Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Rhode Island
Let’s change the way we look at our food scraps in Rhode Island – The Boston Globe
When you eat an apple, you can do one of two things with the core. You can put it in your garbage can and it will likely end up in Johnston, at Rhode Island’s Central Landfill. There, it will be buried among tons of other organic and non-organic waste. It will break down in the absence of oxygen to release methane, a greenhouse gas that is 28 times as damaging to the climate as carbon dioxide.
Or, you can compost that apple core. Instead of filling up the landfill, it will be converted into a nutrient-rich and valuable product. Instead of contributing to climate change, it can be used to enrich your local soils.
Every day we are mostly choosing that first option here in Rhode Island. And it’s not just an apple core — we are paying millions to haul and dump thousands of pounds of food scraps in our quickly filling landfill.
Compostable material including food scraps accounts for 33 percent of the waste we dump in the landfill. If we keep doing what we’re doing, our landfill will reach capacity and be forced to close by 2046. When that happens, the price we all pay to throw out our trash will increase exponentially as we are forced to ship our waste out of state.
Our neighbors in Massachusetts have already had to go this route, at significant taxpayer cost. Rhode Islanders enjoy the lowest costs in New England to throw out our trash and we want to keep it that way. Extending the life of the landfill is the best way to keep our costs down – and investing in composting is an essential part of that.
That’s why we recently proposed new legislation that aims to fund composting and organic waste diversion programs with just a $2 per ton surcharge on the trash we send to the landfill, a strategy that is already working in 12 other states. The money generated from that small fee will go right back into our cities and towns through a grant program, funding things like compost facility builds, curbside service for residents, and organic waste diversion education.
Reducing food waste dumped in the landfill will bring down waste hauling costs on our cities and towns, and that small surcharge will quickly result in savings. Composting is an affordable, scalable solution to our waste crisis that we should be implementing in every community, and this program will put us on the right track.
In 2023, municipalities in Rhode Island spent over $23 million to landfill over 350,000 tons of waste. Imagine if we removed a third of those totals from the equation!
Cutting down on waste not only extends the life of our only landfill, it’s also good climate and economic policy. Let’s change the way we look at our food scraps. Instead of turning them into polluting garbage, let’s give them a second life enriching our soils. Let’s provide our communities with common-sense, long-term solutions that are cost effective and sustainable in every sense of the word. The action we take now will pay dividends for decades to come.
Senator Bridget Valverde, a Democrat representing parts of East Greenwich, North Kingstown and South Kingstown, and Representative Terri Cortvriend, a Democrat representing parts of Portsmouth and Middletown, are the sponsors of the Composting and Organic Waste Diversion Act (S 2753 / H 7856).
Flying athletes in with the Special Olympics Airlift
Getting athletes to the games takes more than airplanes. Textron Aviation coordinates the effort while AccuWeather provides forecasting support to make weather-informed decisions.
Rhode Island athletes took home five gold medals, nine silver medals and 11 bronze medals at 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which wrapped up on June 26.
The Rhode Island Special Olympians left for the games in private jets provided by Textron on June 15. A total of 50 members, including 24 athletes and their families, traveled to represent and cheer on Rhode Island.
“Once we went to the hangar on the way out to Minnesota, and there was a big rally, my husband Steve and I were looking at each other saying, ‘This is big. This is huge being invited to the USA games,’” Rena Megrdichian, mother of softball player Garen Megrdichian, said. “I guess we just didn’t realize what an honor this whole process was.”
After preliminary events on June 22 to group athletes accordingly, the medal rounds across multiple sports began the next day.
Rhode Island picked up three gold medals, three silver medals and four bronzes in bowling, swimming, powerlifting and track and field events on June 23. Despite the heavy medal count for the smallest state, one athlete’s finish went viral on social media.
Thomas Poirier, of North Providence, was placed in lane 5 of group 4 in the 400-meter after finishing fifth in his preliminary race with a time of 1:20.54. The race started, and Poirier hustled as hard as he could, but coming into the final 100 meters, he found himself in fourth place. Then, he kicked it into another gear. He passed the runner in third, then second and suddenly he was gaining on the leader he was about 25 meters behind just a few seconds prior. With 25 meters left to go, Poirier passed Noah Lamusga, of Minnesota, and took the lead and the gold medal.
Poirier finished with a time of 1:17.24, three seconds faster than his time in the preliminaries.
“I saw my time in the prelims, and I was like ‘That’s good, but I just need to work harder,’ and so I did,” Poirier said.
The clip of him running the final 100 meters and his post-race interview where he says, “Rhode Island… I’m coming home golden,” currently has over 100,000 likes on Instagram.
“At first I was a little embarrassed, but I slowly and surely got used to it,” Poirier said. “I’m not used to getting fame like this.”
Poirier’s mom, Dora, was able to attend the games with her husband and daughter, Poirier’s twin sister. When they saw Thomas cross the finish line, the only emotions they could convey were shock and tears of joy.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Dora said. “We’re like, ‘Oh my god, he actually might do this.’ I honestly couldn’t believe that he did it. We hoped he would come home with something. I was so happy for him, overjoyed.”
Dora said that the family had no idea that Thomas had gone viral until later that night. They had received a few videos of friends recording the TV when the race first ended, but they kept receiving more videos, and that’s when they realized he had his viral social media moment.
Thomas also competed in the 200-meter run and 4 x 100-meter relay, where he won silver in both with a time of 30.59 and 1:07.83, respectively.
