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Outdoors in RI: Wicked Fishing, Drone Hunting, Design Tours, Farmer Funds, Litter, Environmental Police, Beaches
Ocean State Job Lot Wicked Fishing For Vets with Veterans, Sports Legends and Wicked Tuna Captains
The Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation recently brought together U.S. veterans, New England Patriots and Boston Bruins alumni, and captains and boats made famous by Wicked Tuna for Wicked Fishing For Vets, a special day on the water benefiting veterans transitioning into housing.
Held Tuesday, September 15th in Gloucester, participants spent the morning deep-sea fishing aboard seven vessels, including boats from the famed Wicked Tuna fleet, before returning to shore for a luncheon and silent auction at the Gloucester House.
Among those participating were former New England Patriots Joe Andruzzi, three-time Super Bowl champion and co-founder and Chief Engagement Officer of the Joe Andruzzi Foundation; Max Lane; Tully Banta-Cain; Eric Martin; and Ilia Jarostchuk. Boston Bruins alum Bill Bennett also joined participating U.S. veterans and Wicked Tuna captains for the event.
“Wicked Fishing For Vets was a special opportunity to bring veterans together with people who wanted to show their appreciation and support while giving everyone a memorable day on the water,” said David Sarlitto, Vice President of Corporate Giving, Ocean State Job Lot. “We’re incredibly grateful to the veterans who joined us, the Wicked Tuna captains and crews who welcomed everyone aboard, the Patriots and Bruins alumni who showed their support, and our friend Annie Powell, who really made the event possible. Through Operation Sleep Well, we’re proud to continue supporting veterans as they transition into safe, stable housing. I’m looking forward to an even bigger event next year.”
Proceeds from Wicked Fishing For Vets benefit the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation’s Operation Sleep Well, which provides essential move-in kits to veterans transitioning into housing. Kits include new pillows, sheet sets, bath and hand towels, washcloths, shampoo, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hair care items and other necessities to help veterans settle into their new homes.
The event began with an early-morning departure from Gloucester and concluded with an afternoon luncheon and silent auction at the Gloucester House, providing an opportunity for participating veterans, athletes, and fishing captains and crews to spend the day together both on and off the water.
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Providence Preservation Society Launches Five-Week Festival of Architecture and Design
Event opens nearly 40 buildings and sites across the city for tours, including the Manchester Street Power Station, Old Stone Bank, Cranston Street Armory, and Providence’s first net zero and straw bale homes.
NOTE: Some events for this weekend have been rescheduled – check website for updates!
This year, Providence Preservation Society’s annual Festival of Architecture and Design celebrates the 70th anniversary of the organization’s founding in 1956 with five weeks of programs highlighting Providence’s rich history and architecture from the pre-colonial period to today.
Events range across the entire city, from Neutaconkanut Hill to Collier Point Park, with tours of beloved landmarks like the Cranston Street Armory, Atlantic Mills, the Wedding Cake House, Old Stone Bank, and the Manchester Street Generating Station. The Festival also opens to the public more than 20 private homes spanning 1737 to 2024. The list includes homes built before the Revolutionary War as well as cutting-edge examples of sustainable design from the last few years, such as Providence’s first net zero home and the first two homes in the city built using modern straw bale construction.
Marisa Brown, PPS’s Executive Director, said, “Providence is such a perfect place to put on a Festival like this because it really is an open-air museum of architecture and design. We are so fortunate to have preserved buildings and sites that represent the very best of every single era stretching back over 300 years.” She added, “As an institution, PPS has always focused attention on the city’s unique heritage sites and neighborhoods, but this Festival adds a new dimension to the program by including new projects that show us where design is headed in the future as sustainability becomes a priority.”
The Presenting Sponsor of the Festival of Architecture and Design is Providence Tourism Council.
Events are planned in neighborhoods across the city, including Blackstone, College Hill, Downtown, Federal Hill, Mount Hope, Olneyville, Silver Lake, South Elmwood, Upper South Providence, and the West End.
Local architects and architecture firms that will give guided walks of the renovation or design work they have led – or are leading – at some of these sites include Steve Durkee, Jenna Yu, BriggsKnowles A+ D, DBVW Architects, Haynes/de Boer Associates, KITE Architects, LLB Architects, Royer Architects, ZDS Architecture and Interior Design, and ZeroEnergy Design. Cultural institutions, nonprofits, and city or state offices participating in the Festival include The Dirt Palace, Jacqueline Clements Park Collective, One Neighborhood Builders, People’s Port Authority, the Providence Athenaeum, Providence Parks Department, Rhode Island’s Department of Administration, RISD Museum, Stephen Hopkins House, and Tomaquag Museum.
The Festival runs from September 26 – October 30.
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Disaster Relief for Farmers
Senator Jack Reed, DEM Director Terry Gray, and Executive Director Heidi Quinn of the Rhode Island Farm Bureau will announce nearly $15M in disaster relief assistance available to eligible RI farmers and agricultural producers affected by weather events in 2023 and 2024.
The funding was announced at a press event at Snake Den Farm, 90 Brown Avenue, in Johnston, RI by the RI DEM.
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Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful and Japan-Based Pirika Launch Innovative Partnership to Fight Litter in RI
October 3 celebration will feature a traditional Japanese kagami-biraki ceremony followed by a community cleanup
Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful (KBVB) and Japan-based environmental technology company Pirika, Inc. are launching a new partnership – one of the first in America – that will bring together community action, innovative technology, and artificial intelligence to help combat litter and illegal dumping throughout Rhode Island’s Blackstone Valley.
