Breaking Down the Ballot: Should Rhode Islanders Support Capital Improvements at URI and RIC?

Voters are considering whether to approve a $160.5 million bond that would go toward capital improvements at two the state’s higher education facilities

A $73 million bond would renovate Whipple Hall at Rhode Island College, home of the school's Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies.
A $73 million bond would renovate Whipple Hall at Rhode Island College, home of the school’s Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies.
Creative Commons
Share
A $73 million bond would renovate Whipple Hall at Rhode Island College, home of the school's Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies.
A $73 million bond would renovate Whipple Hall at Rhode Island College, home of the school’s Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies.
Creative Commons
Breaking Down the Ballot: Should Rhode Islanders Support Capital Improvements at URI and RIC?
Copy

On Nov. 5, Rhode Island voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on five statewide ballot questions.

Question No. 2 asks voters to approve a $160.5 million bond that would go toward capital improvements at two of the state’s higher education facilities.

Approximately $87.5 million would be used to build a new biomedical sciences building at URI’s Kingston campus, and $73 million would help transform Whipple Hall at Rhode Island College into a home for the school’s fledgling Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies.

Jim Langevin, a former congressman and the Distinguished Chair at the Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies at Rhode Island College, spoke to Luis Hernandez of The Public’s Radio about the measure on the ballot.

Go here to see all five referenda questions on this year’s ballot, and click here for more information on when, where and how to vote in this year’s election.

This interview was conducted by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

A rare legal clash between the Justice Department and the federal judiciary echoes to Rhode Island, where a 1990s-era lawsuit filed by then–U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse offers precedent and underscores the escalating tensions between executive power and judicial independence
The new state law also mandates RAs to be trained to administer the life-saving opioid reversal medication
In her latest novel These Summer Storms, Rhode Island author Sarah MacLean trades dukes for tech dynasties, spinning a tale of inheritance games, family dysfunction, and second chances—set against the brooding backdrop of a storm-lashed island estate
After a near-fatal accident left him paralyzed, Google engineer Sasha Blair-Goldensohn turned personal adversity into advocacy—transforming Google Maps and New York City’s subway system to better serve people with disabilities, and reminding the world that accessibility benefits everyone
More than 1,200 voters cast ballots early in four-way primary competition