Thomas noted that the quick turnaround to compete in the three events was hard, but he knew he had to power through.
“It was definitely a little hard, but I slowly adapted to it, and I gave it my all,” Thomas said. “In the end, that other guy was just a little faster, but I still gave it my all, and I’m happy with what I came home with.”
Another one of Rhode Island’s five gold medals came from the softball team. The team had lost its first two group stage games 17-8 and 18-3 against Delaware and Connecticut, respectively, on June 22. They were able to salvage one win, a 12-9 victory against Arkansas the next day, before losing to Florida in its final group stage game on June 24.
The team suffered a couple of injuries during the group stage games, one of which was Jamar Abney, who suffered a hand injury in the final group stage game. Abney’s injury was a rallying cry for the rest of the team as they developed a slogan, “Win for Jamar,” that would define the rest of the team’s run, according to Special Olympics Rhode Island President and CEO Edwin Pacheco.
In the first game of the medal round, Rhode Island was paired up against Arkansas once more. The team was down 9-3 at one point but rallied back in extra innings to pull off the 11-10 win and advance to the gold medal game.
“The enthusiasm, the excitement that came from the team was just contagious,” Pacheco said. “You think about all the memorable moments, whether it be the Red Sox or the Patriots, and these come-from-behind wins that people still talk about 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years later, that game between Rhode Island and Arkansas was one of those moments.”
In the championship, it was another rematch, this time with Connecticut. No miracles or comebacks were needed in this game, though, as Rhode Island won 21-7 to take home the gold.
“I feel like in the gold medal match, I thought we had a lot of energy coming into this game,” said Garen Megrdichian, of Hope. “We had some urgency, and we had some confidence, so I’m really happy that we got the gold medal, and I’m just happy for our guys.”
Garen’s mom Rena attended the games and watched her son and his team’s run to the gold medal. The emotions ran high throughout the week.
“The nail-biting and anxiety that the parents go through watching them go through all this, it really was a nail-biter,” Rena Megrdichia said. “We couldn’t be more proud. We really couldn’t be more proud of what not only Garen accomplished, but this whole team, how they came together, [and] how they supported one another.”
She spoke about the team’s camaraderie despite the struggles and the emotions all the parents felt after they took home the gold.
“They just kept saying, ‘We’re going to win this for Jamar,’ and not only did they FaceTime Jamar right after the game, [but they also] called his mother to say we won this for Jamar. So, the support they all had for each other – we were just in tears. It was just one of those times where they overcame being beaten down and not doing well, and then all of a sudden, they turned it around, and they did very, very well.”
Megrdichian’s mom noted that the teams, despite it being a competition, all became friends with one another.
“They want to play each other again,” Rena Megrdichia said. “That’s how much playing against them meant to them that they would love to get together again and play these teams again. Because it was so fun for them and they really enjoyed it.”
Poirier and Megrdichian both described just getting the call that they had made it to the USA Games as a “dream come true,” and that earning the gold medal just added to an already incredible experience.
Special Olympics Rhode Island invites any Rhode Islander with an intellectual or developmental disability to join the organization and participate in a sport at no cost, according to Pacheco.
Find the full results of the USA Games here.
Local News
The vehicle’s three occupants are believed to still be inside.
A car carrying a family of three went into the Seekonk River in Rhode Island Sunday evening, authorities said.
The vehicle entered the river near the Taft Street boat ramp shortly before 7:30 p.m., Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said in a statement.
A bystander riding a jet ski heard the car dive into the water and attempted to help, while another witness called 911, according to Goncalves.
First responders arrived within three minutes of the emergency call, Goncalves noted.
The vehicle’s three occupants are believed to still be inside, The Boston Globe reported.
Recovery efforts resumed Monday, with Pawtucket police and fire personnel working alongside Rhode Island State Police and other state agencies to remove the vehicle from the river, Goncalves said.
“Conditions are extremely challenging for dive teams due to the strong current and poor underwater visibility,” she added.
A video released by the Globe shows the car being recovered from the water Monday afternoon.
Authorities have not released the identities or conditions of the occupants.
“We ask that you please keep the family and their loved ones in your prayers as our first responders continue recovery efforts,” Goncalves said.
(WJAR) — Rhode Island leaders will announce millions in funding for road improvements in Aquidneck Island on Monday.
Members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation will announce $19,250,000 in federal funding for the project.
File image of traffic in Aquidneck Island. (WJAR)
It’s meant to improve road and sidewalk conditions on the island.
This will include high-visibility crosswalks to improve pedestrian safety.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)
Senator Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Congressman Gabe Amo are expected to attend.
-
Nevada2 minutes agoVoting rights advocates score three legal victories but remain on alert against election threats
-
New Hampshire7 minutes agoDeclassified Pentagon UFO files detail mysterious 1947 incident in New Hampshire
-
New Jersey14 minutes agoNYC Gridlock Alert for France-Sweden World Cup match in New Jersey. Here’s what to know.
-
New Mexico17 minutes agoDid US drug agents allow lethal fentanyl to hit New Mexico’s streets?
-
North Carolina22 minutes agoNorth Carolina budget nears completion with focus on pay raises
-
North Dakota29 minutes agoNorth Dakota water damage expert trains mold detection dog
-
Ohio32 minutes agoCentral Ohio under extreme heat warning as heat index over 105 expected
-
Oklahoma44 minutes agoOklahoma’s Kyle Dillingham, Peter Markes to perform at Great American State Fair
