Connect with us

Rhode Island

Here’s who made the cut for the Round of 16 at the 105th Rhode Island Junior Amateur

Published

on

Here’s who made the cut for the Round of 16 at the 105th Rhode Island Junior Amateur


PAWTUCKET — It didn’t take long for a surprise on Tuesday morning at the 105th Rhode Island Junior Amateur. 

Nick Emery took an early lead, absorbed a charge from Quinn Dumas and made a routine par at the 18th hole. That was enough to eliminate the top seed in the boys field, as the Round of 16 started in dramatic fashion. 

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

Emery’s victory on his home course, 1 up, set the tone for an intriguing few hours of play. The former All-State pick from St. Raphael won the first three holes on his home course and survived after Dumas pulled even in the match at the par-4 17th. 

Advertisement

“I know everywhere to put the ball — everywhere to go,” Emery said in an interview with the Rhode Island Golf Association. “To be able to put the ball where I need to on this course, especially because I know it really well, it just helps.” 

Emery lost his way off the tee on the back side but found a fairway when he needed it most, clearing the hill with his drive at the signature closing hole. He had a simple wedge in from 75 yards and left himself a short birdie putt. Dumas couldn’t manage a par that would have forced the match to extra holes. 

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

“I was really nervous over the ball,” Emery said. “Just kind of backed it off, got back over it and put it to eight feet.” 

Advertisement

Emery will face Jesse Hellring, whose match with Joey Iaciofano also went the distance. It was a high-quality affair — Hellring shot 1-under 68 over 18 holes, and his 1-up win featured deciding birdies at the par-4 16th and par-4 17th. Hellring finished with par at the 18th to hold off Iaciofano, who carded an even-par 69. 

“Keep the ball in the fairway,” Emery said. “Don’t do anything dumb around the greens. That’s obviously it.” 

Three-time defending champion Max Jackson, reigning Interscholastic League champion Rocco Capalbo, Drew MacLeod and Ian Dunham — four players who finished a shot behind Dumas in Monday’s stroke-play qualifier — all advanced rather comfortably. Capalbo strolled to an 8 and 7 victory while Jackson closed out former La Salle Academy teammate Sam Perry, 4 and 3. Brayden Dickinson and Eli Hamelsky will meet in a quarterfinal featuring two double-digit seeds after upsetting Sam Fuentes and Charles Melvin, respectively. 

Girls quarterfinals on Wednesday will mark a return for medalist Olivia Williams, Adriana Eaton, Emma Lockhart, Lily Dessel and Claire McTaggart. All five received byes through to the Round of 16. Ava Andoscia used a par at the 18th to edge Brooke Barner, 1 up, in that field’s tightest match of the opening afternoon. Andoscia had the final answer in a meeting that saw just four holes halved. 

Advertisement

“I was so nervous,” Andoscia said. “But I actually switched up what I was going to do for my second shot on (18), and I think that’s where I won.” 

Boys first division and boys 14U division top seeds Connor Ahlborg and Mitch McTaggart will both play in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Ahlborg held off Sam Iden in 19 holes, making a birdie while playing the par-4 first for the second time. McTaggart received a bye after tying Raj Mammen for medalist honors on Monday with a 9-over 78. 

Advertisement
Advertisement

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25 



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Rhode Island

TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for Jan. 31, 2025 – TPR: The Public's Radio

Published

on

TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for Jan. 31, 2025 – TPR: The Public's Radio


It’s never too soon to start crafting your #HealthcarePolicyValentines (or to get moving on a dinner reservation for Feb. 14) You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go. 

*** Want to get my column in your inbox every Friday? Just sign up right here. ***

1. STORY OF THE WEEK: If the past week tells us anything, here are a few starting points: 1) Democratic-leaning states like Rhode Island are in no way immune from the changes emanating from the White House under President Trump; 2) The policies being put into place pose a mix of uncertainty and very tangible effects; and 3) the long-term political fallout is anyone’s guess. The whirlwind was front and center Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner was among the Democrats responding to a Trump administration freeze on trillions of dollars in federal loans and grants. (Congress made it illegal in 1974 for presidents to refuse to spend appropriated funds.) During a news conference at his Warwick office, Magaziner called Trump’s move part of an effort to implement Project 2025 — the controversial policybook that 47 tried to distance himself from during the campaign last year. A short time later, reports surfaced that the White House had rescinded its freeze on grants and loans. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, chimed in to say it wasn’t a recission of the freeze, “It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction.” Leavitt’s tweet quickly gained notice in U.S. District Court Judge Jack McConnell’s Providence courtroom, as he considered a temporary restraining order requested against the Trump administration by attorneys general from 23 states, including Rhode Island’s Peter Neronha. Local nonprofits were among those troubled by the uncertainty and possible funding cut emanating from Washington. And while the funding freeze was held at bay in the short term, the clash marked another opening volley in the early weeks of the presidential administration. According to a White House news release, “the Golden Age of America …. is upon us.” Back in Warwick, speaking almost exactly three years after he announced his run in CD2, Magaziner pledged a vigorous response by Democrats. He also predicted Trump could face a rude awakening ahead of mid-term elections in 2026, since the GOP holds just a three-seat margin in the U.S. House and may need Democratic votes to fund the government or other key measures. “If they keep this stuff up, public opinion is going to shift against them dramatically,” Magaziner said, asserting that proposed cuts to Medicaid and the blanket pardon of Jan. 6 rioters are very unpopular. 

