Focus

WHERE IT COUNTS: Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea, with the state’s ballot-counting machines. A task force is investigating whether the election system needs an upgrade to reduce its vulnerability to hackers.  / PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI

Modems could be weakness in securing R.I. elections

Focus 10/04/2019

A statewide elections technology that was considered an upgrade as recently as 2016 is now viewed as a potential security problem. The modems added to...

Hackers targeting municipalities, states

Focus 10/04/2019

A recent cybertheft of $4.2 million from the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System and resulting FBI probe has the attention of Rhode Island and...

RESURFACED: Visitors walk along the exit drive at The Breakers mansion in Newport. The drive was resurfaced with hand-cut pavers and features a heated tubing to keep the exit free of snow and ice in the winter.  / PBN PHOTO/DAVE HANSEN

Rehabilitation project aims to return Breakers to Gilded Age appearance

Focus 09/27/2019

Phase by phase, the landscape surrounding The Breakers in Newport is moving closer to its late 19th-century roots. Designed by landscape architect Ernest W. Bowditch...

SIGNIFICANT IMPACT: Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Oscar Mejias, who is also a member of a steering committee guiding the state in determining how to best put the Cranston Street Armory, above, to use, says its reopening will have a significant impact on the surrounding community.  / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

RFP planned for historic armory

Focus 09/27/2019

It looks out of place: a medieval-style castle of pale-yellow brick, towering over the modest houses and storefronts in Providence’s West End neighborhood. One of...

LEGAL ADVICE: Partridge, Snow & Hahn attorney Elizabeth Manchester chats with Sam Sylvester, vice president financial services at OceanPoint Insurance. Manchester was speaking at United Way about what nonprofits should do to ensure employees and employers don’t engage in harassment.  / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

Nonprofits need formal harassment policies

Focus 09/20/2019

Nonprofit leaders are often so focused on the mission that they can overlook essential policies that underpin their business. Many nonprofit organizations lack the formal...

BIG IMPACT: Sam Salganik, executive director of the Rhode Island Parent Information Network, said the Affordable Care Act has made the biggest positive impact in the health care system in recent years. It’s been complemented by the state’s efforts to make insurance more accessible and affordable.  / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Reinsurance program helps curb premiums

Focus 09/20/2019

Sam Salganik sees hardship cases of Rhode Islanders struggling to pay for health care. But he’s seeing less of it. “The state is making progress,”...

ARTS RESIDENCY: MacArthur fellow and Tony-nominated performer and playwright Taylor Mac, above holding the microphone, will speak, perform and participate in a panel discussion during an artist residency in Providence this month.  / COURTESY TAYLOR MAC

FirstWorks looks to expand horizons through the arts

Focus 09/13/2019

Education is at the core of the longstanding partnership between Providence’s FirstWorks and the Brown Arts Initiative. The collaboration has drawn performers and artists to...

WORKFORCE TRAINING: Julian L. Alssid, Community College of Rhode Island’s vice president of workforce partnerships, observes an adult education math class. CCRI introduced workforce training in math several years ago, and is now doing the same for language with its “Spanish for Survivors” pilot course.  / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Giving employers the skills to speak with their workers

Focus 09/13/2019

The diversification of Rhode Island’s workforce has resulted in a frequent challenge for many employers. Workers may know enough English to perform their jobs,...