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Have an E-ZPass? You can use it to pay for gas in Rhode Island soon

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Have an E-ZPass? You can use it to pay for gas in Rhode Island soon


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Have an E-ZPass? You will soon be able to use it to pay for gas on your phone in Rhode Island.

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PayByCar, which the program that allows you to pay for gas on your phone using E-ZPass, announced Tuesday it will be expanding into several states. The expansion will take place over the next two years.

The initiative has been active in Massachusetts since 2022, with more than 20 gas stations across the state participating.

Here’s what to know about the program’s expansion into the Ocean State.

How to pay for gas and parking with your E-ZPass

PayByCar is a mobile payment system that allows you to pay for gas or parking using your E-ZPass.

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To use it, enrollment is available on the PayByCar website. Payment is charged to the card linked to the user’s E-ZPass account.

Once you have an active account, you can use it at any participating location. When arriving at a location, you will receive a text to utilize the touchfree payment system. Once completed, a receipt will be sent to your phone.

It eliminated putting in a pin numbers and digging around for a credit or debit card. E-ZPass says it cuts the time of a transaction in half.

“The drivers of 55M vehicles with E-ZPass tags already know how seamless paying for tolls is. We are determined to bring that simplicity to all the other payments made on the go,” said Kevin Condon, Founder and CEO at PayByCar, Inc in a press release.  “We are also drivers so we know how frustrating it can be downloading multiple apps and wallets and then searching for them when you need to make a quick purchase, managing paper receipts, losing tickets in parking garages, or risking identity theft from transactions where card skimming results in millions of dollars in losses each year.”

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Where can you use your E-ZPass to pay for gas in Rhode Island?

The PayByCar EZPass system will be expanded across the United States in the next two years, the company said. The exact launch date in Rhode Island is not yet known.

What other states is E-ZPass expanding PayByCar to?

Within the next two years, E-ZPass is looking to bring PayByCar to Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, and Georgia.



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Rhode Island

More drama at the Rhode Island Junior Amateur quarterfinal match play. Here’s what happened.

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More drama at the Rhode Island Junior Amateur quarterfinal match play. Here’s what happened.


PAWTUCKET — The top seed went down Tuesday. The three-time champion followed with an exit on Wednesday.

The drama continues on the boys side at the 105th Rhode Island Junior Amateur, with Ian Dunham providing the highlight in the match play quarterfinals at Pawtucket Country Club.

Dunham stormed from behind on the back nine and edged Max Jackson in 19 holes, a meeting of high school stars who will both continue in college this fall. None of the top four seeds remain entering Thursday morning’s semifinals, which will also feature reigning Interscholastic League champion Rocco Capalbo.

More: Have a Rhode Island golf bucket list? Here are the five courses Eric Rueb wants to play.

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More: Familiar names near top of leaderboard after Day 1 of Rhode Island Junior Amateur.

“It’s just such a grind to play a guy like that,” Dunham said to the Rhode Island Golf Association. “He hit so many good shots. That last stretch of holes — 14, 15, 16, 17 — I played some of the best golf.”

There will be no introductions necessary in the girls semifinals. Olivia Williams held off Adriana Eaton to capture the Women’s Amateur last summer. Lily Dessel and Claire McTaggart are Barrington High teammates who will now square off as opponents.

“If my wedge game and putting is on, then it should be a good match,” Eaton said. “Just treat it as another round of golf; don’t worry about the opponent and just play me against the course.”

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“Try to keep the same mindset for any opponent,” Dessel said. “Play steady, be a tough opponent for them and just have fun with it.”

Jackson, the La Salle Academy star and Rutgers commit, was 3 up through 13 and seemed in control on his home course. Dunham turned the match by rolling in a 25-footer for birdie at the par-4 14th and capped his sudden run by stuffing a 6-iron to within 6 feet at the par-4 17th. Dunham converted on another birdie putt, giving the former Chariho standout and Franklin Pierce commit a 1-up lead.