2. NOMINEES: U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse this week told Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial nominee to lead Health and Human Services for the Trump administration, “Frankly, you frighten people” due to his lengthy record of opposing vaccines. After Kennedy pledged to work with Whitehouse in addressing concerns on funding through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Whitehouse said he’s learned that such pledges from nominees amount to zero. Whitehouse’s skeptical line toward Kennedy comes about a week after some Democrats expressed concern about how he would vote on the controversial nominee.

Advertisement

3. THE OPPOSITION: As the Trump administration settles in, should elected officials in Rhode Island sharply resist or pursue a more diplomatic approach in the hopes of maintaining a better stream of federal dollars? It hardly seemed coincidental that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is seeking to improve his relationship with Trump as the Golden State reels from wildfires. Perhaps the importance of federal money — which forms close to half of the state budget in Rhode Island — explains why Gov. Dan McKee’s office issued a low-key release earlier this week indicating how “state agencies are actively reviewing all programs and investments, both current and projected, that rely on federal funding to determine the true extent of this order and to take steps to optimize the continued flow of these funds wherever possible.” By contrast, AG Peter Neronha and members of the congressional delegation responded more sharply. Where Democrats stand will be a bigger issue as we head into the 2026 campaign season. In a statement made when the freeze was still in place, Georgia Hollister Isman, regional head of the progressive Working Families Party, said in part, “With the stroke of a pen, Trump and his billionaire loyalists are robbing cancer patients of medication, families of food, and Americans of paychecks for serving our communities.”  She added, “There’s sides to this fight,” asserting that McKee and other leaders “need to prove that Rhode Island’s government is ready and willing to fight for working people.”

4. DEMOCRATS IN THE WILDERNESS: Via On Point, distributed from WBUR: “Decades ago, Ruy Teixeira famously wrote that a more diverse America would lean heavily Democratic. But as he’s watched Donald Trump’s rise, he believes it’s Democrats themselves who are to blame. Why?” Teixeira’s prescription for Democrats comes down to three things: moving to the center on cultural issues, embracing a more patriotic message, and emphasizing an abundance agenda of economic growth for all. 

5. THE DC CRASH: Accidents happen even under the best of circumstances and it will take time to identify the cause of the heartbreaking collision between a jet and a military helicopter that claimed the lives, among 58 others, of Spencer Lane, a promising 16-year-old ice skater from Barrington, and his mother, Christine. Without evidence, President Trump blamed DEI programs that existed before he took power. Emerging clues “suggest that multiple layers of the country’s aviation safety apparatus failed,” The New York Times reported, citing “flight recordings, a preliminary internal report from the Federal Aviation Administration, interviews with current and former air traffic controllers and others briefed on the matter.”

6. HOSPITALS: California-based Prospect Medical Holdings hopes to receive approval in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Feb. 6 to sell the assets of Pennsylvania-based Crozer Health to a not-for-profit consortium. If that move wins a green light, it would seem to augur well for the planned sale of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence to the Atlanta-based Centurion Foundation.

7. RESEARCH BLOCKED: The National Institutes of Health abruptly canceled long-scheduled grant review panels and ceased external communication, with little explanation, reports my colleague Nina Sparling: “Dr. Philip Chan, associate professor at Brown University and chief medical officer at Open Door Health, a Providence clinic, said he had ‘not seen anything like this before’ and that it ‘saddens’ him to see research-based clinical and public health institutions ‘undermined and chipped away at.’ His research projects have received millions in NIH funding in recent years, dollars that allow him to employ teams of researchers and cover hard costs like equipment. Chan said that if he lost grant funding, it would put dozens of jobs on the line. And he’s not alone. Between 2019 and 2023, the most recent year for which data are available, researchers in Rhode Island received roughly $250 million a year in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health. Most — nearly 55% — of those dollars went to researchers at Brown University, supporting inquiry into issues ranging from overdose prevention, to Alzheimer’s, to HIV prevention.”

