In the News… Quick Recap on the News of the Week ending Nov. 28, 2025

RHODE ISLAND & REGION

Six primary care providers at a single Mass General Brigham practice are moving to rival Beth Israel Lahey Health, raising to at least 18 the total number of such defections from the state’s largest health care system to the second largest in less than a year.

Plainville farm fire loses 7 horses, saves others

$4.5M in grants to local  groups given out by RI Life Sciences Hub

In its effort to cut costs, RWU’s plan to require all staff, including faculty, to take a furlough week without pay next year, the NEA has opposed this, saying it violates federal law

In the kidnapping and murder of a young Pawtucket woman, 8 local people were arrested

15th and Final Masquerade Ball fundraiser, raising approximately $266,000 to support critical services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Xfinity Center amphitheater in Mansfield is set to undergo one of the largest renovations in its history.

South County Health has entered a 120-day exclusive diligence period to explore a potential transformational partnership

Pawtucket may lay off 100 in school department next year – Pawtucket schools face $10M budget shortfall by 2027

Rhode Island Energy has submitted a new rate proposal that would increase ratepayers’ gas and electric bills starting in September 2026 if approved. the plan would increase the average residential electric bill by $7.78 per month and the average residential gas bill by $343.53 per year.

First snow could come Tues/Wed of next week

Johnston Police receive new motorcycles, safety equipment from grant secured by Rep. Magaziner

Today is Small Business Saturday

RIDOT installing child-sized signage on state bike paths – to be completed by year end

After delay, heating assistance LIHEAP funds are starting to be released – Keep the Heat On and Good Neighbor Energy Fund are also active

$1.1M raised by RI Treasurer’s office in unclaimed property auction

1,100 turkey baskets distributed to those in need in Pawtucket, organized for over 13  years by Mrs. Laureen Grebien

Chapel View in Cranston to add 5 new restaurant-type stores

Garden City Center evicts Newport Creamery by year end, instead of lease run-out date of year end 2026 – rumors of Apple store are back on the table

SNAP recipients in MA (reported by Bos Globe) – 74% work at least part time – of those, “Nearly 2,500 work for Amazon and another 2,300 work for Walmart. Uber, DoorDash, and Tempus Unlimited, a Stoughton developmental disabilities provider, each have more than 1,400 workers who rely on food stamps” – other employers are: Stop & Shop, Mass General, Dollar Tree,, Albertsons and Bayada Home Health.

Former RI Gov. Gina Raimondo named to head a transition committee for New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill

URI being sued for hiring union people over non-union

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

$1Billion investment into TSA equipment, assistance

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will not run for a 5^th term

King Charles knights John Kerry for his work in climate change

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation ceases operations

Israel kills Hezbollah leader in Lebanon

England’s Chancellor chooses not to raise the broad income tax, but to raise much needed funds in small increases on many things, “from hotels to milkshakes”.  4.1% increase in minimum wage for “over-21’s

Cases against James Comey and Letitia James have been dismissed for procedural error – expected to be pursued again

Robert Irwin Wins Dancing with the Stars Season 34 Mirrorball Trophy

The Olympic torch was lit

Over 1,000 left homeless and 36+ dead in giant fire over 5 apartment high rises – 3 arrested

All Afghan nationalists are paused from coming to US

THC-infused drinks and snacks made with hemp can no longer be sold, under  new federal ban

Russian President Putin says he is open to peace negotiations but also says he will attack Ukraine again to get more land

Officials have raided Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s office during allegations of corruption of high up Ukraine leaders involved in energy company skimming, all while many Ukrainians have no heat. 2nd in command has now resigned.

The assailant in DC was said, by a childhood friend, to suffer mental health issues while in service in Afghanistan, distraught at the attacks on the Taliban

Many Afghans fled to Pakistan in the war and now Pakistan is deporting them, over ½ million in the last year

75,000–80,000 Afghan evacuees entered the US from Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) alone; and combined with later resettlement efforts, possibly under 200,000 total Afghan arrivals during that broader period.

Pres. Trump said he was “cancelling all executive orders, and anything else that was not directly signed”, saying “The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him.”

A320 planes, worldwide, having urgent software update due to solar flare interference

Smithfield HS hazing, anti-Semitic charges continue to be investigated

Barrington HS to accept the return of social studies teacher who posted rants on social media that were anti-Charlie Kirk right after his death – the statements saying the town can’t afford to defend itself against the NEA pursuing this aggressively in court as they say they will.

Rogers HS football incident of a special needs student being beaten in a bathroom has now seen 4 youth arrested – team’s Thanksgiving Day game and rest of season canceled by school.

First time $1 Trillion expected in Christmas shopping

Callaway Golf Company will sell 60% of its stake in Topgolf, valuing the venue and tech business at roughly US $1.1 billion, half of what Callaway paid in its full acquisition of Topgolf just a few years ago – move marks break with its “golf-entertainment” ambitions. TopGolf sales have dipped, and the stock of the combined entity fell more than 70% from its highs.

Fire aboard One Henry Hudson container ship in LA

Ripley’s Believe it or Not bought the gold toilet up for auction by artist Cattelan, for $12M

Noam Chomsky revealed to have had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

35-year-old daughter of Caroline Kennedy has terminal cancer

Somalis in Minnesota have had their Temporary Protective Status (TPS) withdrawn as the emergency no longer exists and the communities in the area are experiencing crime

Two Christmas tree lighting shootings:  1 dead in Chicago, 18 injuries, all teens, 300+ youth in streets,, rioting – 1 in North Carolina, shooting, 4 injured – a 17 and an 18 year old arrested

H5N5 avian influenza claimed its first death in US – in an older, frail man with underlying conditions in Washington state

Chicago shootings last weekend: 3 people killed, and 25 wounded. Dead: 33 and 14 y.o. male; 32 y.o. female. More than 5 in critical condition.

Donald Glover reveals he suffered a stroke last year while touring

DOGE has been eliminated and its initiatives incorporated into other departments at the federal govt.

New Delhi, India, has the most polluted air in the world…

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Hezbollah’s military chief of staff, Haytham Tabatabai

Gunmen in Nigeria took over 230 hostages—young girls 10 to 18 years old—as well as 12 teachers, following an attack on a Catholic school. In an unusual development, all were eventually freed.

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PASSINGS 

Ethan Browne, 52, Jackson Browne’s son

Jimmy Cliff, 81, Reggae legend

Ann-Margaret Ferrante, 53, MA State Representative, of pancreatic cancer

Tony Germano, 55, actor, after fall

Burt Myer, 99, called “The Toy Maker”

Joan Templeman, 80, wife of Richard Branson

Faith Winter, 45, Colorado State Rep, in a car accident

Fuzzy Zoeller, 74, pro golfer