PROVIDENCE

Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee has signed a bill into law that would let state funds be used to pay for health insurance plans that cover state workers and Medicaid recipients seeking abortions.

The top five spots in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll remained the same.

David Jones scored 16 points, AJ Storr added 15 and St. John’s beat No. 20 Providence 73-68 to hand the Friars a costly defeat in their pursuit of a second consecutive regular-season conference title.

A nurse practitioner has pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing commercial health insurers and Medicare nearly $4.4 million for services that he never provided to patients as he had claimed.

A new report suggests ways Providence, Rhode Island, can atone for its extensive ties to the transatlantic slave trade and centuries of racism and discrimination.

Governors, lawmakers and attorneys general in states with strict gun-permitting laws are strategizing over how to shore up their restrictions after Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision expanded gun rights in a New York case.

A recipe for Rhode Island-Style Fried Calamari is included in “The Great American Recipe Cookbook.”.

A U.S. House committee has approved legislation that would put voluntary questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on federal surveys.

City officials in Providence weighing reparations for Black residents are looking beyond the Rhode Island capital’s leading role in slavery.

Remy Martin scored a season-high 23 points and Kansas did its part as the only No. 1 seed left in the NCAA Tournament, holding Providence to 17 first-half points and hanging on for a 66-61 victory to reach the Elite Eight.

Al Durham had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Jared Bynum made three key free throws with 29.9 seconds left as fourth-seeded Providence snapped the longest winning streak in the country by beating South Dakota State 66-57 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points and keyed an overwhelming blitz that sent Creighton into the Big East championship game with a stunning 85-58 blowout of No. 11 Providence in the semifinals.

Jared Bynum had 27 points, including a key 3-pointer to help 11th-ranked Providence hold off Xavier 99-92 in triple overtime.

The number of children in America living in poverty jumped dramatically after just one month without the expanded child tax credit payments, according to a new study.

Gonzaga, Auburn, Arizona and Kansas hold No. 1 seeds in the initial rankings for the committee that will select the field for next month’s 68-team men's NCAA Tournament.

Collin Gillespie had five 3-pointers and a career-high 33 points, including a key 3 with 23 seconds left, and 10th-ranked Villanova held on to beat eighth-ranked Providence 89-84.

Jared Bynum scored a career-high 32 points and No. 15 Providence won its seventh in a row, beating Georgetown 71-52 and sending the Hoyas to their school-record 11th straight loss.

A Rhode Island man has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to file fraudulent applications for COVID-19 unemployment relief funds in multiple states using stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information.

Defending national champion Baylor has maintained its top spot in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll, though not without ceding a No. 1 vote to Arizona, while the six remaining unbeatens continued their rise.

Perhaps Captain James T. Kirk's adventures in "Star Trek" weren't so far from reality after all.

Despite having some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, the six New England states are still grappling with effects of the delta surge in cases and the strains on the health care system caused by rapidly increasing COVID-19 case counts and more hospitalizations and deaths.

A federal class action lawsuit alleges Brown University systematically failed to protect women from rape and other sexual misconduct.

A Portuguese teenager has found a message in a bottle that traveled at least 2,400 miles from a Vermont teenager.

New COVID-19 cases are declining across most of the country, even in some states with vaccine-hesitant populations.

Nine people injured in a Rhode Island shooting in which some 50 shots were fired are expected to recover.

Police in Rhode Island's capital said nine people have been wounded in a shooting.

Students and community activists from New England to the Deep South are demanding their colleges take more ambitious steps to atone for past sins amid the nation’s latest racial reckoning.

State authorities are investigating the case of a man who died after being handcuffed by police in Providence.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu)FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2016 photo, the remnants of a Cold War-era Russian submarine, once used as a floating museum until it sank in 2007, sits rusting in the Providence river in Providence, R.I. The remains of the submarine caught fire, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, as workers were using a blow torch to cut it up for scrap. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott, File)PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The remains of a Cold War-era Russian submarine once seen in a movie starring Harrison Ford caught fire in Providence on Tuesday morning as workers were using a blowtorch to cut it up for scrap, fire officials said. The fire at a waterfront scrap yard sent a plume of black smoke over the city at about 9:30 a.m. but was quickly extinguished. AdIt sank during a nor’easter in 2007 and was sold for scrap.

(AP Photo/Stew Milne)David Duke made a tiebreaking tip-in with 2.8 seconds left on Saturday and Providence held on after blowing a 20-point lead to beat No. Duke and Nate Watson scored 20 points apiece, and Noah Horchler had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Providence (13-12, 9-10 Big East). PC led 38-18 in the first before Villanova scored the first 11 points of the second. He joined Gillespie on the bench for the second half, wearing a boot. SECOND HALF WOESProvidence took an 11-point lead into halftime in its last game, against St. John’s on Wednesday.

