This Just In: A culture war in Cranston; a touching tribute to a high-school senior

Good afternoon and welcome to This Just In. I'm Mike McDermott, managing editor of The Providence Journal, and I should probably refrain from making sports predictions in this space for a while.

Yep, the Celtics game last night was pretty good, for about six or seven minutes anyway. After that – well, I admit it, I switched over to Hulu by halftime. Fortunately, although I like to take advantage of most things our state has to offer, sports gambling is not among them.

For better or worse, the Democratic Party in Rhode Island is a big tent, with some very liberal members and more than a few who are quite conservative. But unlike those happy circus books I used to read as a kid, it's not always fun and games under the big tent. In Cranston, the conservative deputy speaker of the House, Rep. Charlene Lima, is at war with fellow Democratic Rep. Brandon Potter – so much that she's taken out a newspaper ad looking for city residents to run against him. Katherine Gregg explains how their dispute is tied up in the broader national arguments over COVID mask mandates and sex education in schools.

In other news intra-party competition news, new Democratic Party rules required candidates in this year's primary election to formally signify whether they wanted the party's official endorsement. And although most of the high-profile Democrats do want the endorsement, a few decided to opt out.

While the Celtics were passing their season away to no one in particular, the full Rhode Island State House of Representatives was voting to approve a $13.6-billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Before doing so, they defeated Republican-led efforts to suspend the state's gas tax.

The Rhode Island Department of Health reported no new coronavirus-related deaths and 301 additional cases of COVID-19, along with 3,546 negative tests, for a 7.8% positive rate. There were 63 COVID-positive patients in Rhode Island hospitals at last count, down from 71 reported yesterday, with fewer than five in intensive care. Rhode Island has reported an average of 299 new cases a day over the last seven days, down 20% from a week ago and down 36% from two weeks ago.

With coronavirus vaccines about to become available for children from six months up to 5 years old, health-care reporter G. Wayne Miller answered some common questions about shots for the youngest kids.

Christian Ortiz is a special young man. He was born in Providence, moved to Bolivia as a toddler, and came back in eighth grade, speaking no English. Tonight he's graduating as valedictorian of his class at Mount Pleasant High School, and he's getting a generous scholarship from URI. But that's not all. The owners of Tomaselli's Restaurant at Rosario, in Providence, where Christian works in the kitchen, are so impressed by him that they threw a party that raised $12,000 to pay for his non-tuition expenses.

I'm not what you would consider a handy man – although two out of the three items that I constructed in our back yard remain structurally sound (ish) – and yet I loved this story by Wheeler Cowperthwaite about the soon-to-open tool-lending library in Olneyville.

Providence's Municipal Reparations Commission has just about a month left to come up with recommendations for spending $10 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. Amy Russo checked in with the commission's chairman, Rodney Davis, to see where things stand.

A wealthy Florida businessman has been acquitted on charges that he tried to bribe the former Rhode Island sports legend Gordie Ernst to get his daughter into Georgetown on a tennis scholarship.

It should be quite a scene at Rocky Point Park in Warwick tomorrow morning, when 130 classic cars – some more than 100 years old – depart for an unusual race across the country. Well, a race to North Dakota, at least.

Here's a great Father's Day read: Our Veterans Voice columnist, Frank Lennon, is the son of a World War II veteran and teacher who served an improbable spell as Providence public safety commissioner. Frank's latest column is an affectionate and honest look at their relationship, which was not always easy.

Amy Russo did a little volunteer work to gather material for her next column.

If you don't like it too hot, the weather's looking great for this weekend, so why not take a hike at the latest Walking RI destination, an Exeter wildlife refuge.

And finally, here are The Journal's All-State teams in softball and baseball.

This Just In will be observing the Juneteenth holiday on Monday. It will return to your inbox Tuesday afternoon.

Have a great weekend; there's certainly a lot to celebrate. So Happy Pride, Happy Father's Day, Happy Juneteenth. And remember, if you enjoy This Just In, please encourage a friend to sign up.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: This Just In: Cranston culture war; Mount Pleasant valedictorian