The Providence Eye

12/17/2025

On Saturday afternoon, minutes after a masked gunman entered a classroom and sprayed gunfire on students studying for an economics exam, Brown students, faculty, and staff were notified of an active shooter on campus.

However, nearby neighbors without connections to the school did not receive a comparable notification from the City.

On Saturday afternoon, minutes after a masked gunman entered a classroom and sprayed gunfire on students studying for an economics exam, Brown students, faculty, and staff were notified of an active shooter on campus. However, nearby neighbors without connections to the school did not receive a comp...

12/04/2025

On Tuesday November 18, Central Providence Unidos (CPU) staff prepared to celebrate the completion of the largest participatory budgeting program in Rhode Island history. Known as the Nine Neighborhood Fund, it distributed $1 million dollars to projects chosen by over 1,200 Providence residents with their facilitation. As their team gathered to recognize their accomplishments that night, they received an email announcing a mandatory HR meeting the next day.

By Wednesday afternoon, all of the staff working with Central Providence Unidos were laid off.

Editor’s Note: All Providence Eye interviews with former Central Providence Unidos staff in this article were conducted before notice of their termination. On Tuesday November 18, Central Providence Unidos (CPU) staff prepared to celebrate the completion of the largest participatory budgeting prog...

12/02/2025

Did you know? According to a 2024 Pew Research poll, a majority of Americans think that local news is at least somewhat important to the overall well-being of their community; however, only 15% of Americans have paid for local news.

The Providence Eye relies on the support of our readers to provide local coverage of information across Providence's neighborhoods, without a paywall.

This Giving Tuesday, can you pitch in to help maintain a free and independent source of information about PVD?

Link to donate in bio.

11/28/2025

The Providence Public School Department and the city of Providence will spend about $1 billion, give or take a few tens of millions of dollars, to build at least 16 new or like new school buildings and extensively overhaul most other buildings in its current portfolio of 39 mostly aging and historically neglected school properties.

The Providence Public School Dept. (PPSD) and the city of Providence will spend about $1 billion, give or take a few tens of millions of dollars, to build at least 16 new or like new school buildings and extensively overhaul most other buildings in its current portfolio of 39 mostly aging and histor...

11/26/2025

On October 30, the city purchased a $1.7 million dollar plot on Washington Street for another affordable housing project, in which units will be income-restricted — joining over 12,000 other income-restricted units in the city, all of which are subject to a complex set of supervisors long after the first lease is signed.

On October 30, the city purchased a $1.7 million dollar plot on Washington Street for another affordable housing project. Every unit in the new development by Lincoln Avenue Communities will be income-restricted. Sixty-eight of the units are reserved for households earning between 60 and 80 percent....

11/21/2025

In supporting Providence local news, you help us work towards creating a more expansive and accessible community bulletin board in which the city's residents can share information, learn, and become engaged.

Can you pitch in $5 today to help get us closer to our end of year fundraising goal?

Thank you for considering supporting our work into our third year as a hyperlocal, nonprofit news site. 👁️

11/19/2025

The swim classes are part of an inaugural, five-week program administered by Providence Recreation.

Tuesday night, Batastini Recreation Center is bustling with energy in the early evening hours. The building hosts after school activities with amenities that include basketball courts, a playground, and a swimming pool. The swimming pool is the busiest of the amenities on Tuesday and Thursday nights...

11/15/2025

In the 20th century, the population of the New England Cottontail Rabbit began to decline for a multitude of reasons, including habitat loss and competition with other animals. It is the only rabbit species native to New England, and in 2006 officially became a candidate for a spot under the Endangered Species Act. However, after efforts from across the northeast to improve population rates, it was determined by the U.S. Fish and WIldlife Services that the rabbits did not need a federal endangered listing.

In 2010, Providence’s very own Roger Williams Park Zoo began to dedicate resources to a zoo initiative—the New England Cottontail Rabbit Repopulation Project. The project has a homebase at the zoo and works alongside many partners, including the University of Rhode Island.

Editor’s Note: Providence Counts is a feature of our weekly publication that tells a story through numbers, listing facts and figures from local data sets or organizations. In the 20th century, the population of the New England Cottontail Rabbit began to decline for a multitude of reasons, includi...

11/13/2025

Before moving to RI from LA, Hugo Pierre Martin has worked as an actor and voiceover artists in film, TV, video games, and more. Now, he has turned his creative pursuits to an existential vampire audio series based here in the Ocean State.

The series, The Diaries of Netovivius the Vampire, is part Proustian take on Twilight and part love letter to Providence.

Rhode Island is home to a wealth of talented actors, including French–American actor and bilingual voiceover artist Hugo Pierre Martin, newly transplanted by way of California. Before starting a new creative pursuit in Providence—namely, his audio series The Diaries of Netovivius the Vampire —...

11/12/2025

Three years after a city tax agreement dedicated at least $120,000 annually to a community benefits fund for projects in South Providence and Washington Park, residents are struggling to follow the money.

Three years after a city tax agreement dedicated at least $120,000 annually to a community benefits fund for projects in South Providence and Washington Park, residents are struggling to follow the money. Neighborhoods near the Port of Providence are calling for a more transparent and democratic pro...

11/08/2025

Food columnist Margaret Rizzuto reviews vegan restaurant PiANTA on Federal Hill, where chef and owner Michelle Politano brings real joy and confidence to plant-based cooking.

As someone who’s been a vegetarian for decades, I’ve had my fair share of plant-based meals, some okay, some very good even. But every so often, a restaurant reminds me that vegetables can absolutely steal the show. That’s what happened at PiANTA, a vegan restaurant in Providence’s Federal H...

11/06/2025

Despite RI pre-k programs aimed to provide funding for early childhood education, the most recent data on the Rhode Island Department of Education website showed that only 23% of 4-year-olds in Providence had access to the state-funded RI Pre-K program.

Applications that same year were 57% more than the number of seats available, and that’s an improvement over previous years.

It’s two months into the school year and Dina Quezada’s 4-year–old daughter is finally getting used to waking up an hour earlier. She knows many of the children in her class and is familiar with the routines from last year, when she was a 3-year–old pre-schooler at Beautiful Beginnings Child...