URI wildlife researcher Patrick Bailey answers questions about fall’s favorite winged mammal

Rhode Island’s new State Wildlife Action Plan lists all local bats as species of concern

By Kristen Curry 

Rhode Island’s new State Wildlife Action Plan lists all local bats as species of concern, including the hoary bat. (Photo / J.N. Stuart)

Patrick Bailey, a Ph.D. candidate in the Comparative Ecophysiology of Animals Lab at the University of Rhode Island, is drawn to the animals that populate our landscape each fall. He’s studied some of the quintessentially ‘scary’ Halloween animals, including wolves — though not the were- variety — as well as the bats of southern New England.

To be honest, the flying squirrel is my favorite local flying
mammal. This little guy got into our house right after
we moved in back in 2002 and I've seen them multiple
times. I managed to get him out safely. I also like bats.
- Editor Will Collette who also took the photo

Rhode Island’s newly approved State Wildlife Action Plan classifies local bat species such as the silver-haired bat — which favors oak and pine for habitat — of greatest concern. And while Bailey is not glad to see them on the list, he’s glad to see attention being paid to their vulnerability, having worked with bats earlier in his academic career. Bailey says working with bats helped him develop a wildlife skillset and gave him a deep appreciation for the misunderstood mammal.

“I’ve definitely had an appreciation for the ‘misfit’ mammals over the years,” he says. Today, he primarily works with gray wolves in coastal ecosystems.

Bailey fielded questions about New England bats, some of the challenges they face and how we can help them.

How is the local bat population faring in New England?

Bats in New England are facing a variety of threats, which have definitely impacted populations over the last few decades. As with most at-risk species, habitat loss continues to pose a huge problem for them. In Rhode Island, this occurs as a result of residential and commercial development that degrades forested habitats. Bats are also losing many of their maternal roost sites, which have historically included old barns, trees, snags (dead trees), etc. 

Measles outbreaks could leave thousands vulnerable to infectious diseases for years

Longterm damage from measles

Liz Szabo, MA

Measles infections make people miserable for up to two long weeks, commonly causing dangerously high fevers, a painful sensitivity to light and, of course, a tell-tale red rash.

Sufferers who escape without developing pneumonia, brain swelling, or other serious complications may believe the worst is over. 

Yet the measles virus has only gotten started.

The virus also damages the immune system, leaving people vulnerable to other infections for up to five years.

“The rash and the fever, that’s the tip of the iceberg,” Michael J. Mina, MD, PhD, coauthor of two seminal studies in Science on the effect of measles on the immune system, told CIDRAP News. “The majority of the damage being done is under the surface.”

The measles virus hijacks the immune system, using specialized memory cells to make copies of itself before blowing them up, Mina said. By deleting the body’s memory of earlier infections, measles causes a condition called “immune amnesia.”

Without those memory cells, the body essentially forgets how to fight off infections it defeated before. That leaves people newly vulnerable to bacteria and viruses against which they were once protected, either through infection or vaccination.

Donald Trump Jr.’s ex tries to shakedown GOP donor

Business as usual for Trump crime family

Brad Reed for Common Dreams

A former Republican congressional candidate and donor to Donald Trump’s campaign went on the record Thursday to level allegations of corruption against Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Trump-appointed US Ambassador to Greece.

Appearing on ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Eric Deters said that Guilfoyle offered him access to top officials in the Trump administration if he paid off her $100,000 credit card debt.

“It was all quid pro quo,” Deters said. “She was so desperate for me to send that $100,000, she said, ‘If you do this for me... I will be your ride or die in Trump World.”

Being corrupt seems to be a job requirement

Deters’ claims are backed up by text messages published on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, which show Guilfoyle begging him to help pay off her American Express bill ahead of her July 2025 confirmation hearing.

In the texts, Guilfoyle gave Deters pointers on how to help her without leaving a paper trail, informing him that the payment “won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express.”

In an interview with the Journal, Deters said that he ultimately didn’t send Guilfoyle the money, as she’d made promises of favors to him in the past without ever delivering.

