Good afternoon. I’m Kali, and I’m Alex. And you are listening to 88.3 FM WQRI. Roger Williams University Student Radio in Bristol, Rhode Island. And this is Hope Pod Live with your weekly news. Hope Pod Live is Communities of Hope Civic Media’s live radio show. We cover and share news about social justice on campus and in Rhode Island. 

Today we will introduce the Solutions Journalism Network’s Media Challenge. We will also talk about executive orders affecting the lgbtq plus populations with special guests, Sam Fiji, how new immigration policies are affecting international students in Rhode Island, and how environmental justice story on the Port of Providence.

 

We’ll be back after some news from our partners. 

 

The Rhode Island News Current reported this Tuesday that Rhode Island and Connecticut Attorneys General were successful in their efforts to block a stop work order on the Revolution Wind Project, which had been paused due to legal challenges. According to the Current, a federal judge ordered work to resume the Revolution Wind Project.

The judge also hinted that ongoing talks with the Trump administration could ease the path forward for both wind and fossil fuel projects in the region. The case highlights the growing tension between legal, environmental, and economic itch interests surrounding offshore wind projects. Listeners can see the full story on the radio on the Rhode Island Currents website.

 

You’re listening to WQRI 88.3 fm. This is the Hope Pod Live. Communities of Hope is one of the eight newsrooms in the country selected for Solutions Journalism Networks, student media challenge. We are investigating solutions for the mental health challenges of incarcerated youth and youth within the foster care system as wards of the state.These minors are particularly vulnerable. 

 

Um, give us one second as we pull up our Solutions Journalism Network Audio. And here we are about to listen. The Solutions Journalism audio is just giving us a real, hard time, so please give us one second. 

 

When I went in there, I wasn’t even 18, but it did change me. That’s why I changed because I was by myself a lot. Like I can’t be around nobody no more. I was just in my room depressed and by myself, just like damn.

 

An anonymous incarcerated juvenile respondent shared within a 2023 report published by Kids Count Rhode Island. The report titled Centering Youth Voice in Juvenile Justice Reform presents a summary of youth experiences within the justice system. The report centered around youth voicing concerns about inadequate mental healthcare and injustice in the juvenile carceral system. 65 to 70% of the children arrested in America per year have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and many more developed mental health issues due to incarceration. Many juvenile respondents in the Rhode Island juvenile justice system deal with mental health crises. According to the report quote, youth with mental health needs that go unaddressed are often funneled into the juvenile justice system due to the historic criminalization of behaviors associated with mental health needs, and the justice system that they interact with is not always designed to meet those needs.

 The juvenile justice system is not just the Rhode Island Training School. It also includes family court, juvenile hearing boards, and prevention. Additionally, in Rhode Island, depending on the severity of a crime in their previous records, juvenile respondents can be sent to adult jail as soon as the age of 16.

According to the kids count report, Rhode Island has reduced the number of youth held at the training school between 2018 and 2022 by 83% an anonymous caseworker, and the kids count report shared. So they’re getting arrested by the police. They’re getting sent through family court, then they’re going to the training school.

They’re literally identifying that the mental health is coming to a head in the training school, and then if they don’t get enough support, the cycle continues. These systems are not communicating. According to the Rhode Island Department of Children, youth, and Families, each individual within the system has quote, unimpeded access to confidential and private, physical, and behavioral healthcare by licensed professionals.

Children are informed of this immediately upon entering the training school. Following youth entrance, a program worker or resident nurse at the training school will provide a suicide risk assessment. If risk is identified, the child is placed under direct supervision. Regardless of risk level. They meet with a clinical social worker to help adjust and address specific needs.

Additionally, any child whose offense, behavior or record indicates a mental health need is seen by additional social worker and staff psychiatrist if needed. The mental healthcare provided to children is individualized, and children are informed of their specific treatment plans. In their recommendation section, the 2023 Kids Count report outlines that these mental health services, while good on paper, aren’t enough in practice.

As the report states, quote, children and youth are not little adults, and we know that they think and respond differently to situations than adults do. Additionally, many of these issues outlined in the report are holdovers from the history of juvenile justice in Rhode Island in the late 1800s, the first Rhode Island free reform schools were much more than Workhouses.

Children were forced to work within the school’s print shop or given work elsewhere. These schools became a reoccurring nightmare for the children of Rhode Island. Parents often reprimanded their children by threatening that they could end up in the T School. These threats were not exaggerated. In the late 1880s, an investigation into the Rhode Island Reform schools revealed serious cases of physical and emotional abuse.

In the early 1940s, the juvenile court system was separated from the adult court system, but the issues of poor mental healthcare continued. And in 1974, Congress passed the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act, which outlined how children are to be treated in both the juvenile and criminal justice system.

Rhode Island’s mental health care still remained abysmal. Even with the act in place. Mental health care for juvenile respondents has remained basically the same since the 1974 reforms. In 2018, a report was published by the Department of Children, youth, and Families. Following us physical incident in the Rhode Island training school, injuring both adolescents and staff.

This report outlined many issues and called for upgrades to the building, hiring more staff, and including more programming. Outlined by the kids count report, mental healthcare wasn’t always considered within the history of the juvenile justice system. These legacy systems, leftovers from the Sonos days, are the reason why many juvenile respondents face issues of mental health within the Rhode Island training schools.

In the next broadcast of the Solutions Journalism Network series, we will cover exactly how these systems impact children’s mental health. 

 

That was Joshua Gahagan on for our um, SJN segment. And now here’s more from Alex. 

 

Federal law requires mental health screenings within 30 days of entering foster care with full assessments within 60 days if any issues are found.

Rhode Island also requires a transition plan for youth with serious mental health needs. Youth needs are screened within 72 hours, and licensed mental health professionals decide if counseling or treatment is needed. Child welfare agencies are responsible for how care is given, but decisions are made with input from professionals and caregivers, mostly through Medicaid.

There. Use therapy like trauma-informed counseling, play therapy, and family therapy to aid in the effectiveness of foster parents. We propose training, trauma-focused therapy, like trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and intensive. Support services for poor or uninsured youth Help is available through Medicaid slash CH IP School, uh, schools, community programs, nonprofits, crisis services, and early prevention.

This series is supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems. 

 

You’re listening to WQRI 88.3 fm, and this is Hope Pod Live. Thank you for listening to our Solutions Journalism Network story. As we transition over our host, Alex will be leaving for a little bit, and our other host Alano will be joining us.

 

Next up will be an episode from our Queer on Campus, our podcast, discussing recent and relevant queer news. And here’s an episode from season two, which ran last semester.

 

Welcome back to Queer on Campus, the podcast where we explore lgbtq plus issues, experiences, and innovations happening in college environments and beyond. This is our second session here, and we are ready to dive in. My name is Tatum. 

And I’m Kali. And today we’re gonna be talking about a very current and important topic.

President Trump’s new executive orders. 

Yeah, with the new executive orders. Or EOS for short coming into place and targeting the LGBTQ plus community, we wanted to research how that would affect the community, both on and off campus. And we have some interesting findings to share with you all today.

Alongside our research, we also have a key interview with Sam Fiji, a transgender law student at the Roger Williams University School of Law, who walked us through what these eos really mean for every member of the LGBTQ plus community. 

