Beth Hart

Football 🏈 Breakfast 🥞 Rescue Dogs 🐶

[Jack Schlossberg @JBKSchlossberg]

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy’s statement to the US Senate on RFKJr’s nomination for HHS Secretary

This is a reading of a letter she just sent to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

I’m so proud of my courageous mother, who’s lived a life of dignity, integrity and service.

she’s the kindest funnest smartest you’ll ever meet.

[Governor Gavin Newsom @CAgovernor]

72 firefighters and emergency personnel have arrived from Mexico to help respond to the Los Angeles Fires.

Emergencies have no borders, and we are deeply grateful to President @Claudiashein for your unwavering support during one of California’s greatest times of need.

[Awful Announcing @awfulannouncing]

"So, go ahead and enjoy women's sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports." - Venus Williams

"Except you, Harrison Butker. We don't need you." - Serena Williams

"At all. Like, ever." - Quinta Brunson #ESPYS

[Khloé George @khloebgeorge]

Hysterical.
cc: Maureen Hancock on TT
#KarenRead #KarenReadtrial

[Noa Dalzell 🏀 @NoaDalzell]

Joe Mazzulla has been regularly showing the players UFC fights:

“The closer you are to beating someone, the close you are to getting your ass kicked.”

Pretty funny segment from Joe for his last question before Game 3

[Beth Hart @Hart_Beth]

@TheRyanHamilton Sending so much love to you and your wife.

[Beth Hart @Hart_Beth]

@GovDanMcKee @PVDMayor @mayorbobdasilva 👋🏼 Hi. Registered voter here. I work in Providence and live less than 5 miles away in EP. 40 minutes to go 2 miles is wearing out my patience. Willing to give ya credit on the commute into Providence. But getting home is a nightmare.

[Mark Blutman @BlutmanMark]

He was arrested, released and will make his tee time is about the whitest thing I’ve ever heard.

[TODAY @TODAYshow]

Erin Andrews @ErinAndrews and @kwelkernbc share an emotional conversation about their journeys with infertility and surrogacy before welcoming their children.

They talk about the future of fertility and surprise a couple helping cover the costs for treatment.

[Nathan @SiriusNathan]

they’re not “soft launching” rose hanbury, they’re threatening the palace for sending them a fake picture

[Lucy on the Ground @lucyontheg]

Me after spending the entire day looking at Kate Middleton conspiracies and ignoring all my responsibilities

[Jen Psaki @jrpsaki]

No notes

[Madiha @justmadiha]

I have fallen down the Where is Kate Middleton rabbit hole and I need someone to come take me out immediately. It’s wild down here.

[Patricia Morgan @repmorgan]

I call for RIDOT Director Peter Alviti to step down. In the past 8 years he has spent $4,478,130,213 and RI remains 48th in the condition of our roads and bridges. How can we spend $4.5 billion, still have lousy roads and have to shut down the most important bridge in our state? The Washington Bridge closure, which is crippling our state's economy, is his failure. Now it has become RI's costly burden. Enough! He must go!!!!

[𝕂𝕖𝕟 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜 @KenBlockRI]

Wrap up
The governor’s office and the RI Department of Transportation have handled the Washington Bridge crisis horribly. Those early press conferences were disastrous and destroyed confidence. The governor and the DOT director demanded that citizens trust them instead of being transparent and earning our trust. I speak for many when I say we don’t trust the RI DOT to deal with things or even be truthful about what is happening. Few folks who live in southern Mass and the East Bay believe that the governor or the DOT truly appreciate the headaches this failure of government has forced upon us.

Are other bridges ready to fall down? Was it really dumb luck that no one lost their lives on the Washington Bridge? If so, how is that OK? How is it possible that the state of Rhode Island did not see this crisis coming?!?!

For all of the buzz-worthy hype around Rhode Works, basic road and bridge maintenance appears to be lacking, based on the DOT’s documentation. If a DOT is not maintaining its roads and bridges appropriately, how can anyone have confidence it can successfully oversee the construction of new infrastructure? They can’t.

After reviewing the materials made publicly available by the DOT for the crisis, I developed the following opinions and questions:

The RI DOT should release the original inspectors' reports and photographs for this bridge for the last ten years. I reject the idea that a professional inspection engineer would submit a report with words like “steel” and “parapet” misspelled. Someone at the DOT had to have inserted those typos. Did the original inspection reports reach a different conclusion than the RI DOT's final reports? Director Alviti has often said that this bridge passed its inspection in July 2023. Did it? Show us! If you don’t, we must assume you are hiding something.

The DOT should provide these inspection reports in their original forms, straight from the contractors, free of charge. They should not be withheld because they represent a “draft” document. They are not drafts. These reports represent the expert opinion of inspectors and engineers regarding the bridge's health. There is a compelling public interest in seeing these documents.

I believe that the companies that have inspected this bridge over the years must be in great discomfort if the DOT’s representation of their engineer’s findings differs from what was submitted. It is time for every contractor who has worked for the RI DOT to come forward and give us the unvarnished facts. Did the AECOM inspection in July of 2023 really conclude that the I-195 Westbound side of the Washington Bridge passed inspection and should be fully open to all traffic?

How many engineers and project managers are employed by the RI DOT now? Is the organization staffed appropriately for the huge number of ongoing projects? Where contractors have made mistakes and delivered projects not compliant with specifications, why were these failings not identified by DOT oversight?

What kind of maintenance program exists for drains on our roads and bridges? Whatever it is, if there is anything at all, it failed to keep the drains clear on the failed bridge. How was this possible and acceptable?

I have gotten a good amount of feedback from multiple people who are very familiar with the operations of the DOT. None of it was positive, and a lot was downright awful. The sad state of this crucial organization lands at Gov. McKee’s feet. Come on, guv, you wanted this job, do it! You should be talking with current and past contractors. You should speak directly with the companies that have inspected this bridge. You should interview many DOT employees. Identify what is broken here, tell us about it, and for God’s sake, FIX IT. You own it now.

Many Rhode Islanders look at this mess, shrug their shoulders, roll their eyes, and chalk this up to business as usual. It is beyond time to reset expectations for what our government delivers to us. Our lives depend on it.

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

To put this in perspective: RIDOT's initial timeline for fixing the bridge (approx. 3 months) is now the timeline just for diagnosing what's *wrong* with the bridge

[Kim Kalunian @KimKalunian]

VIDEO: @GovDanMcKee said yesterday that the Washington Bridge issues are only adding 10-15 minutes of extra commute time for drivers. @NewsProvidence pressed him on that today. What are you experiencing behind the wheel? @wpri12

[NESN @NESN]

"Wake exemplifies what this uniform is."

Jason Varitek on who Tim Wakefield was as a teammate and a person.

[Frida Ghitis @FridaGhitis]

This short clip will help you understand why the Titanic mini sub is missing and why this was an accident waiting to happen. https://t.co/srrXmFnoTq

[Katlyn Skye @katlynskye24]

On Saturday, June 17, I was on a Lyft ride in Washington, D.C. that made me fear for my safety.

My driver missed numerous turns, prolonging my ride. In the midst of D.C. traffic, he almost hits a car and slams on his breaks, stopping about a foot from the car in front of him-