Taylor Swift’s Wedding Guests Don’t Know Ceremony Location — Yet
Rhode Island
Here’s how Providence is spending its reparations money – The Boston Globe
A chunk of the money is being distributed by the United Way of Rhode Island, which on Wednesday announced 15 nonprofits that will receive a combined $1.5 million from the funds. A whopping 122 organizations had applied for the grants, according to Larry Warner, the chief impact and equity officer at the United Way.
Hover over the interactive chart below to see where the city has directed reparations funds thus far.
While the reparations funds are targeted toward helping Providence residents of African and Indigenous heritage, former Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration determined they would face legal challenges if they limited the money to any particular race or ethnicity.
Instead, the qualifications to receive funding include those two ethnic groups plus any Providence resident living in poverty, and anyone of any income living in a specific list of neighborhoods and qualified census tracts.
Mayor Brett Smiley, who took office before the money had been spent, opted to continue with the Elorza-era program rather than seek to reallocate the money elsewhere.
“We know that this is but a scratch in the surface of multiple generations of harm,” Smiley said Wednesday. “But nevertheless, you have to start somewhere.”
So far, the city has spent more than $4.5 million out of the $10 million, according to a breakdown provided by Smiley’s office. “Spent” means the money has been sent by the city to a vendor or organization, not necessarily that the vendor has expended all the funds in the community.
The nearly $5.5 million in unspent funds have to be at least obligated by the end of this year, under federal rules for the American Rescue Plan dollars. They must be fully spent by the end of 2026. A spokesperson for the city said solicitations will be going out soon to get contracts in place before the deadline in December.
Smiley said “everyone has acknowledged” that $10 million is not enough, but he hopes it will be a “source of inspiration” for private philanthropy, state and federal leaders to find ways to make up for generations of racial harm. He said there are not current efforts by the city to raise more money for reparations.
“We hope that others will feel both an obligation or the pressure to step up and do their part,” he said.
Some of the money spent so far has gone to home-based daycare providers, neighborhood providers such as barbershops, and an “earn & learn” program aimed at training Providence residents for jobs while paying them a stipend.
The largest tranche, $3.35 million, has gone to the United Way, which is administering the COVID-19 Equities Fund aimed at communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. That was the focus of Wednesday’s announcement at Building Futures, an organization that trains workers in the construction trades and is receiving some of the money. (City Council President Rachel Miller works at Building Futures as her day job.)
The 15 nonprofits that received grants Wednesday will receive $50,000 per year for two years, other than the Center for Indigenous Rights, which requested $29,300. The recipients and their planned use for the money is listed below:
- Building Futures: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Workforce Development
- Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights: Advancing Culturally Congruent Education/Advocacy
- Center for Women & Enterprise: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Economic Empowerment
- College Unbound: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Education
- DARE: Addressing the Negative Effects of Urban Renewal/Advocacy
- Justice Assistance: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Economic Empowerment
- Manton Avenue Project: Advancing Culturally Congruent Education/Arts
- Mini Entrepreneurs of Rhode Island: Advancing Culturally Congruent Education/Education
- Olneyville Neighborhood Association: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Workforce Development
- Providence Promise: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Economic Empowerment
- Providence Revolving Fund: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Economic Empowerment
- Rhode Island Black Business Association: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap/Economic Empowerment
- Rhode Island Black Heritage Society: Advancing Culturally Congruent Education/Education
- Sojourner House: Addressing the Negative Effects of Urban Renewal/Housing
- Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council: Addressing the Negative Effects of Urban Renewal/Advocacy
Warner said the United Way has spent $815,602 of its $3.35 million thus far, mainly on the first year of the grants announced Wednesday. (Roughly $74,000 has been spent on administering the program, and about $8,000 on marketing and promotion.)
Rodney Davis, who chaired the Municipal Reparations Commission that wrapped up its work in 2022, said the group wanted to ensure the relatively small amount of reparations money reached the widest number of people. He supported the plan to allow people outside of the Black and Indigenous communities to access the funds.
“The Civil Rights movement didn’t just affect Black people, it affected the community surrounding it,” Davis said. “If we’re going to raise the river, other things are going to be raised up with it. And I’m not upset about that.”
The commission issued a report in August 2022 that served as the basis for the $10 million program.
“It wasn’t a lot of money,” Davis said, adding that other major institutions such as Brown University should join the reparations effort. He was pleased that Smiley said this money just scratches the surface.
“Without their support, this is just going to be something that we’re going to look back and say: ‘this was nice.’”
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.
Rhode Island
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s 1st Choice for Wedding Was Rhode Island: Why They Pivoted to NYC
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce initially had their sights set on a marvelous coastal wedding, multiple sources exclusively tell Us Weekly.
“Taylor and Travis really wanted their wedding in Rhode Island, and June 13 was the date, but security wouldn’t have worked because it could get out of hand with that kind of scale of an event,” an insider says.
Though everything was initially being planned in Rhode Island — where Swift, 36, has a mansion in the lavish Watch Hill neighborhood of Westerly — the insider notes the pop star had booked multiple venues from coast to coast on different dates.
According to the source, “Ocean House [in Westerly] was planned at one point, and then plans changed to New York.”
