PROVIDENCE — The special election to fill the vacant Ward 2 City Council seat on Providence’s East Side will be held on Dec. 2, the Rhode Island Board of Elections confirmed Tuesday, with a primary election on Nov. 4.

In a decidedly blue ward (86 percent voted for Kamala Harris last year), the Democratic primary is expected to be the main event, drawing a competitive field for an open seat.

The special election was prompted by the resignation of Helen Anthony, who stepped down for health reasons as she continues to recover from being hit by an ATV in California two years ago.

The winner of the special election will serve out the rest of her term, which goes through the end of 2026, and would be eligible to run for three more four-year terms. The seat is up for a regular election next year.

Ward 2 is in the wealthiest part of the city, including the Blackstone, College Hill, and Wayland neighborhoods, and contains part of Brown University’s campus.

The East Side typically has the highest voter turnout in the city and is highly influential in both state and city politics. In a non-election year with little else on the ballot in Rhode Island, the race could drum up outsized attention.

Candidates have to declare their intent to run with the Providence Board of Canvassers on Sept. 25 and 26. Four Democrats are running so far.

David Caldwell, owner of Caldwell & Johnson Custom Builders, and Jeff Levy, an attorney at Levy & Blackman, both announced their campaigns in the last two weeks. (Levy is married to former state Senator Gayle Goldin.)

Jill Davidson, the director of development and communications at the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, told the Globe Tuesday she is definitely throwing her hat in the ring. And Matt McDermott, a veteran Democratic strategist who works as senior vice president Whitman Insight Strategies, said he is announcing his campaign on Wednesday.

The all-Democratic City Council has 15 seats, and its current leadership leans more progressive than Mayor Brett Smiley, also a Democrat. A progressive win in Ward 2 could help council leaders have a veto-proof majority when they clash with Smiley, while a more moderate Democrat could align more closely with the mayor.

Smiley won every polling place in Ward 2 in the three-way 2022 Democratic primary for mayor.

Anthony’s departure also left open a seat on the Finance Committee, of which she was the chair. The powerful committee vets and approves the city’s budget and tax rates, contracts, and other spending.

Council President Rachel Miller appointed Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan to the empty seat on the committee, and the panel elected Ryan as chair Tuesday night. Ryan was previously the chair under former Council President John Igliozzi, but had not previously been part of Miller’s leadership team.

Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.

Air is one of those things you almost never think about, until it starts to feel harder to breathe.

For those with allergies or asthma, getting a breath of fresh air is extremely important, which means so is the air quality where they live.

A new study from HouseFresh.com recently crunched the numbers from IQAir to figure out which cities had the best air quality in America, and a tiny SouthCoast town ranked pretty high.

As someone who feels the effects of seasonal allergies every year, especially the fall allergy season, finding fresh air always seems like a must when the weather starts to turn.

READ MORE: Superfood That Help Tackle New England Allergy Season

But with manmade pollutants, wildfires hazing up the skies and humidity often on the rise, the air isn’t always as clean as we might want it to be.

Massachusetts Air Quality Alert Days 2025

Air quality alerts days rose into the double digits for summer 2025, warning residents of poor or hazardous air throughout the state. With wildfire season still underway, that number could increase again.

HouseFresh.com looked at every city with populations over 10,000 and ranked them from best air quality to worst. Then they created a chart showing which city had the best air quality in each state.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island Cities With Best Air Quality

While overall Waimea, Hawaii had the best air quality in the country, North Kingstown helped Rhode Island ranked #5 overall and Acushnet landed Massachusetts #9.

Yes, of all the cities and towns in Massachusetts, it’s Acushnet where residents are breathing a little easier.

READ MORE: Acushnet Creamery Turned Your Favorite Childhood Cereal into a Dessert Drink

Honestly I would have thought a mountainous town in the Berkshires would have the cleanest air in MA, but the numbers don’t lie and Acushnet ranked highest overall.

Rhode Island Ranks Among Best In U.S. For Air Quality

Perhaps more impressive was that Rhode Island in its entirety, ranked as the state with the third best air quality behind Hawaii and Alaska.

So it seems that when you step outside this fall in Southern New England, you can feel free to breathe in deeply.

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 14^th, Tiverton ranked 17^th, and Rogers High School in Newport ranked 24^th.

Nationally, Classical ranked 166^th of 18,000 schools, Barrington ranked 211 nationally, East Greenwich ranked 825^th nationally, Portsmouth ranked 848^th nationally, and Blackstone Prep ranked 950^th 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 12^th 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 12^th 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, 848^th 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 14^th 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 17^th 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 24^th 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