John Bender

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus opens in Providence Thursday nearly a year after a tragic accident injured nine performers.  Some of the acrobats are still recovering from their injuries.

Last May, during a performance in Providence, a group of eight acrobats hung by their hair some 35 feet above the stage floor. They were sent plunging to the ground when a clamp that was part of their equipment failed.  The performers and one person on the ground suffered fractured legs, wrists, even necks.

Lawmakers have begun the process of estimating how much money the state can spend in 2016 (through the Revenue and Caseload Estimating Conference).  They’ll hear a series of presentations over the next couple of weeks on projected revenues and spending so far this year. They use the information as they consider Gov. Gina Raimondo’s proposed budget.

Boston Marathon Bombing survivor Heather Abbot said she will attend the race Monday.  Abbot, who lives in Newport, lost her left leg following the blast at the finish line.

She said she’ll watch the races joined by loved ones, continuing her annual Marathon Monday tradition.

“I’ll be spending the day in Boston with my same group of friends that I’m always with, trying to create some better memories, and put that memory of 2013 in the past.

The RIde program offers door to door pickup and drop-off services to about 15-hundred people per day.  

The new cell phone application will allow passengers to track their bus, as it comes to pick them up.  GPS data provides more specific estimated times of arrival. Passengers can also cancel trips via the app.  In total some 12-thousand people rely on the transit authority’s RIde program.

RIPTA recently embarked on a campaign to improve it services… conducting surveys, hosting community meetings, to determine possible changes to bus routes and fares.

A live camel made a quick stop in middle of downtown Providence this afternoon.  The eight-foot tall animal was visiting from Roger Williams Park Zoo, and greeted passersby in Kennedy Plaza. 

The zoo brought him out to drum up buzz for a new ‘ride-a-camel’ exhibit, and, of course, celebrate hump day.

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Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea has unveiled legislation aimed at reforming Rhode Island’s voting laws. Gorbea promised to modernize the voting system during her campaign.

The proposed legislation brings online voter registration to Rhode Island. Residents would enter a database that can be updated when people move out of town or out of state. Gorbea said that would reduce redundancies in the voter rolls.

After Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty on 30 counts Heather Abbott, the Newport woman who lost part of her left leg in the bombing, posted on her Facebook page:

“Nothing can ever replace the lives that were lost or changed forever, but at least there is some relief in knowing that justice is served and responsibility will be taken.”

Abbott, who now lives with prosthesis, recently began her own foundation, which helps provide prosthesis to others who’ve lost limbs.

City Councilors meeting in Providence Tuesday evening will consider a plan to redevelop the Providence waterfront.  They could vote to move forward with an effort to revamp some 300 acres.

The redevelopment area stretches along the lower Providence waterfront, from about Thurbers Avenue south to Fields Point. It would transfer control of the land to the Providence Redevelopment Agency, the city organization that works to improve blighted areas in the city. The plan would also fund environmental cleanup of the site, much of which is heavily contaminated. 

The Rhode Island school of Design in Providence has reached a contract agreement with the Technicians’ Union.  The union’s 44 members began a public strike last Thursday.

By Friday dozens of students had joined the 44 workers in picket lines around the campus.  RISD’s technicians operate ceramics, metal working, and glass studios, among others.  The Technicians’ union alleged that they get fewer benefits than other faculty, and that RISD walked away from negotiations. School officials say the union rejected the contract they offered.

The house finance committee is set to hear testimony this week regarding portions of the proposed state budget. The agenda includes the so-called “Taylor Swift Tax.”

It’s known that way because of the pop singer who owns a multi-million dollar vacation home in Westerly… the budget article proposes a property tax on vacation homes worth more than one million dollars.