In the news… update on August 26, 2023

RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY

CVS says terminations will not impact its bottom line

Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) will be a special guest at this year’s Comic Con in Nov.

Costco announced the election of Helena Foulkes, former CVS Pharmacy president and RI resident, to its board of directors.

MA Repay Student Loan repayment program for Healthcare workers starts this week with over $1Million available

Framingham, MA says it is at capacity with migrants being dropped off daily – management saying it will have an impact on the school system

Thousands of cots are being set up on Randall’s Island, NY, but migrants have said they won’t go there

LEGO will move from CT to Boston, MA, into a new building over the Mass Turnpike

Washington Trust Charitable Foundation has pledged $200,000 toward a capital campaign for the San Miguel School in Providence

Bristol County’s longtime former Sheriff Thomas Hodgson will again serve as Donald Trump’s Massachusetts campaign chairman

The Worcester Business Journal is delaying the release of its annual 40 Under Forty edition and event after an apparent assault at a pre-publication gathering of this year’s award winners. 

Milford life sciences firm Waters Corp. will lay off about 4% of its 8,200 employees worldwide, with most in MA from Milford headquarters

Chariho Times & Coventry Courier will both shutter production this week

Elevator at Providence City Hall fell 2 floors, with a person in the cab who was unhurt

Belmont, MA asks parents not to drive their children to school – let them walk or take the bus – to prevent transportation and traffic issues

Google plans to open a store in Boston – 2^nd one to its store in NYC

Providence police has confiscated 115 ATV type vehicles so far in 2023.  In comparison, as reported by the Providence Journal, 102 were seized from 2020 to 2022.

Cranston’s Greek Festival will be held 9/8 – 9/10

Sports broadcaster Colin Cowherd purchased a sprawling home in Watch Hill for over $8Million

Massachusetts is working to provide in-state rates for immigrants without legal status to free community college tuition for nursing students

Logan Airport to receive $45M from FAA to prevent near crashes of aircraft

Bond secured to build a new Central Falls high school

A 71-year-old registered sex offender was arrested at the Lincoln Senior Center after residents recognized him from a flyer and saw him using a computer.

Talbots to close their Newport store

Charter Care settled its cyberattack and Roger Williams Hospital and Fatima Hospital are restoring services, inputting paper records kept in the meantime

RIPTA negotiating with only bidder for their bus hub to be located in downtown Providence

CD1 forerunners are now Aaeron Regunberg and Gabe Amo, with front runner Sabina Matos being slid down in preference due to Scandals and poor handling of several public situations

Mayor Wu is beginning to phase in a plan to remove homeless from the Mass & Cass Ave. encampment areas, moving some to a “sanctioned” area up further on Mass Ave, for 30 people. This would be for men, women, couples and those who cannot tolerate being in a congregate setting and services would be offered. The plan has been met with opposition from South End neighborhood where residents say it is just another, 4th, encampment.

Price Rite on Bald Hill Road in Warwick will close.

Red Line MBTA will close for at least 2 weeks in October for repairs

Massachusetts students of any age can go to community college at no cost – this is expected to impact 8,000+ people

Saul Ioffe, of RI Treasurer office, who had served since August 2022 as the manager of private assets for the state’s investment portfolio, announced his departure Aug. 23

The Great Feast of the Holy Ghost of New England, a five-day celebration of the Azorean Portuguese culture began on Thursday night in Fall River

Brandeis will end its 2 music programs

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

200 wildfires are burning in Canada

Russia’s unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit

Jimmy Carter’s grandson says “we’re in the final chapter”

Lolita, the killer orca whale held in captivity for at least five decades, has died as officials were preparing to send her back to her home waters, from the Miami Seaquarium

5.1 Earthquake hits LA area, CA just before tropical storm began – no damage

75,000 Tesla employees were compromised by a databreach done by a former employee

Flood gates on the border have been opened and migrants are walking through

Bazooka bubble gum company will sell to Apax Partners for $700 million

FDA oks RSV vaccine for pregnant moms

Japan will start releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea

At least 18 migrants in Greece died in a wildfire

Oliver Anthony’s Rich Men North of Richmond, the out-of-nowhere country song that went viral earlier this month, has debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making him the first artist to do this with no prior chart History in any form.

Belarus travelers from US and residents asked to leave due to political unrest

Macy’s putting up more small stores to be known as “Market by Macy’s”

8 people were safely brought down from a cable car in Pakistan they were taking to go to school. 4 children, 2 adults

Dicks Sporting Goods claims theft responsible for their lack of profit

Cause of death of the Obamas chef who died on the island confirmed as drowning

Dutch e-bike vendor, Van Moof, goes bankrupt, leaves riders stranded

Cuba Little League Coach Jose Perez, playing in his first LL World Series, has disappeared – not seen since Saturday in Williamsport, PA.

India lands spacecraft on the moon – 4^th country to do so

Amazon wants a small percentage of their top employees to move to one of 4 hubs in the US and work from those hubs

Schools just opened have started to now close because of flu, COVID, RSV, etc.

School districts are closing because of public enrollment decreasing dramatically – with 2 million students in public schools after COVID, and a falling birthrate

South Carolina supreme court upholds 6-week abortion limit

Pres. Donald Trump surrendered in Georgia and was booked – he posted his mugshot online. And he posted on “X”, formerly Twitter, for the first time since his account had been restored

Subway sold to Roark Capital, company that owns Dunkin’

US Dept. of Energy wants new standards for ceiling fans which would be more expensive with costs being passed down to consumers. Savings would be about $4/year over a 10 year life expectancy of fan.

New alcohol consumption guidelines are being reviewed – could be 2 drinks per week, same as Canada

Free school breakfast and lunch now available in Massachusetts, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, Maine and Michigan

Congress will be asked for more money for COVID vaccine development

Texas Tribune laid off 11% of its workforce, being a major leader in digital journalism

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PASSINGS

Terry Funk, 79, wrestler Hall of Famer

Ron Cephas Jones, 66, actor played “William” on This is Us, long battle with lung issues

Robert Paulson, 86, of ALS, long time advocate on behalf of those with ALS