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A 25,000-pound fin whale was euthanized after it became stranded in a tidal pond in Rhode Island, officials said.
The 42-foot cetacean was first reported to the Mystic Aquarium’s rescue hot line around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday after it was spotted in distress in Potter Pond in South Kingston.
Aquarium staffers and veterinarians found in an “emaciated” and “compromised state,” the Aquarium told The Boston Globe in a statement.
After an evaluation, experts determined the whale “did not seem to have any apparent or obvious wounds or signs of the immediate cause of stranding,” the group said.
Officials consulted with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and decided to wait for high tide with the hope the whale would have enough water to swim out of the pond.
“Unfortunately, the whale did not refloat,” the group said. “With animal welfare as Mystic Aquarium’s top priority and considering the poor condition and low likelihood of survival for the compromised animal, the decision was made to use medical intervention to alleviate the whale’s suffering.”
The whale was euthanized around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday night, surrounded by aquarium staff and representatives from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, officials said.
Researchers conducted a necropsy on the whale Friday to determine what caused it to be stranded. The process includes removing what’s known as a “banana peel” of the whale’s skin for examination, according to The Globe.
“As sad as the outcome is here, I feel some relief that this animal is now at peace,” Sarah Callan, an animal rescue program manager at the aquarium said. “We’ll collect a lot of data today and not only learn more about what happened with this specific whale, but also different threats that this species faces as a whole.”
The sad story of the whale also helped bring a community concerned about its marine life together.
“The nearby homeowners were bringing us coffee yesterday and we were getting emails with prayers for the whale,” animal rescue technician Francesca Battaglia told WPRI. “The community rallied to keep our spirits up, and we’re just really grateful.”
Just hours after the deceased whale was first reported, the remains of a second whale washed up on a beach in the same town.
The whale was found in an already decomposed state so no necropsy will be conducted.
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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