Rhode Island
Utility bill revolt; Social Security anxiety; March Madness in RI: Top stories this week
Frank Tillinghast’s goal in 3rd overtime seals state title for Hendricken
Bishop Hendricken wins the RIIL Boys Hockey State Championship outlasting Prout in a three-overtime thriller at PC’s Schneider Arena on Sunday night.
Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of March 9, supported by your subscriptions.
Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:
A hearing Monday night in Warwick was supposed to be about proposals that would see a net decrease in energy bills for most Rhode Islanders, but it sure didn’t feel like it.
Beforehand, protesters rallied outside the offices of state utilities regulators to complain about Rhode Island Energy’s prices, and during the standing-room-only hearing, speaker after speaker aimed criticism at the state’s largest gas and electric utility.
Joyce Fiore was one of several customers who brought their bills up to the podium to read off the skyrocketing numbers. Her electric bill jumped from $164 in December to $580 in February, she said.
“I’ve lived in Cranston for close to 50 years now, and I’ve never seen bills like this,” she told the two members of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission who were present at the hearing.
Read the full story to see what Rhode Island is proposing to bring relief from high utility bills
Local news: ‘I can’t afford it anymore.’ Rhode Islanders slam utility and high costs of energy
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the ex-administrator of the Social Security Administration, said he knows why President Donald Trump is letting Elon Musk’s minions at the Department of Government Efficiency “break” Social Security from the inside out – and he hopes people “wake up, rise up” before it’s too late.
Appearing with U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on a virtual “town hall” on Tuesday night, O’Malley ‒ who has predicted benefit interruptions within 90 days ‒ told the audience:
“They’re gutting it. They’re breaking it from the inside to make it incapable of serving the American people who paid for it and who paid for the customer service. I do believe they want to break it so they can liquidate it, because they want those trust fund dollars … the $2.7 trillion that is built up in that trust fund reserve, intentionally.”
The full story offers details about O’Malley’s prediction of benefit interruptions and Whitehouse’s proposed fix to indefinitely extend the solvency of Social Security.
Government: Martin O’Malley joined Sheldon Whitehouse to raise the alarm on Social Security.
Maybe Rhode Island’s state auditors should take a cue from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and start loudly crowing about all the government waste they’ve found.
It might get people to pay attention, or even just realize they exist.
Last year, the Office of Internal Audit saved the state $3.7 million by finding a coding error that the Department of Human Services had overlooked. But most Rhode Islanders probably never heard about that.
Or how about the fact that 1,640 people were still on Rhode Island’s Medicaid rolls a year or more after their deaths?
That’s just one of the eyebrow-raising items on the long list of problems that the Office of the Auditor General (yes, there are two separate offices dedicated to audits) highlighted in the most recent report summarizing its annual review of the state’s finances.
Political Scene explores what each of the auditor offices do, whom they report to, and whether either one is truly independent and immune from political pressures.
Political Scene: RI’s two state auditor offices routinely find waste and problems. But is anyone listening?
PROVIDENCE − Aiden Craft set the table. Mason Crain faked a shot and unselfishly surrendered the moment. And Frank Tillinghast graduates as a hero and a four-time hockey champion.
All three Hendricken skaters touched the puck in the game-winning sequence in triple overtime against Prout. Crain sliced the puck through the slot, to Tillinghast on the right wing, and the senior didn’t hesitate. Tillinghast guided the forehand shot and Hendricken, to its fourth straight boys hockey State Championship at Providence College’s Schneider Arena.
The, 3-2, triple overtime triumph is Hendricken’s 11th title overall. The Journal’s Jacob Rousseau breaks down the thrilling overtime win.
High school sports: In 3rd overtime, Hendricken wins RIIL Boys Hockey State Championship. Here’s how
PROVIDENCE – Cracked sidewalks are an ordinary part of city life, but one local artist sees them as an opportunity to start dialogues about environmental threats to the community.
Providence-based artist Linda Ford is an avid cyclist and walker who spends a lot of time outside. A few years ago, as she was learning more about pollution and contamination issues in Rhode Island, she started noticing how cracked sidewalks looked a bit like waterways and how relevant that felt to living in the Ocean State.
“New England is surrounded by water of all different kinds,” Ford said. “I started to fill them with blue cement and became interested in them as these miniature riverscapes.”
A grant allowed her to expand the project into a citywide public art installation that beautifies an eyesore while raising awareness of environmental issues.
