CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Department of State hosted a poll worker recruitment event for veterans and their families on Saturday.

The event was in partnership with Vet the Vote, which works to get more military veterans and families involved with working during elections.

Attendees heard from state officials on how Rhode Island runs its elections and were given information on where they could work as paid poll workers this election cycle.

“Our country’s veterans and military families understand the importance of service, and their commitment to our democracy and our nation’s values align perfectly with the responsibilities of poll workers,” Secretary of State Gregg Amore said.

Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of July 21, supported by your subscriptions.

• It doesn’t get more Rhode Island than a tour of a lighthouse, except maybe if you brought along a Del’s. While some of the state’s lighthouses have been accessible for years, the Pomham Rocks Lighthouse – after years of renovations – is now open to view. The Journal’s Antonia Noori Farza recently toured the site and talked with the volunteers who made it happen.

• We finally got a break from the heat and humidity this week even if it meant a couple of gray days – apologies if you were on vacation – were in the mix. If you’ve grown tired of summer temperatures and are dreaming about sweater weather and pumpkin spice the Old Farmer’s Almanac says you might get some relief this fall.

• For the latest sports news, including The Providence Journal’s coverage of the Little League championships in softball and baseball as well as the latest in high school sports go to providencejournal.com/sports.

Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:

How expensive is it to live in Rhode Island?

How expensive is it to live in Rhode Island?

According to a new Forbes.com report, it’s really expensive and it’s housing costs – both mortgages and rent – driving up the cost of living in the state.

Forbes looked at several data sources to see how every state ranked in various measures ranging from cost of living to income taxes. Still, in Rhode Island, a lack of housing supply proved to be costly as rent and the cost to buy a house keep going up.

The good news? It is not as expensive as one of our neighbors.

Cost of living: Forbes pegs RI as one of the most expensive states to live in. Here’s what is driving that ranking.

Rhode Islanders who have a Rhode Island Energy account for electricity or natural gas will notice a slew of changes starting Aug. 19, the most noticeable of which will be that their bill will look different.

In addition to a different looking bill, RI Energy will have a redesigned website, a new bill-processing system and a single phone number to reach the company’s new 300-person customer service center in Cumberland.

Customers will also be able to send a text to alert the company about an electrical outage.

Here’s why these changes are happening.

Electricity: Big changes are coming for RI Energy account holders. Here’s what to know.

This headline is going to make some people laugh, but they don’t live here. They’re not like us.

If you’re from out of state and happen upon this, these golf courses are not out of the way. They’re actually all very convenient to get to compared to what you’re used to.

But if you’re from Rhode Island, the idea of playing one of these spots might give you a second thought. Only in the Ocean State is a spot that is not directly off the highway or takes more than 40 total minutes of driving considered “out of the way.” It’s a stereotype, but it’s a stereotype for a reason.

So who made the list? The Journa’s Eric Rueb has played all these courses at one point or another — including two recently — and can tell you, without a doubt these are the five courses that are worth the drive.

Golf: Ready for a road trip? Here are five out-of-the-way golf courses in RI you need to play

If you want to build a granny flat, a carriage house or an accessory dwelling unit here, what are the rules?

After a new state law passed legalizing what’s known as ADUs statewide, there are fewer rules than than city leaders would like.

“It put us in a bit of a tricky situation, as it didn’t give us any time to revise local ordinances,” Providence Deputy Planning Director Bob Azar said. “We will have to evaluate new applications based on what’s in state law.”

Providence is trying to craft an ordinance that still complies with the state law and will put some strictures and limits on accessory dwelling units. Here’s the plan.

Housing: With granny flats now legal, Providence looks to pass restrictions. Here’s what the city wants.

The biggest news of the week was President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race for president.

The decision does raise the question for Rhode Islanders: Who will replace him on the ballot?

Biden quickly endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee.

LeeAnn Byrne, chief of staff to Secretary of State Gregg Amore, said ballots have not yet been created in Rhode Island.

“September 12th is the deadline for each national party to certify to the RI Department of State Elections Division the names of individuals nominated as the party’s candidates for president and vice president,” Byrne said. “Federal law requires us to send ballots to military and overseas voters 45 days before the election, so those ballots are finalized well in advance of Election Day. Once those ballots are printed and sent to military and overseas voters, we would be unable to change the ballot.”

Election 2024: What happens to ballots in Rhode Island now that Biden has dropped out of the race?

To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.

By Rich McKay

(Reuters) -Winds and lightning strikes have sparked and fanned wildfires across the Pacific Northwest this week, including the largest fire currently burning in the U.S., which was rapidly expanding near the Oregon-Idaho border on Friday.

The Durkee Fire near Huntington, Oregon, has scorched 600 square miles (1,600 square km), an area more than half the size of Rhode Island’s land mass, authorities said. It is threatening several towns.

The blaze was set off by lightning on July 17, and wind gusts up to 60 mph (100 kph) drove the flames across brush, timberland and ranches, killing hundreds of cattle. The fire was only 20% contained on Friday, officials said.

While there is zero chance of rain through next week, winds have dropped and cooler air is in store, said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the National Weather Service.

“Hopefully it gives firefighters a break,” he said.

As of Thursday, wildfires this year have burned almost 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) in Oregon and 125,900 acres in Washington, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, Oregon.

In 2020, the worst year in recent memory, Oregon wildfires scorched more than 1.14 million acres, according to a tally by CBS TV affiliate KOIN.

In California, the Park Fire, believed to have been started by an arsonist, has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents in Butte County, about 100 miles northeast of Sacramento.

A suspect was arrested on Thursday, accused of pushing a burning car down a bone-dry gully.

The fire grew uncontrolled overnight from 125,000 acres on Thursday to 178,090 acres on Friday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. More than a hundred buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

“The biggest challenge with this fire is getting to it,” said Fire Captain Dan Collins. “It’s steep land with almost no roads. It’s hard to get our people and equipment to the fire lines.”

More than 1,600 firefighters were deployed to contain the blaze, CalFire said.

Forecasters warned that winds would reach 30 miles mph (50 kph) on Friday and through the weekend. Combined with low humidity, it is a recipe for rapid growth, officials said.

Smoke from fires in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest have brought hazy skies and unhealthy air from the Rocky Mountains to Minneapolis and as far east as Detroit, weather reports said.

Denver had the worst air quality in the U.S. on Friday and ranked the 30th worst in the world, according to IQAir, a group that tracks air pollution across the globe.

Much of the smoke coming into the Central and Eastern U.S. comes from a raging wildfire in the mountainous Jasper National Park in the Canadian province of Alberta.

The park and the town of Jasper, which draws more than 2 million tourists a year, were evacuated on Monday, displacing 10,000 residents and 15,000 park visitors. As much as half of the structures in the town could be damaged or destroyed, officials said, as the blaze burned more than 89,000 acres as of late Thursday.

Videos posted on social media show entire streets leveled by the blazes in the Alberta province, with scorched trees, charred metal skeletons of cars, and nothing but rubble where homes and businesses had stood.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Rod Nickel, Sandra Maler and William Mallard)