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RHODE ISLAND — The last full moon of winter, the full snow moon on Saturday, is also a “micromoon,” though Rhode Island sky gazers may not notice the subtleties that make it different.
A micromoon is a full moon that occurs when the moon is farthest away from Earth, or at apogee. It appears about 14 percent smaller and 30 percent dimmer than usual.
It’s the opposite of the more commonly understood supermoon — that is, a full moon that appears slightly larger and brighter than usual as it makes its closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, called perigee, according to NASA. To see a supermoon, you’ll have to wait until the blue moon in August, the first of four consecutive supermoons.
On Saturday, the full snow micromoon rises at 5:43 p.m. in Rhode Island. The snow moon will appear full Friday and Sunday nights, too.
The February full moon is often called the snow moon for obvious reasons, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which sites National Weather Service data showing February, on average, is the nation’s snowiest month.
Native Americans gave names to each month’s moon to keep track of the season, but some of the names also come from Colonial American and European cultures.
Other names given to the February moon are connected to animals, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. The Cree traditionally called it the bald eagle or simply eagle moon, the Ojibwe called it the bear moon, the Tlinget called it the black bear moon, the Dakota called it the raccoon moon, certain Algonquin peoples called it the groundhog moon, and the Haida called it the goose moon.
For skywatchers planning their calendars, meteor showers resume until April. The Lyrids meteor shower runs his show runs from April 16-29, peaking overnight on April 22-23. A full moon at the peak could make this show a wash. The Lyrids produce about 18 meteors an hour at the peak, but they’re known for bright dust trails that last for several seconds.
The big event that month is the 2024 Great American Solar Eclipse. Something like 31 million U.S. residents live in places that will see daytime darkness, with only our yellow star’s spiky corona visible as the moon passes between it and Earth.
Another 1 million to 4 million people will make a pilgrimage to states in the path of totality — Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
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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