(AP Photo/David Klepper, File)PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The creator of the Rhode Island landmark, the Big Blue Bug, which advertises a local pest control business on Interstate 95 in Providence, has died. According to his obituary, George Cardono died Tuesday at the age of 88, the Providence Journal reported. The idea for the beloved termite came from Big Blue Bug founder Leonard Goldman, his son Stephan and “their outside advertising man” Cardono according to a 2012 Providence Journal column by Mark Patinkin. Cardono, an artist with a Rhode Island School of Design background, studied termites under a microscope to create the advertisement. AdThe 58-foot-long, 4,000 pound (17 meter-long, 1,815 kilogram) Rhode Island icon cost $30,000, the newspaper reported.

“And those players that don’t want to play, don’t have to play,” he said. “And those coaches that don’t want to coach, don’t have to coach. “The NCAA has to have the almighty dollar from the men’s tournament," she said. “Maybe it’s easy if you’re at a Power Five football school and you’re making millions and millions and millions of dollars,” Auriemma said. ___More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming. On Monday, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the testing site at the Orange County Convention Center had little to no wait. You can wait more than 28 days, you can wait 30 days,” Dr. Raul Pino from the Florida Department of Health in Orange County said. [READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 10,000 new COVID-19 cases, over 7,000 people currently hospitalized]CasesThe Florida Department of Health reported 7,884 new cases on Monday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,579,281 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began in March. VaccinationsThe Florida Department of Health recently began releasing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered throughout the state.

One dose seems to provide some protection, but the 95% efficiency has only been shown to be attained by taking the booster shot. This means that while the manner of distribution may change, the necessity of the booster shot will not. Speaking outside of a Naples Publix on Wednesday, he explained how the booster shots have been handled in recent weeks. “So, so far what they’ve done if we got 100,000 Pfizer, that means they’re holding 100,000 Pfizer for the booster shot. Of those, 79,552 have completed the series and 40,661 are overdue for their booster shot.

UConn has two more chances to play nonconference ranked teams, with Tennessee and South Carolina on the schedule. Conversely on the men's side, a majority of the current Top 25 have played at least one ranked nonconference opponent. The lack of marquee nonconference matchups could cause the NCAA women’s basketball selection committee some agita when trying to figure out who deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament and where teams should be seeded. We’ll have lively discussions.”Longtime ESPN and CBS analyst Deb Antonelli was sad that so many women's basketball games have been canceled or postponed. “COVID is COVID and we don’t want to penalize a team for the uncontrollable.”___More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

3 UConn overcame a sluggish start to rout Providence 87-50 on Saturday to give Auriemma his 1,098th win. They trailed 7-1 midway through the first quarter, prompting Auriemma to sub out his starters, with the exception of Bueckers. “I was proud of how our team handled themselves when Mary had to sit down early with foul trouble,” Providence coach Jim Crowley said. Providence: The Friars had been holding other teams to just 60.5 points per game. UConn: The Huskies were expected to face Xavier on Wednesday, but the Musketeers were forced to suspend basketball activities because of COVID-19.

… Christian made a hell of a play to win the game for us.”Creighton led by 13 with about seven minutes left in the second half. Creighton inbounded quickly, and Zegarowski pushed the ball up the floor and found the trailing Bishop for the dunk. They also played the second half without Jared Bynum, who sat with an undisclosed injury. Greg Gantt started the second half in his place. Providence had just one turnover in the opening nine minutes of the half, but gave it away over the final 11 minutes.

“It's a great result, it's the right result and it's a just result," Zachary Mandell, an attorney for the eight women, said of the settlement, first reported by The Providence Journal. “These clients will now be able to have meaningful recoveries with the assistance of this settlement," he said. The women in 2016 sued the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which owns the arena, and SMG, which manages it. Sean Brousseau, listed as an attorney for both entities, said Monday he could neither confirm nor deny a settlement. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which closed in 2017, also agreed to take several steps to improve safety.

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2019, file photo, people rest on grass while reading at Brown University in Providence, R.I. The university and attorneys for student-athletes, who challenged the Ivy League school's decision to reduce several women's varsity sports teams to club status, announced a proposed settlement Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A federal judge on Tuesday approved a settlement between Brown University and student-athletes who had challenged the Ivy League school's decision to drop several women's varsity sports. The settlement originally announced in September restores the women’s equestrian and women’s fencing teams to varsity status, and calls for an end to a 1998 legal agreement ensuring gender equity in varsity sports at Brown on Aug. 31, 2024. It stemmed from a legal challenge in June to the Providence, Rhode Island school's decision to reduce several women's varsity sports teams to club status.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Roger Mandle, an internationally renowned art scholar and the former longtime president of the Rhode Island School of Design, has died, RISD said Tuesday. Mandle died Saturday in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, after a long battle with cancer, the school said in a statement. A painter himself, Mandle served as president of RISD from 1993 to 2008. Bush, Mandle helped shape and guide U.S. art and design policy. He was a former director of the Toledo Museum of Art, a former associate director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and a member of the Ohio Arts Council.

