Jeremy Bernfeld

Two companies being sued over the Washington Bridge claim the state never flagged the bridge’s problems - TPR: The Public's Radio Two of the companies being sued by the state of Rhode Island over the closure of the westbound Washington Bridge say the state did not tell them about concerns engineers raised about the bridge decade...

NEW: 2 of the companies being sued by RI over the closure of the westbound Washington Bridge say the state didn't tell them about concerns engineers raised about the bridge decades before they were hired for a rehabilitation project.

thepublicsradio.org/economy/two-...

Washington Bridge: Did Rhode Island miss critical warning signs ahead of the 2023 crisis? - TPR: The Public's Radio When the westbound Washington Bridge was suddenly shut down in December 2023, never to re-open, many wondered if the crisis could have been prevented. An investigation by Rhode Island PBS and The Publ...

Experts @ripbs-tpr.bsky.social spoke to said the state could have conducted tests to get a good look at the post-tensioning system. But it doesn't appear RIDOT conducted those tests in the decade prior to the closure.
For more, check out our story here 3/

thepublicsradio.org/local/washin...

In 1992 engineers hired by the state warned of issues with the Washington Bridge's post-tension system. They were worried about corrosion -- a known problem in post-tensioning systems. 2/

Some RI news: Two of the companies being sued by RI over the Washington Bridge say the state never told them about problems with the bridge that first surfaced in 1992. The companies filed info in court docs today. These claims connect to some reporting we published a few weeks ago -- > 1/

Weird, Mike Schur is in my group text

Just a rando No Dunks fan here, but I love the way you stan your godson.
Toretto would be proud (it’s about family)

Rhode Island resists efforts at policing reform embraced by every other state - TPR: The Public's Radio In October, a Newport County jury found that former Jamestown Police Det. Derek Carlino was negligent in his involvement in the death by suicide of a teenager. But it won’t end Carlino’s career in pol...

Want to learn more about why Rhode Island is the only state in the country without the ability to strip certifications from police officers accused of misconduct? Check out our story.
thepublicsradio.org/criminal-jus...

This opacity "...makes it very difficult to monitor police misconduct occurring in the state,” according to Steven Brown
@riaclu.bsky.social. We talked to police misconduct experts who said the same thing. 6/

Police departments that encompass nearly 30% of officers in the state are exempt from review altogether. That means transfers into these departments go completely unreviewed by any outside authority. That includes the Providence Police Department.
5/

The commission that oversees police officers in RI has rejected a transfer application just once in 3+ years. We found instances of approved transfers of officers with serious public allegations of misconduct.
4/

There’s little that would prevent a problem officer from having their RI training recognized by another state and receiving a state certification elsewhere - even if that officer left RI under a cloud.
3/

So much police officer oversight in RI depends on idividual police chiefs. We depend on them to investigate and discipline misconduct. And when hiring, to unearth any disqualifying past deeds. Qualifying/disqualifying officers is almost all on them.
2/

Rhode Island is the only state in the country without a process to decertify police officers facing charges of misconduct, per a new investigation by @samstecklow.bsky.social @invisible.institute and @ripbs-tpr.bsky.social. Here's a thread on what that means:

How climate change will affect Rhode Island’s drinking water, and how we can better prepare - TPR: The Public's Radio This story is part of our series One Storm Away: How climate change is threatening drinking water on the Ocean State’s islands As Rhode Island’s climate continues to change, scientists expect big chan...

@baylorfk.bsky.social — an IBES fellow and professor of Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences — spoke to @jeremybernfeld.bsky.social about how climate change impacts the ocean and how RI communities can better prepare for conditions that could negatively impact water utilities.

The best R.I. athlete you've never heard of: JWU's Joziah Fry - TPR: The Public's Radio Joziah Fry is the best college athlete in Rhode Island, and I’ll bet you have never heard of him. He is a two-time All-America and a two-time national champion. He has lost once in three years. He doe...

He's lost just *once* in his entire collegiate career. He's going for a third-straight national title this weekend in Providence in front of a home crowd. And you've probably never heard of him.

Meet Joziah Fry.

Psyched to read this!

Holy cr**! @fitzprov.bsky.social reports that restoring the Independent Man has cost the state "$2,298,640 [so far], according to documents the Globe received in a public records request."

Was this expected? I missed that.

AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 college basketball recruit in the Class of 2025, set to commit on Tuesday Dybantsa will decide between a final four of Alabama, BYU, Kansas and North Carolina

The #1 men's college hoops recruit is about to announce his college pick. He's from Brockton! (Though he's finishing high school in Utah)

www.cbssports.com/college-bask...

He uses drugs. So what will Providence’s Overdose Prevention Center mean for him? - TPR: The Public's Radio Jason first started using fentanyl a few years ago, when the pandemic threw his life off balance. By now, he’s used to hiding his drug use. “You duck into, like, an alley, or behind a car or somewhere...

A nonprofit is opening a facility in Providence where people can use drugs under medical supervision and offers connections to drug treatment.

But @ninasparling.bsky.social asks, what does that mean for Jason, who lives in Warwick and uses drugs?

thepublicsradio.org/health/he-us...

(And feel better!)

#RejectedNewEnglandTourismSlogans

Pizza Marvin's list of collaborations for its 12 Pies of Christmas has me 🤤🤤
www.pizzamarvin.com/12-pies-of-c...

Best ad for AI I’ve ever seen!

Gave me a bit of a start this morning over my coffee!

What happened to the 3,000 pounds of haddock seized in a fish-plant bust? - The New Bedford Light The Massachusetts Environmental Police had a problem: 1½ tons of undersized haddock, confiscated on the New Bedford waterfront. Who would filet it and eat it?

Really interesting story!

newbedfordlight.org/what-happene...

“Money is not the real critical thing stopping housing being built in Rhode Island right now. It’s political will.”

tfw you use the wrong less than symbol 🫠🫠

I see you zeroed in on this info: Trump increased his base in Fall River by >1,300 votes in a city of 94,000 people. But Harris received almost 3,500 fewer votes than Biden, opening the door for Trump to win Fall River.

How the Democrats lost their grip on Fall River - TPR: The Public's Radio For a long time, the glue that held together the various constituencies of Fall River politics was the Democratic ward committee. The city’s nine ward committees were little outposts of the party with...

Fall River was a stronghold for Democrats for a century...until Trump won it this year. Here's the story on how Dems lost their grip on the former mill town.
thepublicsradio.org/politics/how...

Such a treat to listen to! Psyched to get it on the radio (and web) here, via NENC soon