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Native American inmate sues to wear Apache headband – The Boston Globe

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Native American inmate sues to wear Apache headband – The Boston Globe


“This should be a simple case,” Goldstein said. “DOC has no reason to treat a Native American who wants to wear a headband to express his religious faith any differently than it treats Muslims and Jews who want to wear kufis and yarmulkes to express their faith.”

Labinger said, “His efforts to obtain simple religious items to practice his faith should not consume four years and require a federal court lawsuit. Fortunately, federal law and the First Amendment require that even in prison, the custodians do not get to dictate what is an accepted religion and how it should be practiced.”

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Formerly known as Brian Keith Brownell, Pawochawog-Mequinosh filed a petition in 2021 in state court to change his name to express his Apache heritage and faith, and the petition was granted a year later.

“I just want to be able to practice my religion and to be able to use the artifacts for my religion without unjustified restrictions, like other religions are permitted to do,” he said in a statement. “I don’t feel that this is too much to ask for.”

J.R. Ventura, chief of information and public relations officer for the Department of Corrections, said, “We just became aware of the lawsuit, and we are looking into it. Any concerns will be addressed once we have an opportunity to read it and discuss its claims.”

But generally speaking, Ventura said, “Per our policy, all inmates have the right to freely exercise their religious beliefs and liberty of worship. The exercise of this right, however, may be restricted for legitimate security reasons. People’s safety is the top priority here.”

He said the Department of Corrections “accommodates numerous forms of worship and religious practices, like religious dietary preferences, religious services, personal contact with accredited representatives of their faith, deliver sermons, and more.”

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Pawochawog-Mequinosh is serving a life sentence for first-degree sexual assault, with an additional 20-year consecutive sentence for the same charge, and he had previously served time for child pornography, according to the Department of Corrections. He is now confined in the John J. Moran Medium Security Facility, in Cranston.

Since 2019, Pawochawog-Mequinosh has sought to obtain and wear an Apache headband in the prison to express his religious faith, the lawsuit states.

But the department has denied those requests, the suit says, because his religion is designated as “Pagan/Wiccan” in the department’s data management system, and Apache headbands aren’t an approved religious item for individuals with that designation. Also, the department has told him Apache headbands have not been approved as a religious item in any state prison.

The suit says the Department of Corrections requires inmates to designate that they belong to one religious category from among these choices: “Catholic,” “Jewish,” “Muslim,” “Pagan/Wiccan,” and “other.” The department does not offer a religious designation for those who follow Native American religious traditions, and those designations determine what religious items inmates may obtain, the suit says.

Pawochawog-Mequinosh chose the “Pagan/Wiccan” designation because it allows him to obtain rune stones and tarot cards, which are also an important part of his religious beliefs. If he chose the “other” category, as some officials suggested he do, he’d lose his right to have tarot cards and rune stones and would still likely be denied the right to wear a headband, the suit states.

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Native American headbands are recognized as a religious item by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to the suit.

The lawsuit claims the Department of Corrections has violated his right to the free exercise of religion as protected by the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. That law bars states from imposing any substantial burden on a prisoner’s exercise of religion unless it furthers a “compelling interest” and is the least restrictive means available.

Pawochawog-Mequinosh filed grievances with the prison administration four times, asking to obtain a headband, but his lawyers said he received “Kafkaesque” responses, including rejections saying that he did not follow procedures but failing to explain what he had done improperly.

The suit seeks a court order allowing Pawochawog-Mequinosh to “obtain and wear an Apache headband, without giving up his ability to practice other aspects of his sincere religious beliefs, including by possessing and using rune stones and tarot cards.”

The suit also asks the court to issue an injunction ordering the Department of Corrections to “revise its policies and procedures to allow individuals whose religious beliefs and practices do not fit within RIDOC’s system of religious designations to exercise their sincere religious beliefs and practices even when those beliefs and practices do not align with the beliefs and practices that RIDOC has approved for the religious designations.”

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Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.





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Liz McGraw Cries Revealing Unaired Details From Her and Jo-Ellen’s RHORI Clash (EXCLUSIVE) | Bravo

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Liz McGraw Cries Revealing Unaired Details From Her and Jo-Ellen’s RHORI Clash (EXCLUSIVE) | Bravo


For anyone wondering if Liz McGraw is still reeling from her clash with Jo-Ellen Tiberi on The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, she is, ma. In fact, Liz even broke down into tears while revealing unaired details from their Episode 10 fight on The Real Housewives of Rhode Island After Show.

