Rhode Island
Bottle bill would hurt RI small business; missing points in AG gun report | Letters
Bottle bill a burden on small business
I read that state legislators are considering implementing a bottle deposit system in Rhode Island (“Could this be the year of a bottle bill in RI?” News, March 7) and I have real concerns about what the increased costs of this idea would do to working families and small businesses like mine.
I care about reducing litter and protecting our environment. But a bottle bill would force small businesses like mine to spend more up front and take on the administrative burdens of running this program. Small businesses are having a tough time dealing with high prices. We cannot afford to take on more costs.
I hope that lawmakers stand with small businesses, our employees and customers who need relief from higher prices and costs and will reconsider moving forward with a bottle bill. It would be better if lawmakers focus on ways to protect our environment that do not add financial burdens on business owners.
One of these ways that’s been proposed by state leaders is an Extended Producer Responsibility program that boosts recycling for all recyclables, not just bottles and cans. This modern system has been used successfully elsewhere to increase recycling rates. And the cost is covered by the producers of packaging materials, not by consumers or small businesses. I hope that leaders will consider this more cost-effective and less burdensome approach instead of adding more costs to Rhode Island’s working families and small businesses.
Reyes Galindo, Providence
Missing points in AG’s gun-crime report
A couple of things were glaringly missing from the article about the attorney general’s report on gun crime in Rhode Island (“AG releases report on gun crime in RI,” News, April 5).
First, not a single word about any arrests involving so-called ”assault weapons.” Arrests for possession of large-capacity magazines were mentioned, but nothing about arrests for possession or use of “assault weapons.” Yet, our legislators want to ban possession of these rifles by law-abiding citizens? Apparently, they want to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
Second, the AG says the report is meant to show how successful his office has been in enforcing current gun laws. If he has been so successful, why does he need additional gun laws?
Most bothersome is the AG’s statement that “hundreds if not thousands” of older gun cases are still pending, one dating back to 1978. Doesn’t this statement prove that he’s not enforcing current gun laws? Yet, he wants to add more gun laws to the books.
Unbelievable!
Lonnie Barham, Warwick
Cannabis harmful to pregnant women
In response to the column by John J. Tassoni Jr. (“State’s cannabis profits should fund drug treatment, prevention,” Commentary, April 8), I say ditto. The chemicals in marijuana, particularly THC, can pass from the mother to the baby through the placenta during pregnancy and through breast milk after birth.
Repeated research has shown that cannibis use while pregnant or breastfeeding will lead to several complications that include lower birth weight, premature birth, and brain developmental problems for the baby.
It is crucial for all people to understand these risks and make informed decisions. It is critically important that pregnant or breastfeeding women avoid using cannabis in any form ‒ whether by smoking, vaping, edibles, or oils.
Might I suggest requiring an escrow of cannabis profits to fund the extra resources and special education services required by these newborns.
Dr. John Concannon, Cranston
RI enriched by Endowment for the Humanities
Rhode Islanders should be deeply concerned about the latest efforts by DOGE to dismantle the very institutions that enrich our communities and preserve our shared history. By targeting the National Endowment for the Humanities, DOGE is threatening to substantially reduce staff, cut grant programs, and even rescind funding that has already been awarded.
The consequences of these cuts would be devastating. NEH funding supports vital programs in education, public history, libraries, and cultural institutions across Rhode Island. It helps teachers bring history to life in classrooms, sustains museums that showcase our local heritage, and funds research that deepens our understanding of the world. Without NEH support, many of these programs will disappear, leaving a void that will be difficult ‒ if not impossible ‒ to fill.
Rhode Islanders have long understood the value of the humanities in shaping our communities, fostering civic engagement, and driving economic development through arts and cultural tourism. The attack on the NEH is an attack on the very fabric of our state’s cultural and educational institutions.
We must not allow this to happen. Congress must take action to prevent these reckless cuts and protect the NEH’s critical role in supporting education and the humanities. The people of Rhode Island ‒ and the nation ‒ deserve better.
William Stark, Newport
Let Trump balance the budget
Looking at the front page of The Journal I see the headline “Trump’s cuts have cost RI $91.6M” (News, April 2).
