It’s been three years since the arrival of COVID-19 triggered historic job losses, and the looming stress of potential layoffs has once again lodged itself in the minds of American workers. Stacker used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to compare preliminary December layoff levels and rates across all 50 states and Washington D.C. States are […]
News
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10 groundbreaking inventions and the women who created them
The world’s first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace, was born in 1815 to the poet Lord Byron and his wife. A highly imaginative young woman with a mind for numbers, Lovelace was the first person to suggest that computers could be used for things beyond simple calculations. Her theories, published in a scientific journal under a […]
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Potatoes, cookies, and 12 other groceries that rose in price last month
Ongoing food supply-chain issues kicked off by the COVID-19 pandemic are still affecting the cost of groceries today. The cost of groceries inflated about 0.3% from January to February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Annually, the price is up about 10.2%. During the initial lockdowns, food producers struggled with a manageable system that […]
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23 of 2023’s most gas-guzzling cars
Fluctuating gas prices have many feeling pain at the pump—but owners of gas-guzzling cars feel it more acutely. Stacker used data from the Department of Energy’s fuel economy database to rank the 23 most gas-guzzling cars of 2023. Duplicate models of the same car line were excluded from this analysis: For example, the data includes […]
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Eggs, strawberries, and 12 other groceries that dropped in price last month
Grocery prices at large are not going down. But there are some exceptions. Record inflation has severely impacted fuel costs and pricing for virtually all of our everyday necessities, including weekly groceries. Many factors have contributed to the surge in pricing, including producers’ increased cost to package goods and extreme weather conditions that destroyed crops. […]
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Newport City Council approves resolution establishing a policy on flags hanging at City Hall
The Newport City Council took a step forward on Wednesday night in ensuring they have a policy regarding what flags can and can’t be outside of Newport City Hall. After some brief discussion and comments from the public, Newport City Council unanimously passed the resolution that was before them titled- “Establishing a policy on flags […]
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Newport City Council takes first step in extending paid parking season, meter hours
Big changes could be coming for the City of Newport’s paid parking season. During their Regular Council Meeting on Wednesday, March 22, Newport City Council received two communications from City Manager Joe Nicholson with several proposed changes to the paid parking season, meter changes, and parking at Easton’s Beach. City Manager Nicholson said during the […]
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Shelters see a huge spike in requests for housing assistance
While legislators ponder several bills aimed at easing the state’s housing crisis, the state agencies dealing with the homeless and most marginalized populations are seeing a “huge spike” in housing needs. “There’s been a massive increase in the last 18 months,” said Russ Partridge, executive director of Westerly’s Warm Center and Wakefield’s Welcome House. Statewide, […]
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Senators press Moderna CEO on COVID-19 vaccine price hike
By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Moderna’s CEO on Wednesday defended a plan to more than quadruple the company’s COVID-19 vaccine price, but he also said the drugmaker will work to ensure patients continue paying nothing at drugstores or clinics. Stephane Bancel told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that the drugmaker […]
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Cost savings could be on the way for Middletown’s proposed schools
By Matt Sheley, Town of Middletown The Town of Middletown is working hard to lower the costs of a new proposed middle-high school. Several bills sponsored by local legislators are currently before the General Assembly for consideration. If all are okayed upstate, Middletown taxpayers stand to save tens of millions on the price of the […]
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Newport Jazz Festival announces 2023 lineup, tickets now on sale
The legendary Newport Jazz Festival will return to Fort Adams State Park in Newport this summer. One of America’s most important and enduring cultural institutions will return for its 69th Anniversary, where it will continue to hold space for the once-in-a-lifetime performances that only Newport’s unique alchemy of intimacy and artistic community can bring. This year’s event will […]
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These are the highways in Rhode Island with the most fatalities.