Let’s take a look at our FI first, finding the removal of anti-discrimination.

Policies. This executive order removes a lot of protections for the lgbtq plus community protections that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity with the enforcement of the, of this EO and federal laws. That cover anti-discrimination policies, it won’t cover any BT Plus discrimination.

 

That’s right, Tatum. This would unfortunately allow LGBTQ plus people to be discriminated against in many federal programs. Some examples of these programs can include social security, Medicare, housing, and employment in federal offices. LGBTQ plus people can now be turned away from all these programs just because of who they are and how they identify themselves.

 

That’s true Tatum. Unfortunately, now anyone in the lgbtq plus community can be discriminated against outward repercussions, which already violates the. Institutions Equal Protection clause. 

 

Not only that, Kali, and in 2022 US Transgender Survey, it was found that transgender people faced higher rates of poverty and homelessness in comparison to their cisgender peers.

 

Let’s take a look at our next finding, the Anti Transgender Executive Order. 

 

The official name for this EO is Defending Women from Gender Ideology, extremist and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. 

 Talk about a mouthful. 

 I know. This EO attempts to end the legal recognition of transgender and non-binary people under the federal law.

 This is another way the federal government is green lighting, discriminating against people of the LGBTQ plus community. An example of this can easily be seen when they refer to transgender people as an ideology. 

 That’s an interesting idea, to say the least. To add to that, the policy also allows for the recognition of two sexes, male and female, and it refuses to accept that people can transition from one sex to another, nor does it even acknowledge the existence of non-binary people.

 Another issue that comes with this executive order is that. It directed the secretaries of the state and Homeland Security to cease issuing federal identity documents such as licenses or passports that conflict with the new definition of sex. 

Federal agencies also can no longer fund any content that is deemed to be promoting a gender ideology.

 With all these large changes coming regarding the federal perception of gender, please check in on your LGBTQ plus community members, friends and family. Make sure they’re doing okay. 

Exactly. Cali, these changes are hard to hear for the entire community, so please make sure to check in with people you know in the community to make sure they’re okay.

 We still have one more finding to go over as well. Organizations taking precautions. 

 We took a look at how different LGBTQ plus rights organizations want to challenge President Trump’s decision and how some are even going to take him to court. Exactly. 

 One example of an organization who wants to take President Trump to court is Lambda Legal, which secured the first US passport with a ex gender marker.

 They believe that anybody has the right to identify accurately who they are, regardless of what the government thinks. So they want to take President Trump. To court because of that. 

 It’s good that organizations like that wanna take President Trump to court. Considering the enormous effect these executive orders have on the mental health of LGBTQ plus people, 

 according to the C’S 2023 Youth Risk Behavior survey, 41% of lgbtq plus students have seriously considered suicide.

 This is a good time to send another reminder to check in on your loved ones during these tough times. 

 And if you or someone you know are feeling depressed or are showing signs of depression or suicide thoughts, please reach out to the suicide hotline at nine eight eight through call or text. If you don’t want to reach out there, please try to seek medical profession.

 Okay, now that we’ve gotten through some tough topics, we can get into our special guest. Exactly. Callie. We talked to Sam, a transgender lost school student at Roger Williams University School of Law, who walked us through what these executive orders really mean for every member of the LGBTQ plus community.

 

Let’s run that interview. 

 

My name is Samuel Fiji. I’m a third year law student at Roger Williams University School of Law, and I’m also enrolled in the University of Rhode Island’s Master of Marine Affairs Program. Completing those degrees jointly. I’m also a transgender man and a lot of the issues that we’ve been facing like really inspired me to go to law school because I just found how important the law is with how we assert these rights and defend our dignity as people.

 

Perfect. Um, the first question, what are the executive orders and how are they put into place? 

 

Yeah. Well first executive orders are something that every president will issue hundreds of throughout their presidency, especially at the start of their presidency. So just by volume and like how prolific they are, uh, what we’re seeing at the beginning of the second Trump administration is not unusual on its own.

 

Uh, article two of the Constitution, uh, mandates that the president see that the laws be faithfully executed. And that’s really it more or less as far as like how the president is exactly supposed to do their job. But it’s under that power to see that the laws are faithfully executed, that the president may issue executive orders.

 

And executive orders are directive to a president’s agencies, which are like the means with which to ex execute those laws. And essentially by. Uh, issuing these orders, they become regulations. And here it’s really important to distinguish that executive orders are not laws. They did not go through the law making process.

 

They were not approved by the, um, they were not approved by the Senate or the House of Representatives who we all elected into their offices. They were not signed by the president. Uh, so that is a really important distinction that they do not have that weight president can re revoke executive orders at any time.

 

They can revoke previous president’s executive orders. So it’s really more of a slap dash bandaid, here’s my policy agencies go do it. Type of approach. 

 

Yeah. What legal and policy mechanisms could Congress use to counteract the federal government rollback for, uh, sorry, rollback of protections for L-G-B-T-Q individuals, and what are the potential obstacles to implementing that?

 

Yeah, well. A legal or like policy remedy that Congress could take if they wanted to fight the rollbacks to LGBT rights is pass a law. That’s what Congress does. That’s like what their power is. And the law like is the law of the land. Like once Congress enacts it and it’s signed by the president and obviously there are some, uh, obstacles to that.

 

Uh, our congress and just politic political sphere as a whole is like very polarized and divided right now. So socially, uh, law like enshrining LGBT rights and codifying them, just like that was difficult to do when Roe v Wade was threatened to being overturned and was overturned. That might not be very politically viable.

 

Um, or difficult. And then a further obstacle would be okay, even if a law is passed, uh, would the president sign it? Probably not. And then it would be up to Congress to uh, like to override that veto. So. Like in short, Congress’s recourse here is to do its job and to pass laws to protect its citizens. And, uh, stand by that when the president says no, but obviously politically that’s a very difficult thing to pull off.

 

Yeah. How might the federal government’s ability to discriminate against the L-G-B-T-Q people and impact their access to the essential services like healthcare, housing, and employment, and then what are the long term social and economic consequences of these? 

 

Right. So the federal government’s executive order to, uh, like essentially eliminate like LGBT people’s identities, uh, like sounds very scary and terrifying as far as like, how will this impact my access to these essential services, my healthcare, my documents, and the federal government can’t maybe reach here as far as it thinks.

 

So there’s a case called South Dakota v Dole and it essentially stands for Congress, uh. Like how Congress can impose conditions on states like that are receiving federal funds. So like, think about like federally, like funded, the federally funded portion of programs like Medicaid and Medicare, that like might cover gender affirming healthcare, for example.

 

So Congress can impose conditions on states to get these funds, but those conditions have to exist at the time that the states accept the money. Uh, so the federal government can’t say, wait, we can no longer give you the money because you are funding transgender healthcare. Um, no, under this case, South Dakota v Dole, uh, those conditions would be too coercive.

 

They wouldn’t necessarily be related to the funding too. So like there’s case law that would pose a really significant obstacle in that. And generally speaking, we think about the federal government and the Bill of Rights being like the floor. For our rights. And then states can provide a ceiling. So abortion is another example of this where abortion is not a federally like enshrined constitutional right, that we have, but states have added that to their constitution and it’s unfortunate for L-G-L-G-B-T people in states that are not supportive of them.