Although the core drama that ignited during a car ride to South Boston was actually between Liz and Alicia Carmody, Jo-Ellen inadvertently entered the fray by trying to mediate their conflict. Even after they arrived for Rosie DiMare’s husband Rich DiMare’s Frank Sinatra-themed dinner show, Jo-Ellen’s peacekeeping efforts continued to rub Liz the wrong way, culminating with them sparring before, during, and after the performance.

“She’s yelling at me and simultaneously trying to fix my face,” Liz recalled. “Get your f–kin’ hand off me … It’s actually burning a hole through me. I don’t feel the love from your hand right now, or good intentions.”

A Complete Guide to the RHORI Cast’s Families, Friendships, Feuds & More (EXCLUSIVE)

Appearing to become emotional, Liz added, “I think, at the time, with all the s–t I was going through, my heart really just couldn’t handle it. That’s the truth. I just wanted away from it. I was steaming.”

After returning to her home in Rhode Island, Liz admitted that she’d “rage texted” Jo-Ellen, however. “I was just so mad,” she explained. 

Why Liz McGraw felt misunderstood amid her arguments with Jo-Ellen Tiberi and Alicia Carmody on RHORI

Ultimately, Liz chalked up her explosive reaction to the fact that nobody seemed to understand where she was coming from as they debated whether or not Alicia was ever actually “homeless” during her childhood.

From Liz’s point of view, the term “homeless” implied that she was living “on the street,” which she felt was insulting to Alicia’s “big, beautiful family” that opened their doors when her father sold their home and “abandoned” her and her mother. Either way, Liz previously insisted during Episode 9 that she wasn’t trying to be “insensitive,” but rather, she simply wanted to protect Alicia’s family members, whom she’d known her whole life.

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RHORI Midseason Trailer Teases an Arrest, Video Proof of Cheating, and More Drama

“I don’t know. I just really wanted to be, like, understood,” Liz tearfully added on the RHORI After Show.

When a producer asked why she was getting so upset, Liz elaborated, “Um… I know the way it looks. I know that this looks like I demand this absolute loyalty s–t. I don’t. I don’t need anyone’s loyalty. Just stop f–king with me. That’s it.”

She continued, “My harsh nature makes it easy to say … I’m like the attacker or something. But, like, I really don’t mean to be. I’m not trying to be the heavy-hitter, I’m not trying to, like, get karma on people. I’m not trying to do any of those things. I’m literally just trying to, like, survive and feel OK.”

Where Liz McGraw and Jo-Ellen Tiberi’s friendship stands after their RHORI fight

Jo-Ellen, for her part, doubled down on the After Show that she was simply “trying to deescalate the situation” between Liz and Alicia. She couldn’t help but remember how Liz had referred to her as “the devil” and “a demon,” however.

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When Alicia, meanwhile, questioned why she’d let Liz speak to her that way, especially when she’s usually “so strong with everybody else,” Jo-Ellen explained, “Because I care about her and because I want her friendship … We have fun when we have fun. And then when she turns that switch, it’s turned.”

During their meetup at the end of Episode 10, however, Jo-Ellen and Liz were unable to work through their issues. In a separate RHORI After Show clip, Jo-Ellen echoed her earlier comments about caring about the friendship, while Liz opened up more about their dynamic and why their initial reconciliation attempt had failed.

“Every time we have these fights, this is what ends up happening,” Liz said. “She’ll do something really f–ked up to me … And when I react or retaliate or say ugly things back, she will become the victim and be like, ‘You really hurt my feelings with that.’”

She added, “If you didn’t do it, there would be no feelings to be hurt, like, you know what I mean? And she rapid-fired these insults at me that I was not prepared for at all. I thought we were, like, trying to, like, work it out. But what did you expect from what you were just saying to me? I’m ‘so mean and nasty.’ I don’t hear that often. But do I feel the need to defend myself when it comes my way? Yeah.”

As Liz concluded, “I think I show how much I care by being hurt. I want you to understand me. I want you to understand where I’m coming from. But I think I am learning that people don’t have to understand me all the time. You know, I’m like, whatever. I am who I am.”

