In the News… Brief Summary of News of the Week, Epic Fury update – March 7, 2026

A quick review of news topics of interest to our readers in Rhode Island – regional, national and international and passings of note:

RHODE ISLAND & REGION

2 diagnosed with measles in MA – both had traveled internationally

Some Middletown residents want to close Newport State Airport – use the land to build affordable housing.

RIDOT Interim Director Bob Rocchio has taken over as of this week

RI State Archives are looking for photos of the Blizzard of ‘26

Turning Point USA “Rhode Island First Rally” was held this week in RI

The Beacon Bistro on the 50th floor and Stratus on the 51st floor at the Prudential Tower

Ireland-based SymPhysis Medical’s first U.S. headquarters will be in Providence. The company is based in Galway, Ireland, and works on technology called “releaze drainage” for those with pleural effusion.  .

Willow and Wiley, the two black wolf-dogs living at the Red Riding Hood Shelter in Ohio have been separated because of serious aggression now that they are mature.

Dunkin’ at Providence Place Mall has closed

RI AG Peter Neronha endorses Helena Foulkes for Governor

FIFA security funding plan coming to fruition so Foxborough does not have to fund the millions itself, which it also said it would not do. The Kraft Group has stepped forward to help with the $8M bill – but it’s still up in the air.

FIFA Iran soccer team qualified and will participate -unsure how the war in mid-East will impact countries coming to FIFA – or not.

Ethan Shorey has resigned as editor of The Valley Breeze

Cranston Director of Finance resigns – search underway – with an interim for now

Former Providence City Councilwoman Helen Anthony received $19M settlement in California accident

RI Dept of Administration director out over the disclosure of social security numbers being able to be seen on state payroll mail – as well as a second incorrect tax document mailing from “the Umbrella company”, referring to the state of Rhode Island

PC Friars coach Kim English will be out of his position

Brad’s Cafe in PC community – very popular for generations of students and others suffered a serious fire on Friday morning

Cumulus has declared bankruptcy for the 2nd time in recent history – they are the parent company of WPRO-FM, WPRO-AM, The Wolf, Lite-105, and the AM station, and The Score.

Centurion deal is going through to buy Fatima and Roger Williams Hospital

New England Patriots plane is helping with evacuation of US citizens and returning them to cities in US

CVS Health is partnering with Google Cloud on “Health100” –  a coordinated AI offering to reimagining the patient healthcare experience – to launch on 3/17.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade schedule (may be incomplete):

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

All federal agencies phase out use of Anthropic technology

Waymo driverless cars expanding into Houston, San Antonio, Orlando and Dallas

30 more charged in church demonstration/interruption in Minneapolis

Helping Cuba remains on the agenda in DC – Marco Rubio has been assigned to work on helping the country as it “fails” due to economic/energy issues

Mass stabbing with shots fired on I-495 near Washington, D.C. At least four people have been stabbed on the Beltway, and the suspect has been taken down.

Shooting at an Austin, TX bar kills 2 injures 14, possible designation as terrorism – Ndiaga Diagne, from Senegal, naturalized citizen arrested, was wearing Allah and Iran t-shirts and his home had Iranian militant paraphanalia

Road rage incident in Alexandria, VA/DC area on Route 495 – mass stabbing with 1 dead, a dog dead, the assailant dead (killed by state trooper), 3 others hospitalized. Not terrorism.

Robert F Kennedy announces new ultra processed food labels will soon be mandatory on all food products The product will also have a color code to determine how toxic and unhealthy it is – green, yellow and red – and be on products for year end

Pentagon to ban military from going to Brown, Columbia, Yale, and other universities because of their anti-American philosophy

Number of college students with disabilities such as autism, ADHD, etc. rose 50%

Fraud probe of New York’s $124B Medicaid program

Jasmine Crockett lost her primary in Texas (55 to 45) – blames both Democrats and Republicans for cheating – but in any case, she had to give up her office to run – so she is no longer in Congress.

HMPV is a respiratory illness that usually spreads through winter and spring seasons. The virus can spread through contact with contaminated surfaces, person-to-person contact, and in the air.

Mark A. Turco, MD, will step down from his role as RI Life Science Hub President and Chief Executive Officer

“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,'” Kennedy said, per the Globe.One dietician estimated that Dunkin’s 48-ounce bucket of coffee, if sweetened, may contain as much as 126 grams of sugar.

