Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s online benefits application system shuts down after cyberattack
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262657/VRG_Illo_STK001_B_Sala_Hacker.jpg?ssl=1 "Rhode Island’s online benefits application system shuts down after cyberattack")
Rhode Island took its RIBridges system for applying for public assistance programs like Medicaid offline Friday following a cyberattack that may have exposed the personal data of hundreds of thousands of people, reports CBS affiliate WPRI 12.
With its RIBridges system offline, Rhode Islanders won’t be able to log into RIBridges’ web portal or app, used to apply for Medicaid, food stamps, and other state benefits, says a government site providing updates on the breach. Governor Dan McKee said during a press briefing that attackers may have gotten personal info like names, addresses, and social security numbers of those who’ve used the system between 2019 to now.
State Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer Brian Tardiff, who also spoke at the briefing, said the attack is not ransomware, but “more of an extortion type activity by this cybercriminal group.”
The attack also affected HealthSource RI, Rhode Island’s healthcare marketplace. The state hopes to get the system back online before the healthcare open enrollment period ends on January 31st, as WPRI writes. In the meantime, mail-in paper applications and instructions for using them are available at the state’s Department of Human Services website.
The breach update site says that tomorrow, the state will publish the number of a call center for help with the breach, available from 11AM to 8PM ET Sunday morning and from 9AM to 9PM ET Monday through Friday after that. The Rhode Island government also plans to mail instructions for free credit monitoring to those impacted.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Providence police said four juveniles are accused of assaulting a 51-year-old man on Monday.
According to police, they responded to 249 Manton Ave. for a report of an assault.
Witnesses told police that several people assaulted a man, knocked him to the ground, repeatedly kicked and punched him.
They then fled the area, according to officials.
Providence police said the victim was taken to Rhode Island Hospital.
“In the early morning hours of January 20, detectives were notified that the victim’s condition had significantly deteriorated,” a Providence police spokesperson said.
According to officials, three juveniles were taken into custody later that day for a separate disturbance.
Police said the three admitted to being involved with the assault of the 51-year-old man during an interview.
A fourth juvenile was apprehended Tuesday night.
Providence police said the four juveniles — three 12-year-olds and an 11-year-old — were charged with felony assault and conspiracy.
Authorities said they will also face additional charges stemming from a later disturbance.
The juveniles are being held at the Rhode Island Training School.
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The victim remains in serious condition with life-threatening injuries, Providence police said.
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.
Rhode Island State Police announced they have cited the driver of a car that lost a tire on Interstate 95 in Pawtucket.
A Rhode Island State Police cruiser pulled over on the highway Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (WJAR)
Police said the crash happened at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday near the Walcott Street overpass.
Officers said one of the vehicles driving northbound lost a tire. The tire then flew into the southbound side and hit a vehicle traveling in the high-speed lane.
Police said the vehicle that was hit by the tire was also rear-ended by another car.
An ambulance pulled over on Interstate 95 southbound in Pawtucket Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 14, 2026. (WJAR)
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Officers said the person that was hit remains in critical condition.
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