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She was a suffragist, stage and screen actor, and RI’s first female lawmaker | Opinion

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She was a suffragist, stage and screen actor, and RI’s first female lawmaker | Opinion


Ken Dooley is a member of the board of directors of the Heritage Harbor Foundation.

Her Irish friends would agree that Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill, a stage and screen actor of the silent film era, a suffragist, and the first woman elected to the Rhode Island legislature, died most appropriately on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1975. The resolution passed by the state House of Representatives recognizing March 8, 2007, as Women’s History Day mentioned O’Neill’s accomplishment in becoming the state’s first woman legislator “just two short years after women gained the right to vote.” To call her a pioneer would be an understatement.

Born in Woonsocket in 1880, Isabelle was the youngest of 13 children and moved to Providence in 1892 with her family. She attended the Boston College of Drama and Oratory. Marrying John O’Neill in 1907, she had one child, who died at age 3. Her marriage ended later in divorce, and she never remarried.

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A powerful speaker, Isabelle was an actress on the vaudeville stage and in silent films, establishing the Ahearn School of Elocution in 1900 when she was 20 years old. Her students gave recitals at the Providence Opera House. She also worked as an actor for nearly two decades (1900–1918), taking both lead and supporting roles in primarily summer stock and vaudeville shows in Rhode Island and New York. In 1915, she began to take roles in silent films such as Joe Lincoln’s “Cape Cod Stories,” made by the Providence-based Eastern Film Corporation. O’Neill became a suffragist and began campaigning for Democratic candidates in Rhode Island. 

More: Hope & Main’s Lisa Raiola is USA TODAY Woman of the Year RI honoree. Here’s why

Perhaps inspired by her father, a former councilman, she entered politics and made history in 1922 as the first woman elected to the General Assembly. O’Neill’s acting career and divorced status made her a somewhat risqué choice, but her solid Catholic background and maternalistic agenda affirmed her respectability. In that election year, she also chaired the women’s committee for the gubernatorial campaign of William S. Flynn.

Like other female politicians of her day, she built a career on “women’s” issues, such as pensions for widowed mothers, better teacher pay and protections for female workers. On June 18, 1923, she steered a maternity bill through the House, the first of its kind in the nation, only to see it killed in Senate Committee. Not content with the support of her middle-class Irish American peers, she courted the state’s polyglot electorate by delivering speeches in French and Italian. After eight years in the House of Representatives, the popular Smith Hill legislator moved to the Senate and served as deputy Democratic floor leader, the first woman in the nation to hold this position. Another career highlight came in 1924 when she was temporarily Chair of the Democratic National Convention.

More: Peace in the streets: Arkansas and RI settle world’s shortest St. Patrick’s parade battle

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Throughout her career, O’Neill was known for her outspoken and principled stands. Despite, or perhaps, because of her unconventional life, some seized on her as a model of activist Catholic womanhood, frequently inviting her to speak to parish groups on such topics as “Women in Politics.” At the request of President Franklin Roosevelt, she left the state Senate after only two years to serve as the president’s legislative liaison to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. In 1943, she resigned and returned to her home state, where she took an executive position at the Rhode Island Labor Department to work on the cost-of-living index. She retired from government service in 1954 and passed away in 1975 at the age of 94.

In 2011, the YWCA of Rhode Island created the Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill Award in her memory to honor the state’s women leaders. She was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2014.



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Smithfield’s response to anti-Semitic hazing incident is ‘egregious,’ Jewish Alliance says

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Smithfield’s response to anti-Semitic hazing incident is ‘egregious,’ Jewish Alliance says


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The mother of a Jewish football player told the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island that five Smithfield football players, all seniors, trapped her son in a bathroom and sprayed him with Lysol while yelling anti-Jewish slurs, according to a representative of the alliance.

The Alliance staff member, Stephanie Hague, says the woman told her the entrapment involved a chair pushed against a door, but it wasn’t clear from the woman’s comments if her son was trapped in a bathroom, or in a particular area of a bathroom.

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Hague said she could not further clarify the specific circumstances of the Lysol-spraying but as she understood it, the player was exposed to the spray during the entrapment and other hazing.