Advertisement

8. HOUSING: On the surface, Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. is more understated than his father, the former mayor, but he shows the same kind of willingness to make bold use of his power. The latest example is the Polisena-backed plan to use eminent domain to seize the land planned for a 250-plus unit housing development. Housing advocates say the development is badly needed, while Polisena said it would strain municipal resources. The clash has broader implications. Helena Foulkes, who cultivated a political relationship with Polisena, “does not agree with this approach,” according to her campaign. Meanwhile, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi, a potential candidate for governor, remains opaque on what would cause him to take a more punitive approach to communities that resist efforts to add housing. “Mayor Polisena and the Johnston Town Council acted in what they believe was in the best interests of the citizens of their community,” Shekarchi said in a statement. “However, I hope Johnston and every community in Rhode Island look to create more affordable housing opportunities to address the ongoing housing crisis. I would encourage Johnston to consider repurposing the existing police and fire buildings, once vacated, for affordable Housing.”

9. RI POLI-MEDIA-LITERARY PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: Bay state political maven Joe Caiazzo, who ran U.S. Sheldon Whitehouse’s 2018 campaign, has a new consulting shop, 1788 Media. According to Politico, the launch “is the latest sign that Democrats are reorienting themselves in the second Trump era and beginning to chart a path back to power.” …. Congrats to PR man Chris Raia and his better half, longtime state government stalwart Brenna McCabe, on the arrival of Casey McCabe Raia …. Congrats, too, to my friend Christina Bevilacqua on being named executive director of LitArtsRI …. Frank Karpinski, executive director of the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island, is set to retire at the end of the fiscal year, after more than three decades on the job. In a statement, General Treasurer James Diossa said, “Frank’s tenure and contributions to ERSRI and the state have been remarkable. His unparalleled knowledge and insightful guidance have been essential in ensuring our continued focus on serving ERSRI members and all Rhode Islanders. We are incredibly grateful for his dedication and leadership throughout his tenure, and we look forward to ensuring a seamless transition as we search for a new executive director.”  

10. SINGLE-PAYER: Will growing frustration with the insurance industry eventually lead to more support for a single-payer healthcare plan? If you ask state Sen. Linda Ujifusa (D-Portsmouth), who, like her husband, Dr. Mark Ryan, is a big supporter of the concept, the answer is ‘yes.’ Asked how she would pay for the change, Ujifusa offered this response on Political Roundtable: “It’s already being paid for, believe it or not. We pay twice per capita what other industrialized countries pay for health insurance. And they have better health outcomes. They see their doctors more. They stay in the hospital more. They are not having hospitals go out of business. And so, you know, we are already paying for it. We pay about $11,000 per person. And Canada pays about, I think, $5,500. So we’re paying for it already through taxes that pay for things like Medicaid, or the VA, or whatever, and through your premium payments.”

11. SMITH HILL NOTES: Critics of President Trump’s approach on immigration are expected to picket a Feb. 4 fundraiser being staged by Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz at Ladder 133 in Providence …. Pickets are also expected for Gov. McKee’s fundraiser Monday at the Crown Plaza by union members, including the RI Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, although the two sides were still talking about a possible resolution as TGIF was going to press …. State Rep. Justine Caldwell (D-East Greenwich) has been named chair of the House Conduct Committee …. The Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus held its first meeting of 2025. Sen. Tiara Mack (D-Providence) and Rep. David Morales (D-Providence) were elected as the new co-chairs.

12. MEDIA NOTES: Joseph F. Nunes, who worked for the Hartford Courant for 38 years, offers a compelling read on the decline of an American newspaper, dating the turning point to well before the advent of the internet. (Nunes is the uncle of Alex Nunes, interim managing editor at The Public’s Radio). Excerpt: “I viewed our collective work at The Courant as a vital social service, the proverbial beacon of democracy cutting through the fog, especially in the wake of Watergate. We kept readers informed about everything, from mundane school lunch menus to scintillating scientific breakthroughs, from late-night zoning meetings to municipal corruption scandals. We all felt the grandeur of the Courant’s unique history – ‘Older than the nation, as new as the news,’ as the slogan went. In the newsroom, we spoke truth to power, always striving to root out the truth, ‘with malice toward none,’ as legendary sportswriter Bill Lee titled his column. Every day there would be something in the newspaper, however innocuous, that would change people’s lives, I often reminded colleagues. And that would be validated time after time.” …. Dan Kennedy reports on the AP leaving the Massachusetts Statehouse … A Rhode Island chapter of Press Forward — meant “to cultivate civically engaged and well-informed communities across Rhode Island by supporting diverse, reliable local news and information sources” — has been approved, via an announcement from the Rhode Island Foundation and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation. More details here.