Well, maybe our political leaders, who are constantly voting themselves more raises, should have waited instead of tripping over themselves grabbing for more pay and more benefits! How about cutting back on the number of politicians in this state.
Yes, President Trump has a responsibility to balance the budget, not give away the house like Joe Biden. Yes, we must pull up our bootstraps and be efficient as well as cost effective in government, to clean up the Biden Hole in our nation’s bank account.
Donald Trump will be the first POTUS to balance the budget. Get some tough skin for the sake of others!
Arthur Russo, Cranston
Questions for the protesters
I am a retired Air Force veteran and a lifelong Rhode Island resident. I consider myself an independent voter who believes our political leaders past and present have not always done what was best for Rhode Islanders.
If the people of Rhode Island want to spend their time protesting like in the recent “Hands Off!” rally, here are some valid and true concerns that should reflect in the chants and signs. Why do we have a higher cost for taxes, utilities, medical care, and automobile insurance in Rhode Island? Why does a small state like ours spend more dollars per resident than states that are larger in population?
No matter what political preference, we need to begin electing local and congressional politicians that are going to support policies that are best for Rhode Islanders no matter who the president happens to be.
David Zinno, Wakefield
Three generations of a family, including a two-year-old girl, have been killed during a driving lesson after their car plunged into a Rhode Island river.
Police received a report that a car had driven into the Seekonk River in Pawtucket on Sunday evening at the small boat-launching area, The Boston Globe reported.
After hours of searching for the submerged car, authorities pulled it out of the water Monday afternoon. The 45-year-old woman, a 22-year-old woman and the two-year-old girl inside the car were found dead.
Pawtucket resident Josue Gomez told The Globe it was his wife, Floridalma Arceno, their daughter, Linora Sucely Gomez, and their granddaughter, Ana Sofia Garcia Gomez, who were killed in the accident.
Gomez said Arceno was teaching their daughter how to drive with their granddaughter in the car when his wife called him in a panic and said, “‘It won’t brake, it won’t brake.’’
“It was the last thing she said to me,” he said.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves told reporters that a “Good Samaritan riding a jet ski in the vicinity heard the car enter the water and attempted to help,” The Providence Journal reported.
“While this was occurring, another individual called 911, and first responders were on scene within 3 minutes,” Goncalves said.
Gomez said he hurried to the boat ramp Sunday evening, but the car was already submerged.
Police tried to find the car, but suspended the search around 1 a.m. Monday due to poor conditions, according to reports.
The search resumed Monday morning, and by around 2:30 p.m. ET, a tow truck pulled the car out of the water.
“They were good people,” Gomez told The Globe.
The Independent has reached out to the Pawtucket Police Department and the Rhode Island Office of the State Medical Examiners for comment.
Authorities called it a “tragic accident,” and said there were no indications of foul play, according to reports.
“Preliminary findings suggest the vehicle was in proper working order,” Pawtucket Detective Sergeant Paul Trout said in an email to The Globe.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien called the incident a “heartbreaking tragedy” in a statement shared with the media.
“Our community mourns alongside them, and we want them to know they are not alone during this unimaginable time,” Grebien said.
Hear about the $30 million in infrastructure money for Tidewater
Pawtucket’s Tidewater Landing project gets $30 million for infrastructure
PROVIDENCE – Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes still leads Gov. Dan McKee by double-digits in the Democratic primary race for governor, but her whopping 34-point lead of last April has shrunk to 20 points in the wake of McKee’s TV attack ads, according to a new University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll.
The survey sampled 337 likely 2026 Democratic state primary voters, 145 likely Republican state primary voters and 664 likely general election voters between June 18 and June 23.
Among the key findings of the survey:
If the Democratic primary had been held while the survey was underway, 42% of likely primary voters would have chosen Foulkes and 22% would have chosen McKee, with restaurant owner Gregory Stevens and Wil Gregersen each getting 1%, the poll said. Thirty-one percent of respondents were undecided.
“Pluralities of moderates (46%), liberals (46%), and progressives (46%) support Foulkes, while two-thirds of socialists (66%) are undecided. McKee does best among those aged 65 and older (31%) but still trailsFoulkes (46%) among this group,” according to this poll.
