Rhode Island PBS

01/24/2025

Hear everything you need to know about how Trump's new immigration policies are affecting Rhode Island.

To learn more local immigration updates, click here: https://thepublicsradio.org/

01/24/2025

Cosmic Factory perform "Rose of Jericho" at Big Nice Studio in Lincoln, RI. Cosmic Factory is Lee McAdams, Mike Baker, and Dewey Raposo.About Ocean State Ses...

01/24/2025

Weather reports made by mariners more than two hundred years ago may have relevance for research into climate change today. Some local scientists believe the records from whaling ship logs hold data about shifting winds, storms and tides. At the Providence Public Library, maritime historian and UMAS...

01/24/2025

The president’s executive order prohibits the approval of new offshore wind farms, but experts including maritime lawyer Drew Minciewicz say Trump faces an uncertain legal battle if he tries to revoke construction permits issued by the Biden administration.

Read the full story now: https://thepublicsradio.org/business/can-trump-really-shut-down-the-offshore-wind-industry/

✍️: Ben Berke

01/24/2025

Hospitals around the state are seeing a rise in respiratory illnesses on par with typical increases in the winter months.

According to statewide wastewater data and hospital admissions data, cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise since December, along with RSV and Norovirus. State Epidemiologist Dr. Suzanne Bornschein also says influenza is newly on the rise and having a later than usual seasonal uptick.

Read the full story now: https://thepublicsradio.org/health/amid-rising-winter-illnesses-some-emergency-departments-are-asking-patients-to-seek-treatment-elsewhere/

✍️: Olivia Ebertz

01/23/2025

Want to travel to Portugal? Learn about our exciting Travel Club trips to the Azores at our informational Zoom meeting on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m.

Maria Lawton, host of “Maria’s Portuguese Table,” and AAA Travel will take you through the day-to-day itineraries for our upcoming “Tasting Azores in Terceira” and “Tasting Azores São Miguel” tours.

Sign up now:

Join the Travel Club for an informational Zoom meeting on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. Maria Lawton, host of

01/23/2025

The long-awaited 45 shelter beds at ECHO Village, Rhode Island’s first pallet shelter community, will soon be available to the state’s rapidly growing homeless population, according to testimony from Rhode Island Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard at a senate hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve not given a date in the past because we’ve disappointed so many people,” Goddard said. “But I would say probably [in] three to four weeks we will be opening.”

Read the full story now: https://thepublicsradio.org/housing/ri-housing-secretary-says-pallet-shelters-at-echo-village-will-open-in-a-matter-of-weeks/

01/22/2025

An Italian company has abandoned plans to build a factory in Somerset that would have supplied undersea cables to American offshore wind farms.

The proposed factory would have created between 200 and 350 manufacturing jobs at the site of an old coal-fired power plant in Somerset’s Brayton Point neighborhood.

Local leaders said Pres. Donald Trump’s hostility towards the offshore wind industry killed the project.

Read the full story now: https://thepublicsradio.org/business/prysmian-abandons-plans-for-offshore-wind-cable-factory-in-somerset/

✍️: Ben Berke

01/22/2025

Shawn Gilheeney is known for his sign painting business, Providence Painted Signs, and has left his mark across Providence and throughout Rhode Island. Get an inside look at Gilheeney's process of making his hand-painted signs and murals and how a recent injury nearly put his career in jeopardy.

Watch now: https://youtu.be/Un32Iz3rgxo

01/21/2025

Over the past decade, Keith McCurdy has seen Vudu Sister grow from his solo project to a Gothic Folk ensemble. He shares the band's origin and how his time at the University of Rhode Island led to an album written entirely in Latin and Ancient Greek.

Listen to Vudu Sister's songs & story now: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhrMrqYW9MQNVTAIFnANdohs_eo03qh1v&si=7ZwnJDP-2KI3b_R1

01/20/2025

An unlikely project is unfolding at the Providence Public Library. Local historians and scientists are extracting and analyzing weather observations made by mariners in the logbooks of whaling ships from the 18th and 19th centuries and then comparing them to meteorology recorded in the same areas today. Researchers say the old voyages could provide new insights into climate change in coastal areas.

Watch the full story now: https://youtu.be/uqJikXrV3kI

01/17/2025

The massive wildfires in Los Angeles serve as a disturbing reminder of how vulnerable many of our local communities are to forest fires.

Rhode Island was the site of two major wildfires in 2023, and the state saw over 40 forest fires this past fall alone. According to Brett Still, director of the Master of Environmental Science and Management program at the University of Rhode Island, wildfires may become more prevalent in Rhode Island as we continue to experience the effects of climate change.

Listen to the full interview now: https://thepublicsradio.org/environment/what-can-we-do-to-mitigate-wildfires-in-rhode-island/

✍️: Luis Hernandez

Rhode Island was the site of two major wildfires in 2023, and the state saw over 40 forest fires this past fall alone. According to Brett Still, director of the Master of Environmental Science and Management program at the University of Rhode Island, wildfires may become more prevalent in Rhode Isla...

01/17/2025

Discover the magical, dream-pop world of Space Cowboy Newt ✨

Watch now: https://youtu.be/HLJnYG7U64U

01/16/2025

Do you like pinball machines? Check out the which is home to over 100 pinball machines, from the 1940s to today!

Read the full story: https://thepublicsradio.org/artscape/electromagnetic-pinball-museum-celebrates-the-games-history-and-visceral-joy/

✍️: Luis Hernandez and James Baumgartner

The Electromagnetic Pinball Museum is home to over 100 pinball machines, from the 1940s to today. Emily Rose and Michael Pare are two of the co-founders who started the museum when they found that they had too many pinball machines to fit in their home. Luis Hernandez visited the museum earlier this...

01/16/2025

Providence developers Dustin Dezube and Kevin Diamond with the Providence Group have submitted revised plans for an apartment complex that would be located at 269 Wickenden Street. The City Plan Commission is set to review the proposal at its upcoming meeting on Jan. 21.

The preliminary plans come more than a year after the City Plan Commission approved the master plan, although the developers substantially altered their designs based on stipulations and feedback from the Commission and members of the public.

See what the new design plans are here: https://thepublicsradio.org/metro-desk/developer-updates-plans-for-269-wickenden/

✍️: Olivia Ebertz

01/15/2025

The local nonprofit Refugee Dream Center, which helps immigrants and refugees, is experiencing a surge in need for its services ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Read the full story here: https://thepublicsradio.org/immigration/refugee-dream-center-is-working-overtime-to-cover-rush-of-new-cases/

✍️: Paul C. Kelly Campos