Among other things, the former Trump donor explained, he once offered to pay Guilfoyle $1 million in exchange for securing him an interview on Tucker Carlson’s show. While Guilfoyle said she could get Carlson to agree to the interview, she was unable to convince him.

“She never came through on anything,” Deters explained.

Can AI agents produce real news reporting in Rhode Island?

A human journalist has some thoughts.

By Philip Eil, Rhode Island Current

She's not real but a creation of artificial intelligence

Since July, a Rhode Island news site has been publishing stories by authors that don’t exist. 

Kelly Lockhart, a housing reporter for Uprise RI, wrote about the widening gap between earnings and housing costs in the Ocean State. Correspondent Adriana Vossari covered the latest votes — on zoning, school procurement, criminal justice for juveniles, and other issues — from the Providence City Council. Debut stories by national politics reporter Ryan MacMahonaghan, labor reporter Eddie Exxe, and other correspondents followed. 

None of them are actual humans. They are, as the site notes, “computing agents — intelligent LLM reporters.” 

They kept up their work with little fanfare until Sept. 17 when Boston Globe media reporter Aidan Ryan reported on Uprise RI’s novel approach to newsgathering in the AI age. 

Other Rhode Island news organizations have tinkered or dabbled with artificial intelligence. The Providence Journal partnered with the AI-powered search engine, Perplexity. The Globe’s RI bureau published an op-ed that included the disclaimer: “The author used generative AI to help draft this commentary.” 

But no outlet, as far as I know, had farmed out entire stories to chatbots before. 

Uprise RI was founded in 2017 by progressive independent journalist Steve Ahlquist and is now owned solely by software developer Greg Brailsford.

Brailsford, who joined Uprise RI in 2020, declined interview requests from the Globe but did tell the paper, via email, that he thought the use of AI personas to report the news would become more common. Uprise RI, he told the Globe, is “a bit ahead of the game.”

This country’s robust freedom of speech gives people wide latitude to speak and publish without prior permission or regulation. But we should discuss big shifts in how our communities are covered. Because journalism is the lifeblood of democracy. And if that process is outsourced to machines — even if, as Uprise RI insists, humans oversee “Editorial standards, judgment calls, and corrections” — that has implications for all of us.  

I was an unpaid contributor to Uprise RI, when Ahlquist ran and edited the site. Alquist left in 2023, and I continue to contribute to his Substack on an unpaid basis. He had nothing to do with this article. I’m writing this as a Rhode Islander, journalist, longtime observer and reporter on local media and someone who frequently gives library talks about media literacy and misinformation. 

First, I want to thank Brailsford and Uprise RI. By going further than any other local outlet in the blending of AI tools with journalism, the site has sparked an important and timely conversation.

In theory, more coverage of local government is a good thing. One of the places hardest hit by the deterioration of local news has been the kind of granular, hyper-local reporting that Uprise RI offers. Go to the site and you’ll find coverage of zoning boards, city councils, and school committees. This is an admirable attempt to fill an existing gap.

But I have thoughts about Uprise RI’s approach.

Transparency, transparency, transparency

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics has a whole quadrant of principles under the heading “BE ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT.” This need for transparency in the news-reporting process is even more urgent when non-human technologies are being used.

In Uprise RI’s case, I wish Brailsford had offered an essay at the start of the LLM-reporting endeavor introducing the “reporters,” explaining how the process works and how this serves the public. And, in general, I would love to see the site feature more prominent labeling that the articles are generated by artificial intelligence. Right now, you have to click a “reporter’s” “bio” to see the “Digital LLM Reporter” label. 

One day after the Globe article, Brailsford published a piece, “How a Rhode Island meeting becomes a story,” that explains the site’s process. The site’s “About” page now has a section labeled “Why do our reporters have human names and human faces?” 

I say: Keep going. 