Good news: ‘They might be a surprise’: Why a Providence artist is turning sidewalk cracks into art
To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.
Rhode Island
R.I. leading multi-state lawsuit against Trump administration housing policy – The Boston Globe
Rhode Island and other states had recently won a ruling against HUD’s attempt to overhaul a federal homelessness grant program in fiscal year 2025.
US District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy found that HUD acted arbitrarily and capriciously in imposing illegal conditions on billions of dollars in funding for the Continuum of Care program, through which HUD distributes billions of dollars to state, local, and nonprofit agencies to support housing and services for people facing homelessness.
For more than two decades, HUD had followed a “Housing First” model, which prioritizes rapid placement in permanent housing without requiring people to first meet conditions such as sobriety or a minimum income threshold.
However, on June 1, the Trump administration moved forward with new rules for fiscal year 2026 that seek to re-implement a cap on permanent housing. The new Notices of Funding Opportunity will set aside $1.3 billion for transitional housing and supportive service-only grants — which the coalition of states say will have the effect of capping permanent housing projects at about 68 percent of the funds.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the new terms on June 1, saying the old model didn’t work.
“The ‘housing first’ experiment failed Americans by warehousing the vulnerable without results. This ideology promised to end homelessness. Instead, billions of taxpayer dollars were spent while homelessness increased to record levels,” Turner said in a statement. “Housing alone will not solve a crisis driven by addiction and mental illness. Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD is making necessary reforms to put recovery first.”
HUD said that the new Notice of Funding Opportunity for $4.04 billion through the Continuum of Care homelessness assistance program would support organizations that facilitate treatment and recovery and “prohibit funding the widespread use of illicit drugs and distribution of paraphernalia.”
The lawsuit alleges that the new conditions will mean a large number of permanent housing projects funded by the Continuum of Care program will lose funding, which will lead to people being evicted, placing further strain on state and local governments.
“Instead of investing in programs that help people stay safe and housed, the Trump Administration has embraced policies that risk trapping people in poverty and punishing them for being poor,” the 44-page lawsuit alleges.
The shift threatens housing for at least 97,000 residents of CoC-funded permanent housing across the country according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
The states argue that HUD’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act for failing to proceed with notice-and-comment rulemaking, and for being arbitrary and capricious. They ask the court to declare that the challenged conditions are illegal and to block HUD from implementing them.
Along with Neronha, attorneys general from all New England states except for New Hampshire have joined the lawsuit. The coalition also includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.
(WJAR) — Thirty-two years ago was the commissioning of a Navy submarine named after the Ocean State.
Maria Stephanos was on board the USS Rhode Island on July 9, 1994.
Rhode Island was the Navy’s 15th Trident class ballistic submarine.
It was commissioned in Newport and was the first to be christened in its namesake state.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — They come from all walks of life, including many professionals in the community, taking time out of their busy days to welcome students to school with enthusiasm and handshakes.
“We learn a lot of new handshakes, too,” Kobi Dennis said. “High-fives. Pounds with an explosion. We get a little bit of everything.”
It’s the Handshake Initiative, the brainchild of now Central Falls Police Chief Anthony Roberson.
Everybody can use some encouragement, and students in Rhode Island get that the minute they head toward the school building.
Initially, the students and parents didn’t know what to think.
“I was confused because I thought it was going to be a normal day,” said one student.
“Their parents were getting out of their cars trying to see what’s going on,” Reservoir Avenue School Principal Cynthia Torres said.
But now, they crave it.
“It makes me feel motivated,” another student said.
Dennis adds in an etiquette component.
“Teaching the kids how to shake hands, look one another in the eyes with a firm grip — girl or guy — firm grip and say ‘hello’ and introduce yourself, that’s part of the initiative as well,” Dennis said.
Providence school superintendent Dr. Javier Montañez said it sends a strong message.
“We hear you, we see you, and we’re here for you,” Montañez said.
Torres strategically uses them on standardized test days.
“They say, ‘I’m going to do really good today,’” she said.
“It makes me feel encouraged to do better in school,” a student said.
They’ve connected with thousands of students across Rhode Island.
“It’s about shaking hands and building relationships, but it’s also about letting young people know that there are professionals in the community cheering for them every single day,” Dennis said.
Do you know of a nonprofit organization or volunteers doing great work in your community? Fill out a short nomination form for “Community Treasures.”
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