Advertisement

13. GINAWORLD: Gina Raimondo’s post-Biden life is starting to come into focus with a gig as a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

14. NIGHT MOVES: Can perpetually cash-starved Providence boost its appeal and revenue with a more effective approach to nightlife? That’s the subtext of a new report billed as the first of its kind by Mayor Brett Smiley’s administration. Among the findings: one-third of Rhode Island’s bars and clubs are in PVD, and the sector supports thousands of jobs and more than $600 million in annual direct spending impact.  

15. KICKER: My friend and former colleague Kristin Gourlay shares word of exorcism on demand because “humans have been battling demons since, well, forever.”

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Rhode Island

A fisherman caught an unusual shark off RI. Now researchers ask if more are moving here.

Published

on

A fisherman caught an unusual shark off RI. Now researchers ask if more are moving here.



The young spinner shark was caught off Charlestown. The species normally lives in southern waters.

play

  • A 24-inch spinner shark, a species typically found in waters near Florida, was discovered off the coast of Charlestown, Rhode Island, in September 2024.
  • The shark’s partially healed umbilical cord suggests it was very young and raises questions about whether it was born nearby or migrated north.
  • Researchers are uncertain if this finding indicates a northward shift in spinner shark nursery habitats due to warming waters or just a rare occurrence.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – A young shark whose species is normally found in southern waters has raised questions for researchers after its discovery off Charlestown in September of 2024.

The 24-inch spinner shark had a partially healed umbilical cord, indicating that it was less than a year old. Could it have been born nearby? Did the youngster make a long trek north into Rhode Island waters?

Spinner sharks are common in waters off the southeastern United States coast but have rarely been seen near Southern New England, according to Jon Dodd, executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute in Wakefield.

Joshua Moyer, resident research scientist at the institute and a lecturer at Yale University, said, “According to the literature, most documented nursery habitat for spinners range from the Carolinas to Florida. But here we have a small shark with a partially healed umbilical wound, supporting its designation as a young-of-the-year shark, in Rhode Island.”

Advertisement

Was it a ‘rare stray’ or born nearby?

Still, the researchers say it’s too soon to determine whether the shark was “a rare stray,” or the nursery habitat for spinner sharks is shifting northward because of warming waters caused by climate change. “A single shark does not constitute proof of a nursery,” Dodd said in a press release.

The young shark’s presence in Rhode Island led to the publication of a paper in the Journal of Fish Biology. It was written by Moyer, Dodd and Stephen Kajiura, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and member of the Atlantic Shark Institute’s research advisory board.

“The most fascinating thing about the paper is the size of the spinner shark,” Dodd said. “With a range that focuses on the southern U.S., a mom giving birth here in Rhode Island is unique and opens up a range of questions.”

“Our oceans are changing, known habitats are changing, and what we knew to be the case only 10 years ago may no longer be accurate,” Dodd said. “That is both exciting and disconcerting.”

Advertisement

Most of the world’s oceans have seen a temperature rise, an average rate of 0.14°F per decade from 1901 through 2023, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. However, sea surface temperatures have cooled in some areas, including parts of the North Atlantic, according to the EPA.

The spinner shark was caught by Capt. Carl Granquist on Sept. 1, 2024, while he was fishing on the Estrella Domar “just south” of Charlestown, according to Dodd. Granquist wasn’t sure of the species, but he and his mate, Bryce Biggs, measured it and took video of it before returning it to the water, Dodd said. Granquist sent the video to the Atlantic Shark Institute.

“Less than an hour after he (Granquist) released the shark, I received the video, and I was reallysurprised at the size and potential species of the shark,” Dodd said. “I knew it was one of two species of shark and either one would be a pretty unique find here in Rhode Island waters, particularly at only 24 inches in length.”

While spinner sharks closely resemble blacktip sharks, Dodd, Moyer and Kajiura ultimately concluded it was a spinner shark. In 2020, Dodd was also surprised when he spotted a blacktip shark in Rhode Island waters. They also typically live in southern waters.

Spinner sharks live up to their name

The Florida Museum of Natural History describes spinner sharks as “a slender, gray-bronze shark named for its distinctive aerial ‘spinning’ behavior at the surface.”

Advertisement

“When feeding, spinner sharks will often swim through schools of bait fish, spinning along their longitudinal axis, snapping at fish as they move through the water toward the surface,” the museum says. “When they breach the surface, they can be seen spinning in the air – sometimes as much as 20 feet above the water surface.”

