401 area code; Centreville Bank Stadium opens; Aaron Thomas testifies: Top stories this week
The , when most of the legislative sausage is made. State House reporter Katherine Gregg sets the table with a primer on the key issues that remain: How much of the governor's $14.2 billion spending plan will survive? Will there be an income tax hike? Will the proposed ban on assault-style weapons pass, given the change in Senate leadership? And will lawmakers take steps to ease the state's health care shortage? Here are the key players to watch.
The Ocean State has always played an outsize role in the reality TV universe, and now comes news that "The Real Housewives of Rhode Island" will be coming to Bravo sometime in 2025. Mark Patinkin says it's .
Just days after Rhode Island FC played its debut game at Centreville Bank Stadium, the team welcomed the New England Revolution to Pawtucket on May 7 for the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. For a game recap, as well as the latest and sports news, go to .
Walking Rhode Island columnist John Kostrzewa takes you along on a hike to Grass Pond Preserve in Richmond, where he was treated to a rare sight: a nesting colony of great blue herons.
Sunday, May 11, is Mother's Day. Here are .
Here are the week's top reads on providencejournal.com:
So, how long has Rhode Island had its ubiquitous 401 area code? The answer is since January 1947.
It was one of the 86 original area codes assigned by AT&T, then the dominant telephone company since the invention of the telephone in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, according to AllAreaCodes.com. Today, Rhode Island is one of only 11 states that have a single area code.
Before the creation of area codes, callers relied on operators to put calls through. As the population grew, operators needed a faster method, which led to the three-digit area code. What and Why RI looks into the evolution of phone service in Rhode Island, and how long the nation's smallest state can expect to keep its lone 401 code.
What & Why RI: When did RI get its 401 area code ... and how long will it last? Crunching the numbers
PAWTUCKET – Rhode Island Football Club fans greeted the opening of Centreville Bank Stadium on May 3 with praise for virtually every aspect of the new soccer venue:
The sell-out crowd of 10,700 proclaimed the stadium was clean and modern and easy to get around in.
They raved about the food, from upscale premium club eats to chicken fingers at the concession stand, Chick-fil-A sandwiches and California tacos to corned beef sandwiches at Maven's Delicatessen. The views from the seats in locations around the stadium got a thumbs-up.
People couldn't stop talking about the beautiful scenery of the setting on the west bank of the Seekonk River. Yes, people used "beautiful" to describe downtown Pawtucket.
Read on for more fan reaction from RIFC's home opener, as well as a recap of the game against San Antonio FC and thoughts on whether the new stadium may fill the hole created by the departure of the PawSox.
Sports: Sunny skies – and bright dispositions by fans – mark Pawtucket stadium opening for RIFC
SOUTH KINGSTOWN – For more than two hours, jurors in the Aaron Thomas trial on May 5 heard how meticulous the former North Kingstown High School basketball coach was when it came to testing the body composition of student athletes.
Starting in the early 1990s through 2020 – two years beyond when school officials told him to stop meeting alone with student athletes – Thomas testified that he used the same testing and measurement methodology, the same spreadsheets, the same mathematical formulas to calculate body fat composition, the same abbreviations for body parts.
But the man of data and details conceded under questioning by his own lawyer that his spreadsheets had an error in them when listing one location on the student athletes' bodies he always measured.
Read the full story for details of his testimony, as well as prosecutors' questioning Thomas about about why he never saw a "bright red stop sign" indicating he should stop performing 'naked fat tests' on athletes.
Courts: On the stand, Aaron Thomas denies giving students puberty tests. Here's how his testimony went.
As Valarie Lawson settles into her new role as president of the Rhode Island Senate president, Political Scene sits down with her to discuss her legislative priorities for the final weeks of the session. And The Journal's Katherine Gregg also looks back at a pivotal part of her history: her leadership of the East Providence teachers union during a brutal, years-long budget war against the unilateral health insurance hikes and pay cuts levied by the city.
Now, with Lawson planning to lead the Senate while keeping her day job as president of the National Education Association Rhode Island, will she seek the state Ethics Commission's advice on how to avoid conflicts of interest in her new role? And will her alliance with conservative Democrat Frank Ciccone as Senate majority leader affect her support of the proposed "assault weapons" ban and other legislation prized by progressives?
Read the full column to find out.
Political Scene: Fun facts and a few other things you might not know about new RI Senate President Val Lawson
Rhode Island transportation officials are targeting the summer of 2027 to open two new highway ramps between Route 4 and Interstate 95.
The state Department of Transportation held a groundbreaking on May 5 for a $144 million project that includes the I-95 "missing move" ramps and three new ramps on Route 403 in North Kingstown serving the Quonset Business Park.
The new Route 403 ramps will be built first and are expected to be finished in the summer of 2026. Work on the ramps at Route 4 and I-95 is slated to begin in "early 2026," with the projected summer 2027 completion target, according to a DOT news release.
'This project has been talked about for decades, and today we're finally turning words into action," Gov. Dan McKee said in a news release.
Transportation: New ramps connecting Rt. 4 and I-95 are coming as construction starts. What to know.
To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: 401 area code; RIFC stadium opens; Aaron Thomas testifies: Top stories
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