Saturday, August 8, 2026

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A SWEET NEST: 
The 9,719-square-foot house known as The Bird House on Beacon Hill Road in Newport was sold by “Judge Judy” Sheindlin in September for $15.3 million, making it the highest-priced sale in Rhode Island in 2025. 
COURTESY GUSTAVE WHITE SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY

MORE MILLIONS: Seven-figure home sales spreading away from waterfront

The Rhode Island waterfront has always been the domain for high-end home sales as the wealthy gladly pay steep premiums for houses with a...
TIME CONSCIOUS: Barry Dejasu of East Providence waits at Kennedy Plaza to make his R.I. Public Transit Authority bus home after arriving on a bus from Warwick, where he works. RIPTA service changes have made his commute longer and more complex.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

WEAKENED CONNECTIONS: RIPTA’s service cuts disrupting sectors of R.I. workforce

For years, East Providence resident Barry Dejasu’s commute to Warwick followed the same routine: Leave the house at around 7:30 a.m., walk to the...
PLACE OF PRIDE: Joan and Tony Assante purchased a 1,400-square-foot condominium at Chapel View, one of the first of 14 condos in the development to be occupied 17 years ago. Every condo was eventually purchased. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

SEEKING BALANCE: Developers see financial benefits of live-work-play projects

No matter what Joan and Tony Assante want to do, they usually don’t have to go far to get it done. Grocery shopping? There’s a...
CAREFUL CRAFTING: Machinist Troy Hawkins takes a measurement while setting up the equipment at Hawkins Machine Co. in Coventry. Hawkins is the fourth generation of the family to work at the company, which is feeling the squeeze of rising costs. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

CLOUD COVER: PBN survey: Most R.I. businesses bracing for rough times...

When it comes to the economy, Brenda Jacob has a laundry list of challenges that don’t seem to be getting easier. She feels like regulations,...
HANDIWORK: Tool maker Bobby Bianca operates a milling machine on the production floor at Warwick Hanger Co. in Westerly. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

MEET THE MAKERS: Westerly factory specializes in crucial, mostly concealed, construction...

(Editor’s note: This is the 41st installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s ­unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
WHAT’S IN STORE: Rachel Grady, an Ocean State Job Lot floor associate, stocks the shelves at the discount chain’s Johnston store. The company says its holiday hiring started in October this year. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Holiday hiring headache: ’Tis the season of uncertainty in search for...

Boutique owner Karen Beebe spent weeks trying to hire just one extra person ahead of this year’s holiday shopping season. For 19 years, Beebe’s shop,...
STRING SKILLS: Machine operator Maria Dacruz works on the production floor of Neocorp Inc., a standard and technical rope and bungee cord maker in Pawtucket. Neocorp is among the local manufacturers that have dealt with inflated tariffs in 2025. 
PBN PHOTO/
MICHAEL SALERNO

THE TOLL OF TARIFFS: Factories under strain as they try to...

If there was one thing Rose Wood had been able to count on as a buyer at Pawtucket manufacturer Neocorp Inc., it was that...
FINAL TOUCHES: Manufacturing technician Noel Laflamme sets up a job on the laser cutter at metal fabricator Ward’s Manufacturing LLC in Warren.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

For Ward’s, survival of tariffs required complete overhaul of business

Less than a year ago, Kelly Ward, co-founder and president of Ward’s Manufacturing LLC, envisioned that the company would be spending the spring and...
WORK ­ENVIRONMENT: Independent journalist Steve Ahlquist taps out a story on his laptop at the ­Rochambeau Library in Providence. He’s covered social issues for a few small local blogs and now publishes on the digital platform Substack. 
PBN PHOTO/
MICHAEL SALERNO

BROKEN NEWS? Outlets in search of sustainable community journalism model

Tapping away at his laptop at the Rochambeau Library in Providence, Steve Ahlquist doesn’t look the part of a pioneer. He began reporting on Rhode...
TESTING: Brewer Matt Von ­Holten, foreground, and cellarman Eric Gonzalez, who oversees the day-to-day post-brewing processes, test the wort – the liquid ­extracted from the mashing process when brewing beer – at The Guild Brewery in Pawtucket.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

SOBER REFLECTION: With the craft beer boom over, breweries look...

Matthew Gray has cleared many hurdles to keep Ragged Island Brewing Co. running. And the obstacles are still coming. Gray opened Ragged Island Brewing with...
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