Nothing about using LLMs for reporting is obvious or self-explanatory. I believe prominent labeling and explanation — to an extent not just equal to, but beyond what human-written sites offer — should be a staple of any AI-journalism operation.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Progressive Charlestown has re-published some of the new Uprise content especially on otherwise overlooked local issues and meetings. After I learned that Uprise reporting was all AI-generated and that their "reporters" were not human being but actually AI bots, 

I started to add this tag to their bylines noting that fact: [name] is an AI avatar used by Uprise RI to scan public records and then prepare articles like these. For more on how this is done: How a Rhode Island meeting becomes a story | Uprise RI. 

Since the articles are actually AI summaries of public transcripts, they serve a useful purpose, though like Phil, I remain uncomfortable with the concept. So far, I haven't seen any challenges to the accuracy of these articles or any criticisms of bias. If (or when) such problems arise, we'll review our usage.   - Will Collette

Future members of Trump's cabinet

Yes.

Charlestown's state Senator Victoria Gu debates her LORIB-endorsed opponent

State Senate District 38 Candidate Forum. sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island

Steve Ahlquist

State Senator Victoria Gu (left) and Westin Place (right)

The League of Women Voters of Rhode Island sponsored the 2026 State Senate District 38 Candidate Forum featuring incumbent Senator Victoria Gu (Democrat) and challenger Westin Place (Republican) at the Westerly Town Hall on October 8, 2026. District 38 covers Westerly, Charlestown, and South Kingstown.

Matthew Ulricksen, an associate professor of political science at the Community College of Rhode Island, moderated the forum. He contributes to the Rhode Island Current.

Here’s the video: State Senate District 38 Candidate Forum - League of Women Voters of RI

Here’s the transcript, edited for clarity:

Matthew Ulricksen: Opening statements

Victoria Gu: It’s been an honor to represent the most beautiful part of the state. I grew up here, going to the beach and fishing with my dad. In 2023, I pledged to pass the shoreline access bill and, in my first year, negotiated it, built on it with the Shoreline Access Disclosure Law, and passed a bill to protect against reductions in parking near CRMC (Coastal Resources Management Council) rights-of-way to the shore. Because we’re a coastal area, we’re vulnerable to storms and sea-level rise, so I also passed the Act on Coasts and secured $5 million in additional green bond funding, which will run in November and provide resources for states and towns to harden their infrastructure against storms and flooding.

My community is tight-knit, with many generations growing up in South County, and it’s harder right now for young people and seniors to get priced out, so I’ve also been working on housing through accessory dwelling units, also called in-law units. Those permits have roughly doubled annually since we passed my bill in 2024. I’m also working to reform for-profit utilities like Rhode Island Energy, push back against rate increases, and seek greater oversight of the spending they pass on to ratepayers. So there’s a lot to do, and I look forward to discussing these issues.

What Does It Take to Get that Oyster on Your Plate?

Specialized Gear, Hard Work

By Bonnie Phillips / ecoRI News staff

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Crew members Peter Muhitch, left, and Patrick Mitchell, haul an oyster cage aboard the boat. (Bonnie Phillips/ecoRI News)

Russ Blank bent over the side of his boat and, using a grapple hook, pulled up a heavy rope line attached to an oyster cage, one in a long line of cages floating in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay.

The line barely looked like rope; it was covered with seaweed and other stringy oceanic growth after sitting in the bay for months.

Blank’s two crew members out with him that September day, Peter Muhitch and Patrick Mitchell, used the hook to help wrestle the cage onto the side of the boat, balancing it on the edge between the cage’s two pontoon floats so it sat level. They then unhooked the cage’s closures and, one by one, emptied six mesh bags full of oysters into blue bins lined up on the boat. Empty, the cages weigh about 50 pounds; fully loaded with the bags of oysters and bogged down with algae and other aquatic growth, they can weigh between 200 and 300 pounds.

To harvest the oysters, each cage must be hooked and pulled onto the boat individually and the mesh bags emptied of oysters. The cage is then returned to the bay and the next cage pulled up and emptied, over and over. At this particular location of his Rome Point Oyster Co., Blank has 504 cages to check, empty, and refill during the oyster growing season. Each cage fills four to six blue bins with oysters, and the crew empties 10 to 20 cages a day.

It’s not an easy job.

