Rhode Island
Monday is Victory Day in Rhode Island — a holiday worth reconsidering – The Boston Globe
Rhode Island is the only state in the nation that observes a holiday to commemorate the victory over Japan in World War II. Now there’s a fierce debate about the holiday.
Victory Day, the second Monday in August, honors the estimated 92,000 Rhode Islanders who served in the war and the more than 2,200 of them who were killed. Rhode Island first adopted the holiday in 1948. Arkansas adopted Victory Day as a state holiday in 1949 but abandoned it 1975, choosing to give state workers a day off for their birthdays instead.
A Democratic state lawmaker in Rhode Island, Jennifer Stewart, introduced legislation this year to change Victory Day to Peace and Remembrance Day. She has been accused of dishonoring World War II veterans. “I think this is an atrocity that you’re taking away the honor and bravery that those men and women deserve,” state Representative Patricia Morgan said at a State House hearing. “What they did was honorable and not something that should be criticized.”
Stewart counters that she wants to honor the sacrifices of the past while establishing a more peaceful future. The holiday’s association with victory over Japan “belies the harsh truth that military victories are often built on civilian injury and death,” Stewart says.
As a Rhode Island native, I’ve lived on both sides of the debate.
I came of age marching in V-J Day parades in downtown Providence with my dad, a World War II Army veteran who advanced to the rank of major after serving four years in the China-India-Burma theater. Every August he’d wear his military uniform, I my Boy Scout khakis. The atomic bombs that the United States used to decimate Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant my father’s life had been spared from being summoned into further combat. It meant we had won against Japanese aggressors who had masterminded the murderous attack on Pearl Harbor. When I marched alongside my dad on Victory Day, I was convinced the Japanese got what they deserved.
But as an adult and a newspaper editor, my opinion changed: I met Sakue Shimohira, who was an 8-year-old girl when the second atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki and still suffered from radiation sickness as an adult.
“I remember how the houses were all blown to bits,” she said at a lecture in Providence. “In the river, the water was gone and there were many dead bodies. I found my eldest sister dead under the rubble. My mother was missing. I found her later that day. I recognized her body by her gold tooth. I touched her body and it disintegrated into ashes.”
After I reported on her speech, she asked me to mail her a copy. A month later she wrote to me, urging me to apply for a journalism fellowship, a 10-week residence in Japan to interview survivors like her, known in Japan as “hibakusha.” The fellowship was sponsored by the Hiroshima region’s daily newspaper, Chugoku Shimbun, and named the Akiba Project after Tad Akiba, a Tufts University professor who was later elected mayor of Hiroshima.
I was selected for the fellowship. One of the members of the selection panel was the author John Hersey, whose first-person account of traveling to Hiroshima appeared in The New Yorker in 1946. He told me his life had been forever changed when he interviewed the survivors. He said that I should expect the same.
Hersey was right. I am still haunted, especially when Victory Day rolls around each year, by the testimonies I heard during my 10-week residency in Japan. Even if I believed Japan’s leaders had brought on the carnage and hellfires that consumed Japanese civilians, how could I ever come to terms with the radiation sickness that plagued people like Sakue Shimohira throughout their lives?
Yet it is not only what the survivors told me they witnessed that continues to disturb me. It’s the fact that nuclear weapons still exist — and more are being developed by rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea. As Tad Akiba has argued, the only way to prevent a nuclear attack “is the total abolition of nuclear weapons.”
This level of awareness is what Stewart hopes to promote by renaming Victory Day. Her bill failed to pass in the 2024 legislative session, but she says she will keep pushing the bill if she wins reelection this fall.
“I intend to play the long game. Rhode Island is a forward-thinking state. We changed the name of our state four years ago,” she told me, referring to the 2020 referendum in which Rhode Islanders voted to remove “and Providence Plantations” from the state’s name.
“We can do that again with V-J Day. What happens here can influence our nation. Judging on the positive responses I’ve received, I believe we will succeed.”
Robert Israel is a Boston-based writer and a contributor to Harvard University’s Divinity School Bulletin. He can be reached at risrael_97@yahoo.com.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Thousands gathered in downtown Providence on Saturday for Rhode Island PrideFest, marking a major milestone celebration for the LGBTQ+ community.
The area between Dyer Street and the Providence River filled with music, vendors and community groups as the 50th annual PrideFest became a day-long celebration of identity and inclusion.
NBC 10’s Martha Konstandinidis reports on Providence’s 50th Annual PrideFest. (WJAR)
Attendees described a lively atmosphere and strong turnout.
“It’s a great turnout and it looks beautiful outside,” said Analisy Huertas of Providence.
Vendors said steady crowds and high energy made for a busy but enjoyable day. Many attendees said the event’s welcoming environment keeps them coming back each year.
“I love seeing everyone expressing themselves and being really happy,” added Adeline Lamoureux-Hathaway.
Eventgoers walking in Providence Saturday, June 20, 2026. (WJAR)
For William and Carrie Hatcher, it was their first time attending PrideFest, saying the experience stood out for its sense of community and acceptance. “There’s so much to see, so much to look at, and we’re meeting so many different people,” Carrie Hatcher said.
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PrideFest continued into the evening, with many planning to stay for the illuminated night parade.
Rhode Island
R.I. Democratic Committee issues no endorsement for governor or lieutenant governor – The Boston Globe
PROVIDENCE – In an unusual move, the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee issued no endorsement for the incumbent governor and lieutenant governor on Saturday.
Incumbent Governor Daniel J. McKee received 82 votes, while his challenger, former CVS executive Helena Buonanno Foulkes, received 73 votes. There were 11 votes for no endorsement, including from the party chair, Liz Beretta-Perik.