US re-starting diplomatic relations with Venezuela

Cuba is coming to the US for assistance

CDC announced that Mercury has been removed from all vaccines

Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales (R) will not run for re-election after his affair with an aid who later committed suicide by setting herself on fire was disclosed

Michigan suing Kalshi gambling app for operating in their state without a license. Could have implications for other states

NJ Girl Scouts troop in hot water for selling cookies outside pot shop to meet high demand

Savannah Guthrie visited NBC studios – says she will come back to the Today show, not sure when

Just over a month since Nancy Guthrie’s potential kidnapping

Morgan Stanley laying off 3% of staff – approx. 2,500 employees

Conan O’Brien to be commencement speaker at Harvard

Bruce Johnston, 89, to leave performing with The Beach Boys

ICE detention center in Texas under quarantine due to measles outbreak

NYC Mamdani’s wife has liked anti-Israel posts on social media – he says she has no opinion on his policies or candidacy – and he would not say if he agreed with her positions or not

MA. Congressman Seth Moulton’s guest at the State of the Union, an illegal immigrant, now as a report that he was involved in sexual assault and juveniles – more details to follow

CA Rep. Issa (R) to retire

Liza Minnelli made a surprise appearance at the 2026 GLAAD awards

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IRANIAN CONFLICT – Epic Fury

Supreme Leader killed – as many as 40 other Iranian leaders as well

6 US soldiers have died – 5 others injured

Israel continues to target govt. buildings in Tehran, Iran

Iran targeting civilian homes in Israel

Demonstrations in US both for and against the Iranian actions

US sunk 9 Iranian Navy ships and Navy headquarters

B-2 Stealth bombers hit deep, in-ground targets

US Embassy compound in Kuwait hit by drone, with fire and smoke seen

President of Iran supposedly alive – says he wants to talk

UK has responded positively to US request to use bases to launch attacks

Iranian TV channels taken over – showing Pres. Trump message to people and to troops

Qatar joined the war against Iran

France is sending its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support Israel.

The US consulate in Dubai hit by an Iranian drone in their parking lot which sparked a fire – all personnel accounted for.

Lindsay Graham about comments that an Iranian threat was not imminent. “Well you don’t want it to BE imminent, dumb ass. That’s the whole point.”

Israel reports it has killed potential new leaders of Iran – a group of clerics – as they met to cast votes for new leadership

Americans who need help getting out of the war zone region MUST register here – step.state.gov – so as avenues of evacuation open up, they can be contacted

USA will make available special insurance for countries traveling through the Straight of Hormuz, and will provide US escorts, where needed, to keep the oil flowing to the world

Trade with Spain curtailed as Spain refuses use of their bases for US in Iran crisis

NATO also says that Iran was on the brink of obtaining a nuclear weapon

United States banks have been placed on heightened alert for cyberattacks

“Americans have forgotten how to cook.” With that statement, RFK Jr. announced that HHS has a new initiative to teach Americans how to cook again. “Every American can feed themselves cheaper than fast food.” “Many of them don’t have the cutlery, they don’t have the pots and pans, they don’t have the cutting boards, and they don’t know how to shop.” “One of the things that we’re talking about now at HHS is to use the Commission Corps or other groups within our agency to go out and actually teach people to cook.”

Iranian missile on its way to Turkey taken down by US

Thousands of Americans being evacuated by US at no charge using charters, and other transportation – warnings about travel in the area were posted, but now over 20,000 are stranded – 8,000+ evacuated yesterday

Iranian Kurdish battles on the ground causing skirmishes within Iran.

Khameini’s son is 53 and has been named the new Supreme Leader, though not confirmed

Iran was behind assassination attempt on President

Defense contractors called to White House to begin a plan to replace the weapons we’ve used in Iran conflict

Supreme Leader’s funeral delayed due to military actions

England sends 4 additional jets to Qatar – says they were pre-deployed in the region in January – 1^st charter flight from Oman

War Power Resolution fails now in House, after failing in Senate

First US evacuees arrive back in states

Italy sending defense systems

Revealed that there was a deception campaign conducted just before US and Israel hit the buildings that took out senior leaders in Iran, making them think the US was not going to strike

Ukraine has announced it will help US fight Iranian drones

US Embassy in Kuwait closes – amid attacks by Iran

Russia’s Putin said to be helping Iran with use of intel

Katie Couric asked Gov. Newsom if it is a problem for him to be “ridiculously good looking”]

Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil supplies pass is open, not closed, with US Navy protecting passage – but far fewer ships entering the space due to the war

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PASSINGS

Lou Holtz, 89, college football legend

John Michael Skeffington, Jr. (“Jack”), 87, former RI Rep elected 5 times and philanthropist and volunteer