In the News… recap for week ending Oct. 12, 2024

RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY

Brown Univ. endowment returns 11.3% – pre-pandemic return level

Stop & Shop’s 5 Connecticut stores to close by end of October; Parking lots and shelves empty.

3 students at Northeastern Univ. diagnosed with Chickenpox – all live off campus

Maiz – a Mexican restaurant with another location in SK is opening where Minerva Pizza was in Wayland Sq.

NE Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers arrested for assault

Efforts to delay demolition of McCoy Stadium to build a new combined high school will not be delayed. It is now under direction of the School Committee

North Providence Pee Wee Football game – children under 8 – had a fight between the coach’s wife and another mother from the same team  Women are now banned from all games in town.

Mark Anderson, new head of Wheeler School

Nov 1-3 is RI Comic Con in Providence

MIKEL Inc., a women-owned Middletown-based defense technology business, has won a five-year, $14 million contract from the US Navy to help improve algorithms used by torpedoes deployed by submarines. (Boston Globe)

Steward Hospital will abandon Norwood Hospital and close 4 satellite locations

Providence School Dept. offering credit protection/counseling to over 12,000 potentially impacted by the cyber takeover of their computer systems

TD Bank gets numerous felony charges regarding money laundering, cartel work, etc.

Providence Marathon returns to the city

Prov. City Council wants to ban any new gas stations in the city

Boston will experiment with rat birth control program

Clean School Bus Program is giving students in Pawtucket, Lincoln, Westerly, Jamestown and Providence electric bus transportation

Providence Supt. Schools tells Mayor Smiley they need $11M in a week or they will begin cutting school bus passes, athletics, etc. Smiley wants an audit – says he only has $1M

Prisoner at ACI work release on the grounds walked away, and got into a gun with out-of-state plates, and has not been seen since.

Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will receive $25M from the Wyss Foundation to create 4 new galleries of modern art

Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport will host an on-site hiring fair for science, technology, engineering, math, and other career paths on Nov. 2. (NUWC)

New Bedford has a plan to add 50 more shelter beds and 90 more units of supportive housing. It is estimated they could reduce the homeless population to as few as 15 people.

JetBlue will begin direct flights to San Juan from PVD

Evan Smith, Pres/CEO of Discover Newport will retire

Prov. Ice Rink looking for a new naming sponsor

Axon, a taser defense weapon maker company, hopes to relocate permanently to Boston from AZ – also hiring many more workers

Tufts former physician, Dr. Theresa Gabana suing her former employer, for $6 million for being terminated for refusing COVID vaccine

RIDOT set up a public forum – via ZOOM – on Fri 10/11 at 6pm (long weekend and Jewish holy days) – after problems getting technology to work, the meeting ended after about 15 minutes, with no statement made by the director, and no questions taken. On the presentation it now says questions can be posted until Oct. 18th and responses will be posted by Nov. 1st. (https://publicinput.com/ridotwbdemo) View the presentation, here: https://rinewstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Washington-Bridge-PDF.pdf

PETA says it will donate to the Newport Carousel being reconstructed IF it does not contain animal figures – opposing the visual of people riding on animals

Fire at Waterman Grille in Providence on Friday night interrupted two weddings in progress. Quickly put out and events continued.

There are 13 cases pending in federal courts targeting offshore wind projects, according to the American Clean Power Association, an offshore wind trade group – mainly on the East Coast

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Merriam-Webster Dictionary added 200 new words including Gen Z slang

Reports that 70 have been killed in a gang action in Haiti

Brazil says “X” can resume in their country

Pres. Biden gave utility companies a 10-year extension to replace lead pipes

A survey showed that 3.3% of teens identify as “trans”

Former Gov. Patterson of NY and stepson attacked on the street in New York – hospitalized and released. His son had reprimanded 2 people for damaging a fire hydrant. They were arrested – both are NYC employees.

Gallup survey shows about 1/3 of Americans have positive view of grocery industry

Average cost of childcare for family is $325/week

Billie Jean King will be the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade

7 senior staff have now resigned from NYC Mayor Adams staff

Democrat leaders feel remorse about driving Elon Musk away from the party and to the Republicans

LA is addressing homelessness by eviction prevention as their main tool

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – death rates have dropped by 44% since 1989 – 1/2M lives averted – yet more people are being diagnosed, steepest increase in women under 50

Only 1 to 2% of homes in the flooding areas in the south after Hurricane Helene had flood insurance

Hurricane Milton steered a direct hit for Florida – Sarasota area – at least 14 dead, extensive damage but not the worst case scenario. Power out primarily on the East Coast, 2 athletic fields with extensive damage.

Part of a river in North Carolina has had a geological shift in where it runs in the community – near Swannanoa

Spirit Halloween stores will turn into Spirit of Christmas

Ethel Kennedy suffers stroke, in hospital recovering

Walmart continuing to open pet services/pet care centers in their stores – offering grooming, etc.

Social Security expects to rise 2.5% – cost of living is up 2.4%

Donald Trump says he will make interest on car loans fully deductible

Diddy Combs trial set for May, no bail

TD Bank fined $3 Billion for conspiring to launder money and conspiring to fail to file accurate reports or maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program, – also said to be involved with cartels

Estimated $1100/month more being spent than in 2021 by Americans on regular expenses

Order 4 free COVID tests from the US Govt and USPS – HERE: https://special.usps.com/testkits?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

This year’s flu vaccines aren’t a great match with the circulating flu strains: they offer 34% efficacy against hospitalization (lower than last year’s 50%) – still a good idea to get your flu shot, especially for those in the high risk category (older, health compromised)

A facility in North Carolina that produces 60% of the nation’s IV solutions was forced to close after Hurricane Helene. Then, second-largest supplier of IV was in Hurricane Milton’s path and also had to close, temporarily. Medical professionals are asking Pres. Biden to declare a medical emergency, as some elective surgeries may be put off around the US.

Tiffany Trump and husband, Michael, are having their first child

Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, has opened for ice skating

Boeing will lay off 17,000 workers – 10% of their workforce

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PASSINGS

Christopher Ciccone, 63, Madonna’s brother, of cancer – 2 years after another brother’s death

Taylor Grigg, 25, TikTok sensation, severe asthma attack, Addison’s disease

Cissy Houston, 91, Mother of Whitney Houston, singer

Steven Hurst 77, journalist who worked for AP, CNN, NBC, etc

Ethel Kennedy, 96, wife of RFK, 11 children, 34 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren

Louis Tiant, 83, baseball legend