Spinner sharks grow to an average of about 6.4 feet and have been blamed for 16 unprovoked attacks on humans, although none have been fatal, according to the museum’s International Shark Attack File. Their “teeth are adapted for seizing small prey rather than tearing at large prey and therefore usually result in relatively minor injuries,” according to the museum.

Though unusual, it’s not the first time spinner sharks have been detected in Southern New England. The Atlantic Shark Institute managed to tag three spinner sharks in the summer of 2022 and is monitoring their movements since the tags send signals when the sharks pass close to acoustic receivers along the East Coast.

Since they were tagged, those spinner sharks have been detected more than 75 times along the East Coast, according to Kimmie Lavoie, a research analyst at the Atlantic Shark Institute.

“Interestingly, we have had no detections further north than North Carolina,” Dodd said. “These sharks love warmer water and more moderate temperatures. A couple have visited Florida, but their home base has been North Carolina.”

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Rhode Island

Grief grips RI as Spencer Lane, mother Christine Conrad Lane are killed in plane crash

Published

on

Grief grips RI as Spencer Lane, mother Christine Conrad Lane are killed in plane crash


play

  • 16-year-old figure skater Spencer Lane and his mother, Christine Conrad Spencer, were killed in a midair collision at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
  • Christine will be remembered for her creativity, passion for helping animals, and her deep connection to friends and family.
  • The Rhode Island skating community, including close friends, is devastated by the tragic loss, with many sharing heartfelt tributes.

BARRINGTON − Devastation spread across the Rhode Island figure-skating community Thursday with word that 16-year-old skater Spencer Lane and his mom, Christine Conrad Lane, 49, were among those who died in Wednesday night’s midair collision at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

“We’re all just gutted and heartbroken,” Lisa Duffy, a friend and co-worker of Christine Lane at Residential Properties Ltd., told The Providence Journal Thursday afternoon.

Advertisement

“Our skaters are our family and we all feel this terrible loss deeply,” Warwick Figure Skaters, a skating club there, said in a post Thursday on its Facebook page. Spencer “was always a bright light at our rink. He was kind and a friend to so many of his fellow skaters. He was a fiercely determined and fearless skater, always challenging himself. He was in love with the sport from the beginning and it showed.”

Family statement: “You simply could not stop him if he decided he wanted to do something.”

The family was traveling to Washington Thursday afternoon and issued a statement through a friend.

“Spencer can only be described as a force of nature. You simply could not stop him if he decided he wanted to do something. There is no better example of this than his remarkable skating journey, which we are heartbroken to see end too soon,” the statement said. “We are so grateful that his last week was filled with joy and surrounded by his beloved Skating Club of Boston and the U.S. Figure Skating family.”

The statement also said, “Christine exuded creativity throughout her life, using her formal graphic design training as a jumping-off point for seemingly endless creative pursuits across areas such as photography, quilting, knitting, and more. She brought even greater passion to her role as a mother to Spencer and his brother Milo. She was also a lover of animals, and we lost track of how many dogs she helped place in loving adoptive homes.”

Advertisement

“She had a contagious laugh. She was a bright, bright light,” Christine Lane’s friend Duffy remembered her. “Everybody was happy to be in her company.”

And Lane’s son was special. Anyone who was around him felt they were “in the company of a future Olympian,” said Duffy, who added that many were tracking where future Olympics would be held so they could get a jump on buying tickets.

Final words between friends

Lane found friends in all corners of her life, whether it was fostering dogs; knitting and sewing circles; or the skating community. “There’s nobody who ever met her who didn’t like her,” Duffy said. “No matter what it was, she found a way to connect with you.”

Advertisement

Duffy said that she and Lane communicated frequently while the Lanes were in Wichita. “I was watching the nationals on TV and texting her, and saying I was looking for her and her son.”

Just before mother and son began their journey back toward Rhode Island, Duffy texted and asked whether they were still in Kansas or in the air on the way home.

“Wichita, baby!” was the response.

“I blew her a bunch of kisses,” said Duffy.

Later, Duffy sent Lane a TikTok that at least half-joked that today’s fractured world would be better off if people just did more crafts, like knitting and quilting.

Advertisement

She sent that at 8:04 p.m., and expected a funny reply from Lane after her friend landed.

Flight 5342 crashed around 9 p.m.

“Beyond heartbroken”

“I am just beyond heartbroken for her husband and younger son,” said Duffy. “We’re going to rally and help her husband and other son because that’s what she would do for everybody. She just had tons of light and love to share with everybody.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending