In the News… quick recap of local news and beyond for week ending Oct. 25, 2025

In the News… provides a quick read on news items of the week – get caught up each week on Saturday with our feature…

RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY

Newport Mental Health’s 11th annual “Rock the Beach” gala raised nearly $220,000 for behavioral health programs in Newport County (WhatsUpNewp)

Gwynth Paltrow spoke at Brown University. Her son attends Brown, offered reflections on creativity, parenting, resilience and what it means to live a purposeful life.

RI now looking for a scaled down place to house its archives

RI Comic Con Nov 7-9 in Providence

Tom’s Market in Coventry to close

Point32Health lays off 250

Cape Verdean Museum in Pawtucket had both their flags and poles vandalized – they have now been installed in a higher location

Miriam Hospital broke announced its $125M campaign and broke ground to modernize the hospital’s emergency department and surrounding campus. 

All new public buildings now required to have adult changing stations

New England Aquarium gets $9M donation from couple who work for Apple – largest donation facility ever received

Ocean House and Weekapaug Inn have again been named top destinations in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards

Vermont state Sen. Samuel Douglass resigned on Friday after being linked to a Young Republican group chat that shared racist and antisemitic jokes

Mt. Pleasant HS to be partially demolished and rebuilt

Michael Solomon running for vacant Providence City Council seat of Joann Ryan

With an $8B endowment, Brown University reports ‘all time high’ budget contribution of $352M from endowment investments

Rhode Island’s congressional delegation—Jack Reed, Sheldon Whitehouse, Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo—ask to forgo their pay during the federal shutdown in solidarity with furloughed workers.

Walker Lofts with 124 units, 30+ affordable, opens in Lincoln

Nichoas Alaverdian may be sentenced to 5 years to life in Utah for rape case – pending next rape case.

13,000 Rhode Islanders may lose health coverage under HealthSource becaue they can’t afford it as subsidies which were put into place during COVID with an end date of 12/31/25 – some expect an extension to come through

Fall River former Mayor Will Flanagan in serious condition after being stabbed near to the dispensary where he is CEO

State spending in Rhode Island has surged 10.9 % over the past two years, while revenue grew only 6.4 %, according to the latest Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council report.

Hartford HealthCare to buy 2 hospitals in bankruptcy from Prospect Medical

Paul King new police chief at CCRI – had been police chief in Pawtucket in the past

Foxwoods had a hostage incident involving a woman being held – resolution was peaceful with law enforcement there most of the day

Kim Ahern left the Cannabis Commission Chair

Governor Dan McKee is traveling to California to raise awareness about state’s excellence in the defense, maritime, and life sciences spaces; Joined by Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor, RI Commerce President/CEO Jim Bennett, RI Commerce Vice President of Business Development and Investments William Cox, URI President Marc Parlange, URI Foundation CEO Mark Antonucci and Executive Director of Partnership for Rhode Island Liz Catucci, traveling in her capacity as RI Commerce Board Member. Paid for by RI Commodores.

The Johnson & Wales Culinary Museum opens its doors October 30-31 for special tours celebrating Rhode Island’s 250th anniversary, serving up a flavorful mix of vintage diners, community cookbooks, and local food lore.

CiderCon 2026 is coming to Providence February 3–5, bringing the world’s largest cider celebration to the Ocean State for three days of tastings, workshops, and community.

The New England Aquarium was given a $9 million gift by Massachusetts natives Phil Schiller and Kim Gassett-Schiller, the aquarium’s largest-ever private donation.

2 sisters in Woonsocket’s middle school arrested for fighting

Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., says the Democrats are keeping the government shutdown: “Of course there will be families that are going to suffer…but it is one of the few leverage times we

RI tourism:  29.4M visitors and $6B in spending in 2024

Starting Sunday night, October 26, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will resume nighttime closures on short sections of I-95 and I-295 in both directions for continued reconstruction of bridges that span these highways along East Avenue in Warwick.

Another set of Washington Bridge investigations, hearings, now to be led by former RI US Attorney General Zachary Cunha.

Bitty & Beaus coffee shop will open in Providence – specializes in hiring staff with disabilities

St. Peter’s School in Warwick cleared their principal of any wrong doing, but she resigned and will assume a new position in Providence

Kim Ahern has opened a campaign account and will run for RI AG

Roast House in Pawt is closing

Electric Boat bought Crystal Mall in Waterford, CT and construction will begin for boat building

RI company doing the nation proud: Ocean State Job Lot, the region’s premier discount retail chain with 176 stores has partnered with the United Cajun Navy to coordinate the delivery of 91,531 pounds of organic pasta—equivalent to more than 183,000 8-ounce boxes—to active-duty military personnel and their families affected by the ongoing government shutdown. The organization will transport pasta from Illinois to Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, as well as other U.S. military base locations, where local partners will distribute it to military families experiencing food insecurity. The organic pasta, which includes shells, elbows, and linguine, was donated by one of OSJL’s food distribution vendors in Illinois.

Ollie’s opening in Cranston

Some activities of RI’s 250th are beginning to be announced: (Applications open for events and projects addressing the RI250th – Planting of Liberty Trees in all 39 cities and towns, an Honor Flight to DC with RI veterans, and an educational teacher series for students – also activities with local historic sites and cultural groups)

5 Smithfield HS students guilty of hazing a Jewish student allowed back on the football team after 1 anti-Semitism education with Jewish Alliance – Alliance opposed to this

Henry’s Tree Farm closing permanently – not sure if it will be open this year

Nov. 5^th Condoleeza Rice, former US Sect. of State, will speak at Brown U’s “Conversations with…”

Project ELISHA to distribute food, household products and hygiene items in Pawtucket TODAY at 9am at the Apex parking lot

Former Gov. Raimondo acknowledged in a presentation at Harvard that the big “coding” initiative did not anticipate AI development which will overwhelm coding push in education institutions, jobs, etc.

Over 1 million people in MA on SNAP – about 150,000 in RI – 1/3 children

Some federal workers received their last check this week – until the shutdown is settled – military will be paid by a generous donation of an undisclosed individual to the cause

Construction crane fell in Everett MA – two deaths

Heritage Restaurant Group acquired Crisp Restaurant Group. Restaurants now under Heritage are two Providence Coal Fired Pizza’s (Providence & No. Kingstown) and Union Station Brewery, Providence. Earlier this week it was announced that they acquired Scales & Shells in Newport – and are looking to expand – particularly in Providence, Newport and Jamestown

___

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Marshalls opening 9 new stores, none in RI, 1 in western CT

Home Goods to open 5 new stores, none in RI or New England

15,000 churches expected to close in the US this year

Coca-Cola has begun rolling out in a measured way single-serve 12-oz bottles of its new cane-sugar brand

Kim Kardashian said, “I don’t have a concept” of what certain simple things cost.

Researchers in South Korea created a sensor to warn of overexposure to ultraviolet A radiation from the sun. The device wirelessly transmits data to a user’s phone, sending an alert when UVA exposure reaches 80% of the level.

Train tunnel between NY and NJ terminated by US govt – construction was stopped due to lack of money

Pride Center of VT closes due to lack of funds

Christiane Amanpour disclosed her ovarian cancer, first diagnosed in 2021, has returned, but she is positive on its management

Amazon has 30% of cloud-computing market – next is Microsoft and next is Google

Sunday morning jewelry heist at the Louvre has museum closed for now

50 Planned Parenthood clinics have closed in 2025

Tragedy averted at Atlanta airport – man said he was there to do a mass shooting was reported to authorities by his family – AR 15 and 27 rounds of ammunition were found

A free lunch program in Indonesian schools has sickened thousands of children

Southwest Airlines, which has used open seating for more than 50 years, will shift to assigned seating starting Jan. 27 and introduce a completely new boarding system

Texas’s population is projected to grow 28%, or 8.6 million people

Nicolas Sarkozy, former PM of France, reported to jail for 5 years over scheme to redirect funds from Libya

Japan has a first ever female PM – Sanae Takaichi – Pres. Trump will visit

Singer Jelly Roll has lost over 200 lbs and is having tattoo removal

King Charles to visit the Vatican and pray with the Pope

Calls in England for Prince Andrew to assist in telling everything he knows about Epstein – the book “Nobody’s Girl” by the young girl who first accused him – Virginia Giuffre – published today – Giuffre committed suicide

Sudan’s airport bombed days before it was to reopen after being closed for years

National Guard deployment to Portland on pause until at least Tuesday

A mall in Israel was opened in the middle of the night for the returned hostages to shop in privacy for what they need – clothes, even underwear, they used to have no longer fits, shoes, etc. – stores were told they had to stay open, cell phones were gathered, and shopping began

Another hostage body, the 12^th, returned – Tal Haimi. 13^th returned, and being ID’d

154,000 children in NYC have been homeless in the last year

Since 2015, peanut allergies have fallen by 80% in babies and children

Jury awards golfer Jack Nicklaus $50M in defamation lawsuit against the Nicklaus Cos.

Merck announced groundbreaking of a $3 billion Virginia pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, a 400,000-square-foot site in Elkton,  expected to create 500 full-time positions once operational, and generate roughly 8,000 construction jobs.

Appeals judge says National Guard can deploy to Portland, OR while another legal matter works its way through the legal system

Walmart pauses job offers to workers who would need H-1B visas.

Toys R Us opening 30 new stores, only 1 in New England – in New Hampshire mall

Average gasoline prices are now hovering around $3 per gallon

The Democratic National Committee paid $1.6 M to cover debt from former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign — bringing their total to $20M so far

OpenAI launches Atlas web browser built around its generative AI chatbot ChatGPT

The White House began demolition to prepare for its $250M, 90,000-square-foot ballroom. Parts of the East Wing’s outer walls have been bulldozed

Weight Watchers will partner with Amazon

California gave out 62,000 CDL driver licenses to illegals – some of whom used a Real ID to obtain one.

Letitia James, NYC AG under indictment, says she will create a website to post pictures of ICE members to which anyone can submit

Dem. Party says it will create an ICE locater map

While the govt. is shutdown, people can utilize the National Parks at no cost – as staff are not working and “toll” booths are empty – one average cost in Maine is $35/car

Canadian trade halted after contentious content posted by Canada about USA

Department of the Interior announced a sweeping package of actions to boost energy development, modernize land and resource management across Alaska, and improve public health and safety for Alaskans. These steps include reopening the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing,

Drug boat strike – this time in Pacific Ocean

Prince Andrew’s coat of arms taken down at the palace

National Guard won’t now be going to San Francisco

Private donor gives $130M to cover military payroll during govt. shutdown

Target to eliminate 1,800 roles – 8% of headquarters’ staff

Tesla to fix headlights in Cybertrucks because they are too bright

Social Security to go up 2.8% increase in 2026 – an average $56/month more

Hakeem Jeffries endorses Mamdani for NYC Mayor

Former Mayor Eric Adams endorsed Cuomo for Mayor

NYC Mayor early elections begin today in NYC

Dirt from the White House ballroom construction is being given to a DC golf course

___

PASSINGS

Roberta Alexander, 76, international soprano

Samantha Egger, 86, actress

Daniel Naroditsky, 29, master chess player and educator – no cause given

Sam Rivers, 48, bass player for Limp Bizkit