🌱Fire Displaces Residents; Cats Are Lost + School Put On Lockdown

Welcome back, Providence! Here's everything you need to know to get this Saturday started off right. Here's what's going on today in town.

First, today's weather:

Sunny to partly cloudy. High: 61 Low: 40.

Here are the top four stories in Providence today:

1. A fire started around 9 a.m. Friday morning at a Hillcrest Avenue home. Thirteen people were displaced and several cats that were in the home are missing. As of Friday afternoon, fire officials were still at the scene. (Providence Patch)
2. Providence County is now a 'medium' risk community, for COVID. As of Friday afternoon, the County's level of risk was upgraded from 'low' to 'medium'. Rhode Island health officials also reported Friday that there were 344 new COVID-19 cases, 304 of which were reported Thursday and the others were from previous dates. There were no new death tolls as of Friday and 61 people were reported in the hospital due to COVID-19. (Turn to 10)
3. Police are currently investigating a call to a private preparatory school on Providence’s Eastside on Thursday. The caller reportedly said he wanted to “donate an AR-15.” He said his name was “Ethan Crumbley,” (Crumbley is the suspect in the shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan). The school was placed on lockdown, and law enforcement was called. (GoLocalProv)
4. On Thursday evening, the Providence City Council Finance Committee unveiled and approved an amended plan to spend the city’s $124 million in remaining federal COVID relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. Reportedly, the new proposal keeps $17 million in the equation for affordable housing and $10 million for a yet-to-be-defined reparations program and it significantly increases the amount of money reserved for “revenue recovery,” meant to help balance the next few budgets despite pandemic-related revenue losses. The proposal will now go to the full City Council. (WPRI.com)

Today in Providence:

• Copyright for Creative Workers (1:30 PM)
• Rhode Island Wild Horse Freedom Protest (4:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Brown University: "Two to three times a week, the third floor of Brown University’s Alumnae Hall is filled with young people hanging upside down from trapezes, hoisting themselves into the air with the help of cascading silk fabrics.(Instagram)
• The Providence Flea: "We're hungry just LOOKING at this picture! Be sure to stop by the Providence Flea Sunday from 11 am-3 pm to sample our delectable lineup of local food trucks and bakeshops. (Instagram)
• Rhode Island State Police: "Troopers joined the Center for Southeast Asians at the Wat Lao Buddhist Temple in Woonsocket for a Year of the Tiger food distribution event. Troopers enjoyed lending a hand by packing groceries and carrying items to vehicles. #Alwaysthere" (Instagram)
• Providence Animal Rescue League: "We were honored to award Providence Marina with the 2022 Stanley H. Mason Award, presented annually to a person or organization whose efforts in the past year have benefited Providence Animal Rescue League." (Facebook)

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Events:

• National Hug A Plumber Day (April 25)
• Divorce & Your Home – Vesta's N. Attleboro/ Providence Hub (April 27)
• Independent Bookstore Week at Curiosity & Co.! (April 27)
• Bring Mom! Chocolate Brunch Fundraiser to benefit Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice (May 1)
• West Bay RI Strides for Independence 1K/5K Walk (May 14)
• The Greene School Challenge with BoldrDash (May 22)
• Add your event

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Alrighty, you're all caught up for today. I'll see you around!

— Karena Garrity

About me: I am a URI graduate and I have been a community reporter for the better part of the past 20 years. I love Providence and I am honored to be a part of Patch.com. You can reach me at; karena.garrity@patch.com.