Rhode Island
Rhode Island T.F. Green warns employees not to destroy records as labor dispute continues • Rhode Island Current
Roughly a dozen employees at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport have been warned not to destroy records over what the airport’s legal team has described as “tortious interference” with business operations.
Tortious interference is the legal term for intentionally damaging someone else’s contractual or business relationships with others, causing economic harm.
Letters sent out Wednesday by Providence attorney Michael DeSisto claimed some workers sent anonymous derogatory correspondence about the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) to regulatory agencies, airlines, and cargo partners with the intent to interfere with airport operations.
“These actions caused RIAC reputational harm and triggered Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) involvement which required RIAC to activate its federally regulated continuity of operations plan,” DeSisto wrote.
DeSisto demanded workers not to remove paper records unless necessary to preserve them. His letter notes that electronic correspondence such as emails, voicemail, WhatsApp messages, and even floppy disks should also be retained.
Recipients were both current and former employees as well as union members and nonunion members, according to a statement issued by RIAC Thursday.
In early October, RIAC announced it had retained DeSisto’s firm after learning airlines received anonymous letters claiming the airport had a toxic work environment — including one sent to airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration claiming the airport would be closed Aug. 13 due to an employee walkout. No walkout ever happened.
The anonymous letters threatening the walkout came as airport and union leadership negotiated a new three-year contract contract after the most recent one expired in June. A tentative agreement reached between airport executives and union leaders in September was rejected by rank-and-file members. Management and union negotiators are scheduled to meet sometime next week, RIAC spokesperson Bill Fischer said Friday.
RIAC Chief of Staff Brittany Morgan previously told Rhode Island Current that the threat of a walkout cost the airport “hundreds of thousands” of dollars to comply with federal mandates to line up outside contractors to cover union positions if necessary.
“It is unfortunate that it has come to this, but this investigation is required to ensure that individuals – regardless of their motivations — will not impact our ability to fulfill our mission, provide Rhode Islanders with an abundance of direct routes, fulfill obligations to our airline partners and serve as a true economic engine for the State of Rhode Island,” Morgan said in a statement issued Thursday.
The investigation by RIAC into the letters is one of many bumps added to the turbulent relationship between employees and management.
Airport officials on Oct. 29 fired Steven Parent, a lieutenant in T.F. Green’s fire department since 2013. Parent in 2019 became president of Local 2873 of RI Council 94 for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) — which represents roughly 120 employees.
RIAC claimed he “knowingly and willfully engaged in efforts to sabotage airport operations” by discouraging people from applying for jobs at the airport and taking in overtime pay covering for the vacant positions — allegations that were also highlighted in DeSisto’s letter.
Jim Cenerini, legislative affairs/political action coordinator at Rhode Island Council 94 AFSCME said the union is pursuing all contractual and legal avenues to defend its members in response to the notices sent by DeSisto.
“The union will not be coerced, intimidated, or bullied by dictatorial tactics,” Cenerini said in an emailed statement Friday.
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Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of Jan. 11, supported by your subscriptions.
Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:
Cranston’s Garden City Center has announced two new restaurants that will be opening their doors this year and in 2027, and confirmed the sites for two other previously announced restaurants.
Each of the four restaurants will open its first Rhode Island locations at Garden City Center.
Journal food editor Gail Ciampa fills you in on the new lineup, where you’ll be able to get everything from noodles to bagels to authentic Mexican specialties and New Haven-style thin-crust pizzas.
Dining: Newport Creamery is gone. These restaurants are coming to Garden City.
University of Rhode Island men’s basketball coach Ryan “Archie” Miller was once again the highest-earning state employee of the year in 2025, marking his third year at the top and among familiar faces.
A list of the state’s top 200 earners provided by the Department of Administration tallied up employees’ wages in 2025, until Nov. 15. It had little variation from previous years and saw the same five highest earners as 2024.
Each employee earned more than $200,000, and as usual it was overwhelmingly full of URI administrators and coaches, along with state police, correctional officers and health care staff at state hospitals.
Political Scene: Which RI state employees made the most money in 2025?
I asked Anna Gruttadauria if the terrible news of the Swiss nightclub fire had brought back memories of her daughter Pam.
Yes, said Anna – but really, she has thought of Pam every day since losing her almost 23 years ago in The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick. One hundred people died in that tragedy, and Pam Gruttadauria was the last. She persevered for three months at Massachusetts General Hospital before succumbing to her injuries at age 33.
The fire that killed 40 people at a club called Le Constellation at the Crans-Montana ski resort in Switzerland was remarkably similar to the Station fire. Both were caused by indoor pyrotechnics that ignited flammable materials inside.
Anna Gruttadauria and her husband, Joe, can’t help but ask themselves: How is it possible that the lessons of the Station fire were not learned?
Mark Patinkin: Swiss nightclub fire brings back memories for family of Station victim
Imagine a crowd of A-list celebrities descending on the village of Watch Hill in Westerly this summer to attend the wedding of mega celebrity Taylor Swift and football star Travis Kelce.
To Chuck O’Koomian, who owns Airline Express Limousine and Car Service with his wife, Ginny Cauley, it’s like a scene out of a horror movie.
“It’s going to be a logistical nightmare,” O’Koomian told The Providence Journal, as part of our survey of wedding vendors about what it would take for the Ocean State to host a wedding befitting the world’s most popular woman.
No date or location has been announced for the nuptials, but here’s what would be involved in getting a large celebrity crowd to a wedding held at Swift’s Watch Hill mansion, the nearby Ocean House or the Watch Hill Chapel, where former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and football star Christian McCaffrey tied the knot in 2024.
Local news: Why a Taylor Swift wedding might shut down Westerly streets
Amy Henion doesn’t live in a tiny house, per se, but her apartment is about as close as you can get to that in Providence.