McKee has narrowed the gap somewhat since the last UNH poll in April, when 45% of likely primary voters chose Foulkes and only 11% McKee.
Bottom line: Incumbent McKee, a former Cumberland mayor and lieutenant governor who has been governor since his predecessor Gina Raimondo quit mid-term in March 2021, “remains quite unpopular among likely Democratic primary voters: only 18% have a favorable opinion of him, 56% have an unfavorable opinion,” according to the poll released on Tuesday, June 30.
And then there’s this: In a hypothetical matchup between Foulkes, whoever emerges as the Republican nominee and independent Ken Block, the poll showed 38% of likely general election voters would vote for Foulkes, 22% would vote for the Republican nominee and 19% for Block.
If, however, McKee won the Democratic nomination, the potential matchup “would be very close,” with both McKee and Block getting 27% of the likely general election vote and the GOP nominee 23%; 2% would vote for another candidate. Twenty-one percent were undecided, according to the poll.
The poll is the latest in a string of bad news for the 74-year-old McKee, including his failure to clinch the endorsement of the state Democratic Party on June 20.
Depending on how you do the math, he fell three votes short of the endorsement, making him the first Democratic governor in Rhode Island to fail to win his party’s endorsement for a reelection bid since the modern primary system was created in 1948.
In the days since, Foulkes has racked up city and town Democratic committee endorsements, while McKee has only won endorsements from Pawtucket and North Providence Democrats. On Tuesday, June 30, he touted one more from the East Providence Democratic City Committee.
But McKee campaign spokeswoman Sophie Mestas hailed the poll as evidence that “the more Rhode Islanders learn about Helena Foulkes – a corporate executive who built her career on cutting healthcare access and fueling the opioid crisis – the more they want no part of her empty promises.
“More Rhode Islanders now view her unfavorably than favorably, and it’s not hard to see why,” Mestas said. “Rhode Islanders know the difference between a Governor who delivers for them and an executive who cashed in at their expense – and they’re choosing the Governor who’s always fought for working families.”
Her statement reflects disputed allegations in McKee’s TV ads about Foulkes’ record.
On the Republican front, those surveyed chose retired comedian Elaine Pelino, who has campaigned almost exclusively on Facebook (38%), over the state GOP’s endorsed candidate, Aaron Guckian (19%), an advance man and driver for former Gov. Donald Carcieri who most recently worked for the Rhode Island Dental Association.
Flying athletes in with the Special Olympics Airlift
Getting athletes to the games takes more than airplanes. Textron Aviation coordinates the effort while AccuWeather provides forecasting support to make weather-informed decisions.
Rhode Island athletes took home five gold medals, nine silver medals and 11 bronze medals at 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which wrapped up on June 26.
The Rhode Island Special Olympians left for the games in private jets provided by Textron on June 15. A total of 50 members, including 24 athletes and their families, traveled to represent and cheer on Rhode Island.
“Once we went to the hangar on the way out to Minnesota, and there was a big rally, my husband Steve and I were looking at each other saying, ‘This is big. This is huge being invited to the USA games,’” Rena Megrdichian, mother of softball player Garen Megrdichian, said. “I guess we just didn’t realize what an honor this whole process was.”
After preliminary events on June 22 to group athletes accordingly, the medal rounds across multiple sports began the next day.
Rhode Island picked up three gold medals, three silver medals and four bronzes in bowling, swimming, powerlifting and track and field events on June 23. Despite the heavy medal count for the smallest state, one athlete’s finish went viral on social media.
Thomas Poirier, of North Providence, was placed in lane 5 of group 4 in the 400-meter after finishing fifth in his preliminary race with a time of 1:20.54. The race started, and Poirier hustled as hard as he could, but coming into the final 100 meters, he found himself in fourth place. Then, he kicked it into another gear. He passed the runner in third, then second and suddenly he was gaining on the leader he was about 25 meters behind just a few seconds prior. With 25 meters left to go, Poirier passed Noah Lamusga, of Minnesota, and took the lead and the gold medal.
Poirier finished with a time of 1:17.24, three seconds faster than his time in the preliminaries.
“I saw my time in the prelims, and I was like ‘That’s good, but I just need to work harder,’ and so I did,” Poirier said.
