A new report suggests ways Providence, Rhode Island, can atone for its extensive ties to the transatlantic slave trade and centuries of racism and discrimination.

A group of 11 U.S. mayors has pledged to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities.

Nine people injured in a Rhode Island shooting in which some 50 shots were fired are expected to recover.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Voters will get another chance to strip the words and Providence Plantations" from Rhode Island's formal name after lawmakers approved a joint resolution to put the question on the November ballot. Although the word plantations in Rhode Islands name does not specifically refer to a place where slaves labored, it elicits such imagery, say sponsors of the bill approved Thursday. Rhode Island was incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations when it ratified the Constitution in 1790, but the name dates to pre-Revolutionary times. Gina Raimondo last month signed an executive order to remove the phrase and Providence Plantations from some official documents and executive agency websites. The ballot question would make the change official in the states constitution if approved by a simple majority of voters.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A statue of Christopher Columbus in Rhode Island has been vandalized on the U.S. holiday named for him. The statue in Providence was splashed from head to toe with red paint Monday, and a sign reading "Stop celebrating genocide" was leaned against the pedestal. The word "genocide" was written in orange paint on the rear of the pedestal. The statue has been the target of vandals on Columbus Day in the past. Native American advocates have pressed states to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day over concerns that Columbus spurred centuries of genocide against indigenous populations in the Americas.