To secure an endorsement, a candidate needs 50 percent of the votes cast plus one vote. McKee needed 84 votes to secure the endorsement, so he came up two votes short.
Party officials said they could not recall the last time the committee did not endorse an incumbent Democratic governor. Beretta-Perik later said she voted for no endorsement because she needed to stay neutral.
McKee left the Teamsters Local 251 union hall in East Providence soon after the vote, without talking to reporters. In a statement sent soon after, however, he declared the outcome “a victory for our campaign” and noted he received “the largest margin in today’s endorsement vote.”
“We will win again in September,” he said in the statement. “Rhode Islanders have a clear choice: a governor who has spent every day fighting for working families, or a corporate executive who has spent her career fighting for corporate profits in the boardroom. I know which side I’m on — and today, Rhode Island Democrats made clear they do too.”
Part of the reason McKee came up two votes short of an endorsement is that his former special adviser, Eva-Marie Mancuso, voted for Foulkes.
As she walked into the Teamsters hall, Mancuso said, “I think we need new leadership. I’m ready.”
Mancuso — a former Rhode Island Board of Education chairwoman who left the McKee administration in 2023 to take a job with Bryant University — said a big part of her decision had to do with the decision by McKee, a long-time charter school advocate, to sign a bill that places a three-year moratorium on new charter schools and permanently lowers the cap on the total number.
“That was a big, big deal,” she said. “I mean, that just shows that he’s really lost focus of what the state needs.”
When McKee beat Foulkes in the 2022 Democratic primary, McKee was filmed telling Mancuso to hang up on Foulkes as he was prepared to deliver his victory speech. On Saturday, Mancuso said, “I took her call.”
The Democratic committee also did not endorse a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Out of 162 votes, incumbent Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos received just 55 votes, while former Newport mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong received 71. Providence City Council member Sue AnderBois received 15 votes, and former state senator Cynthia Coyne got 13. Eight people voted for no endorsement.
The committee did not endorse anyone in the race to replace term-limited Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.
State Representative Joseph J. Solomon Jr. received 73 votes, former state Cannabis Control Commission chairwoman Kim Ahern received 42 votes, former attorney general policy chief Keith Hoffman received 22 votes, and state Representative Jason Knight received 12 votes, while 10 voted for no endorsement.
A total of 159 committee members voted, so 80 votes were needed to secure the endorsement.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.
(WJAR) — Rhode Island will begin phasing out the sale of certain rat poisons after Gov. Dan McKee signed new legislation into law Thursday, making the Ocean State the second in the nation to adopt restrictions on the products.
The law targets first- and second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, commonly used to control rats and mice.
Supporters say the poisons are harming wildlife, while critics argue they are among the most effective tools available to manage rodent populations.
Under the law, the sale of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides will be prohibited beginning March 1, 2027.
Restrictions on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides will take effect Jan. 1, 2028. A statewide prohibition on both types is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2029.
Licensed commercial applicators and certain public health, agricultural and municipal uses are exempt from the restrictions.
Supporters said birds of prey such as hawks, owls and eagles are particularly vulnerable because they consume poisoned rodents. (WJAR file photo)
The legislation was backed by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, which says the poisons can move through the food chain and kill predators that feed on rodents.
“Across the country, and again, with Rhode Island making this move, the second only to California, we’ve seen just too many cases of off-species targets either being sickened or worse with these rodenticides,” said Maxwell McFarland, director of advocacy for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.
McFarland said birds of prey such as hawks, owls and eagles are particularly vulnerable because they consume poisoned rodents.
“What we’re seeing is these are accumulating in the natural predators meant to manage these rodent populations,” McFarland said. “So primarily our hawks, owls and eagles.”
According to McFarland, wildlife rehabilitators in Rhode Island have documented widespread exposure to the poisons among injured birds brought into their care.
“They’ve had hundreds of raptors admitted into their care over the past couple of years, and every single one has shown signs of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning,” he said.
Supporters of the law say reducing the use of rodenticides will encourage communities to adopt alternative pest-control methods, including improved sanitation, securing trash and sealing buildings to prevent rodent access.
The law also creates a voluntary municipal Integrated Pest Management pilot program aimed at helping communities transition away from anticoagulant rodenticides.
Not everyone supports the change.
Tony DeJesus, former vice president of Big Blue Bug Solutions, said the restrictions will make it more difficult for homeowners and businesses to control rats and mice. (WJAR)
Tony DeJesus, former vice president of Big Blue Bug Solutions, said the restrictions will make it more difficult for homeowners and businesses to control rats and mice.
“It’s gonna have a major impact on our business. And not only that, but on the homeowners,” DeJesus said.
DeJesus said over-the-counter rodent control products commonly used by homeowners will no longer be available once the law takes effect.
“Homeowners will not be able to go out anymore and buy things like Decon and some of the other over-the-counter baits once this goes into effect,” he said.
He also expressed concern about the impact on restaurants and public health.
“The main thing is that when we start talking about how this is gonna affect it, rats carry disease,” DeJesus said. “Food poisoning is associated with both rats and mice in restaurants and things.”
DeJesus pointed to California, which enacted similar restrictions, as a cautionary example.
“The proof in the pudding is the state of California that did the same thing three years ago,” he said. “And now Los Angeles has been voted the rattiest city in the United States.”
McFarland said the legislation provides communities and pest-control companies with time to adapt before the restrictions fully take effect.
“We believe that it’s a fair timeline where communities, municipalities and pest management companies can learn, unlearn rather, the status quo of how they’re applying these rodenticides,” he said.
The Audubon Society said Rhode Island’s law follows similar action taken in California and comes as other New England states consider comparable legislation.
State officials say the first restrictions under the new law will take effect in March 2027.
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