🌱 Woman Filmed At YMCA + Unemployment Fraud + Stem Cell Donors

Get on up, Providence! Let's get this day started. These are the most important things going on today in Providence.

First, today's weather:

Rain changing to ice; colder. High: 39 Low: 18.

Here are the top three stories in Providence today:

1. A contract worker was arrested for allegedly filming a woman in the shower at a YMCA in Providence. According to Steven O’Donnell, the CEO of YMCA of Greater Providence, the incident occurred on Wednesday morning at the East Side YMCA location on Hope Street. The employee, who is employed by an off-site company, has not yet been identified and the incident remains under investigation. (WPRI.com)
2. A Providence man has pleaded guilty to committing COVID-19 unemployment fraud across various states, including Rhode Island. Keishon Brown, 33, fraudulently filed applications in five states for COVID-19-related unemployment benefits and collected tens of thousands of dollars he was not eligible for. He submitted applications in Massachusetts, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, and California for pandemic-related unemployment benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and collected a total of more than $62,000 in benefits he was not entitled to receive. (WPRI.com)
3. A mother of three in Providence is in need of a stem cell transplant and is looking for a match. According to Ann Evans, with the National Bone Marrow Registry at the Rhode Island Blood Center, 42-year-old N'kiia Stallworth's best chance for treatment is someone who matches her on ethnicity and race — someone who's black or African-American. Stem cell donors must be between 18 and 40 in order to qualify, but you can donate up until your 61st birthday. (WJAR)

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Today in Providence:

• Vaccination Clinic, At Providence Community Library (3:00 PM)
• First Friday Concert, At Music Mansion (7:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Yesterday, the Providence Police Department honored the memory of PPD Sergeant Steven M. Shaw who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 3, 1994, at the age of 27. (Facebook)
• Providence High School's alumni spotlight is celebrating ‘02 alum, Liana Aghajanian. (Instagram)
• The Rhode Island Convention Center and Rhode Island Department of Health have proudly partnered with the Providence Bruins for the month of February. Any child under the age of 18 who receives a dose of their COVID-19 vaccine at the R.I. Convention Center Clinic, located at 1 Sabin Street, will receive a free ticket to a P-Bruins home game of choice in February. (Facebook)

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You're all caught up for today! See you all tomorrow for another update.

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a staff writer for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners, and is a graduate of The University of Rhode Island, where she earned a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.