 

But I think we’re going to have to lean more on our states to protect us anti shelter US states like Rhode Island and Minnesota, um, to fight back against the federal government’s, um, mandates about sex and gender and provide an umbrella and say no, like our state is deciding to continue funding these programs and continue funding these healthcare and offering it to gender diverse people and not like non-straight people.

 

So like, it’s ambitious, but it might not actually be able to be carried out to the extent that the federal government wants to. 

 

What are the social and economic consequences of the policies? 

 

Yeah. So even if states can shield people, um, like queer people within its jurisdiction, like from these federal policies, that doesn’t make them any less dehumanizing.

 

Mm-hmm. And just, or, well, in as far as like enforcing like these, like unscientific and authoritative views on sex and gender. So like, and like I said, there are people in state, like queer people in states like that do not provide these protections, um, like, or these umbrellas to like shield them from their, from these federal policies or who are, are willing to accept these federal policies.

 

And those people would certainly like be facing the consequences. 

 

How would the enforcement of the, of this policy impact the safety, legal, rights, and daily lives of transgender and non-binary, binary individuals? Particularly in areas like, um, identity documentation, access to public spaces, and protection from discrimination.

 

Right. So just thinking about identifying documents like the distinction between like federal and state, like can really be seen with those. So passports. Um, if you want to get an X on your passport, you will no longer be able to do that. You might not even be able to get a passport, even if your state documents match your current gender, if that gender is different than the one that you were assigned at birth.

 

F So that is different, but at the same time, like you could still edit your birth certificate as your state allows you to, you could still get, um, a state ID card that matches your, um, true gender, like as that state allows. So there is like some difference there. But I think with, especially with passports, um, that’s scary for people because people feel trapped and we don’t quite know exactly what’s going on with passports that were in process or what workarounds there might be.

 

Where if, uh, all of my state documents match, like would they necessarily check, you know, to see like if this is different than what, uh, the gender that I had originally at Social Security. There’s just a lot of uncertainty around that. 

 

Perfect. 

 

And then what was the next part of it? Sorry, I have more to, oh, sorry.

 

Okay. 

 

No, no. Sorry. I, yeah, 

 

and thinking about. Legal protections too. Um, there’s a case that was actually mentioned in the, the executive order on Sex and Gender called BOC v Clayton County. And that case essentially held that it is sex discrimination for an employer to fire someone for being queer or LGBT in some way.

 

And this kind of reflects the imperfect way that our law has kind of cobbled together what queer people are and like who we are. So in a perfect world, and like something that would align with like our current science and understanding behind sex and gender and its complexities would be for the law to treat sex one way and gender another way.

 

But right now the law kind of houses gender diversity and queerness under Title vii, which prohibits sex discrimination, which we think of that as like women in the workplace, right? And um, and that type of thing. But it also applies to being LGBT because you would just have a relationship right between two people.

 

But what makes a relationship. Queer or straight is those people’s sex. So therefore, discriminating because of someone’s sexuality is sex discrimination. And the same way for transgender, what makes being a transgender man is that I have my sex assigned at birth. And then I have, like how I present now as a man.

 

If I was just a man male assigned at birth, then I would just be a man. I wouldn’t be a transgender man. So in that way, sex also is a determinant, um, of like whether or not something is discrimination for transgender people. And this executive order said that, um, it would correct the. I think it was misinterpretation or like the application of bostock.

 

So that like immediately raises some separation of powers, alarm bells, where like the court interpreted Congress’s law, the court interpreted Title vii, it held what it held. So how is the executive branch correcting that? We have to wait and see, but that right now is precedent And is the law of the land bostock that it is sex discrimination for an employer to fire you because of your gender sexuality?

 

What legal strateg strategies and precedents could L-G-B-T-Q LGBTQ plus rights organizations use to challenge these policies? In course, in course in court. Oh, sorry. In court. And what are the, uh, potential implications for transgender and non-binary individuals if these challenges are unsuccessful?

 

Right. So I had talked about Bostock, um, and that would certainly be a great precedent for these, um, like for like rights groups and individuals looking to challenge these laws. Um, an unsuccessful challenge of that would create new precedent, and that’s kind of the fear and the gamesmanship almost that comes with civil rights lawyering.

 

Um, case selection is so important. We saw this with the overturn of the Chevron doctrine this last summer. So if, um, you’re into environmental law like me, you know that Chevron is the name of this case that was decided 40 years ago. And it provides this two step test where if Congress’s Law is uncertain, then an agency can, uh, decide like what the best route is to regulate that law or enforce that law as long as it’s, um, supported by the administrative record, more or less.

 

So as long as the agency shows their work, um, they can. Apply the, they can decide the best way to enforce Congress’s law if Congress was unclear about how to do that. And, uh, this was overturned on a case that was really unfavorable. Um, but it was brought forward and it was brought to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court did what it did.

 

So I know that people at the A CLU people at other civil rights groups and who are just individuals looking to challenge these laws are going to be very strategic about what cases that they actually bring forward because of the danger of creating a new precedent and potentially overturning something like aoc.

 

Perfect. Is there anything you would like to add or say to any of our viewers They watching? Watching? 

 

Yeah. Like viewers, if you’ve gotten this far, if you’re listening, if you are queer or you know and love someone who is queer and you’re scared right now, remember the 48 hour rule, you’re going to see some scary news.

 

Let it sit. This is all a process. Upholding law is a process. Lawsuits are all a process. We saw this just with the executive order. Um, attempting to overturn natural born citizenship within 48 hours. Something like 12 states sued at least at like, it, it was probably more. And that coordination is commendable.

 

Like to get 12 states to file a lawsuit that quickly, um, against something. So like there are people who are in places where they can make a difference and do this work, and they all care and want to follow the law and do the right thing. And not just lawyers too. There’s people within your community who can offer resources and want to be supportive and help you.

 

And whatever echo chamber you get in, when you’re doom scrolling and you’re only seeing the bad, it’s important to just take care of yourself and step outside. Because really we just need to look out for each other. We need to get through this. You don’t need to help save the world. You just have to get through it, and it’s really important to take care of yourself and take care of your mental health and remember that there are people fighting for you.

 

Sam was absolutely amazing and we hope 

 

to be talking to him again soon. Before we sign out, let’s go through a quick summary of what we talked about today. It was a bit of a heavy one. The 

 

Trump administration is removing policies that protected LGBTQ plus people from being discriminated against. 

 

This also applies to civil rights.

 

Laws that are already in place saying that they don’t apply to LGBTQ plus people anymore. 

 

Next, we talked about the anti-trans gender executive order that was put into order. 

 

This executive order, put the two sex rule into effect where now only male and female are the federally recognized, recognized gender.

 

Finally, we talked about what companies are doing that counteract this alongside what you can do to keep yourself and your friends and family safe. 

 

We encourage all of our list. To keep themselves and their loved ones safe in this hard time. 

 

And always, no matter what the government says, you are who you are and nobody can tell you otherwise.

 

If you’re looking for more information on lgbtq plus related issues or other podcasts or stories, make sure to check out our website@communitydrivennews.org and look for Queer on Campus. Thanks for tuning in to Queer on Campus with this week. My name is Callie and my name is T. Until next time, stay safe and stay proud.