Nobel Prize committee sticks it to Trump by giving Peace Prize to human rights jurist

Trump seeks to abolish International Criminal Court where Prize winner had served 

Jon Queally

Committee honors person who sought to punish
war crimes, rather than a person who commits them

The international reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize, which has suffered in progressive and human rights circles over recent years, may be on the path to improvement after Friday’s announcement that this year’s award has been given to Navi Pillay, a person of “exceptional courage” who has been at the forefront of accountability efforts for apartheid, prosecuting war crimes, and upholding international law for decades.

In its statement, The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Pillay—who during her career served as a judge on the High Court in South Africa, her native country, and later the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court (ICC)—“has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.”

Pillay also served for six years as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 2008 to 2014, and more recently chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which generated a 2025 report concluding that the Israeli government had committed genocide in Gaza.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Right after the Peace Prize news, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US is imposing new sanctions against the International Criminal Court, saying “We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate against us...The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC.” According to Euronews "The European Union described US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) as "deeply regrettable" and said it was "ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work'". - Will Collette

Americans of all ages want more federal help with childcare costs.

Gen Z most of all.

Chabeli Carrazana, Economy and Child Care Reporter

This story was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of The 19th. Meet Chabeli and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Most Americans think the federal government should increase spending on childcare, and one group of voters more than any other is in favor of that change: Gen Z. 

Data from a new The 19th/YouGov poll found that 52 percent of U.S. adults overall think federal childcare spending needs a boost, including 73 percent of Democrats, 38 percent of Republicans and 50 percent of Independents. 

Among Gen Z voters, support was more robust than other age groups. Nearly 60 percent of Gen Z voters favor increasing federal spending on childcare — more, even, than the 49 percent of millennials who said the same. 

Currently, the United States spends about $12.4 billion on childcare annually, most of it to subsidize care for very low-income families. That shuts the vast majority of American families out of those benefits, leaving them with an average childcare price tag of $13,000 a year, and much more in certain states. Center-based childcare for two children is more expensive than the median annual rent payment in 47 states, and the median annual mortgage payment in 39 states, according to an analysis by the childcare advocacy group Child Care Aware. 

In a midterm cycle that is undoubtedly defined by affordability, the high cost of childcare makes it one of the key policies Americans would like to see change on. Numerous Democratic campaigns are running with childcare solutions in their platforms this election cycle, and some Republicans in Congress are also embracing the issue. The 19th’s poll revealed that 38 percent of voters think Democrats are doing a better job at handling the cost of childcare; only 19 percent said the same about Republicans. 

Republican midterm plans

Jack Reed condemns Trump plan to broadcast execution

The last public execution in the US was the hanging of Reiney Betha, on August 14, 1936. That's 90 years ago.

Voters in Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond will decide a $116 million Chariho school bond on November 3 to fund a consolidated elementary campus.

Chariho's $116M School Bond: What Voters Need to Know 

Kelly Lockhart, an AI avatar used by Uprise RI to scan public records and then prepare articles like these. For more on how this is done: How a Rhode Island meeting becomes a story | Uprise RI

Plan for the proposed unified Chariho elementary
school complex in Charlestown

Residents in Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond will vote November 3 on up to $116 million in school bonds, affecting local school facilities and property tax debt.

Across Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond, the lawn signs and municipal notices are multiplying ahead of the general election. But for voters in the three rural towns that make up the Chariho Regional School District, the ballot brings a familiar and high-stakes choice.

Two years after rejecting a three-school overhaul, voters will decide on November 3 whether to authorize up to $116 million in borrowing for a consolidated elementary campus. The measure — framed as Local Question 1 on the ballot — will determine the direction of the district's aging school infrastructure for decades.

Yet for regular homeowners watching local tax rates, the question calls to mind a straightforward concern: what will the borrowing actually fund, and what will it cost?

One Campus or Three?

The central proposal on the ballot authorizes the district to issue not more than $116 million in bonds or notes to finance an elementary school on a single campus. Under the legislative act, the facility would serve students across all three member communities and could consist of "one or more buildings."