“I was down most of the day — all through the first nine holes,” Dunham said. “Then on the back, he won 11 and 12. I missed a couple key putts from 5 or 6 feet and I couldn’t get anything going.”

Jackson made birdie on the par-4 18th to extend the match but couldn’t get down for par while replaying the first. Dunham two-putted to punch his ticket for a meeting with Brayden Dickinson, who also made a par at the 19th hole to outlast Eli Hamelsky. Neither player held more than a 1-up lead through the first 18, and Hamelsky made par at the last to force an extra hole.

Capalbo continued what has been a fairly routine week to date by handling Drew MacLeod, 4 and 3. The rising sophomore at Prout has extended his hot form to the summer, losing just one of the 15 holes he played in the quarterfinals. He’ll face Jesse Hellring in the semifinals after the No. 8 seed eliminated Tuesday hero Nick Emery, 6 and 5.

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“You always hope the other player plays good,” Capalbo said. “But at the same time, you want them to make mistakes and not you. I think it’s very important.”

“I’m pretty confident,” Hellring said. “I like this course. It’s really a fair course — if you hit it good you’re going to have some chances.”

Eaton and Williams both eased to 5-and-4 wins in their quarterfinals. Eaton built a 5-up lead at the turn while taking out Emma Lockhart. Williams, the two-time defending champion, was 2 up through 11 against Elizabeth Kue before winning her last three holes.

“I’m feeling good after today,” Eaton said. “I like this course. It’s in very good shape and I feel like it’s a good length.”

Dessel won seven of nine holes on the front side to take immediate control against Ava Andoscia, cruising to an 8-and -7 win. McTaggart had to work a little harder against Julia Nault, losing an early 3-up lead before winning the 13th and 17th to secure a 2-and-1 triumph. The pair of Eagles will go out at 7:54 a.m. Thursday, starting eight minutes after the Williams-Eaton match.

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“I just went into it trying to play steady,” Dessel said. “That was kind of my goal. That was pretty much what I did.”

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bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25



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Historic former newspaper building in Woonsocket, R.I., back on the market mid-construction – The Boston Globe

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Historic former newspaper building in Woonsocket, R.I., back on the market mid-construction – The Boston Globe


WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A downtown office building that was the home of the city’s newspaper for the last century has been under construction to become sleek, modern apartments with office co-working space. But this month, the project’s developers listed the four-story commercial block for $4.2 million, with hopes that a future owner can take it from here.

The listing is for 55-75 Main St., which is part of Woonsocket’s historic downtown district, and incorporates Harris Mill #4, the Buckland and Clark Building, and the Buell Building. Through its subsidiary 55 Main St LLC, NPM Main St. Holdings, LP, a real estate investment firm led by John Messier, purchased the combined property for $1.16 million in early 2023, according to real estate records.

Messier, developer and construction manager Leszek “Les” Przybylko, and their investors had begun carrying out plans to renovate the buildings into 73 residential apartments and eight commercial spaces.

But after starting initial construction, they’ve decided to put it up for sale in an effort to “consolidate funds to work on another project,” broker Dan Gardner told the Globe on Wednesday morning.

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“The new buyer is to finish the project,” Gardner wrote in an email. “About 70 percent of the work still needs to be done.”

Gardner declined to provide any further details or answer questions related to any ongoing construction, the developer’s other projects, or funding gaps. Calls to Messier’s office were not returned ahead of publication.

Harris Mill #4 is a six-story early Victorian mill building that is the only remains of the historic Harris Woolen Company Mills, built in 1846 by the local industrialist and philanthropist Edward Harris. Attached to the old mill is the Buckland and Clark Building, a two-story structure with a yellow brick storefront facade that was first constructed in 1897. The developers planned to put most of the apartment spaces in this part of the complex, as well as some retail storefront space.

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The Buell Building at 75 Main St., a four-story brick building, was long considered the home of the Woonsocket Call, a newspaper that was first founded in 1892. The paper once had to use the entire 31,200-square-food building to support its operations. The Call was acquired by Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers in 2007, and by 2023 it had just two news reporters and two sports reporters when it merged with the Pawtucket Times to become The Blackstone Valley Call & Times.

