Don't Get Ticked This Season, Says URI Tick Expert

URI tick guru Tom Mather offers five actions you can take to cut down your chances of contracting a tick-borne disease.

Here's a startling fact: in 2012, the tick population in Rhode Island was 116 percent higher than the previous five-year average. "In some settings, we saw increases as much as 1,800 percent over the previous year, which is a little bit scary actually," said Tom Mather last week at a press conference at Goddard Park. Mather would know. He's the director of URI’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease and the Tick Encounter Resource Center. He's one of the people behind the state's new Get TickSmart/RI campaign, an effort backed by Sen. Jack Reed, who was at Goddard Park with Mather. Over the years, Reed has been able to get more than $1 million in federal funds to help URI researchers like Mather develop and implement tick-bite provention and …

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Wendy Fachon

8:51 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013

For what it's worth, Insect Shield is treated with a synthetic chemical called Permethrin. Permethrin is listed as a "restricted use" substance by the United States Environmental Protection Agency due to its high toxicity to aquatic organisms. Personally, I prefer all-natural tick repellents, which can be purchased at stores like Back to Basics or from Ava Anderson Non-Toxic, a Warren-based …   more ›

URI Theatre Staging ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

The show opens up on April 18, with two from East Greenwich in the cast.

The University of Rhode Island Theatre Department will present Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, starting on Thursday, April 18. This production will feature several graduating seniors who have dazzled audiences for most of their years in Kingston. The show is scheduled for April 18-20 and April 25-27 at 7:30 p.m., and April 21 and 28 at 3 p.m. in the Robert E. Will Theatre in the URI Fine Arts Center on the Kingston Campus. General admission for the performance is $20; $15 for seniors and URI staff; and $12 for students. Call 401-874-5843 or or visit www.uri.edu/theatre for tickets. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy in which the intelligent, witty Beatrice matches wits with the dull, cynical Benedick. Two of …

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The Week in RI: URI Locked Down, Pope Blesses Local Boy

Miss anything that happened this week? Check out these top headlines from around Rhode Island.

Saturday, March 30 Superior Court Judge Brian P. Stern ruled during a hearing Friday that the Central Coventry Fire District must be liquidated.  District Chief Andy Baynes and Special Master Richard Land had already shut down three of the district's five stations effective at 8 a.m. Friday in an attempt to cut costs. Sunday, March 31 A man was shot last night on the Fairmount Street bridge at about 10 p.m., suffering serious wounds. Monday, April 1 A small Lhasa Apso dog was killed Sunday night while being walked on Fox Run Road, according to Portsmouth police.  Tuesday, April 2 A Newport woman was charged with driving under the influence after she allegedly got into an accident with two other vehicles early Tuesday morning. No injuries …

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Dooley Releases Statement on URI Lockdown, Response

URI president David Dooley thanks emergency officials for their response, and outlines the school’s response.

Statement released via the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. To Members of the University Community, We are grateful that an alarming, and to some a terrifying, experience in Kingston yesterday ended with all members of our community safe and sound. A threatening statement believed to have been made in a lecture hall caused about 300 students to flee the auditorium, an entire building evacuated, an emergency alert system activated, and a university campus put in lock down mode for nearly three hours. We appreciate the swift and professional response of the University of Rhode Island, South Kingstown, Charlestown, and Rhode Island State Police with its K-9 unit. The cooperation among these forces was …

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Police Say No Gunman At URI

According to multiple sources, the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus is currently on lockdown because of a possible shooter.

3:05 p.m. – Today’s lockdown at the University of Rhode Island — which is now lifted —started based on a remark a professor heard from a student, according to Rhode Island State Police captain Frank Castellone. Castellone said that the professor heard someone say, “I’m a good guy, I have a gun.” From there, Castellone said that “things got crazy in the classroom,” which was an auditorium-style room with space for 300 students. Earlier, a student in the classroom told Patch reporters that the professor told everyone to run from the room. Castellone said police were first notified at 11:22 a.m. Castellone said that officers cleared the Chafee Social Science building room by room, and no weapons were found. He said a nerf gun, believed to be…

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Bobby Hurley Named Buffalo Head Coach

Bobby Hurley served as the associate head coach for his brother Danny at URI, and will now take over at Buffalo University.

  Bobby Hurley, one of the most iconic figures in college basketball history, has been named the 12th men's basketball head coach at the University at Buffalo. He joins UB from the University of Rhode Island where he has been serving as associate head coach.  UB Director of Athletics Danny White made the announcement on Tuesday at a 5:00 pm press conference at Alumni Arena.  "After reviewing a large and highly qualified national pool and following my conversations with some of the most respected figures in college athletics, Coach Hurley was clearly the choice to lead the next era of UB basketball," White said. "As we continue to foster our role as the flagship athletic department for the state of New York, the appointment of Coach Hurley …

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University of Rhode Island News

Watershed Watch Wants Volunteers

The Watershed Watch program at URI needs volunteers to monitor local bodies of water.

Release courtesy of the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. Twenty-five years of water quality data collected by volunteers from the Watershed Watch program at the University of Rhode Island has shed light on the variability of the conditions of Rhode Island’s ponds, rivers and streams and how climate change and the increasingly severe weather affects them.  The program is now seeking additional volunteers to continue to monitor the state’s water bodies. “We know that our waters are highly variable from site to site and from year to year,” said Elizabeth Herron, Watershed Watch program coordinator.  “Rainfall affects sites very differently – some respond well to dry weather, others to wet weather.  It …

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Song Remains The Same – Rams Fade in Second Half

The Rams’ first half efficiency gets wore down by a more talented UMass squad, as URI loses 75-66 in its season finale.

KINGSTON – For seemingly the 100th time this year, the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team saw a close game slip away in the second half, as the Rams couldn’t keep pace with a more talented opponent. For Senior Day on Saturday afternoon, the cast of characters changed, as the University of Massachusetts Minutemen played the role of past squads like La Salle, St. Bonaventure and VCU. However, the ending was the same, as the Rams lost 75-66. As usual, the Rams were within striking distance at the half, trailing by just a single point with about four seconds left. In a play that epitomized URI’s season, UMass point guard Chaz Williams got the ball in the backcourt, shook off light contact from 60 feet away, and then launched a …

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[CHAT] Rams Look To Play Spoiler vs. La Salle

With a win against La Salle today, URI can hurt the Explorers’ conference tournament seeding and postseason chances.

The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team will look for its ninth win of the season, and fourth conference win, as it hosts the La Salle Explorers at 2 p.m. at the Ryan Center. The usual script for the two teams has flipped a bit this year, as the Rams are rebuilding while La Salle (18-7, 8-4 Atlantic 10) is in contention for postseason play. The Rams (8-17, 3-9 Atlantic 10) are hoping to play spoiler as a result. To win, URI will have to shake off one of its worst shooting performances ever. The Rams lost 55-42 to Xavier on Wednesday night, shooting 24.1 percent from the field in the process. Shooting below 30 percent will almost surely result in another loss. Following today’s game, URI has just three games left, with the …

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