 

You are listening to WQRI 88.3 fm and this is HOPE Pod Live. Hope Pod Live is a production of Communities of Hope, civic Media, a program of the Department of Media Design and Comm communication of Roger Williams University. Thank you for listening to our Queer on Campus episode. We are going to be discussing some upcoming events on campus.

 

Next Wednesday, October 1st, the Center for Corporate Communications will be opening on the Roger Williams Providence Campus. The grand opening will be at 4:00 PM. If you’re interested in attending the event, please email prsa@rw.edu. 

 

Also that Wednesday, October 1st, campus Democrats of Roger Williams University, we’ll be hosting a co-sponsored event with mock trial where there will be a live panel with the Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Noona.

 

Have you ever wanted to compete in a national level competition with a close-knit team? The P-R-S-S-A Bateman competition is up and running this semester. If you are interested in joining the team, please reach out to Ami Shelton at aShelton@rw.edu. Thank you Alex for that. 

 

Uh, moving on, we’re gonna be talking about some more news.

 

Rob Smith reported to Eco RRI News this week that Rhode Island households living on fixed or limited incomes are facing severe financial strain as electric and natural gas. Rates continue to rise. Community advocates warn that these rates hikes could lead to widespread shutoffs. Health and safety risks are becoming more pressing as advocates push state officials to adopt a percentage income payment plan, which would tie utility bills to household earnings, ensuring costs remain affordable and equitable.

 

You just listened to Queer On Campus and our most recent news and this episode included host Callie and Tatum with a special guest, Sam fgi. 

 

Thank you for listening to Hope Pod Live at WQRI 88.3 fm. 

 

Hello and welcome back to WQRI 88.3 fm and this is Hope Pod Live. If you are interested in learning more about what we’ve talked about today, in addition to the stories we’ve produced in the past, take a look at our social media at Communities of Hope and our social media for our Hope Pod Live show at Hope Pod Live CH.

 

Our website is community driven news.org, where we will hold our past shows. Now we are gonna hear from Alex for some promo about our capsized segment. So on campus here, 

 

the, uh, Roger Williams University chapter of Society of Professional Journalists has our own publication. We call it the Capsize Tribune.

 

We have all sorts of articles going up there from updates on campus to investigative pieces. Um, if you’re interested in checking out any of those, um, you can check out our website, um, or just search, um, the Capsize Tribune. Thank you 

 

Alex, for talking to us about the Capsized Tribune. Um, if you are looking for something new to do on campus, you can get on Hawk Link.

 

Hawk Link is filled with our clubs and organizations with upcoming events and these events stem from general meetings to our CE and theme winks that will be held in the spring. I know I believe tonight there is a magician show at 8:00 PM in the field house. If you wanna go take a look at that, you can look on Hawk Link.

 

Um, and yeah. Now Alex is gonna talk to us more about themed weeks in the dining hall. 

 

From September 15th through October 15th is Hispanic Heritage Month. The dining hall has been doing all sorts of themed dinners, highlighting traditional Hispanic foods. And on October 9th there’ll be a highlighted lunch with Halsa.

 

Stay tuned to hear more from our next host. Alana, 

 

you are listening to 88.3 FM WQRI, Roger Williams University Student Radio in Bristol, Rhode Island, and this is Hope Pod Live with your weekly news. We have now welcomed our other host, Alana. Alana, how are you?

 

Hi everybody. Um, thank you Callie, for the introduction.

 

I am doing well, you know, just the regular work I don’t want to do, you know, 

 

typical, typical, yep. Alright, so we’re going to get into some of our more recent news with Alana. You can take it away. 

 

Yep. Our next story will be discussing a story from Eco RI News. Um, the PO the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority or RTA is moving forward with major service reductions beginning September 27th.

 

The cuts will affect numerous bus lines, reducing frequency, eliminating certain routes, and limiting weekend and holiday service. For many Rhode Islanders who rely on public transit as their only form of transportation, these changes could severely restrict access to jobs, healthcare, and other essential services.

 

Critics warn that the most affected will be the working class and transit dependent rider. The story was reported by Colleen Cronin. Thank you for 

 

listening to our new, oh, excuse me. Um, shifting our focus. Our news team will take a look at the ongoing national conversations about immigration. This is gonna be by Addie.

 

Sorry, one second, get another. The United States government

 

is delaying or rejecting many of the Visa applications from international students seeking to study here. Many universities across the country have seen a decline in international students this fall. President Donald Trump says that he wants to limit the amount of time certain visa holders can stay in the us.

 

These types of visas are F and j visas. F visas are for academic students while J visas are for participants and exchange programs or academic internships. Before the changes, students holding either an F or J Visa could stay throughout the duration of their programs, including research and residency based graduate programs that can take several more years than average four years.

 

That includes medical schools and programs in advanced physics, for example, now Trump wants to limit these visas to only four years. Last year, more than a million international students contributed about $43 billion to the US economy. There is a predicted drop by NPR of 150,000 new international students, which would be a 15% decline.

 

The country could lose as much as $7 billion and 60,000 jobs in a data set that broke down projected losses by state. It said Rhode Island is in danger of losing $44 million alone. The issue with student visas started shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration. In January, 2025, Trump ran on a platform to reduce immigration and ran made one of his top priorities to lock down the number of undocumented people in the country.

 

According to a story by Camillo Montoya Galvez on CBS News, Trump said that he wants ice officials to do everything they can to execute his deportation project. ICE officials were told to target major cities, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. According to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller, the administration changed the target goal from 650 to at least 3000 arrests a day.

 

Undocumented immigrants have been living in fear. They would be taken from their homes, places of work, in schools, videos of people being chased to the street, tackled, arrested, and deported by ice. And other governmental agencies have increased on various social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

 

Certain states have made their immigration laws stricter in 2025, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and Idaho have passed new immigration laws. Similar bills were vetoed by other states because immigration is the job of the federal government, not the states. States that have vetoed These laws include North Carolina, California, and Arizona.

 

These laws include allowing local law enforcement to enforce deportations. According to the Brookings Institution, the Trump administration has sought to limit the amount of undocumented immigrants access to early childhood education, career education, and adult education programs. A rule change was announced on July 10th that barred immigrant families from enrolling in Head Start programs that provide free early education, health, nutrition, and family support services.

 

This leaves an estimated 115,000 children and families vulnerable to losing these necessities. At the beginning of the summer, the Trump administration temporarily withheld over 6 billion in K through 12 federal education grants, including Title three funds that support English learners and students who are immigrants.

 

They also withheld federal funding, which provided programs for adult immigrants trying to learn English. The same grants also provided career learning programs for these adults. These funds were unfrozen in August of 2025, but local districts are still trying to navigate the uncertainty caused by the many changes in policies.

 

According to an article by Chris Papas, New Hampshire is trying to navigate how to help after school programs and college programs. Many of the students enrolled are first generation students who need help navigating their education. Many international students had to wait until the last minute to receive their visas, and that is if they even got them at all.

 

According to a story by NPR on August 27th, the university at Buffalo had 750 fewer international students on campus than expected. According to the same article by NPR. Among the students who received their visas and were able to get on campus, they all had the same sentiment of gratitude that they made it through the process and can now focus on their studies.

