Articles by: Pat Ford

PVDFest Downtown Celebration Cancelled!

Amid rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Rhode Island, major downtown festival cancelled The City of Providence and Founding Partner FirstWorks today announced that due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the September 25-26, 2021 major downtown celebration for PVDFest, Providence’s signature arts festival, which typically sees over 100,000 people in[Read More…]

by August 20, 2021

CDC Stands Up New Disease Forecasting Center

    Aims to predict disease threats, provide early warning and real-time data on outbreaks  Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is announcing a new center designed to advance the use of forecasting and outbreak analytics in public health decision making. Once established, the Center for Forecasting[Read More…]

by August 19, 2021

ACLU OF RHODE ISLAND STATEMENT ON INSTALLATION OF VEHICLE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS IN CRANSTON, PAWTUCKET AND WOONSOCKET

  “The installation of surveillance tools that directly impact the privacy of Rhode Island residents and others driving through the communities where they are installed is disturbing in itself. But the clandestine nature by which the cameras were placed, and the failure of the three cities in which the trial[Read More…]

by August 18, 2021

RIDOH: State to Require Immunization Against COVID-19 For All Licensed Healthcare Workers

  The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is announcing today that all employees, interns, and volunteers in RIDOH-licensed healthcare facilities and all RIDOH-licensed healthcare providers must receive their final dose of COVID-19 vaccine by October 1, 2021, effective August 18th. “The most effective way to prevent the spread of[Read More…]

by August 18, 2021

Governor McKee, Rhode Island Foundation Announce The Final $380,000 In RI Gives Vax Challenge Grants As State Hits 25,000 New Vaccination Milestone

More than 33,000 Rhode Islanders have gotten vaccinated since the RI Gives Vax Challenge was launched in July Nonprofits on the frontlines of responding to the COVID-19 crisis have been awarded another $380,000 in grants in the final phases of the RI Gives Vax Challenge. The funding was triggered as a[Read More…]

by August 18, 2021

Trump Acolyte Stephen Miller: America First Legal Sues The Department of Homeland Security For Illegally Concealing Records Documenting Enforcement Collapse

Today, America First Legal (AFL) sued the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for illegally withholding records demonstrating the Biden Administration’s utter decimation of immigration enforcement. In May, AFL filed a Freedom of Information Act request for ICE’s weekly enforcement reports following the publication of Departmental memos[Read More…]

by August 18, 2021

City of Providence Announces Mask Mandate in Municipal Buildings

City of Providence Employees Required to be Fully Vaccinated by October 1 Mayor Jorge O. Elorza today announced that beginning Tuesday, August 17, all members of the public, including city staff and visitors, will be required to use a face mask in all municipal buildings. Additionally, City of Providence employees[Read More…]

by August 17, 2021

Statement from CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH – Immunocompromised Individuals

  Today, I signed CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that endorsed the use of an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems after an initial two-dose vaccine series. This official CDC recommendation — which follows FDA’s decision to amend the emergency[Read More…]

by August 13, 2021

Governor McKee, RIDOH Joint Statement on FDA/CDC Announcements on Third COVID-19 Dose for Immunocompromised Individuals

Governor Dan McKee and Rhode Island Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, M.D., M.P.H. issued the following joint statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcements regarding a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised individuals: “The announcements from[Read More…]

by August 13, 2021

City of Providence Announces Construction Schedule of ‘Great Streets’ Projects

Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, members of the Providence City Council, and the City of Providence’s Planning Department today announced the upcoming tentative construction schedule for several projects included in the Providence Great Streets Initiative, which aims to make all City streets safe and sustainable. These projects include safety improvements for walking[Read More…]

by August 13, 2021