Americans travel billions of cumulative interstate miles every year—statistically, accidents are almost a certainty. Still, many traffic crashes and subsequent fatalities are avoidable. In 2020, nearly 39,000 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on U.S. roadways—an increase of roughly 7% from 2019, according to the most recent data released in 2022 by the […]
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New Hampshire House passes bill honoring fallen ‘Old Man’
By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s fallen Old Man of the Mountain would be honored annually under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday. The massive, naturally formed granite profile attracted tourists to Franconia Notch for about 200 years before it crumbled in 2003. The bipartisan bill, which now […]
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Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium offering $25,000 in scholarships
Middletown, Rhode Island-based Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium (UTIC) announced today that they will award up to $25,000 in scholarships for the 2023-2024 academic year to undergraduate and/or graduate students pursuing degrees in STEM-related fields with a focus on undersea technology. Students will be awarded a scholarship of $5,000 by UTIC. STEM-related fields include engineering, computer […]
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These are the highways in Massachusetts with the most fatalities.
Americans travel billions of cumulative interstate miles every year—statistically, accidents are almost a certainty. Still, many traffic crashes and subsequent fatalities are avoidable. In 2020, nearly 39,000 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on U.S. roadways—an increase of roughly 7% from 2019, according to the most recent data released in 2022 by the […]
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11th Hour Racing: Vital buoy deployed in the remote Southern Ocean
With The Ocean Race fleet passing some of the most remote locations on earth – places seldom reached by scientific vessels – deploying these surface drifter buoys makes it possible to collect vital data where none has previously been directly measured. The data from these remote buoys is providing valuable insights for the scientific community. […]
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These are the highways in Vermont with the most fatalities.
Americans travel billions of cumulative interstate miles every year—statistically, accidents are almost a certainty. Still, many traffic crashes and subsequent fatalities are avoidable. In 2020, nearly 39,000 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on U.S. roadways—an increase of roughly 7% from 2019, according to the most recent data released in 2022 by the […]
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States with the most adults of retirement age still working
For many Americans, the typical life plan has long been school, work, retirement at 65, and living comfortably. But not as many people are traveling that path anymore. Nearly 19% of people of retirement age—65 years or older—remain in the workforce. In fact, Americans over 55 are the only age group that increased its labor […]
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States with the most active-duty military members
The largest army in the world as of 2022—with about 2 million active members—belongs to China, according to the CIA’s World Factbook; India holds the #2 spot with 1.5 million active-duty members. And the United States follows close behind with roughly 1.3 million service members on active duty—yet the nation’s military spending totals more than […]
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Christmas in July in RI: Legislation introduced that would create an annual sales tax holiday
STATE HOUSE — Rep. Jon D. Brien (I-Dist. 49, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) has introduced legislation that would create an annual sales tax holiday. Touted as “Christmas in July in RI,” the legislation (2023-H 5805) would create a sales and use tax holiday for the second Saturday and Sunday in July annually, exempting items below $2,500 […]
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Middletown Town Council awards school architect contract
By Matt Sheley, Town of Middletown A proposal for a $190 million new middle-high school cleared a major hurdle Monday night. At a well-attended meeting in Town Hall, the Town Council unanimously awarded a $14.3 million contract to HMFH Architects of Cambridge, Massachusetts for continued design and planning work on the building north of Gaudet […]
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Sen. Ujifusa introduces
Sen. Ujifusa introduces
bills to lower prescription drug costs
Sen. Linda Ujifusa, a member of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, is taking aim at the high cost of prescription drugs with two bills that protect Rhode Island patients and taxpayers from the harmful activities of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), private corporations that work on behalf of insurers and make enormous revenues in […]
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Tom Hanks named Harvard’s 2023 commencement speaker
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Two-time Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks was named the principal speaker at Harvard’s commencement on May 25, the Ivy League university announced Tuesday. Hanks, 66, has appeared in almost 100 films. Nominated for an Oscar six times, he won best actor for “Philadelphia” in 1993 and “Forrest Gump” the following […]
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Paul Newman’s camp for sick kids rises from the ashes
By PAT EATON-ROBB Associated Press ASHFORD, Conn. (AP) — Amarey Brookshire was devastated when she heard about the fire at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for seriously ill children — her camp. The February 2021 blaze destroyed much of the retreat in the woods of eastern Connecticut, which was founded by the late […]
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How gas prices have changed in the Providence Metro area in the last week
While all is not necessarily calm on the homefront, U.S. consumers are still enjoying lower gas prices this week than the one prior. A gallon of regular gas was $3.44 on average Monday, March 20, according to AAA. Stacker compiled statistics on gas prices in Providence-Fall River-Warwick (RI only) metro area using data from AAA. […]