nlavin@rhodeislandcurrent.com

Nancy Lavin

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Nancy Lavin is a senior reporter at the Rhode Island Current. She is an award-winning reporter covering politics, energy issues and the environment for Rhode Island Current. She previously reported on banking and finance, energy and entrepreneurship for Providence Business News. Nancy also spent three and a half years at the Frederick (Md.) News-Post and worked at The Westerly Sun. She is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

McKee picks up second teachers union endorsement
Rhode Island

McKee picks up second teachers union endorsement

3:43pm ET
Nancy Lavin
Gov. Dan McKee now boasts endorsements from Rhode Island’s two major statewide teachers unions, having secured the recommendation of the National Education Association of Rhode Island on Wednesday. The endorsement, made by a unanimous vote of the association’s political action...
McKee backed a charter school moratorium. Now a major teachers union has endorsed him.
Rhode Island

McKee backed a charter school moratorium. Now a major teachers union has endorsed him.

Jul 27, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Five weeks after Gov. Dan McKee signed into law a controversial bill temporarily banning new charter schools — departing from his own past support for charter schools — the payoff has come through for his reelection campaign. The Rhode Island...
Quonset Business Park’s latest tenant: renters who already work there
Rhode Island

Quonset Business Park’s latest tenant: renters who already work there

Jul 24, 2026
Nancy Lavin
For the first time in more than 50 years, a former U.S. Navy base turned industrial park in North Kingstown will feature housing under a lease agreement between Quonset Development Corporation and Moran Properties. The 60-year ground lease announced Wednesday...
Rhode Island energy costs are soaring. So are political tensions.
Rhode Island

Rhode Island energy costs are soaring. So are political tensions.

Jul 23, 2026
Nancy Lavin
In declaring a state of emergency over rising energy prices, Gov. Dan McKee simultaneously declared war on the environmental groups, lawmakers and state regulators who he alleges are standing in the way of relief for struggling families. “Anybody who tells...
McKee picks up union endorsements as Democratic primary countdown continues
Rhode Island

McKee picks up union endorsements as Democratic primary countdown continues

Jul 22, 2026
Nancy Lavin
The endorsement lists are growing for both Gov. Dan McKee and his Democratic gubernatorial challenger Helena Buonanno Foulkes with less than one month until early voting begins. McKee won backing of the 10,000-member Rhode Island Council 94 of the American...
Sign here. And here and here too? Nomination form protocol challenge sparks debate.
Rhode Island

Sign here. And here and here too? Nomination form protocol challenge sparks debate.

Jul 22, 2026
Nancy Lavin
The Rhode Island Board of Elections rejected an attempt by a Rhode Island independent gubernatorial candidate to oust one of his competitors from the November ballot. Yet the question of whether voters have to write their own names and addresses...
Water main break closes West Main Road in Middletown, prompts boil water advisory
Rhode Island

Middletown water main breaks prompt boil water advisory

Jul 19, 2026
Janine L. Weisman Nancy Lavin
More than 2,100 customers of the city of Newport’s Water Division public water system are expected to remain under a boil water advisory for the next several days after a pair of water main breaks on West Main and Valley...
To endorse or not to endorse? Influential AFL-CIO decision could determine Gov. McKee’s fate
Rhode Island

Influential AFL-CIO opts not to endorse in RI Democratic gubernatorial race

Jul 15, 2026
Nancy Lavin
The focus of the governor’s race temporarily shifted one block west of the State House Wednesday to a nondescript office building where leaders of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO met but opted not to endorse in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. The...
RI coastal regulators reluctant to shore up entire Newport Cliff Walk
Rhode Island

RI coastal regulators reluctant to shore up entire Newport Cliff Walk

Jul 14, 2026
Nancy Lavin
More than four years after a section of Newport’s Cliff Walk collapsed, shutting down public access to a section of the famed overlook, a repair plan has taken shape. But before the city can proceed with the $23 million project...
Rhode Island Blood Center declares emergency shortage, issues call for donations
Rhode Island

Rhode Island Blood Center declares emergency shortage, issues call for donations

Jul 13, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Blood centers nationwide, including in Rhode Island, are in desperate need of donations as supplies dip to critically low levels. The Rhode Island Blood Center issued an emergency declaration at 6 a.m. Monday calling for donors to help restore supplies...
The odds are against independents running for office in RI. 21 candidates filed to run anyway.
Rhode Island

The odds are against independents running for office in RI. 21 candidates filed to run anyway.

Jul 13, 2026
Nancy Lavin
When Rep. Jon Brien of Woonsocket refers to Rhode Island’s independent caucus, he’s talking about himself — the lone nonpartisan in the 113-person state legislature. But Brien’s party of one could expand after November general elections — in the legislative...
RI medical debt relief program erases bills for 9,000 residents in 19 months
Rhode Island

RI medical debt relief program erases bills for 9,000 residents in 19 months

Jul 13, 2026
Nancy Lavin
More than 9,000 Rhode Islanders have had $16.3 million in medical debt forgiven in the 19 months since the state debt relief program began, Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa’s office announced last week. The update on July 8 comes...