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As you wait to see if Liz and Jo-Ellen can repair their friendship, don’t miss a sneak peek at more drama ahead in the RHORI midseason trailer.



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9 Offbeat Rhode Island Towns To Visit In 2026

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9 Offbeat Rhode Island Towns To Visit In 2026


In Charlestown, a garden village called the Fantastic Umbrella Factory sells no umbrellas. What it has instead is bamboo paths, a flock of emus, and a greenhouse of carnivorous plants, all down a back road as though it needs no explanation. That matter-of-fact oddness runs through the nine towns here. Some keep working relics going rather than roping them off as exhibits, like a windmill in Jamestown still open to the climb and a portrait painter’s birthplace in North Kingstown with its waterwheel still turning. Others trade in the genuinely strange: troll sculptures hidden in the woods, and a stretch of open sand that locals call Rhode Island’s desert. None of them sit far apart, which is the quiet advantage of a small state.

Little Compton

The marina in Little Compton, Rhode Island.

Little Compton’s village of Adamsville holds Gray’s General Store, founded in 1788 and run by the same family for seven generations until it closed in 2012. Rhode Island officials once proclaimed it the oldest continuously operating general store in the country, and its marble soda fountain and penny candy still live in local memory. The store sold johnnycakes made from cornmeal ground at Gray’s Grist Mill, which sits about 100 yards down the road and just across the state line in Westport, Massachusetts. Elsewhere in town, the Whitehead Preserve at Dundery Brook runs a boardwalk trail through ponds and wetland forest. Sakonnet Gardens opens its tightly planted garden “rooms,” hidden pathways, and water features by limited reservation, so anyone hoping to see it should book well ahead.

New Shoreham

The National Hotel on Block Island in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, with U.S. flags on display.
The National Hotel on Block Island in New Shoreham, Rhode Island. Editorial credit: Ray Geiger / Shutterstock.com

New Shoreham is the town that covers Block Island, reached by ferry from the mainland. The Southeast Lighthouse, built in 1875, stands above the Mohegan Bluffs on the island’s south side, where a long stairway drops to a beach beneath the clay cliffs. People scoop the natural wet clay, let it dry in the sun, and rinse it off in the surf, a ritual that has become part of a Block Island summer. Inland, the 1661 Farm keeps a small menagerie of exotic animals, including alpacas, emus, and kangaroos, and rents rooms on the property along with a wellness center. Cars come over on the ferry, though the island is small enough to cover by rented moped or bicycle.

Charlestown

Sand Sculpture at the Seafood Festival in Ninigret Park, Charlestown, Rhode Island
Sand Sculpture at the Seafood Festival in Ninigret Park, Charlestown. Image credit: TongRoRo / Shutterstock.com.

Charlestown is a quiet coastal town whose strangest stop is the Fantastic Umbrella Factory, the garden village named at the top of this list. Bamboo paths wind past small teepees and rock mazes to pens of emus, goats, and ducks, with bohemian shops and a greenhouse selling carnivorous plants such as the Venus flytrap. A few minutes away, Ninigret Park holds two of the giant recycled-wood trolls that the Danish artist Thomas Dambo has installed around the world, and tracking them down feels like a treasure hunt. The same park is home to Frosty Drew Observatory, which opens on Friday nights under some of the darkest skies in the state for views of the Milky Way, the planets, and distant nebulae. East Beach adds clear water and white sand for a quieter afternoon.

Jamestown

Aerial view of the Beavertail Lighthouse in Beavertail State Park in Jamestown, Rhode Island.
Aerial view of the Beavertail Lighthouse in Beavertail State Park in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

On Conanicut Island, the Jamestown Windmill is the town’s signature landmark, a three-story octagonal mill built in 1787 to replace an earlier 1730 windmill on the same hill. Its sails turned until 1896, and the structure still stands in the Windmill Hill Historic District, open for a climb up the winding stairs into the bonnet where the gears sit. The town marks it with Windmill Day each July. The shoreline carries a different kind of history: Beavertail, Fort Getty, and Fort Wetherill state parks hold concrete passageways and gun emplacements left from the island’s coastal defenses, with coves below for swimming and offshore wrecks for certified divers. Watson Historic Farm, a 265-acre colonial-era farm, runs hiking trails toward the water.