Did the Smithfield football players use anti-Semitic slurs?

“The reason I am not sharing the slurs is because they are, one, not suitable for print, but also because there is some dispute of exactly the phrasing,” said the Alliance’s president, Adam Greenman.

“But we do know that they were anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic slurs and the incident was witnessed by 20 other football players,” Greenman added.

Hague said that Greenman’s comment is “correct.” She emphasized that she is not a lawyer or police investigator, but as part of her job at the Alliance, she responds to matters of antisemitism.

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Greenman said the organization has talked to the student’s mother and to others who witnessed what took place.

“We feel fairly confident that we understand the details of what happened,” he said.

Alliance putting public focus on district’s response to the incident

Hague and Greenman made those comments on Monday, Oct. 27 as the student’s mother and the Jewish Alliance made plans to bring attention to the situation at an anticipated meeting of Smithfield’s school committee.

Both the Alliance and the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center have condemned the school district’s handling of the incident, asserting that five seniors were initially kicked off the team but were then reinstated to the team on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

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The players’ return to the team was in time to participate in Friday night’s game against Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout, which the team won 16-6.

On Thursday, Oct. 23, the school district’s Superintendent Dawn Bartz, gave a one-sentence statement in an email seeking comment on the situation: “The disciplinary process has concluded, and we will not be discussing details involving students.”

“The fact that the school district has reversed course on consequences for the students is just egregious,” Greenman said.

“We all know that if a consequence is taken away for something like this, it encourages that behavior moving forward,” he said. “We’re very concerned that the students involved were reinstated. We’re very concerned that it seems like the school district is not taking this seriously.”

Meeting canceled hours after Jewish Alliance encourages public attendance

Later on Monday, it became clear that Smithfield Town Council had canceled its Tuesday, Oct. 28, joint session with the School Committee.

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An executive assistant to the town manager in Smithfield confirmed that the meeting had been canceled, noting that there are plans to reschedule the meeting, but no date has been set at this time.

The town clerk later said that based on the volume of queries from members the public and news media, the town determined it needed to move the joint meeting from the Town Council’s chambers to a larger venue, according to Donna Corrao, who is an executive assistant for Town Manager Robert W. Seltzer.

The cancellation came hours after the Alliance sent a press release encouraging the public to attend the meeting to “express your outrage and desire to act” after a “horrific antisemitic hazing incident at Smithfield High School.”

The Alliance had encouraged people to:

  • Attend in support and solidarity
  • Share brief testimony if you have a strong connection to Smithfield or a compelling personal experience to contribute
  • Hold signs and wear pins, which would have been available at the meeting.



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Special Olympics Rhode Island celebrates completion of sixth Law Enforcement Torch Run | ABC6

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Special Olympics Rhode Island celebrates completion of sixth Law Enforcement Torch Run | ABC6


Special Olympics Rhode Island Law Enforcement Torch Run 2025. (Special Olympics Rhode Island)

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (WLNE) — Special Olympics Rhode Island said it celebrated the completion of the sixth annual Law Enforcement Torch Run at its Fall Festival Sunday.

Organizers said the 70-mile, 24 hour run raised funds and awareness for Special Olympics athletes in the state.

The six members of law enforcement who took part in the run were:

  • Jim Baum, Founder of the 24-HOUR SUPER WALK and Assistant Attorney General at the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General
  • Zachary Coyne, Police Officer, City of Warwick
  • Eric Leclerc, Founder of the 24-HOUR SUPER WALK and Police Detective, City of Cranston
  • Mark Lindberg, Field Scientist for Cytiva
  • Sarah McNulty, Police Officer, City of Central Falls
  • Kerri McWilliams,  Correctional Officer, Department of Corrections Women’s Division

The over $10,000 raised by the event will go towards the organization’s sports, health, and leadership programs.





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RI Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Oct. 25, 2025

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The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Oct. 25, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

02-12-22-39-67, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

21-32-34-35-44, Lucky Ball: 05

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Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Numbers numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

Midday: 0-6-0-5

Evening: 4-2-5-4

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

05-09-18-25-37, Extra: 29

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Check Wild Money 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 Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 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.
  • 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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