Taylor Swift’s Wedding Guests Don’t Know Ceremony Location — Yet
Rhode Island
Portsmouth rated fourth-best high school in RI – What’s Up Newp
Portsmouth High School was recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as among the best high schools in Rhode Island and the best in the Newport area.
U.S. News & World Report recently released its statewide rankings (for 58 schools) and national rankings (for 18,000 schools).
Topping Rhode Island was Classical High School in Providence, followed by Barrington, East Greenwich, Portsmouth, and Blackstone Valley Prep High School.
Among other area schools, Middletown ranked 14th, Tiverton ranked 17th, and Rogers High School in Newport ranked 24th.
Nationally, Classical ranked 166th of 18,000 schools, Barrington ranked 211 nationally, East Greenwich ranked 825th nationally, Portsmouth ranked 848th nationally, and Blackstone Prep ranked 950th nationally.
National rankings for the other Newport area schools: Middletown, 3,273; Tiverton, 3,976; and Rogers, 6,069.
U.S. News & World Report developed its rankings by measuring six different proficiencies:
- College Readiness Index, which measures the “proportion of a school’s 12th graders who took and earned a qualifying score on Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams.”
- College Curriculum Breadth Index, “calculated among a school’s 2022-2023 12th graders from the percentage who took, and the percentage who earned qualifying scores on multiple AP or IB exams.”
- State Assessment Proficiency, which measures student proficiency in standardized tests related to math, reading and science.
- State Assessment Performance. Also derived by measuring student proficiency in math, reading and science, but compared with “what U.S. News predicted for a school with its demographic characteristics in its state.”
- Underserved Student Performance a measure that assesses learning outcomes only among Black, Hispanic, and low-income students.
- Graduation Rates among students who entered the ninth grade in 2019-2020 academic year, and who graduated four years later.
Here is how each of the Newport area schools ranked in each of the six categories:
- Portsmouth ranked fourth statewide, 848th nationally.
- College readiness – 63 percent.
- College Curriculum Breadth – 49 percent.
- Math Proficiency – 44 percent.
- Reading Proficiency – 71 percent.
- Science Proficiency – 70 percent.
- Graduation Rate – 96 percent.
- Middletown ranked 14th statewide, 3,273 nationally.
- College readiness – 48 percent.
- College Curriculum Breadth – 30 percent.
- Math Proficiency – 32 percent.
- Reading Proficiency – 66 percent.
- Science Proficiency – 32 percent.
- Graduation Rate – 91 percent.
- Tiverton ranked 17th statewide, 3,976 nationally.
- College readiness – 44 percent.
- College Curriculum Breadth – 32 percent.
- Math Proficiency – 27 percent.
- Reading Proficiency – 54 percent.
- Science Proficiency – 47 percent.
- Graduation Rate – 98 percent.
- Rogers ranked 24th statewide, 6,069 nationally.
- College readiness – 34 percent.
- College Curriculum Breadth – 15 percent.
- Math Proficiency – 16 percent.
- Reading Proficiency – 44 percent.
- Science Proficiency – 20 percent.
- Graduation Rate – 85 percent.
To view the entire Rhode Island lists go to the U.S. News & World Report website: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/rhode-island/rankings
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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.
Rhode Island
When will RI see promised Time-Varying Rates on electric bills? | Opinion
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.
Rhode Island
Target 12: State of RI’s fire hoses
With wildfires becoming more frequent in Rhode Island, the state’s stockpile of specialty hoses to battle these blazes is being stretched thin.
Target 12 investigator Tim White got a firsthand look at the condition of the critical firefighting tools in Rhode Island and learned what’s being done to repair or replace them.
Watch the Target 12 exclusive Tuesday at 5 p.m. on WPRI 12.
Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.
Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
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