The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management will temporarily close 700 acres of shellfishing waters around Prudence Island next week as a precautionary measure ahead of an expected large gathering of boats. The closure will take effect July 26 and remain in place until sunrise on August 2, covering waters south and west from Providence […]
Environment & Health
Posted inBusiness
New Newport Hospital President takes helm as City Council prepares to fight for birthing center
Dr. Tenny Thomas officially began his tenure as Newport Hospital’s president and chief medical officer Monday, stepping into a leadership role at a critical moment as the facility faces potential cuts to essential services, including its birthing center. Thomas, who joins Newport Hospital from Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth where he served as chief medical officer […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about who is what?
I went to physical therapy on Monday for my messed-up shoulder, and was a little disturbed when the receptionist said, Dr. X will see you now. A part of my brain said, I haven’t come to see a doctor — I’ve come to see a physical therapist. And then the other part of my brain […]
Posted inNews
Sewage-contaminated water made 60% of R.I. beaches unsafe for swimming in 2024
by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island CurrentJuly 11, 2025 Steven Spielberg never made a cult-favorite thriller about the dangers of sewage-infested waters. But the amount of fecal matter lurking in the water surpassed federal safety recommendations at least one time in 2024 at nearly six in 10 of the 66 Rhode Island beaches tested, new data […]
Posted inCity & Government
Senator Whitehouse delivers 300th “Time to Wake Up” climate speech, calls for fight against “shadow government”
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse delivered his 300th “Time to Wake Up” speech on the Senate floor last night, marking more than a decade of urging Congress to address climate change while issuing his strongest warning yet about what he called a “shadow government” controlled by fossil fuel interests. The Rhode Island Democrat, who serves as […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News
Health officials warn public to avoid Almy Pond due to harmful algae bloom
The Rhode Island Department of Health and Department of Environmental Management are urging the public to stay away from Almy Pond in Newport after detecting a harmful algae bloom that poses health risks to humans and animals. State officials are recommending people avoid all recreational activities at the pond, including swimming, fishing, boating, and kayaking. […]
Posted inCity & Government
Free skin cancer screenings coming to Easton’s Beach on July 18
Newport beachgoers will have the opportunity to receive free skin cancer screenings at Easton’s Beach this month as part of a statewide initiative to promote early detection and prevention. The Rhode Island Department of Health, Brown Dermatology, and partners will offer complimentary skin checks on Friday, July 18, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at […]
Posted inBusiness
New fitness studio brings pilates-inspired workouts to Middletown
A new fitness concept has arrived in Middletown, offering a unique blend of Pilates-inspired movements and strength training that has already proven popular across New England. btone FITNESS officially opened its newest location at 288 E. Main Road in Middletown on Monday, marking the company’s 24th studio nationwide. The 2,700 square-foot facility is one of […]
Posted inCity & Government
Canada to take steps to protect vanishing North Atlantic right whales from ships
The Canadian government says it is taking steps this summer to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with ships in its waters. The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370. The whales give birth off the southeastern U.S. in the winter and spring and migrate north to New […]
Posted inCity & Government, Environment & Health, News
Newport area’s under-18 population declining significantly
Where have all the children gone? While the nationwide under-18 population fell by 1.4 percent from 2010 to 2020, and in Rhode Island, it dropped by 6 percent, the numbers are dramatically higher for the Newport area, according to the recently released 2025 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. Every community in the Newport area saw […]
Posted inColumns
Helen Hames: Where you live matters–even in a nursing home
I first heard from Michael in April. He called me from Los Angeles, and we met virtually not long after. That first call lasted over an hour. Soon after, I met with Michael and his sister, Kristin and that’s when I got to know more about their 83-year-old mom—a woman they described as a force […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News
You good, man? RIDOH launches campaign to spotlight men’s mental health
In recognition of Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has launched You Good, Man?, a statewide campaign to raise awareness and prevent suicide among working-age men, a population experiencing suicide at nearly twice the rate of the general public in Rhode Island. “Society often focuses on the physical health of […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about RFK Jr. and the ACIP
The news from Monday is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), the Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), just “retired” all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). He published an editorial in the Wall Street Journal to explain this. I’m not sure which is worse, his […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News