The partnership will officially launch on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at the Woonsocket Depot with a traditional Japanese kagami-biraki sake barrel ceremony, followed by a community cleanup at 3:00 p.m.
Kagami-biraki (鏡開き) is a Japanese tradition used to celebrate important milestones and new beginnings. During the ceremony, participants open a sake barrel with wooden mallets before sharing a celebratory toast, symbolically marking the beginning of the new partnership.
Through the partnership, KBVB and Pirika will give communities new tools to take action against litter. Residents will be encouraged to download the free Pirika app to find cleanup events, document litter they collect, connect with other volunteers, and report illegal dumping throughout the Blackstone Valley.
The partnership will also utilize Takanome, Pirika’s AI-powered litter research technology, which uses image analysis to identify and map litter in streets and public spaces. The resulting data can help communities identify litter hotspots and support more targeted cleanup and prevention efforts.
Following the ceremony, the partnership will move from celebration to action with a community cleanup beginning at 3:00 p.m. Residents, businesses, students, community organizations, and volunteers from throughout the Blackstone Valley are encouraged to participate.
Those who are unable to join the October 3 cleanup but would still like to make an impact are invited to sponsor a future community cleanup. Businesses, organizations, and individuals interested in sponsoring a cleanup can contact Brian Brierly, Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful Coordinator at Blackstone Valley Tourism Council via [email protected] / 401-724-2200 x209.
October 3
Saturday, October 3, 2026
2:00 p.m. — Partnership Celebration & Japanese Kagami-Biraki Ceremony
3:00 p.m. — Community Cleanup
Location: Woonsocket Depot, One Depot Square, Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Community members are encouraged to download the free Pirika app before the event and join a growing movement using community action and technology to create cleaner communities.
About Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful
Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful is a program of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council and Rhode Island’s affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. KBVB engages municipalities, businesses, organizations, schools, and volunteers in litter prevention, recycling, community cleanups, beautification, and environmental stewardship throughout the Blackstone Valley.
About Pirika, Inc.
Founded in Japan in 2011, Pirika, Inc. is an environmental technology company developing innovative solutions to litter and waste through technology, data, and community participation. Its technologies include the Pirika anti-litter platform and Takanome, an AI-powered system that identifies, analyzes, and maps litter in communities.
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Hunting Drones – yay or nay?
Nearly three in four Americans oppose the idea of armed drones being used to hunt animals, according to new research from Superior Tactical.
The survey of 2,051 U.S. adults asked respondents whether they would approve of a drone that could use AI to identify an animal and allow a hunter to fire a mounted rifle remotely.
The results revealed a striking divide:
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72.91% of Americans opposed the concept
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89.08% of non-hunters opposed it
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29.73% of hunters opposed it
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70.27% of hunters approved it
Of the five hypothetical AI applications examined, armed hunting drones received the lowest approval among Americans overall. The findings raise wider questions about remote responsibility, fair-chase principles and whether AI identification should ever be connected to remotely operated weapons.
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Raising the Bar: RI Environmental Police Receive RIPAC Accreditation
L to R: DEM Deputy Director of Natural Resources Jason McNamee, Captain Kevin Snow, Captain Chris Duguid, Lt. Tom Silvia, Detective Jackie Peterson, Chief Dean Hoxsie, Deputy Chief Michael Schipritt, and Deputy Director of Administration/Chief of Staff Amanda Cantrell.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announces that its Division of Law Enforcement (DLE) has received Rhode Island Police Accreditation Commission (RIPAC) accreditation. The program is a department-initiated process by which police departments in RI voluntarily strive to meet and maintain the highest standards of professionalism. With performance and operational standards spanning across training, management, and internal oversight, the accreditation process provides a framework for maintaining these standards of professional practice in law enforcement.
“DEM Environmental Police Officers are dedicated to maintaining public safety and fostering positive relationships with the public to protect our state’s natural resources, all while honoring public trust,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “This accomplishment is a result of months of hard work by Detective Jackie Peterson, Lt. Thomas Silvia, and several other members of our Division of Law Enforcement. Congratulations to all who had a part in helping achieve this meaningful designation!”
“The RIPAC accreditation reinforces our commitment to all Rhode Island residents and visitors that RI Environmental Police are committed to the highest standards of professionalism and accountability in law enforcement,” said Chief Dean Hoxsie of DLE. “Environmental Police Officers are devoted to the role that we play each day in serving the State of Rhode Island.”
DLE’s mission is to protect the natural resources of the state and to ensure compliance with all environmental conservation laws through law enforcement and education. Among their many duties, RI Environmental Police Officers (EPOs) promote boating safety, counter poaching, and monitor RI’s waters and natural spaces. By responding to emergencies both on land and water, EPOs are dedicated to the care of our natural resources and those who recreate in the Ocean State.
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Questions in the crosshairs – Deer hunters raise concerns about a public health crisis that hinges on their buy-in – Martha’s Vineyard
It was the end of June when Tick Free MV, a nonprofit less than a year old, announced a goal to reduce the Island’s deer population by 70 percent, from around 5,000 to 1,500 or less, based on numbers from an aerial deer survey conducted in February and March and state standards of a healthy deer herd.
But there didn’t seem to be a single person in the room Thursday, even Martin Feehan, deer and moose biologist for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), who specializes in deer and hunter-harvest management, who thinks that hunters alone can get the Island down to that number.
READ full story on Martha’s Vineyard, deer, hunting and ticks HERE
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URI looks at beach erosion over 60 years
Look for this full story on URI’s project to document beach erosion over the decades:
The Toll of Storms on Rhode Island’s Beach Shoreline. URI Documents Erosion over 60 Years (Video)