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St. Mary’s, Washington Bridge closure will get a closer look from lawmakers in coming weeks

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St. Mary’s, Washington Bridge closure will get a closer look from lawmakers in coming weeks


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PROVIDENCE – A legislative probe of what happened that required the immediate closing of the westbound lanes of Interstate 195 West on December 11 is moving up on the legislative agenda.

In an interview this week, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi told The Journal he anticipates the first House Oversight Committee hearing this year will happen in the “next week or two” and it will focus on St. Mary’s Home for Children, in the wake of a newly released report on “significant safety concerns and abusive living conditions” there.

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“It will be followed by an oversight at DOT,” he said of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, headed since 2015 by Peter Alviti.

What is the goal of the oversight hearing?

Asked what he hopes will come from a House Oversight Committee hearing, Shekarchi said: “I just think it needs to have a full vetting of the story – what happened, why it happened if they know … what they are doing to find out those answers and … when we expect it to be fixed.”

And even more basically: “What happened? What actions have they taken?”

“We have kind of heard that in dribs and drabs along the way,” he continued. “I think it’s good we hear a comprehensive report and update on the bridge … 30 to 45 days since it happened.”

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Will it be a joint hearing with the Senate?

Shekarchi said he has asked Senate leaders if they would like to hold a joint hearing. When? “Before the February break,” he said of the legislature’s Feb. 19-23 week off. It remains to be seen if the Senate will go along.

When asked, Senate spokesman Greg Pare said: “Our intention is to have Senate oversight hearings at the appropriate time. The President and Speaker have discussed doing so jointly, but no determination has been made at this time.” (He did not respond to follow-up questions on what would be the “appropriate time.”)

What is going on with the Washington Bridge?

In December, both Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said there was merit in waiting for the Federal Highway Administration to do their own investigation first of how the bridge so quickly deteriorated less six months after its last recorded inspection.

But when asked on Wednesday what the FHWA has done so far, DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin said: “We have had no indications from FHWA regarding a site visit nor any requests for records.”

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More: Investigation into the Washington Bridge’s condition is coming. What will happen next.

That means the only investigation underway in the month since the abrupt closure of the westbound span of the bridge is the “forensic analysis” being done by one of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s regular bridge-inspection contractors. The question: how did anchor rods holding it together break sometime between July and December?

The initial forensic analysis is being done by WJE as a subcontractor to Michael Baker Co., which DOT spokeswoman Lisbeth Pettengill has described as “our regular bridge-inspection company.”

The McKee administration has in recent days, however, given a contract to the Connecticut-based McNary Bergeron & Johannesen, LLC to do what is broadly described as a “forensic structural engineering analysis and inspection on Washington Bridge” at a cost of $27,019.83.



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Rhode Island

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.

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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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