CHARLESTOWN — Voters in Charlestown will head to the polls Monday to decide on a $15.8 million municipal spending plan for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.

CHARLESTOWN — The Charlestown Police Department announced last week that new officers Lexus Falcone and John Griffin graduated from the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy on May 26.

    PROVIDENCE — School One and Write Rhode Island are hosting a Creative Writing Institute for students in grades 7-12. The institute will be held at School One, 220 University Ave., Providence, Monday to Friday, July 31 to Aug. 4. 

    Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of so-called “forever chemicals," commonly referred to as PFAS, saying they have caused significant harm to the state's residents and natural resources. Neronha faulted the companies for engaging in what he described as “a massive and widespread campaign to knowingly deceive the public." The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other states have taken similar legal action, including Massachusetts. Rhode Island’s General Assembly recently prohibited food packaging containing PFAS.

    Rhode Island police have identified the two people killed by a man in the town of Johnston who was later shot to death by officers. Police said Thursday that the body of 83-year-old Janet Harrison, the mother of suspect 52-year-old James Harrison, was found in her home Wednesday morning. Police also found the body of a neighbor, 44-year-old Thomas May, in his garage. May's 15-year-old daughter was also shot, but is expected to survive.  After fleeing the home Harrison was spotted by police in neighboring Cranston where he was shot by officers when he got out of his vehicle with a gun.

    CHARLESTOWN — Several parcels of town-owned open space in Charlestown should be donated or sold, the Conservation Commission said in its latest annual report to the Town Council.

    Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee has signed a bill into law that would let state funds be used to pay for health insurance plans that cover state workers and Medicaid recipients seeking abortions. The signing ceremony was held Thursday almost immediately after the Rhode Island Senate approved the measure. The 24-12 vote followed less than an hour of debate. The democratic governor says he is proud to sign the bill and include related funding in his state budget proposal. Opponents say the state shouldn’t require state taxpayers to cover the cost of abortions.

    WARREN — A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has stirred up questions about race, Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society.

      WESTERLY — The Westerly College Club is now accepting applications for scholarships for the 2023-24 academic year. Applicants must reside in Westerly, Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton, Stonington or North Stonington and be entering their sophomore, junior or senior year at an accredited four…

      A coalition of attorneys general from 16 states including both Rhode Island and Connecticut have joined together in an effort to “sound the alarm” on failing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policies allowing excessive microfiber plastic emissions into the world’s oceans.

        PROVIDENCE — Sen. Victoria Gu (D-Dist. 38, Charlestown, Westerly, South Kingstown) and Rep. Tina Spears (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, Westerly, South Kingstown, New Shoreham) are sponsoring legislation to increase the Medicaid rate of reimbursement for ambulance services.

        CHARLESTOWN — The town continues to monitor a proposed railway capacity study for part of the Northeast Corridor, six years after strong opposition halted plans for a new high speed rail line in Charlestown and neighboring communities.

        First came the good news. After taking classes at a community college, Ricki Korba was admitted to California State University, Bakersfield, as a transfer student. But when she logged on to her student account, she got a gut punch: Most of her previous classes wouldn’t count.

        Paramedics summoned to an Arizona retirement community last summer found an 80-year-old woman slumped inside her mobile home, enveloped in the suffocating 99-degree heat she suffered for days after her air conditioner broke down. Efforts to revive her failed, and her death was ruled environm…

        SALAMANCA, N.Y. — The profile of a Native American man, a braid trailing down and feather jutting up, is tiled into a high school hallway, dyed into the weight room carpet and laid into the turf of the football field at Salamanca city schools.

        NEW YORK — With Florida legislators barring even the mention of being gay in classrooms and similar restrictions under consideration in other states, a report released Monday says books with LGBTQ+ themes remain the most likely targets of bans or attempted bans at public schools and librarie…

        At age 93, struggling with the effects of a stroke, heart failure and recurrent cancer, Teri Sheridan was ready to end her life using New Jersey’s law that allows medically assisted suicide — but she was bedbound, too sick to travel.