Lincoln

Aerial view of the historic village center of Albion in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Aerial view of the historic village center of Albion in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Lincoln Woods State Park is studded with glacial boulders that climbers know by name, among them Ship Rock, Buddy Boulder, and Bear Hug. Deeper in, an overgrown section locals call the “post-apocalyptic” woods hides old stone walls, abandoned structures, and roadbeds swallowed by trees. Olney Pond anchors the park with hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking, and the whole place stays quiet because it takes some effort to reach. Along the Blackstone River, the Blackstone River Bikeway follows the old canal past preserved 19th-century mill villages such as Ashton, including an elevated boardwalk over the Lonsdale marshlands.

Johnston

Tulip Farm in Johnston, Rhode Island.
Tulip Farm in Johnston, Rhode Island.

Johnston keeps its oddities in the woods. Snake Den State Park is scattered with ruins and relics that turn an ordinary walk into a low-key treasure hunt, while Johnston Memorial Park adds more open ground for a morning outside. Dame Farm and Orchards works year-round, with apple picking and a corn maze in fall, blueberries and peaches in summer, and wagon rides through the orchard’s wooded hills. The farm’s apple cider donuts have a following of their own.

Bristol

Adults dressed in British red coats from the American Revolution, march in a fourth of July parade in Bristol, Rhode island.
Adults dressed in British red coats from the American Revolution march in a Fourth of July parade in Bristol, Rhode Island. Editorial credit: James Kirkikis / Shutterstock.com

Bristol runs the oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration in the country, first held in 1785 and still drawing crowds that dwarf the town. Its Main Street is painted red, white, and blue year-round, and on the holiday the bands and floats parade for hours before the fireworks close the night. The rest of the year, Bristol looks the part of a waterfront New England town, with historic architecture, the 18th-century Coggeshall Farm Museum at Colt State Park, and the open-air Chapel-by-the-Sea. The East Bay Bike Path runs 14.5 paved miles through coastal and wooded stretches, and the Beehive Café serves pastries and lunch by the water. On the strength of that July tradition, Bristol has been called America’s most patriotic town.

West Greenwich

West Greenwich Public Library in West Greenwich, Rhode Island
West Greenwich Public Library in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.

West Greenwich holds something a small New England state has no business having: a patch of open sand dunes that locals nickname The Dunes, or “Rhode Island’s desert.” It sits inside the Big River Management Area, roughly 8,300 acres where dunes meet woods and green swimming holes. Stepstone Falls is a multi-tiered cascade with an accessible swimming hole, and Breakheart Ponds opens onto horseback and mountain-biking trails. Just outside town, another of Thomas Dambo’s trolls hides near Browning Mill Pond in the Arcadia Management Area.

North Kingstown

Updike Square in Wickford Village, North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Updike Square in Wickford Village, North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

North Kingstown was the birthplace of Gilbert Stuart, the painter behind the portrait of George Washington that appears on the dollar bill. His restored 1750s home and mill still run a wooden waterwheel and gristmill, set among gardens, a millpond, and a stream where river herring migrate in from the Atlantic Ocean each spring on their way to Carr Pond. Nearby, Smith’s Castle preserves nearly four centuries of history on a site that traces back to a 1630s trading post, which makes the present house one of the oldest standing in Rhode Island. Casey Farm, an 18th-century working farm, overlooks Narragansett Bay, and the seaside village of Wickford, laid out around 1709, fills its blocks with eclectic shops and local eateries.

The Quieter Side of Rhode Island

What ties these nine places together is not a postcard version of New England but the opposite: working mills, a year-round painted Main Street, troll sculptures in the trees, and a desert that has no business existing. The state’s size means a person can string several of them together in a single day without much planning, and each one repays the detour with something genuinely its own.

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RI Lottery Powerball, Numbers Midday winning numbers for May 30, 2026

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The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 30, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from May 30 drawing

01-27-35-44-52, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Numbers numbers from May 30 drawing

Midday: 0-6-8-1

Evening: 7-6-1-2

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from May 30 drawing

01-11-21-25-36, Extra: 05

Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 30 drawing

05-14-22-28-30, Bonus: 01

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

  • Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
  • Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
  • Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.

When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
  • Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
  • Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
  • Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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