🌱New White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator + Realistic Eggs

Up and at 'em, Providence! Here's everything you need to know to get this Friday started off right.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny. High: 67 Low: 45.

Here are the top five stories today in Providence:

1. President Joe Biden has officially named Brown University School of Public Health Dean Ashish Jha as the new White House COVID-19 response coordinator. "Dr. Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America and a well-known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence," Biden said. (Providence Patch)
2. An investigation is underway after a Providence police cruiser, that was responding as backup for a suspicious vehicle, was involved in a crash just after 1 a.m. Thursday morning. The driver of the black SUV that crashed into the cruiser said he did not see the lights on the cruiser or hear the siren. (WPRI.com)
3. Instead of painting eggs in pretty pastels, the Rhode Island Audubon egg hunts are going for realism and making kids use their eagle eyes. Kids aged three to 10 can hunt for brown eggs hidden among the natural setting of several wildlife refuges around the state and learn just how well eggs can camouflage. (wbsm.com)
4. St. Adalbert’s Parish and Janusz Korczak Polish Language School are partnering to ask for support for two charitable foundations in Poland: Profeto.pl Foundation in Warsaw and the Rodzinny Gdansk Foundation in Gdansk. (Rhode Island Newspaper)
5. Providence School Board member Dr. Elizabeth Goldberg, among others, gave testimony about how Providence Schools remain dysfunctional two years into the state takeover. She described how she almost pulled her fourth-grader out of the system after one teacher after another left, disrupting any semblance of coherent instruction and leaving the classroom in shambles. (The Providence Journal)

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Today in Providence:

• Divorce Boot Camp – Vesta's N. Attleboro/ Providence Hub (12:00 PM)
• Afterschool Movie - Providence Community Library (3:30 PM)
• A Raisin in the Sun (7:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• Johnson & Wales University: The University is lifting the mask mandate on March 18. (WLNE-TV (ABC6))
• Nextdoor Neighbor, College Hill: "Saturday from 12-4 pm we will be offering 5 free KN95 masks per person to anyone who stops by our shop at 10 Westminster St in Providence. Bring a friend and come checkout our extensive collection of literature, music and more." (Nextdoor)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, Wayland: "Hi neighbors! I am a massage therapist and esthetician on the east side of Providence and I specialize in support for stress relief and symptoms of anxiety. I have (10) 30 minute gift certificates to give away!" (Nextdoor)
• Erin McGarvey, Neighbor: "Citizens and United Way of RI are providing a free tax prep program for Rhode Island residents. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program helps working families and individuals in Rhode Island." (Patch)

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Events:

• American Diabetes Association Diabetes Alert Day: Understand Your Risk (March 22)
• Alimony, Child Support & Co-Parenting – Vesta's N.Attleboro/ Providence Hub (March 23)
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That's it for today! See you tomorrow for another update.

— 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.