposal to board members
On Thursday morning, a group of four undergraduate students and one graduate student wearing business casual attire made their way up the hill to the John D. Rockefeller library at Brown University. They had just presented a proposal on divestment to some of the school’s board members. A group of their peers, members of the […]
Posted inLabor, Local, Metro Desk
Outraged by Brown’s threats of faculty discipline, some professors call for institutional reform
It’s been more than two weeks since student protesters at Brown University struck a deal with school administrators, packed up their tents, and peacefully ended a pro-Palestinian encampment that had lasted nearly a week. But some faculty members at Brown say they are unwilling to move on and forget about a series of ominous letters […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
Judge issues not guilty filing for 41 Brown University student protesters
A Providence judge has issued a not guilty filing for 41 Brown University pro-Palestinian protestors who were arrested for trespassing last semester. Judge Nicholas Parrillo said he was going against the objections of the city of Providence and Brown University in issuing the not guilty filing to the protestors because none of them had a […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
RISD sit-in ends
Yesterday, after RISD President Crystal Williams told students their barricades were a fire hazard and sent in facilities managers and Department of Public Safety security officers to break them down, the students say they made the voluntary decision to leave the building and were escorted out by their supporters. Luca Antonio Colannino, a spokesperson for […]
Posted inLocal, Metro Desk
23 RISD students are occupying the Prov-Wash building
A group of 23 pro-Palestinian Rhode Island School of Design students and one University of Rhode Island student have sequestered themselves in RISD’s Prov-Wash building, where they spent Monday night. The students are calling on their school to be transparent about its investments, and to divest from any companies with ties to Israel. RISD president […]