The insider, meanwhile, tells Us that Swift’s security “had to assess all the venues to see what made sense.”
“Rhode Island wasn’t great because the nature of the access and the perimeters were too difficult to secure,” the source explains. “So the main issue with Rhode Island ended up being security.”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Getty Images
“Everything was being planned in Rhode Island,” added a source. “And so many people wanted to come that plans had to change because it became bigger.”
Swift and Kelce, 36, are now rumored to be tying the knot at Madison Square Garden in New York City over the July 4 holiday weekend. While the exact location and date of the nuptials have not yet been confirmed, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared to hint at the wedding taking place in the city during a June 15 press conference earlier this month.
“I am fully confident in the work of the NYPD, as well as our state partners, in delivering that safe experience,” he told reporters. “We are the biggest city in the country. We are used to big events, and we are incredibly excited for the [World Cup]. We know it coincides with the Knicks’ [NBA] Finals run. We know it coincides with July 4, America 250, Taylor Swift’s wedding — all happening at the same time — and we are so excited to welcome the world here.”
Additionally, a permit was filed with NYC in June, the mayor’s spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed to Us after The New York Times reported on a permit to close the streets surrounding MSG from July 2 to midday July 4 for an event on July 3.
City sources also confirmed to Us that the Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO), which issues the permits, is in touch with the NYPD regarding a possible influx of street and pedestrian traffic.
Though Swift and Kelce’s Rhode Island wedding plans fell through, the “I Knew It, I Knew You” singer’s Watch Hill mansion had an uptick in action last week when security was spotted swarming the area. A group of unidentified women were reportedly seen on the balcony wearing matching robes — three in black and one in white — sparking speculation about a bachelorette party.
A woman who appeared to be Swift’s childhood friend Abigail Anderson Berard was also seen on the property with her 2-year-old son.
Meanwhile, Travis celebrated what was perceived as his bachelor party in Los Angeles and San Diego. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end and his brother, Jason Kelce, as well as Travis’ teammate Patrick Mahomes and others, were spotted at a Chris Lake concert, a Dave Chappelle comedy show, a night out at the members-only Bird Street Club and more.
Swift and Kelce began dating in the summer of 2023 and got engaged in August 2025.
Here’s how to submit a letter to the editor to the Providence Journal
Community opinions matter to us and we make sure there’s a space to hear what your neighbors are thinking. Here’s how to submit your own.
Journal Staff
Rhode Island Energy is currently installing advanced smart meters for all electricity customers. Clean energy and environmental advocates have championed advanced metering for decades because the systems enable incentives for conservation, solar integration and energy storage. The primary vehicle for realizing these benefits is Time-Varying Rates (TVR).
Unlike legacy meters, advanced meters track when electricity is used, not just how much is used. TVR encourages customers to shift heavy usage, like running a clothes dryer or charging an electric vehicle, to off-peak overnight hours when wholesale power is cheap and cleaner. This flattens the grid’s peak demand, brings down wholesale energy costs for everyone and reduces our reliance on polluting “peaker” power plants.
The Rhode Island Public Utility Commission (PUC) is charged with balancing the interests of utility customers with value to utility shareholders. It sets the formulas by which the utility is compensated.
The primary means the utility is compensated is based on a Return on Equity invested (ROE) that is predetermined by the PUC and currently set at 9.275%. Rhode Island Energy’s capital investments are funded through roughly 51% equity (shareholder capital) and 49% debt. For every $100 million the utility spends on infrastructure, about $51 million is financed via equity, allowing shareholders to collect an annual pre-tax profit of 9.275% on that portion, or roughly $4.73 million. The more the utility spends, the more their shareholders earn.
At a cost of over $188 million for the new meters, Rhode Island Energy shareholders will collect nearly $9 million a year in profit for 20 years from the equity portion of that investment alone, while also saving money on labor by eliminating the need for truck based drive-by meter readers.
But advanced metering was supposed to benefit ratepayers as well as the utility. Though the meter expenditures were approved by the PUC in 2023 and the meters installations are expected to be completed by the end of this year, it is expected to take until at least 18 months after the meter rollout is completed to implement the billing system infrastructure needed to enable Time-Varying Rates.
The upgrades that deliver more profit to the utility bottom line was fast tracked, while the investment needed to implement the primary benefits to ratepayers is being slow walked. Why weren’t the software upgrades and hardware deployment run in parallel?
Right now, the PUC is weighing a huge general rate case (Docket No. 25-45-GE). Rhode Island Energy has proposed aggressively hiking its profit margin, seeking to raise its ROE from 9.275% to 10.75% and expand its equity share from 51% to 57%.
In their 2022 advanced metering filing, Rhode Island Energy suggested the new infrastructure would yield $729 million in benefits over 20 years. So far, the utility is seeing plenty of that benefit on its bottom line, while ratepayers have mostly seen higher costs. The PUC should reject the utility’s requested rate increases, preserve the current rate structure, and insist that Time-Varying Rates be fully operational before any further rate changes are considered.
Fred Unger is a retired energy project developer and clean energy advocate based in Providence.
With wildfires becoming more frequent in Rhode Island, the state’s stockpile of specialty hoses to battle these blazes is being stretched thin.
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