(AP Photo/David Goldman)Here is what’s happening Friday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAYThe development of a vaccine took another step forward Friday when Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine. College campuses will soon begin clearing out for the Thanksgiving holiday, including many that are ending the fall semester next week. To keep students from spreading the virus in their hometowns as they leave campus, some schools are requiring or offering virus tests. ON THE HORIZON: The Thanksgiving holiday next week will present another major challenge for the country in its response to the virus. ___Find AP's full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

Thick mud and debris coated many villages around the Philippine capital Friday after Typhoon Vamco caused extensive flooding that sent residents fleeing to their roofs and killing dozens of people. Floodwaters receded and the weather cleared in many areas after Typhoon Vamco blew out into the South China Sea on Friday, but the military said it was still rescuing people trapped in some flooded communities. The national police reported that the death toll had risen to at least 42 with 20 missing. The president is not missing, he is always with us,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said, without offering any further details. More than 400,000 people were evacuated to higher ground before the typhoon hit, mainly residents of vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas.

(AP Photo/Susan E. Bouchard, File)Rhode Island will now be officially known as ... Rhode Island. Officially, Rhode Island was incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations when it declared statehood in 1790. Although the word “Plantations” in Rhode Island’s name does not specifically refer to a place where slaves labored, the measure’s backers insisted it still offends, especially since Rhode Island’s ties to the slave trade are undeniably deep. The formal vote for House speaker, however, won’t happen until January, when the new legislature convenes. Mattiello rose to House speaker in 2014 after then-Speaker Gordon Fox resigned amid a public corruption investigation.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Rhode Island man serving a 660-year prison sentence for laundering millions of dollars for a Colombian drug cartel was denied compassionate release on Monday by a federal judge who said he had failed to show he was at an increased risk of severe complications from the coronavirus. Saccoccia, 62, a former Cranston precious metals dealer, argued for release because he is a nonviolent offender and has several medical conditions. Saccoccia is being held at Coleman federal prison in Florida, which his attorney called a “hotbed" of COVID-19 cases. “It equates to a life sentence for Mr. Saccoccia and with the COVID risk, we can only hope it is not a death sentence for him,” attorney Lisa Holley said. Federal prosecutors in their opposition to Saccoccia’s release said he failed to show the existence of any medical condition that would place him at a heightened risk.

It didn’t exist -- a clue the email was a phishing scam from swindlers trying to exploit the U.S. presidential election as a way to steal peoples' personal information. It’s not votes they’re after, but to win a voter's trust, personal information and maybe a bank routing number. Online grifters regularly shift tactics to fit current events, whether they are natural disasters, a pandemic or an election, according to Small. Now, the final weeks of a contentious election are giving scammers yet another opportunity to strike. And don’t reveal personal information over the phone.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Brown University rebutted what the school calls spurious conspiracy claims" as it responded to an allegation that it is failing to comply with a 1998 agreement ensuring gender equity in sports. The Ivy League school this year announced it was cutting several varsity women's and men's sports, and reducing them to club status. The agreement stemmed from a lawsuit filed after Brown dropped womens gymnastics and volleyball as varsity sports. Brown last month released internal documents, including emails from high-ranking school officials, that Public Justice and the ACLU said show Brown wanted to undermine and dismantle the 1998 agreement. Brown President Christina Paxson said the school fully supports women's sports.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. The federal government has told states to prepare for a coronavirus vaccine to be ready to distribute by Nov. 1. The CDC also sent three planning documents to some health departments that included possible timelines for when vaccines would be available. It also states that initially available vaccines will either be approved by the Food and Drug Administration or authorized by the agency under its emergency powers. Several public health experts pointed out that final stage trials of experimental vaccines are still recruiting, and are at best halfway through that process. "It gives the appearance of a stunt rather than an expression of public health concern, Hotez said.

Officially, Rhode Island was incorporated as "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" when it declared statehood in 1790. Now, opponents have revived an on-and-off effort to lop off the plantations reference, saying it evokes the dark legacy of slavery. Officially, Rhode Island was incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations when it declared statehood in 1790. Rhode Island merchants played a key role in the transatlantic slave trade, launching more than 1,000 voyages to buy and transport slaves from Africa to the Americas. Brown University researchers say around 60% of all slave-trading voyages launched from North America came from Rhode Island.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference approved an 11-team schedule for the 2020 and ’21 football seasons that includes eight games per year and each school facing every other member at least once. The conference recently gained NCAA approval to scrap its divisions after Connecticut leaves the league following this season to join the Big East and to still hold a championship game. The conference said exactly how championship game participants will be determined has not yet been decided. The new schedule model sticks with eight conference games, four home and four away. UConn is joining the Big East primarily for basketball.