 

Some students could not get appointments or consultations before the fall semester, which puts them behind in their education. According to the same August 27th article, Trump and conservative leaders have agreed that they don’t want spots going to international students. That could be taken by American citizens.

 

In an interview with NPR, the University at Buffalo’s Bravo, Scott Weber explains that they enroll many gifted students in no spots are being taken away from American citizens. The White House issued a proclamation suspending entry to the United States of any international students studying at Harvard.

 

In the light of these proposals, Harvard has publicly supported their international students. In a statement released by the university by Alan m Garber, the president of Harvard, he accused the Trump administration of unconstitutional behavior and for sing out, singling out their institution for the number of students they have from all over the world.

 

The press release says that Harvard’s administration will be making plans to ensure that international students can continue. To go to Harvard in the press release. They state that they believe that international students make the institution what it is known to be, and they will continue to support them and defend their right to come to school.

 

A quarter of Harvard students come from other countries and completely banning them with severely hurt the institution. Prior to this, universities were already on edge After Trump froze federal grants and demanded changes on big campuses across the country. Universities depend on government grants and funding to support research and students.

 

New York University enrolls nearly 60,000 students, one third of whom are international students. At Columbia, two out of five students are international. While these universities fight for students from all countries to come here and study, some conservatives are concerned that these spots are being taken away from Americans and places like Harvard are getting harder to get into with an acceptance rate of three point a half percent.

 

Many people who apply will not get in. According to a New York Times article from May 24th, 2025, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem made accusations that foreign students create a quote, unsafe campus claiming that many protestors who harass people were foreign students. While no policies have been made official potential students feel unwelcome and don’t feel comfortable coming to the US anymore.

 

According to the New York Times article in recent years, international student enrollment has decreased in the last few years. According to a professor of management at St. John’s University in New York, Nile Haggy in Rhode Island, director of International students at URI, Melissa De Jesus told Hope Pod Live that some international students attending had issues with their visa as being delayed and some not getting appointments at all.

 

She revealed how the university went about helping the students that had these issues. So 

 

we did get some students that were not able to get here due to delays and not being able to schedule appointments like you mentioned. Um, we, what we did was, um, in those cases that we saw, there was no visibility, that students were able to join us by the start of the semester.

 

We provided them with information on how to defer and how can they come for the following semester for like spring for example, and things like that, and help them with the process and provide them with the additional documents needed for that. 

 

De Jesus says that URI still welcomes international students and are willing to help students who did not make it to campus.

 

At the beginning of the school year, de Jesus had many students reaching out with questions and concerns because they did not understand what was happening. She was there to offer advice on a case by case basis because it was understood that not everyone was impacted the same way because of different countries travel bans.

 

So we will meet with students, discuss the travel plans, and you know, and go over their documents and make sure that they had everything they needed if they decided to travel. 

 

She also stressed the fact that the best way to keep students informed about these new policies and proposals is to stay informed herself.

 

This way she can help students understand the changes and help navigate what they mean for each student’s future. Roger Williams University is a small private university with 15 million in federal funding for research. R W’s, international student Advisor, Dr. Hanah Met has taken the time to meet with international students in group settings as well as one-on-one.

 

Dr. Meta told students to ignore social media, and she tells them that panicking will not help. Instead, she advises her students to listen to the V from executive orders and the government. Dr. Meta says she is proud that her students are adapting to this mindset and being more cautious about what they see online.

 

All RWU international students made it to campus successfully this semester. According to Dr. Meta, if there are any issues with getting appointments, it had to do with students country itself or the small delay of new student visa appointments this summer. Dr. Meta also reiterates that possible changes will apply moving forward.

 

Whatever is happening that is happening moving forward. So whoever is here, whether it is banned countries, whether it is H one B, whether it is, it says in those orders that people who have applied before such and such date are not part of it. So they are not doing anything to the students who are already 

 

here.

 

The current students are, okay. The ban countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad Republic of the Congo, equatorial, Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, labia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. An additional seven countries will be partially restricted. Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo Turk, Stan, and Venezuela. Moving forward, people from these countries will have difficulty obtaining visas to study in the US.

 

Right now, international students have an option for optional practical training or OPT programs that allow students to stay an extra year working in the field. They graduated to get practical experience on the job. In the event that students’ time is limited post-graduation, it could affect these programs.

 

However, Dr. Meta has some former students on OPT and so far so good. A lot of the current media representation or policies that have not yet been approved in the event they are approved universities will reevaluate how to support their international 

 

students. So as an advisor, I cannot advise just on the base of some news article or something we just proposed.

 

Once it is there. Then we can guide the students based on what will be their next step and what they need to do to be, uh, to fulfill their requirement of F1 or Java. Yeah, 

 

we will have to stay informed to see how international students all over the country will be affected for Hope Pod Live. I’m Addison Mason.

 

Thank you for listening to our news team discuss important issues about immigration. We’re now going to discuss RWU Hello, RWU. Hello. Recently celebrated the high holidays, the holiest days of the year in Judaism. Students came together to observe Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began September 22nd, and marked the start of a 10 day period of reflection leading to Yom Kippur.

 

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur will take place on October 1st and second and observes fast observed with fasting, prayer, and community Reflection. Traditions include festive meals and ceremonial casting of sins into water. RW Hillel was proud to provide transportation to services and a supportive community for students to honor these important days.

 

We will now be listening to an episode from our segment surrounded. This will discuss environmental justice issues within the Port of Providence. Take a listen. Thank you, Alana, for the introduction, and we’re gonna 

 

take a listen. 

 

Billowing from miles away. Yeah, just enormous clouds of dark smoke emerging from a pilot that yard.

 

People are seeing it on the highways as fire crews were called out to put out those flames. Now some local elected officials are calling for change. They’re describing the fire as an environmental disaster and noting it’s not the first time you’ve seen hands on cruise from across by on the scene are all Firely officials say,

 

smothering the plane hot. There was the fire the deputies chief says, so of course you had a lot of people weighing in traveling fast city councilors.

 

The Port of Providence is one of only two deep water ports in New England. It’s a significant economic boon for both the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island as a whole. Unlike the majority of ports around the world dealing in cargo merchandise with large multicolored shipping containers.

 

The port of providence is a much more mundane, bulk, and break bulk port. It deals in construction materials in hard infrastructural substances like water, cleaning chemicals, or parts to manufacture offshore wind energy turbines

 

between rows of lumber and giant containers of cement, long Sherman package and ship everything from used cars to scrap metal. These bulk materials are crucial to providence in the larger state of Rhode Islands infrastructure. If you ever during particularly nasty snowstorms where the rose salt comes from is the port of providence, which receives large piles of salt that are used for not only.

 

The state of Rhode Island, but also parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts. In total, over 9 million tons of cargo move in and out of the Port of Providence each year resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in total economic impact. This infrastructural Goliath doesn’t come without drawbacks. Since the early days of the Industrial Revolution, the port has become a significant contributor to the city of Providence’s environmental mismanagement since its inception, due to its vast variety of industrial businesses, the port generates pollution that covers every facet of life from land and sea to air.

 

The port has left a lasting impact on both the Providence ecosystem and the communities that live next to it. Residents of Providence’s Ward 10, including the South Providence and Washington Park neighborhoods, have spent their days burdened by the port from community activism and education to hospital visits and extended legal cases.