News articles in 2022 reported that the newspaper would remain in the property as part of a lease-back agreement. But on Wednesday, the property’s real estate listing said the building was vacant.

“The Call is no longer in that building,” publisher Jody A. Boucher told the Globe in an email on Wednesday. “We were asked to vacate for a brief time for construction purposes but were then told that the property was on the market again. Unsure of what the future would bring as far as the building was concerned, we relocated to a storefront on 154 Main St. directly across from City Hall.”

Boucher said the newspaper had “a skeleton crew” working in the building until late October 2023. Employees worked remotely until the paper relocated to its current offices in February 2024.

Mike Debroisse, the city’s director of planning and development, said he was made aware that the property would be listed for sale in the middle of construction, and that the department has already spoken to a couple of developers who are interested in purchasing the project as is.

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It’s “great to see investors interested in Woonsocket,” Debroisse said.

First constructed in 1922, the Buell Building was designed by Westcott & Mapes, a New Haven, Conn., architectural firm, to house both a printing plant and editorial and administrative offices, according to preservation document with the US Department of the Interior. For years, little has been altered of the building’s Gothic Revival facade with its massive cast-stone central entrance and segmental arch.

The Buell Building’s remaining office and print shop space, which is located above and below the first floor, was expected to be converted into apartment space, a large gym, laundry, and shared areas for the tenants, according to the developer’s plans.

Messier and Przybylko told the city their rehab project would take approximately 18 months to complete, and would include a large rooftop.

The developers have also worked on a number of other downtown Woonsocket projects. In 2021, the pair purchased the former Father Marot CYO Center at 53 Federal St., and adjacent buildings at 77 Federal St. for $350,000, which they plan to turn into apartments.

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In 2020, their renovation project at 122 North Main St. was named the recipient of a 2020 Rhode Island Smart Growth Award from Grow Smart RI. Its renovation was the first major mixed-use development located in the Woonsocket Downtown Overlay District, and included 17 modern, market-rate apartments on its upper floors. The building’s first floor holds Lops Brewing, the neighborhood’s first brewery, and co-working space.


Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.

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👨‍⚕️ A medical school at URI? – The Boston Globe

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👨‍⚕️ A medical school at URI? – The Boston Globe


If it seems like there’s a legislative commission for everything in Rhode Island, it’s because there is.

But a new Senate-appointed commission to study whether to create a medical school at the University of Rhode Island is worth keeping an eye on because it’s stacked with some of the most influential players in the state.

Earlier this month, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio named 21 appointees to the group, which is tasked with studying the health care workforce with a focus on educating and retaining primary care physicians, and exploring whether a medical school at URI could make a difference.

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The commission will be co-chaired by URI President Marc Parlange and Senator Pam Lauria.

Other elected officials include Senators Susan Sosnowski, Alana M. DiMario, and Thomas J. Paolino, Representatives Susan R. Donovan and Jacquelyn Baginski, and Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera.

Some of the other high-profile names include former CVS CEO Thomas M. Ryan, Armand E. Sabitoni, and URI Board Chair Margo Cook. Drs. Staci Fischer, Patrick Vivier, Barbara E. Wolfe, Michael Fine, and Marie Ganim. And M. Teresa Paiva Weed, Stacy Paterno and Christopher F. Koller are also part of the commission.

The bigger picture: Ruggerio is giving the commission a long runway to conduct its review. It isn’t required to submit a report to the General Assembly until Dec. 20, 2025, and a lot could happen politically before that point.

But Ruggerio has been clear that he thinks URI should consider creating a medical school, and it’s difficult to imagine he’d be appointing people like Ryan and Sabitoni to a commission that is going to reject the idea. 

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It will be interesting to see what role, if any, Brown University ends up playing in this discussion. They currently run the only in-state medical school.

The commission is expected to begin meeting in the fall.


This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.


Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.





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