The financing authorization also covers capital improvements at the district's Switch Road Campus in Richmond, which houses Chariho's middle and high schools. State law permits bond proceeds to fund land acquisition, demolition, architectural design, health-and-safety improvements, playgrounds, and site paving.

The plan marks a distinct shift from the district's previous attempt. In May 2024, Chariho voters narrowly rejected a larger, $150 million bond proposal by a margin of 2,445 to 2,369. That earlier referendum would have constructed three separate elementary schools — one in each member municipality — alongside the Switch Road renovations.

Consolidation brings different logistical considerations. During a public hearing in July on a proposed site at the former Charlestown Elementary School, residents raised questions about added bus traffic, local drinking-water protection, and the total cost, according to the South County Star. Charlestown held a separate referendum on August 4 regarding ground-lease arrangements for that site.

According to the bond legislation, the single-campus project is intended to meet Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools standards, with the district aiming to cut long-term operating and energy overhead.

This week's bug alert as mosquito season nears its end

RIDOH Announces First Human Case of West Nile Virus in 2026

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are announcing the State’s first case of West Nile Virus (WNV) in 2026.

The case is a Washington County resident in their 60s who had symptom onset in early September. This person has been recovering in the hospital and is expected to be released soon. The positive WNV testing was confirmed last week at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The individual had a history of travel to an area with active WNV transmission. Based on the travel history, it is likely that the infection was acquired outside of Rhode Island. 

Due to seasonally low mosquito populations, the risk of mosquito-borne disease has significantly decreased and the statewide risk level for WNV is low. However, until the entire State experiences a true hard frost (defined as three consecutive hours below 32 degrees), which kills adult mosquitoes, a low risk of mosquito-borne disease remains.

WNV is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States and is much more prevalent than Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus. Cases of WNV occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall. There are no vaccines to prevent or medications to treat WNV in people. Fortunately, most people infected with WNV do not feel sick. About one in five people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. About one out of 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness. For more information about WNV, visit health.ri.gov/wnv.

As companies trap us in subscriptions, bury us in fees, and use algorithms to fix prices, we need a new Shoppers’ Bill of Rights.

Corporations Keep Finding New Ways to Gouge Us. Our Laws Must Catch Up.

By Lindsay Owens

Every day, companies find better, and sneakier, ways to reach deeper into our wallets.

They trap us in subscriptions, bury fees until checkout, use algorithms to collude with competitors, and mine our personal data to charge us the most we’re willing to pay. With each trick and tactic, companies are reinventing the ripoff right under our noses. And, as families strain under the rising cost of living, these practices are coming for every line of the household budget.

Algorithmic price fixing is one of the most powerful tools in that arsenal. Price-fixing no longer requires a smoky back room. Today, technology can do CEOs’ dirty work for them. From rent to gasoline, this algorithmic price-fixing playbook is wreaking havoc on family budgets.

In June, a class-action lawsuit in California alleged that AI-powered pricing tool Kalibrate helped more than 1,700 gas stations coordinate and inflate prices at the pump. Drivers paid a hefty price, as Kalibrate allegedly pushed gas prices up by as much as 30 ​cents a gallon in some markets — a roughly $4 billion dollar dent in Californians’ budgets. Similar schemes could well be underway in other states.

Meanwhile, in the rental market, the blockbuster RealPage lawsuit alleged that the company’s leasing software pooled landlords’ data and spit out rent recommendations that helped landlords raise rents in lockstep. In some buildings using RealPage, rents jumped by as much as 33 percent in a single year — more than eight times the increase in a comparable building that didn’t use the software.

Another weapon in the gouger’s arsenal is dynamic pricing. Americans are familiar with prices that fluctuate when supply is scarce — say, seats on a plane or rooms at a hotel. But today, companies are pushing the practice well beyond contexts of scarcity.

For example, shoppers might find that sunscreen and bottled water have changed prices overnight in Las Vegas hotel lobby shops. And as stores like Walmart and Kroger install electronic shelf labels across thousands of stores, the infrastructure for high-frequency dynamic pricing in brick and mortar shopping is taking shape.