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.

Why Worry About Climate Change When AI Will Get Us First?

Or maybe Trump will settle the question by pushing the nuclear button 

By Thomas Schueneman 

This short essay on climate change and AI is from my Thinking Out Loud column in our September newsletter. Subscribe for more!

When I was a wee lad growing up in the sixties, nuclear war, mutually assured destruction, or MAD, was the apocalypse du jour.

Splitting the atom ended the war and allowed a new world order to emerge. By the 1960s, that new world included schoolchildren huddled under their desks, covering their heads with their hands, practicing for the end of the world.

Some sixty years on, we live in a post-modern world nothing like that turbulent, transformative, often violent decade. But only in form. Despite the obvious technological and cultural differences between then and now, it feels vaguely the same, hiding under our virtual desks, our heads buried in distraction and division.

Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence: What, Me Worry?

You have likely heard the AI Cassandras marching up and down the digital sidewalk with their virtual placards warning that the end is near (very near), and that we are the seeds of our own destruction. We are Frankenstein; AI is the monster.

These stark warnings have spilled out as one news story after another about rogue AI agents breaking free and potentially creating havoc in the real world where humans live. It is unsettling.

Or is it?

Trump hits the airwaves with taxpayer-funded TV ads

Trump replaces the Statue of Liberty

BOLO for Charlestown: It's deer mating season

Love is in the Air and Deer are on the Move

It’s deer mating season and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) reminds drivers to keep an eye out for deer crossing roadways, particularly at dawn and dusk, when they’re on the move looking for love. 

During the “rut”, which runs from mid-October through December, deer are more active, increasing the chances of deer-vehicle collisions. So slow down, stay alert, and keep your eyes peeled for some four-legged lovebirds on the road. Tips to avoid deer vehicle collisions include:    

• Scan the shoulders of the road in front of you
• If you see a deer while driving, proceed with caution and expect more than just one
• Follow the speed limit
• Always use seat belts
• If a collision is unavoidable, apply the brakes firmly and remain in your lane

If you hit a deer, approach with caution, as it may be stunned or wounded and could injure you while trying to escape. Report all deer collisions to DEM's 24-hour dispatch at 401-222-3070, local police, and your insurance company. Motorists should also notify the dispatch if they observe an injured or dead deer on the road. 

Full coverage of Charlestown's Town Council debate, thanks to Steve Ahlquist

The Charlestown Town Council Candidate Forum

Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island and the South County Star...

Steve Ahlquist

Does anyone look like they're having a good time? 

The League of Women Voters of Rhode Island (LWV) and the South County Star sponsored the Charlestown Town Council Candidate Forum featuring Deborah Carney (D), Incumbent Council President; Stephen Stokes (R), Incumbent Council Member; Jill Marie Fonnemann (D); Sasha Puchalski (Independent); Craig Marr (R), Incumbent Council Member; Cynthia Drummond (D); and Bonnita Van Slyke (Independent), Incumbent Council Member.

Matthew Westover (R) was absent.

The forum was moderated by Torey Malatia, the executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Washington County. As a journalist, Malatia ran public media nonprofit organizations in Chicago and Providence for over 40 years. He currently serves on the board of directors of the new non-profit digital newspaper, South County Star. He trained as a medieval English literature specialist and earned an MA from Arizona State University.

Here’s the video (running time just under 90 minutes):  

Videography by Paul Roselli.

Here’s the transcript, edited for clarity:

What is the most important challenge facing Charlestown today, and how would you address it?

Deborah Carney: The most important issue facing Charlestown right now is the housing crisis. Housing costs in Charlestown are so high that it’s virtually impossible for our young families, workforce, and seniors to afford them.

Steven Stokes: Another major issue facing Charlestown right now is the struggle between state and local control of local issues. We’ve seen that slowly erode over the last several years, and it only seems to be picking up steam. We’re seeing pushback now, and that’s going to be the future for the next two years. This council will have to look into that and address the issue.

Jill Fonneman: I agree with Deb. She said it would be affordable housing and ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units). Everybody who lives in this town deserves to be able to stay in this town if they choose to, whether they’re senior citizens or our children, while also following strict guidelines and regulations to protect our environment.

Sasha Puchalski: I agree that housing affordability in town and people’s ability to move, live, raise, and support their families here is a massive issue, and that townspeople also need to understand the specific limitations on development, because while we can hope to liaise with the state in terms of maintaining control over development in town, we also need the town to be educated about responsible development and potentially alternative approaches to development of affordable housing and housing generally. We need a clear sense of the specific need and data on the number of people, so we’re catering to families that need it rather than developers.

Craig Marr: I can’t disagree with any of the comments made before me. The housing issue is the biggest challenge because we have no infrastructure in the town, so it’s very difficult. As Steve said, we also need to control development, because without it, an imposition may not fit our town. But we are an aging community, and we clearly need to bring in young families to sustain the town and move forward. These two issues are the most important ones facing the county.

Cynthia Drummond: I agree that housing is an overarching issue and that local control is paramount. I also feel that unless we do whatever we can to protect our principal economic driver, which is our coastline, nothing else will matter. It’s what keeps our taxes low, keeps people coming to Charlestown to visit, and makes people want to live here.

Bonnita Van Slyke: I agree with Steve that local control is essential to solving our housing problem. Our water is critically important and would be threatened by state mandates that greatly increase market-rate housing but not affordability. And that is a problem for us.

Why fuel prices may go higher still

Trump is out of options - except to end his illegal war

Joshua Busby, The University of Texas at Austin and Greg Pollock, Georgetown University

If you think your energy costs are high now, the situation may be about to get a whole lot worse.

With traffic in the Strait of Hormuz – normally the primary route for oil leaving the Middle East – hovering below 15% of prewar levels, oil prices have increased from US$65 a barrel before the conflict in Iran began in February 2026 to more than $100 a barrel in mid-September.

When the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran, analysts feared prices would soon reach $150 or even $200 a barrel. That hasn’t happened yet. But seven months into the conflict, with no clear end in sight, the global oil market has now largely exhausted the safety measures that exist to keep a lid on petroleum prices.

As researchers who study the relationship between energy and national security, we have been following these dynamics throughout the conflict, and the oil market is now showing signs that significant price hikes – and perhaps even shortages – may be on the way.

The squeeze tightens

Some oil has been able to make it out of the Persian Gulf despite the closure of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia increased output via its East-West pipeline, which runs from Abqaiq on the Persian Gulf overland to Yanbu on the coast of the Red Sea. At full capacity, that pipeline can carry as much as 7 million barrels per day, although only about 4 million to 5 million barrels per day are typically exported.

But attacks on the pipeline in mid-September that Saudi Arabia blames on Iran-backed militias based in Iraq forced the Saudis to temporarily halt oil shipments through that pipeline. The pipeline has now restarted operations at very low volumes, but it will likely take at least six to eight weeks to regain full capacity. Even this short cessation has tightened already constrained oil markets, and the threat of further Houthi attacks on Red Sea oil exports will only add to inflationary pressures.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Ukrainian drone attacks have damaged refineries, reducing Russian production of diesel fuel and prompting the country to ban exports of it. That has removed another 3% of the global daily supply of diesel, an important fuel for trucking and shipping. When diesel costs go up, the result is inflation in the cost of goods across the global economy.