RIDOH Recommends Closing Ginny B’s Campground and Briar Point Beach for Swimming

 

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) recommends closing Ginny B’s Campground in Foster and Briar Point Beach in Coventry for swimming because of high bacteria levels.

 

RIDOH officials will continue to monitor and review beach water quality through Labor Day. The status of a beach may change as new data become available. The most up-to-date beach information is available through a recorded message on RIDOH's beaches telephone line (401-222-2751). A list of closed beaches can also be accessed at health.ri.gov.

 

 

The House Oversight Committee plans to hold hearings on fraud allegations within Minnesota's social services programs. Committee Chairman James Comer invited Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz and its Attorney General Keith Ellison to testify on February 10th. Walz's office issued a statement said the governor is "happy to work with Congress," while also pointing to the committee's track record for holding what he called "circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand."        Over 20-million Americans are now facing higher health insurance costs after federal tax subsidies expired at year's end. The average cost of premiums through the Affordable Care Act is now expected to rise by 26-percent across the U.S., though it could be lower in states that run their own marketplace. Millions of people are expected to drop their health insurance because of the price hikes.        A lake-effect snowstorm is bringing heavy snow to the Great Lakes region to start the new year. Snow is expected to fall through Friday, with varying snowfall totals. Forecasters expect snow totals downwind of Lake Ontario could approach three feet in parts of upstate New York by Saturday morning. Totals could range from eight to 12 inches south of Buffalo, and parts of Pennsylvania could see up to a foot of new snow by Saturday morning.        Police are still looking for a suspect in the murders of an Ohio dentist and his wife. Columbus Police said officers responding for a welfare check at a residence on Tuesday morning discovered the bodies and 37-year-old Spencer Tepe and 39-year-old Monique Tepe. Officials have said there were no immediate signs of forced entry. However, no gun was found near the victims, so a murder-suicide does not seem likely. Two children under the age of six were also found unharmed in the home.        Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, is admitting it created explicit images of minors. Grok replied to a user's posts Thursday saying there had been "isolated cases where users prompted for and received AI images depicting minors in minimal clothing." In another post, Grok acknowledged that xAI could face possible Justice Department probes or lawsuits due to the images. On Friday, Grok said, "We've identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them."        Miami is hosting the NHL Winter Classic tonight. This year's edition of the league's annual stadium event sees the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers taking on the New York Rangers. The roof is open at loanDepot Park with Miami feeling a cold snap. This is the farthest south the Winter Classic has ever been played.