Ground beef sold at Whole Foods may be tainted with E. coli, USDA says
U.S. agriculture officials are warning that ground beef sold at Whole Foods markets nationwide may be contaminated with potentially dangerous E. coli bacteria. Officials on Tuesday issued a public health alert for 1-pound, vacuum-packed packages of Organic Rancher beef, produced on May 22 and May 23, by NPC Processing Inc., of Shelburne, Vermont. The products have use-by […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about medical school debt
Holy Harry and Louise, they are at it again. Now, everybody is talking about the health care mess in Rhode Island. You know it’s a mess when politicians, who are almost all lawyers, give news conferences and talk about how they are going to fix health care, and the experts they trot out are all lawyers as well, none […]
Posted inCity & Government
20 attorneys general ask federal judge to reverse deep cuts to US Health and Human Services
By REBECCA BOONE and AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press Attorneys general in 19 states and Washington, D.C., are challenging cuts to the U.S. Health and Human Services agency, saying the Trump administration’s massive restructuring has destroyed life-saving programs and left states to pick up the bill for mounting health crises. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Rhode Island […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine – What’s Crazy about Health Care and Intelligence: Artificial and just lacking
I want a T-shirt that says Artificial Intelligence Isn’t. I spent a very long twenty minutes on a Zoom this week with a surgeon-turned-tech-entrepreneur from Stanford, who was trying to persuade me that the new software he’s developing is going to save primary care. Artificial intelligence is better than humans at making diagnoses, he tried to […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, Opinion
Michele Gallagher: The health, wellness and wellbeing industry is alive and well in Rhode Island
The U.S. health and wellness spa industry has nearly 20,000 businesses, contributing over $20 billion to the economy in 2024. With growing attention on mindfulness, fitness, and personal well-being, the industry is projected to reach $25 billion by 2029. This trend reflects a shift since the pandemic where people of all ages are prioritizing mental, […]
Posted inNews
Helen Hames: Time to treat mental health like heart health – a wake-up call for aging well
Mental health has come a long way—but for older adults, it’s still too often a hidden struggle, fueling isolation at a time when connection matters most. According to AARP, between 2019 and 2023, mental health diagnoses among adults 65 and older jumped by over 57%—the highest increase of any age group in the U.S. And […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
FEMA quietly removes access to New England coastal erosion hazard tool
by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon April 11, 2025 AT SOME POINT between February and early March, as seasonal wind and rain hammered New England coasts, a relatively new but enthusiastically embraced tool for predicting erosion slipped off the Federal Emergency Management Agency website. Pioneered on Nantucket in 2020, the Coastal Erosion Hazard viewer that covered […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News
New England grid operator tells Congress offshore wind critical to future power reliability
by AnnMarie Hilton, Rhode Island CurrentMarch 26, 2025 The head of New England’s energy grid underscored the importance of offshore wind for the future of the region’s power supply during a congressional subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, emphasizing the impact of President Donald Trump administration’s early action to halt such efforts. Thanks to new approaches in […]
Posted inCity & Government
Takeaways from Associated Press report on efforts to capture carbon in the ocean
By HELEN WIEFFERING Associated Press HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — A growing industry is racing to engineer a solution to global warming using the absorbent power of the oceans. Dozens of companies and academic groups are pitching the same theory: that sinking rocks, nutrients, crop waste or seaweed in the ocean could lock away climate-warming […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News
Ocean dumping – or a climate solution? A growing industry bets on the ocean to capture carbon
By HELEN WIEFFERING Associated Press HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — From the grounds of a gas-fired power plant on the eastern shores of Canada, a little-known company is pumping a slurry of minerals into the ocean in the name of stopping climate change. Whether it’s pollution or a silver bullet that will save the planet may […]
Posted inColumns, Environment & Health, Opinion
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about Medicaid
Get out the earplugs and blindfolds, Susie, they are at it again. Brothers and sisters, get ready for another round of yelling about Medicaid, which will be all heat and no light. As some of us know, the mean Republicans have committed themselves to cut $880 billion out of the federal budget over the next ten […]
Posted inCity & Government
NIH funding cuts will hit red states, rural areas and underserved communities the hardest
Prakash Nagarkatti, University of South Carolina and Mitzi Nagarkatti, University of South Carolina The National Institutes of Health is the largest federal funder of medical research in the U.S. NIH funds drive research and innovation, leading to better understanding and treatment of diseases and improved health outcomes. The NIH provided more than US$35 billion in […]