 

The neighborhood has to protect itself from the port hazards and from the systems that created those hazards in the first place. In this multi-part series, we investigate the environmental effects and the remediation efforts surrounding the Port of Providence. We cover the environmental justice efforts of Washington Park and South Providence neighborhoods while explaining the inner workings of the port.

 

In this first episode, we will trace the hazards that surround the community of Washington Park and examine the environmental justice efforts in response. The Port is a massive and confusing jumble of legislation in international commerce, and the best way to cut through the confusion is to go back to the beginning.

 

Having lived here for over 45 years, I live in the shadows of the port and I’ve been asking for help. 

 

That’s Linda Perry, president of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association. Perry, along with her whole neighborhood and the larger South province area, are begrudging neighbors to the Port of Providence.

 

Perry has been the president of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association since its founding in 2015. She organizes monthly community meetings and answers, frequently asked questions about the ports operations. Perry also works alongside another community organization, the People’s Port Authority, led by Monica Huertas to attempt to structurally change how the port operates.

 

The goal of both organizations is simple, keep the negative impacts of the port at a minimum, and question the city’s narrative of the necessity of the port’s Operations Perry deals with the effects of the port on an almost daily basis. The smell and overall air quality of the port emanate into residential areas frequently.

 

The unidentified sour smell of a port and the idling diesel engines. Force residents like Perry to keep their windows closed, even on the nicest days. Perry explains that it’s not only the smell or the daily nuisances. Anytime an emergency happens on the port, it falls on her to inform and support the community.

 

Whenever a train derails a fire breaks out, or chemical S leak, Perry is forced to take the helm and explaining the intricacies of ownership and operations that are happening behind the chain. Link fences of the port, 

 

the apathy of a lot of people. People don’t know what’s going on at the port. Mm-hmm.

 

You know, when we have the sirens go off for a test, people don’t know what is going on. What’s that? What is that siren saying? What is going on in community meetings, in conversations 

 

between Washington Park and the Port’s tenants, Perry wishes that there was a better way to inform community members who simply don’t have the time to understand the port.

 

Even with years of experience and activism, Perry herself recognizes that the port is too complicated to understand in its entirety. A lot 

 

of people, a lot of residents are just busy putting food on the table and going to work. There is a radius around the port, which is, you know. Right, a serious situation and a lot of people just aren’t aware of what is going on.

 

They see the trucks, they see the activity, but they don’t know what’s in. I don’t even know what’s totally in the port. 

 

Part of this issue is due to just how many Providence residents don’t realize how large the port really is. Most people assume that the port is just Fields Point, A peninsula along the side of Washington Park that includes private businesses administered by the nonprofit called Prof, port Prof.

 

Port section of the port is by far the most deadly populated. Multiple private businesses lease their land from the nonprofit, while other institutions like the nonprofit Save the Bay and Johnson and Wales University share the space. But that’s not all. The port is according to the city zoning laws. The actual footprint of the port extends through lower South providence to India Point Park, and includes a few terminals on the other side of the Providence River.

 

This happens to include the industry of Long Islands Avenue, where metal recycling businesses crowd the water fund. The same metal recycling businesses frequently appear in the news as being catalysts for fires and expensive lawsuits. The most pervasive toll on the community’s adjacent to the port is the effects on community health.

 

The Washington Park community is sandwiched between I 95 and the Port of Providence, both hugely contributing to the area’s poor air quality. Researchers have a hard time drawing causality to one structure over another, but the lack of information doesn’t protect residents from inhaling the polluted air.

 

According to both the National Environmental Protection Agency and the local Brown Universities Breathe, Providence Assessment, Washington Park and South Providence have the highest rates of occurrence and hospitalization of asthma within all of Providence. President of the People Support authority and frequent community advocate.

 

Monica Huerta has experienced these raids firsthand since moving into the neighborhood. When Huerta moved into Washington Park over a decade ago, she knew about the environmental issues of the port and the community activism to help curtail them. Still, with all of her knowledge, she wasn’t expecting the move to hit her family.

 

Within months of moving into Washington Park, her newborn son suffered from lead poisoning, something that huerta attributes to the soil quality in the area. And her older children were in and out of the hospital for asthma attack. Hues herself began to develop asthma, something she didn’t have before coming to Washington Park.

 

To this day, Huerta still has to drive her children back and forth from the hospital due to asthma attacks, 

 

I think. Am I crazy? Because it can’t be that I’m literally fighting this. And then my kids are always having these episodes and sometimes I feel like, am I crazy? And sometimes I would even like wait to seek treatment because I feel crazy because it’s, I’m like, it cannot freaking be that this child was just sick a month ago, and now they’re sick again.

 

Like it hurts me. 

 

Along with dealing with respiratory illnesses, Huerta’s family has also dealt with heart disease in 2022, Huerta’s. Then 7-year-old son was diagnosed with Krosky’s disease. He spent a full month in the hospital recovering from small heart aneurysms. But since nobody can prove a direct health link to the port, policies, changes are neither made nor proposed.

 

It is mindbogglingly complicated and very difficult to kind of point and create a kind of causal connection between this particular environmental hazard and this particular health condition or set of health things. There’s a number of pathways, and so I think what can be done is pointing to the range of hazards and risks in a variety of ways that are, you know, some are airborne, some are water related, you know, with a medium that they travel through.

 

Some are in the soil. 

 

Explains Julian Drs. Public health expert on the Port of Providence, chair of the City Sustainability Commission and Resident of Washington Park. As trick explains, you can’t draw a one-to-one line from Port P to a health outcome when agencies or companies in question expect a direct causal relationship.

 

In order to only change what needs to be changed, it only serves to mitigate the outcry of Washington Park residents. Washington Park isn’t just a residential area. Sandwiched between the port and a highway is a majority Bipoc neighborhood, which is officially recognized in the Providence’s Climate Justice plan as an environmental justice area, particularly because of high asthma rates.

 

The community of Washington Park not only has to deal with the clear impacts of their environment, but also struggles to get public officials to listen. Here is drinks again. 

 

The reality is that we have a system of cumulative impacts where it’s, it’s the sum of all, not just the environmental hazards, but when, you know, because we, we live in a segregated, unjust society.

 

The health effects of racism, the health effects of poverty, the health effects of emotional stressors, the health effects of intergenerational trauma, like these things all compound and become, you know, both risk factors and symptoms of 

 

health effects. From the community’s perspective, residents have noticed that the only time a business tries to change its practices is when they’re directly accused of environmental wrongdoing.

 

Even then, some businesses along the port simply pay a fight and continue to operate as normal. Julian Drex continues. 

 

We pick one facility and you can go in depth. So like the Shell facility, the big oil terminal, there’s a list of chemicals that are emitted into the air from that. There’s benzene, which is a known carcinogen, just to name one out of many.

 

You can look at Univar, uh, which is, you know, they’ve got two facilities in the port area. They have seven different chemicals that they store that are listed on the EPAs r and P list. So risk management plan, if you can point to the host of disasters that have happened over the past decade in the port.

 

We’ve had pipeline breach that luckily didn’t explode, but released a large amount of methane and PCBs, methane into the air, and then the PCBs sprayed all over the soil and the surface around it. There was the ethanol train that derailed and onto Allen’s Avenue. There was multiple tanker trucks that have spilled.

