Eight years after planners first envisioned bringing permanent food service and public restrooms to the 195 District Park, a 3,500-square-foot pavilion opens this month – amid criticism from some surrounding restaurants that taxpayers are funding an operation that is competing with dozens of private businesses. Jim Hummel follows up on his investigation from 2022 and finds that the final price tag is significantly higher than originally estimated. Read the report here.

Fourteen years – and more than 100 million taxpayer dollars – after the state created a roadmap to end homelessness in Rhode Island, the problem persists - with no strategic plan and questions from advocates for the unhoused community about how the money is being spent on the issue. In Part 3 of our series, Jim Hummel talks to advocates, a key state official and the leading nonprofit provider of housing and homeless services in Rhode Island. Read the report here.

As housing prices soar in Rhode Island, an increasing number of people are living on the street, as the state struggles to provide enough shelter space. This week, Jim Hummel profiles a pilot program in Providence aimed at providing shelter beds during the coldest nights this winter and the volunteers who stepped forward to help make it work. It’s our second of a three-part series on the issue of homelessness. Watch the show here.

The number of people living in tent encampments in Rhode Island has increased dramatically over the past five years, as soaring apartment rental prices are driving some out on the street. This week, Jim Hummel kicks off series of stories looking at who is living outside, and why – and some of the people who are trying to help them. Read the story here.

Residents in a neighborhood north of the Quonset Business Park say heavy, noxious odors began shortly after an asphalt plant began operations in December – and they’re concerned it’s going to get worse outside of their homes when the facility ramps up operations this spring. Jim Hummel has their story – and a response from Quonset officials and the company that is leasing the plant. Read the full story here. See how close this North Kingstown neighborhood sits to an asphalt p

Engineers hired by the state to find out why the westbound side of the Washington Bridge failed in 2023 concluded that broken rods which led to the closure had been corroding for more than 15 years. But that conclusion was omitted from the 64-page draft report that Wiss Janney Elstner Associates provided The Rhode Island Department of Transportation in April 2024, according to documents obtained by The Hummel Report. Jim Hummel takes a closer look. Read the full report here.