A long-debated expansion to the historic district on College Hill, which includes three buildings owned by the University, was passed unanimously by the Providence City Council June 3. 

When Amir Tatari moved to the United States from Syria in the late 1980s, his first job was working at a Dunkin’ Donuts on Thayer Street. Now, over 30 years later, he is set to open the restaurant Abu Yarub Al-Shami on the very same street.

Gov. Dan McKee vetoed a renewable energy bill that would have placed millions of dollars in costs of wind and solar projects onto ratepayers rather than developers, according to The Providence Journal.

Cranston police arrested 11 people and shut down six “suspected illegal massage parlors” in a coordinated raid June 17, according to a Cranston Police Department news release.

After 11 months of work and $150,000 of University support, Hope High School opened its redesigned library and media center June 7, according to a University press release.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and state legislators announced new legislation on June 16 to provide body-worn cameras to all 1,700 frontline police officers in the state. The bill has passed both the House and Senate. 

A state bill proposing the prohibition of “divisive concepts” in education has sparked controversy across Rhode Island on the inclusion of racial justice curricula in public schools.

While in middle school, Mocorah Lewis saw members of the Providence Police Department who were placed within city schools, also known as school resource officers, discipline her classmates. 

Rhode Island legislators unveiled a $13.1 billion proposed state budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year, WPRI reported. The budget, which exceeds the $11.2 billion proposal from Gov. Dan McKee by roughly $2 billion, includes increases in spending for education and social services in the Ocean State.

On Olneyville Square, a new colorful window display announces that “Health, Safety & Support Live Here.” Project Weber/RENEW, a nonprofit harm reduction organization currently headquartered on Broad Street in Providence, opened a new location in Olneyville May 26 and is in the process of opening another in Pawtucket.