The clip of him running the final 100 meters and his post-race interview where he says, “Rhode Island… I’m coming home golden,” currently has over 100,000 likes on Instagram.
“At first I was a little embarrassed, but I slowly and surely got used to it,” Poirier said. “I’m not used to getting fame like this.”
Poirier’s mom, Dora, was able to attend the games with her husband and daughter, Poirier’s twin sister. When they saw Thomas cross the finish line, the only emotions they could convey were shock and tears of joy.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Dora said. “We’re like, ‘Oh my god, he actually might do this.’ I honestly couldn’t believe that he did it. We hoped he would come home with something. I was so happy for him, overjoyed.”
Dora said that the family had no idea that Thomas had gone viral until later that night. They had received a few videos of friends recording the TV when the race first ended, but they kept receiving more videos, and that’s when they realized he had his viral social media moment.
Thomas also competed in the 200-meter run and 4 x 100-meter relay, where he won silver in both with a time of 30.59 and 1:07.83, respectively.
Thomas noted that the quick turnaround to compete in the three events was hard, but he knew he had to power through.
“It was definitely a little hard, but I slowly adapted to it, and I gave it my all,” Thomas said. “In the end, that other guy was just a little faster, but I still gave it my all, and I’m happy with what I came home with.”
Another one of Rhode Island’s five gold medals came from the softball team. The team had lost its first two group stage games 17-8 and 18-3 against Delaware and Connecticut, respectively, on June 22. They were able to salvage one win, a 12-9 victory against Arkansas the next day, before losing to Florida in its final group stage game on June 24.
The team suffered a couple of injuries during the group stage games, one of which was Jamar Abney, who suffered a hand injury in the final group stage game. Abney’s injury was a rallying cry for the rest of the team as they developed a slogan, “Win for Jamar,” that would define the rest of the team’s run, according to Special Olympics Rhode Island President and CEO Edwin Pacheco.
In the first game of the medal round, Rhode Island was paired up against Arkansas once more. The team was down 9-3 at one point but rallied back in extra innings to pull off the 11-10 win and advance to the gold medal game.
“The enthusiasm, the excitement that came from the team was just contagious,” Pacheco said. “You think about all the memorable moments, whether it be the Red Sox or the Patriots, and these come-from-behind wins that people still talk about 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years later, that game between Rhode Island and Arkansas was one of those moments.”
In the championship, it was another rematch, this time with Connecticut. No miracles or comebacks were needed in this game, though, as Rhode Island won 21-7 to take home the gold.
“I feel like in the gold medal match, I thought we had a lot of energy coming into this game,” said Garen Megrdichian, of Hope. “We had some urgency, and we had some confidence, so I’m really happy that we got the gold medal, and I’m just happy for our guys.”
Garen’s mom Rena attended the games and watched her son and his team’s run to the gold medal. The emotions ran high throughout the week.
“The nail-biting and anxiety that the parents go through watching them go through all this, it really was a nail-biter,” Rena Megrdichia said. “We couldn’t be more proud. We really couldn’t be more proud of what not only Garen accomplished, but this whole team, how they came together, [and] how they supported one another.”
She spoke about the team’s camaraderie despite the struggles and the emotions all the parents felt after they took home the gold.
“They just kept saying, ‘We’re going to win this for Jamar,’ and not only did they FaceTime Jamar right after the game, [but they also] called his mother to say we won this for Jamar. So, the support they all had for each other – we were just in tears. It was just one of those times where they overcame being beaten down and not doing well, and then all of a sudden, they turned it around, and they did very, very well.”
Megrdichian’s mom noted that the teams, despite it being a competition, all became friends with one another.
“They want to play each other again,” Rena Megrdichia said. “That’s how much playing against them meant to them that they would love to get together again and play these teams again. Because it was so fun for them and they really enjoyed it.”
Poirier and Megrdichian both described just getting the call that they had made it to the USA Games as a “dream come true,” and that earning the gold medal just added to an already incredible experience.
Special Olympics Rhode Island invites any Rhode Islander with an intellectual or developmental disability to join the organization and participate in a sport at no cost, according to Pacheco.
Find the full results of the USA Games here.
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