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Two of the state’s college football teams found their names on FCS poll ballots this week.
The University of Rhode Island continued to climb in the rankings despite a bye week. Brown used contributions by a pair of Ivy League award winners to take a place just outside the national elite.
The Rams check in at No. 20 ahead of their weekend trip to Hampton. The Bears are among teams receiving votes after a Saturday thriller with Harvard.
URI needed a late Malik Grant rushing touchdown — his third of the game — to outlast Long Island entering its time off. The Rams improved to 3-1 overall and 3-0 against FCS foes. They’ll be back in Coastal Athletic Association action against the Pirates before a Governor’s Cup meeting against Brown set for Oct. 12 at Meade Stadium.
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The Bears rallied for a signature win against Harvard, their first against the Crimson since 2010. Brown pounced on an errant field-goal snap in the final minute and Jake Willcox threw a touchdown pass to Mark Mahoney with 21 seconds left to cap a 31-28 classic. Willcox fired all three of his scoring strikes in the second half, the last two to Mahoney deep in the fourth quarter.
Elias Archie and Matt Childs were key for the Bears while erasing a 21-3 deficit, and they were honored Monday as a result. Archie picked up conference Defensive Player of the Week honors while Childs earned a Rookie of the Week selection. Both made critical plays on either side of halftime.
Archie’s interception and return to the Harvard 1 set up Brown’s opening touchdown late in the second quarter, as Nate Lussier crashed in on a direct snap. Childs caught a 75-yard bomb from Willcox down the middle for a score in the third quarter, escaping out of the backfield and eluding downfield coverage. The Bears moved to 2-0 entering an in-state home matchup with Bryant on Saturday.
URI is one of four CAA teams ranked this week, joining No. 6 Villanova, No. 12 William & Mary and No. 21 New Hampshire. Richmond, Stony Brook and Monmouth are all receiving votes outside the top 25. Brown and Dartmouth are the only two Ivy teams that appeared on ballots this week, with both the Bears and Big Green off to 2-0 starts.
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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.
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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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.
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.
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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