 

So those are all things, you know, you look at the highway alone, that kind of each substance in emissions. 

 

Both the People’s Port Authority and the Washington Park Neighborhood Association have faced the port’s health risks head on and pushed back. Community activism around the port took off in 2015 after the city planned to build a liquid natural gas storage facility right across the street from the Allens A Industries Providence’s Environmental Justice League.

 

A small nonprofit educating residents about the environmental justice issues of Rhode Island warns that a liquid, natural gas site, so close to existing hazardous materials would pose new pollution and safety risks. The Washington Park community responding to the planes banded together to form no LNG and PVD.

 

The community group was devoted to stopping the project through protesting, attending clumsily managed hearings, hosted by the National Grid, the company that owned the LNG facility, and consistently communicate with the city. The public hearings frequently took place outside of Washington Park making it hard for community members to go and make their case microphones wouldn’t work correctly.

 

The meeting venues were hot and stuffy, and the meetings themselves lasted well into the night when most of the community members are parents of children who need to be put to bed. No LNG and PVD fought an uphill battle as community members repetitively spoke on their own experiences living alongside the port and how much it encompasses their everyday life.

 

But despite the community voices, the plan for the liquid natural gas plan was still in motion. Other meetings held by city departments like the Coastal Resources Management Committee were better organizing showed a greater attempt to communicate with the community. By actually taking the time to listen, the community pushed back plans for the LNG facility by three years.

 

For three years, no LNG and PVD took every opportunity to reject the facility just for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to step in and approve the project. ES speaks on the organizational efforts. 

 

The first ones that we had were not very well attended. They were in very obscure places. But the last one, which was at the CRMC, one of the last ones was huge and so many people attended.

 

Right? And I’ll never forget somebody who testified, who said it is like an older gentleman that had lived here for many, many years. I think he was even born and raised around here. And he said that he’s never ever been to a hearing talking about any of these things on the court, and nobody has ever asked him.

 

So he was really grateful for the platform that we had provided for him so that he can come out and tell a story and ask why they’re putting this in here. So, right. Although it wasn’t successful in the end of like stopping it, and I see the damn facility at least four times a day when I drive by my school, my kids’ school, I see it every freaking day, at least four times a day.

 

And it pisses me off that’s there. But we got the conversation going and we got the community activated around the issues at the port. 

 

Explain Monica Juertas, who during her time opposing the facility became the organization’s leader. Shortly after the LNG facility was rubber stamped. HU has changed the name of the organization to the People’s Port Authority, reflecting that unlike other New England states that have statewide agencies, the Port of Providence doesn’t have an all encompassing port authority.

 

Not long after the NO LNG campaign, a fossil fuel company at the Port named C3 attempted to expand its operation

 

in 2021 C3. The second largest storage and distribution terminal for propane in the Northeast attempted to expand its operations by adding six 90,000 gallon tanks to an adjacent empty lot. In addition to the storage tanks, the company also wanted to implement railway access to its site, the newly named Peoples Poor Authority, together with the Washington Park Neighborhood Association.

 

Began to petition against the expansion. Just like in the LMG Battle, the Peoples Support Authority gave testimony, protested and lobbied the Attorney General and the Conservation Law Foundation to back the cause. In December of 2021, their efforts paid off. Councilman Pedro Espinal introduced a resolution asking the EF SB State Board to deny the expansion.

 

Since 2021 C3 has attempted to overturn the Rhode Island ESFB ruling, so far, all attempts have failed. Following the success with the C3 case, the community makes consistent appearances in the remediation efforts of Rhode Island recycled metals. Rhode Island recycled metals has been responsible for multiple fires at its site on Allen’s Avenue, and has been a significant polluter since it opened in 2009 without the proper permits from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management or D-E-M-D-E-M tags.

 

Rhode Island recycled metals in 2011 for lacking a stormwater control plan, which started a decade long court battle between the two parties with the court case still ongoing in 2025. The site has frequently come under fire for everything from its pollution management to its rusted vessels in the harbor.

 

One of these vessels being a Soviet he submarine thanks to lobbying by the People’s Port Authority. The long remediation plan was brought to public hearings in 2024. The multiple community meetings that were followed showcased the community’s dissent for the port as they criticized for Rhode I Meadows, for putting profits before people since they opened their doors.

 

At the same time, the city of Province’s, department of Sustainability. Reached out to the Washington Park community to start an extensive community engagement project to improve public access to the shore through Public Street, a street that cuts through the industry of the port. The plan would remake the neglected road, sandwiched between salt piles and scrap yard into one of south province’s, few shoreline parks, and a green infrastructure hub.

 

Both the people support authority and the Washington Park Neighborhood Association were part of the designing process as community needs for an accessible waterfront and greater port. Accountability were addressed through the design, which attempts to both guide residents to the shoreline, while also showcasing the industry of the port.

 

On December 26th, 2024, in the middle of the sustained organizing efforts, a fire erupted on the port, a 3000 gallon silo on the nonprofit prof ports land set on fire, not once but twice in a night. According to the City of Providence’s Fire Department. When an employee transferred biodiesel into the silo for distribution, a huge wave of pressure occurred.

 

The lid flew off. And it sparked a small fire. The fire was put up quickly by an employee who called Emergency Services, but the lid flew 500 feet and hit a nearby telephone pole. After a quick investigation by the fire department, the inspectors left only for the tank to light up in flame again. This time, the flames were larger.

 

The Providence Fire Department returned soon after to put out the fire as the people’s port authority crowded into a hastily organized zoom call the next day, the organization realized that they had more questions than answers. The news had reported that the contents of a tank were corn oil, which community members confused with a food grade cooking oil.

 

The contents of a tank were B 100 Bio. Made with corn oil, but a little less volatile than regular diesel. B 100 biodiesel is commonly used for transportation as an alternate energy source for diesel engines. This biodiesel also causes eye irritation, cancers, and possibly death if it’s directly swallowed into a person’s airways.

 

According to the community, the city also did properly informed residents of Washington Park during the fire. When asked by the Washington Park community why they didn’t sound on an emergency notice, the Providence Emergency Management Agency or Pima, represented by director Clara Debo explained that as part of the Providence Public Alert Warning System, there is a statewide wireless emergency alert system.

 

The statewide wireless emergency alert system buzzes every phone in a certain vicinity, but is only saved for weather threats like hurricane watches or tornadoes. Desborough explains that the current threshold for sending out alert through the wireless emergency alert system is if the emergency requires the public to take an action like bunkering in their basement or evacuating for emergencies like the silo Fire.

 

Pima uses a system called Code Red, which sends out alerts in English and Spanish. The only challenge with the Code Red system is that it’s an opt-in system. Providence residents have to sign up for Code RED to get informed when hazards like the silo fire occur. Des recognizes that in cases like the port fires, the code Red system isn’t the most helpful in informing the entire community and said that Pima is in the process of reevaluating the emergency notification system, which includes not only the Code Red system, but also the Port Emergency Siren System.

