Rhode Island
Hit and run crash in Cranston sidelines RI food blogger Patty J
What to know about Cranston, RI’s second largest city
In 2017, Cranston surpassed Warwick to become Rhode Island’s second largest city after Providence.
As Patty Jeffrey prepares for surgery on three broken bones, she can’t help thinking about how her life changed in an instant after being hit by a car on Budlong Road in Cranston on Sunday, Jan. 11.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Jeffrey, who is better known as the popular food blogger “Patty J” and “pattyjdotcom.”
Her livelihood is all about her adventures exploring Rhode Island, and its restaurants and cafes. Her Instagram account has nearly 44,000 followers. All that is on hold now as she is laid up with a broken ankle, broken lower fibula and broken toe.
Her whole blog life is finding activities and dining around the state, she said. The broken bones on her left leg and foot are “definitely a problem for what I do.”
Right now, she is home, keeping the leg and foot elevated as she awaits surgery on Friday. She needs help doing everything, she said. She is facing a recovery that could take a full year.
Jeffrey also finds herself frustrated by the fact that the hit-and-run driver has not come forward or been found.
“It all happened so fast,” she recounted about the crash.
It was a mild night about 5 p.m. when she and her husband Tom Paolino left their home to walk to Garden City. They had turned from Everett Road to Budlong Road.
“Cars do go fast on that road,” she said. “There was a long line of cars coming down the hill, where Dean Parkway becomes Budlong Road.”
They waited.
They were on the opposite side of the road from Seven Stars Bakery and Chelo’s when they began walking single file to go to the next corner.
“I took no more than five steps, and I heard myself say ‘What the …?’ Then it all went black. Next thing I know I hear my husband calling my name, “Patty Patty Patty.” He is in a daze and I tried to get up. My left shoe was off. I pulled myself to the sidewalk but I knew something was badly wrong with my leg.”
With her memory and witness observations, she said there was a car a block away pulling into Chelo’s. It was the vehicle behind that car, a grey or silver SUV with no headlights on, that impatiently went around that car and hit the couple, Jeffrey said.
“Both of us fell forward,” she said. “I got propelled into the street and could have gotten run over by a second car if others hadn’t jumped into the street to stop traffic. I could have been killed.”
Her husband was bruised but not injured. He wears a fitness tracker and it froze at 5:11 p.m., she said.
One of the bystanders stayed with her, telling her not to move in case her neck was hurt. The ambulance was called.
Among the things Jeffrey was told in the time after the crash was that people in the Chelo’s parking lot heard the car hit her and her husband. Witnesses gave statements to the police, she said.
“I’m just surprised no one with a Ring doorbell camera saw the car,” she said. “There has to be someone out there who saw the car.” Her family is offering a reward, though she doesn’t know the amount, she said.
“Whoever was driving that vehicle had to know they hit two people,” she said.
The Cranston Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for information on the crash.
(WJAR) — Tucked away in the woods of Exeter, a small museum is preserving stories that long predate Rhode Island’s founding, and even the arrival of European settlers in New England.
The Tomaquag Museum is Rhode Island’s only Indigenous-led museum and one of the oldest tribal museums in the United States.
For more than six decades, it has worked to preserve and share the history, culture and resilience of Native peoples across Southern New England.
A historic image from the Tomaquag Museum. (Tomaquag Museum)
“Tomaquag Museum is very unique in that it was founded by women,” said Executive Director Loren Spears.
The museum traces its roots back to 1958, when anthropologist Eva Butler and Narragansett Wampanoag elder Princess Red Wing set out to preserve Indigenous history through an Indigenous lens.
The collection originally began in Tomaquag Valley in Hopkinton, which inspired the museum’s name.
A member of the Narragansett Native American Tribe, Spears said the museum’s mission is to ensure Native voices remain part of the historical narrative.
A painting at the Tomaquag Museum that depicts a harsh scene. (WJAR)
“There is no U.S. history without First Peoples’ history,” she said.
The Narragansett Tribe, based primarily in Charlestown, has a history in the region stretching back more than 30,000 years.
Before English colonization, the Narragansetts were among the most influential Indigenous nations in Southern New England.
A display on historic documents at the Tomaquag Museum. (WJAR)
“We’ve had this interrelationship and this history the whole time and have contributed to the creation and formation of this nation in different kinds of ways,” Spears said.
Today, the museum houses thousands of cultural belongings and hundreds of thousands of archival materials documenting Indigenous communities throughout the region.
Among the artifacts on display is an American flag that flew in Afghanistan in honor of the Narragansett Tribe.
“People are often like, ‘Why is there a flag here?’” Spears said. “It’s here because this exact flag flew in Afghanistan in honor of the Narragansett Tribe.”
A U.S. dollar bill signed by Lynn Malerba, the first female chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern times and the 45th Treasurer of the United States. (WJAR)
The museum also showcases a U.S. dollar bill signed by Lynn Malerba, the first female chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern times and the 45th Treasurer of the United States.
“You can’t get any more American than a dollar bill,” Spears said. “To be able to see that an Indigenous woman is the one that signed that as the treasurer, we think is pretty remarkable.”
Visitors can explore the museum’s exhibit, “Revolution to Reclamation: Freedom Through Indigenous Sovereignty,” which includes hands-on activities designed for families and children.
Guests can create corn husk dolls, play traditional games, and learn about Native cultures through interactive displays.
Tomaquag Museum Executive Director Loren Spears and NBC 10’s Abbey Buttacavoli at the museum. (WJAR)
In 2016, the museum received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries.
The museum is also preparing for a major new chapter. Within the next few years, Tomaquag plans to relocate to a new facility on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, with hopes of breaking ground by the end of 2026.
“There’s an importance to having Indigenous voice in the room and being part of the story,” Spears said.
Ethan McDermott, 22, was arrested shortly after midnight Friday as a “result of an investigation into a motor vehicle crash on Route 146,” the Rhode Island State Police said in a media release.
McDermott was also charged with reckless driving and other offenses against public safety and refusal to submit to a chemical test, according to the release.
Prepared potato salad is up 3%, while cornbread is up 4%. Eggs, however, are a bright spot, with prices down 14%, which could make deviled eggs or other egg-based sides a more affordable addition.
Vegetable trays may require a little strategy. Broccoli, celery and cauliflower are up 6%, while snacking tomatoes are up 2% and baby carrots are up just 1%.
Fruit could help offset some of the increases. Strawberries are about the same price as last year, and watermelon is down 3%.
Some Sweet News About Desserts
Dessert prices are rising more moderately than other cookout staples.
Store-bought cookies are up 1 percent, ice cream is up 2%, and store-bought apple pie is up 4%, according to the analysis. That means a mix-and-match dessert table can still be a relatively affordable way to end the meal.
-
World8 minutes agoVideo: A Small Election Could Change British Politics
-
News11 minutes agoInside Trump’s Touring Exhibition of American Heroes
-
Politics16 minutes agoVideo: Erika Kirk’s Message for Women at Turning Point USA
-
Lifestyle46 minutes agoThe second life of a classic: ‘Amores Perros’ is remastered and back in theaters
-
Technology56 minutes agoValve is so behind on Steam Controller orders that some won’t ship until 2027
-
World1 hour agoFrom bear hugs to handshakes: How India lost its edge with Trump while Pakistan quietly gained ground
-
Politics1 hour agoNew poll reveals where Americans stand after Trump agreement with Iran
-
Health1 hour agoNo sex for 10 weeks? Championship team’s playoff strategy raises eyebrows