She lives in the Arcade, the first indoor mall in America, which has been partially repurposed for residential living (there are 24 apartments each on the second and third floors of the old mall).
Henion, who used to work for a tiny house blog and has written a book and even given a TED Talk about small living, moved in four years ago.
She now runs a public Instagram page − “I Live in the Mall” − dedicated to life in the mall and her micro-apartment.
What are the pros and cons of living in an apartment the size of three parking spaces? Read the full story to find out.
5 questions: Providence mall resident’s ‘dream’ apartment is just 250 square feet
To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.
Rhode Island
‘Two guys from Rhode Island’ on how to correctly pronounce the 39 cities and towns in the Ocean State – The Boston Globe
NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Sure, “three guys from Boston” — Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Jimmy Fallon — received a lot of attention when they read off every city and town in Massachusetts on “The Tonight Show.”
But they aren’t the only ones with wicked regional accents. And it takes a lot less time to listen to “two guys from Rhode Island” — Rhode Island Report podcast host Edward Fitzpatrick and North Providence Mayor Charles A. “Charlie” Lombardi — tick off the 39 cities and towns in the smallest state.
Hopefully, this educational video will head off any further mispronunciations of the word Pawtucket.
The story behind RI State Trooper’s distinctive boots
Retired RI state troopers Lt. Kenneth Bowman and Lt. James Beck chat about the history of the RI state police boots at the RI State Police Museum.
The Rhode Island State Police are in the middle of a months-long push to launch a network of 39 license-plate reading camera devices like the ones that helped investigators identify a mass shooter in December.
The project is working to finalize locations for the devices in 22 Rhode Island cities and towns, according to the trooper leading the project, state police Detective Capt. Marc A. Alboum.
While locations for the devices are not finalized, the project anticipates placement of plate-reading cameras on highways and key arteries across the state.
Alboum said most of the local officials have given an initial approval and he awaits feedback from Portsmouth and Bristol.
The second part of the process involves gathering input from police in those cities and towns, which could lead to adjustments to the proposed locations.
Reading license plates in fast-moving traffic
In part, the plans call for the plate-reading devices in certain cities and towns where traffic moves between Rhode Island and other states.
On that front, Alboum said, the current proposal envisions:
- Two devices aimed at traffic in both directions on Interstate 195 in East Providence, which borders Seekonk
- Two devices aimed at Interstate 295 traffic in Cumberland, which borders North Attleboro
- Two devices aimed at Interstate 95 traffic in Pawtucket, which borders Attleboro
- A device aimed at Interstate 95 further to the south in Richmond
The plans also anticipate two camera devices in Cranston, one in East Greenwich, one in Richmond, two in Johnston, where traffic moves between Interstate 295 and Route 5.
State police are pursuing four devices in Providence, including on Route 10, Route 146 and Interstate 95, and at least one device in a more rural location on Route 165 in Exeter.
State police outreach to cities and towns
Alboum said his outreach to town and city officials for approval is in response to guidance from the company that was chosen to supply the license plate-reading system.
That company, Flock Safety, already provides license plate-reading capabilities to many Rhode Island cities and towns.
Alboum said he has initial approvals from 20 cities and towns and as of Jan. 9.
Have any towns denied the request to install Flock cameras?
The Warren Town Council rejected the proposal. Opponents of the systems, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, have argued that the technology supports excessive surveillance by police and infringes on privacy.
Noting that private surveillance cameras are everywhere already, proponents of license plate reading devices say the systems provide a valuable public safety service that checks on the plates of passing motor vehicles and notifies police when one of those vehicles has been flagged.
For example, a car might be associated with a person wanted on a warrant or someone who is a missing person. Or the vehicle itself might be stolen. In those situations, the resulting Flock “hit” can alert police stop the car and investigate if they move quickly enough.
The plate data that does not trigger a flag resides in the system for 30 days, and access to that data is sufficiently controlled and regulated, supporters say. Only investigators with special clearances can run searches.
How data from plate reading system helped police find mass shooter
After the mass shooting at Brown University in December, when investigators became interested in a Nissan with a Florida plate, they ran searches within Providence’s license plate reading system.
Eventually, they identified a blue Nissan with a Florida plate that a Flock device detected near Whole Foods in Providence.
Information on the car’s plate then helped investigators determine that someone who fit the profile of the suspected mass shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, had rented the vehicle, authorities say.
The vehicle itself had not triggered a Flock hit when it passed through. Investigators had to search for it within the Flock system after they became interested in that type of car.
Plate data that flows into the cameras proposed by state police will be “permanently deleted” after 30 days, according to police.
Are Flock cameras used to give speeding tickets?
The devices do not measure speed, Alboum said.
The plate information and other data, which can include a particular sticker or a roof rack, is protected through encryption before it is transmitted to servers, he said, adding that the devices do not have any public internet protocol (IP) address that would facilitate remote access.
The devices are “aligned with the security protocols established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity as well as the Cloud Security Alliance’s (CAIQ) framework,” he said.
Alboum said that the project is grant-funded and the state has negotiated a three-year contract with Flock for $597,000.
He estimated that state police are at least three months away from operating the system, emphasizing that the process has gone more slowly than he expected.
The Cranston police, under the leadership of Col. Michael J. Winquist, were the first Rhode Island police agency to test the devices through a pilot program. Cranston, Pawtucket and Woonsocket launched license-plate reading networks in 2021.
The systems have factored in the prompt capture of suspects accused of involvement in violent crimes.
“We’ve had nothing but great success in not only preventing crime but solving crimes after they occur in our city,” said Winquist who was expected to make an appearance before the Bristol Town Council.
Alboum cites a recent situation where state police tracked down a vehicle associated with an armed robbery.
“It’s a priceless tool,” he says. “It really is.”
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