 

There has been fires on the port before as companies like Rhode Island Motorcycle Metals are known for them, but fires on Fields Point were less common Fields Point has profit. Which has fewer emergencies than the industry along islands have, but is also home to companies like Univar Solutions, which stores hazardous chemicals, meaning that any emergencies on P Port have a chance to be disastrous as smoke filled the sky right next to the residential zones of Washington Park.

 

No one knew what happened.

 

Answers didn’t come until two months later at a community meeting in the Washington Park Public Library. Attended by community organizations, the fire chief representatives from both pro Boards terminal management services called Waterson Terminal Services and WT Terminals, which lease the silo to a smaller company, global Glow, LLC.

 

Although the meeting was well attended, as even a representative from PO was there to relieve concerns about direct emergency communication, none of the community’s concerns were relieved that night. As more questions and answers were brought to the forefront, due to the complicated nature of the incident, as there were more than five different public and private agencies that had a say in the emergency in some way, no accountability from the company’s managing the tank was guaranteed to the community.

 

That night, the community had to wade through a complicated mess of legality before even having the ability to ask questions about the event. And when those questions were asked, they couldn’t be answered. The representatives weren’t able to answer with any resounding detail questions like, what was wrong with the tank?

 

When was the last time it was inspected? Why did the fire department leave the first time? Even after years of organizing and gaining some success, a hazard like the biodiesel tank, reveals just how little progress the community has made as they fight for any crumbs of information or accountability. On paper, this event caused no harm and the port was allowed to go about its normal business the next day.

 

But for the community of Washington Park, that fear never leaves. This time the fires were dealt with. But what about next time? 

 

My name is Jana. I live in the neighborhood and I also work on Allen’s Avenue. So I looked at the fire department’s, um, report, and I, first of all, I appreciate the fact that accidents can happen despite everybody’s best efforts.

 

I really do, and it’s part of, I think for those of us who live in the area, what worries us about the port all the time, because even despite that staff, it’s something can happen, right? And you know, I grew up learning that. Everything would be taken out in a five mile radius if something really blew with the port.

 

And then like chain reaction. So here’s what my concern is, and I looked at the report. I see that this was a Thursday afternoon. I work on Allen’s Avenue. I’m in healthcare with a lot of really compromised adults and children, knew nothing about this and I mean nothing the entire time. That worries me a little bit.

 

I understand that if you were containing it and that was the primary focus, you don’t need to send it out to the whole city. But when I think about the fact that we might have had to evacuate people in wheelchairs, get them out of a pool setting, take kids down from the second floor and get them out in.

 

Another challenge for the community came in the form of the prof, port Master plan as one of the most economically significant areas of the port, the land owned and leased by the non-profit prof. Port is the focal point of conversations around the port Prof. Port is the nonprofit that rents and then leases the city owned sections of the port, despite the self-admitted, confusing naming scheme behind it.

 

Prov port is not the entire port, but it does tend to speak for it. Since Prov Port has its land on Fields Point, it has prime access to the dredged Providence River, meaning that the businesses on Prov port have better access to the sea than some other port locations. Prov Port also has a diverse array of private businesses that lease the land from the offshore wind company or stead to businesses like C3 and Univar Solutions.

 

Prof Port is an integral piece of the larger picture of the port per its agreement with the city. Pro Port has to renew its lease on the city’s land every 30 years, and in order to renew its lease, pro Port has to put together a master plan for the next 30 years of business. Due to community activism around the lease renewal process, the city mandated that Pro port incorporate community feedback and interest into the master plan.

 

This gives the Washington Park and South Providence Communities a chance to change the future of the Port as the master planning process gives the community a small chance to move the massive institution in the right direction. In the next episode, we will cover the community activism that prevented a quick lame duck lease.

 

Renewal of prop ports land, the extensive community engagement process that shaped its master plan and answer the question on every resident’s mind. What even is Procore? 

 

All right. Thank you for listening to Surrounded by Josh Gehi, Joshua Gagan. You are listening to WQRI 88.3 fm Roger Williams University, and this is HOPE Pod Live.

 

We apologize for the technical difficulties during our surrounded episode. However, we are gonna be shifting gears just a little bit, and we wanna bring awareness to DIS Disability Awareness Month. In October of 2025, we’ll celebrate the 80th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, also known as N-D-E-A-M, an annual recognition for the positive impact of people with disabilities in the American workforce.

 

This yearly event began in 1945 as a week long national observance for the contributions of people with physical disabilities. In 1988, Congress designated the commemoration as NDN dm. Which then evolved to acknowledge the importance of increasing opportunities for people with disabilities, including those with mental health conditions and other non-res presenting disabilities in the workforce.

 

In 2001, the US Office of Disability Employment Policy was created in entrusted to AD administer the N-D-E-A-M, including the section in promotion of its annual theme and the end. EEM 2025 will recognize the value, value and talent American workers with disabilities add to our work for workplaces and economy and highlight their achievements.

 

That’s the spirit behind. Behind this year’s official theme, celebrating value and talent for Disability Awareness Month, SAS will be working with faculty and the Neurodiverse network, a club to plan events throughout the month. 

 

For more news, we will be discussing a recent story from Rhode Island, PBS Hasbro.

 

One of Rhode Island’s most iconic companies announced it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Pawtucket to Boston. By the end of 2026, the move will impact roughly 700 full-time employees, forcing many to either relocate or face job loss. For Rhode Island, the departure represents not only an economic blow, but also a symbolic one.

 

As Hasbro has been deeply tied to the state’s identity and history, local readers are now grappling with how to mitigate the loss and what it signals for Rhode Island’s business climate. This news was reported by Ian Donis. 

 

You are listening to 88.3 FM WQRI, Roger Williams University Student Radio in Brisa, Rhode Island.

 

This was our very first show of Hope Pod Live, and we appreciate every single one of our listeners today. We will be tuning back in every single Friday from 12 to 2:00 PM We just wanna give a very special thank you to everybody who contributed today and once again to all of our very special listeners out there.

 

So I have been your host, Callie Blackaby, 

 

and I’m your host, Alana Lamine. We also had our co-host, Alex. Alex Tabone, Tabone Tabone, sorry. With us earlier. You can find our recordings@communitydrivennews.org and also follow our socials community at Communities of Hope and at Hope Pod Live underscore coh.

 

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This program was brought, brought to you by Communities of Hope Civic Media. This episode features contributions from Abigail Stark, Addison Mason, Alana Lamine, Alex Valon, Alexa Beon. Emma, sorry, excuse me. Ante. Um, Anna Pellegrini. Ashlyn Keating. 

 

Aliyah Gullet. Brown. Brenna made Maderis. Brianna Ura, Caroline Fme, Claire Kelly, Amelia Viola, Emma Adams, 

 

Eric Tech, God.

 

Dennis Tiner. Joshua Gahagan. Kelly Blacker. Be Kate Tor. Kylie Meadows Lu. Gina Flava,

 

McKayla McDonald, Gato Hugh Matthew Downey, McKayla, gain. Naja Young. Rachel Cabral. Rebecca she Scheffler Ri. Richard Gonzalez, RJ Rude. Rosalyn, AYA Osa. Sarah Price, Shania Brown and Zara ate. Thank you once again 

 

to listening for Hope Pod Live. We’ll come back to you next week from two 12 to 2:00 PM and for now you’re gonna be listening to some tunes.

 

So thank you so much.