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‘She breathed life and love into everything’: Popular music teacher mourned in Smithfield

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‘She breathed life and love into everything’: Popular music teacher mourned in Smithfield


SMITHFIELD – The town bade farewell this week to a teacher whom Superintendent Dawn Bartz described as “a presence” in the schools and in the community at large.

Katherine Young, 37, a music and theater teacher, died Dec. 30 after a brief, sudden illness that published reports have described as complications from influenza.

Young started as a part-time high school music teacher 10 years ago.

“She went beyond just what her job was,” Bartz said Wednesday, the day of Young’s funeral. That extended to adding more duties to her position.

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“She really advocated and built it into a full-time position,” Bartz said. Not only did Young teach theater and music at the high school, she also lent a hand in the middle school drama program and worked with music teachers at the elementary schools, reaching students of all ages.

“Her fierce and passionate dedication to the SHS community will never be forgotten,” the high school’s music boosters club posted on Facebook when announcing Young’s death. “Her smile shone brightly. May her legacy live on through the lives of those she has touched.”

More: Rhode Island’s school star ratings are out for 2023. See how your district did.

Among her duties, Young oversaw the fall and winter concerts at the high school and its spring musical. On the last Friday before the school’s December break, Young presided over the winter concert with the same energy she brought to all aspects of her job, Bartz said.

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But, two weeks later, she died.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Bartz. “She was too vibrant, too alive, too energetic.”

The spring musical, “The Addams Family,” will be held in April this year instead of its customary March, with students playing the roles Young had selected for them before the break.

“She was dedicated to her students, not only as a teacher, but also as a mentor and advocate who provided support to anyone who needed it,” said an obituary prepared by her family. “She breathed life and love into everything in which she was involved.”

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“Where she was was always a joyful place where kids wanted to be,” said Bartz. “You couldn’t help smiling when you were around Katherine.”

Young was popular with students, including at school pep rallies. “She always got the loudest cheers,” the superintendent said. “She was never afraid to be herself. She didn’t care if she came across goofy, silly, serious. She was authentic.”

More: This program will help RI families with special-needs students. Here’s what to know.

The boosters club closed its Facebook post: “Thank you, Katherine, for making our world a better place.”

Young, who lived in Greenville, was born in Providence, the daughter of Stephen C. and Cheryl A. (Mulcahey) Olszewski. She was the partner of Richard “Ricky” E. Young and the granddaughter of Dora and the late Daniel Mulcahey and the late Theodore and Olga Olszewski. She was the mother of Remy and Ramona Young and sister of Christina Wolf, of Providence.

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A graduate of Coventry High School, Young held a bachelor’s degree in music education from Gordon College and a master’s in education from the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York.



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2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

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2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick


WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.

Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.

According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.

The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.

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The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.

State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information


A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.

Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.

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McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.

“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”

“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”

The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.

At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe


As the two-year anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, widowed single father Scott Naso is sounding an alarm to fellow parents across the country — and especially in Rhode Island, where he lives with his now 4-year-old daughter, Laila.



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