Nonviolence + School Buildings + Detective's Affidavit

Welcome to the Pawtucket Patch Daily — the quickest way to get caught up on the city's top local news stories and events. I'm Mary Serreze and I work for Patch. I hope you'll become a fan of our morning newsletter. We plan to highlight the best stories concerning Pawtucket from a variety of sources.

I can always be reached at mary.serreze@patch.com. Send me your tips, thoughts, ideas, and information. Add me to your news release distribution list.

In today's Daily, we highlight a two-city vow to end youth violence, take note of a push to upgrade the city's school buildings, and look at a detective's affidavit that features a Pawtucket teen. We have good news from the governor's office for those heading to community college, and offer information about the city's Memorial Day ceremony.

First, the weather: Heavy rain throughout the week.

• Saturday: Heavy rain throughout the day. Temps: High of 49° & low of 48°
• Sunday: Rain throughout the day. Temps: High: 52 low: 51
• Monday: Rain in the morning. Temps: High of 67, low of 50

It's opening day for Rhode Island State Beaches. Plan ahead and buy your passes online.

Here are the top five stories from Pawtucket:

1. Pawtucket and Central Falls are cooperating to end youth violence and boost opportunity for teens and young adults. Both cities will have outreach workers on the streets this summer in a contract with the Nonviolence Institute. An intensive seven-week program for at-risk youth is also on the menu. Officials hosted a news conference on Thursday. Courtney Carter from WPRI has the story.

2. Mayor Donald Grebien says upgrading the city's school buildings will stay on the front burner, and he's thanking everyone who's working for facility upgrades. In a letter to Pawtucket Patch, Grebien says $38 million in American Rescue Plan funds will leverage additional capital upgrades.

3. Three local teens have been charged with first-degree murder in the April 11 shooting death of a Providence man. Providence police on Wednesday released booking photos of the three, and described 19-year-old Yazmin Rivera as a Cumberland resident. However, a state police detective's affidavit procured exclusively by Patch shows Rivera living at 1 Dexter Court right here in Pawtucket — and describes the arrest of her boyfriend, Devonte Lewis, by Pawtucket police.

4. What’s with the light outages at the Pawtucket River Bridge? Five years ago, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation told The Valley Breeze that the situation had been resolved. But problems with the $81 million bridge’s elaborate light system have cropped up again. Ethan Shorey has the story.

5. Heading to community college? Here's some good news. Gov. Dan McKee has signed legislation to make the Rhode Island Promise program permanent, allowing Community College of Rhode Island students to attend tuition-free for up to two years. Read all about it in The Providence Journal.

Events Around Town

• Annual Peace Concert: "Where Love is Possible"
  Saturday, May 29 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Mixed Magic Theatre, 560 Mineral Spring Ave
• Memorial Day Ceremony and Events
  Monday, May 31, City Hall Amphitheater, Pawtucket, 11 a.m. Arrive early for a 10:30 ceremony across the street at L.E. Redmond Monument.
• The Pawtucket Classic Rock band Zero 2 Sixty Rocks plans a Memorial Day Weekend Livestream Rock Out from Pawtucket! That's Saturday at 8 p.m.
  
  
  You're all caught up on what's happening today in Pawtucket. We'll see you in your inbox tomorrow - have a great day!

  -Mary

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  About me: Maine native, UMass Amherst Regional Planning alum. Stick-shift driver, explorer. I believe in good government and the public’s right to know. Interested in just about everything. I still like paper maps. Talk to me! mary.serreze@patch.com.

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