Saturday, January 17, 2026

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Cover Story

FEELING UNEASY: Ironworkers Dorian Costa, left, and Oronde Hale have been working on the construction of Vineyard Wind out of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, visible in the background. But they’re now concerned about the future of the offshore wind industry. 
PBN PHOTO/
MICHAEL SALERNO

FADING PROMISE: Trump orders take toll on regional wind industry; will...

It was a breezy summer afternoon at Quonset Point in North Kingstown when tradesmen Lucileno Gomes and Antonio Gianfrancesco clocked out after their shift...
GOOD TIMES: Corey Barreira, the director of operations at the Newport Restaurant Group, in the dining room at the Waterman Grille in Providence. Despite challenges, Barreira says, the summer has been profitable for the employee-owned restaurant company. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

AFTER ‘ALL THAT’: R.I. tourism holding its own this summer, but...

For Corey Barreira, this summer has been a test of resilience. The director of operations at the Newport Restaurant Group has seen a number...
TRIAL AND ERROR: Alejandro Martinez, Mearthane Products Corp.’s marketing director, shows some experimental moldings in the company’s development lab inside its Cranston headquarters. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Moment of ingenuity helped Mearthane to continue rolling

(Editor’s note: This is the 36th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
ON THE MARK: Richard Grundy, CEO and president of AVTECH Software Inc., indicates the level of floodwater at Cutler Mill in Warren, where AVTECH’s offices are located. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

A SLOW RETREAT: Voluntary buyouts, relocations part of Warren’s pioneering climate...

When Richard Grundy moved AVTECH Software Inc. from Newport to Warren 15 years ago, the renovated Cutler Mill seemed to offer the ideal flexibility...
STAYING THE COURSE: Dawn Apajee, founder and president of professional staffing service City Personnel Inc., speaks to Recruiting Coordinator Adora Andrade, who is writing on the board. Apajee says the nature of City Personnel’s business – which provides legal, administrative, accounting and support staffing services – calls for a commitment to diversity.
PBN PHOTO/
MICHAEL SALERNO

DEI TEST: Roll back? Push ahead? For many organizations, a critical...

The diversity pledges flooded corporate inboxes across the country as protests filled the streets over George Floyd, a Black man who died under the...
HEALTH KICK: Attorney General Peter F. Neronha has focused much of his attention during his tenure in office on the state’s health care system. He says it remains a top priority for the final 18 months of his term. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

POWER SURGE: AG Neronha has asserted his authority in the name...

Peter F. Neronha is in the homestretch of his second – and final – term as Rhode Island’s attorney general, and his workload is...
HARVEST TIME: 
Jason Calderon, CEO of Bonsai Buds LLC in Exeter, tends to mature marijuana plants in the grow room 
that are ready to be dried. 
PBN PHOTO/
ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Buzz kill? As R.I. prepares to expand cannabis licenses, sector’s future...

The last few years have been a struggle for Karen Ballou, owner of ­CultivatingRI LLC. She’s been waiting for state regulators to assemble the framework...
FORGING AHEAD: East Bay Community Development Corp. Executive Director Diane Mederos, left, and consultant Frank Spinella stand at the future site for Penny Lane, a 40-unit affordable housing project planned along Child Street in Warren. Neighbors opposed the plans, but it eventually gained approval in part because the town’s ratio of affordable housing is too low. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

MISSING THE MARK: State leaders weigh how to get cities, towns...

The coastal town of Little Compton has long been a peaceful retreat from urban life, known for its rural landscapes, ancient stone walls and...
HOMEWARD BOUND: Passengers disembark from a commuter train at the Pawtucket-Central Falls station on a recent weekday afternoon. The train arrived from Boston. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

RIDING THE RAILS: Is $63M train station helping to put Pawtucket...

The train platform at the Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center is bustling, and longtime Pawtucket resident Charlie Zechel is among the dozens of people waiting...
OPPOSED: Randall Rose, a member of the Kennedy Plaza Resilience Coalition, is pictured in front of one of the parcels next to the train station recommended for a new R.I. Public Transit Authority hub.
PBN PHOTO/PAUL J. SPETRINI

Stuck in transit: Is RIPTA’s long hunt for bus hub location...

In 2014, the R.I. Department of Transportation produced a video promising a state-of-the-art transit hub to replace the “overcrowded” Kennedy Plaza in downtown Providence,...
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