This Just In: Lessons from Dr. King; a proposal to prohibit pinching at the RI

Hello and welcome to This Just In. I’m Mike McDermott, editor of the Providence Journal, and I hope you enjoy Martin Luther King jr. holidays. For Dr. King, progress in the fight for civil rights was never inevitable, and there were many setbacks along the way. One such setback occurred 60 years ago in Albany, Georgia, but from that disappointment Dr. King honed the tactics he would later apply in more successful campaigns.

The Rhode Island Department of Health today reported 13 additional coronavirus-related deaths and 11,591 additional cases over the past three days, along with 51,697 negative tests, for an 18.3% positive rate. There were 484 COVID-positive patients in Rhode Island hospitals at last count, up from 499 reported Friday. Rhode Island has reported an average of 4,838 new coronavirus cases per day for the past seven days, down 10% from Tuesday, when the seven-day case average peaked at 5,369.

A major winter storm swept across Rhode Island late last night and this morning, bringing torrential rains and winds blowing at 65 miles per hour along the coast. More than 7,000 National Grid customers lost power at one point, but nearly all have been restored.

If you spend any time walking or jogging in Rhode Island, you’ve seen them on the side of the road, along the banks of rivers and even in public parks – empty liquor bottles serving individuals , or “nips”. Some lawmakers are seeking to ban the sale of nips in Rhode Island because of all the trash they generate and fear they will fuel drunk driving. But liquor store owners say that would put them at a huge disadvantage compared to stores in other states.

Warwick Police have identified the man they say charged officers with a knife in the police station lobby on Friday afternoon, and have also identified the four officers who shot him. Jacob Thomas remains hospitalized, and all four officers are on “non-punitive administrative leave” while the matter is investigated, said police chief Col. Bradford Connor Noted.

The story continues

The 2021 legislative session has been unusual in many ways, but the amount spent on salaries, benefits, meals and other legislative reimbursements — not to mention legislative grants — has barely budged, and House and Senate leaders are asking a significant increase in their budget for the next fiscal year.

An Ohio woman who was sexually assaulted by Nicolas Alahverdian, the former Rhode Island man captured in Scotland nearly two years after faking his death, described his ordeal and Alahverdian’s subsequent attempt to sue her for libel in an interview with the Journal’s Tom Mooney. Meanwhile, Utah prosecutors say it could be months before Alahverdian is extradited there to face rape charges.

Text messages reveal that a Charlestown police sergeant advised an officer that it was ‘probably best left alone’ last February after the officer spotted a state trooper doing the love in an unmarked cruiser behind a state garage. The soldier now faces a possible shooting while Charlestown police say they have taken unspecified “corrective action”.

For three quarters of a century, plumbers and builders have come to Ardente Supply on Valley Street in Providence to source fixtures for homes and businesses across the state. One of the founders of the company, Raymond Ardente Jr., celebrated its 100th birthday last week. Mark Patinkin went to the party and discovered some real Rhode Island history.

Two Catholic parishes in Woonsocket are merging as a result of a well-known set of circumstances: declining Mass attendance and increasing maintenance costs for aging churches.

Even if you didn’t expect the Patriots to win on Saturday night, you must have been shocked at how well they were beaten by the Buffalo Bills. Here’s how it happened.

And lastly, it’s always a big deal when Hendricken and La Salle meet, but the boys’ basketball game last night was one for the ages.

Good night. And remember, if you like This Just In, please encourage a friend to subscribe.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.; a proposal to prohibit pinching at the RI