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107-543: The main span of the Newport Bridge is 488 metres (1,601 ft), making it the longest suspension bridge in New England . The overall length of the bridge is 3,428 meters (11,247 feet). Its main towers reach 122 meters (400 feet) above the water surface, and the roadway height reaches as high as 66 meters (217 feet). It is four lanes wide, two in each direction. On a clear day, the bridge's towers are visible from

214-622: A Republican , on April 4, 2005. By September 30, he had raised over $ 600,000 for his campaign, including $ 360,000 of his own, more than doubling Chafee's fundraising. Whitehouse campaigned heavily against the Iraq War and the United States's dependence on foreign oil. After winning the Democratic primary by a large margin, he defeated Chafee with 53 percent of the vote in the 2006 general election. With his victory, Whitehouse became

321-478: A marine biologist and granddaughter of James Worth Thornton and Elena Mumm Thornton Wilson. Her step-grandfather was prominent essayist and critic Edmund Wilson . They live in Rhode Island with their two children. Whitehouse is Episcopalian . Among Whitehouse's distant ancestors are William Bradford , governor of Plymouth Colony , and theologian Archibald Alexander . Whitehouse's longtime ties to

428-522: A Rhode Island E-ZPass, making this bridge the only toll facility in the U.S. to give a residence discount that isn't limited to the adjacent neighborhoods. The bridge was the only toll road in Rhode Island until August 19, 2013, when the Authority began collecting tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge. However, toll collection on that bridge ended on June 20, 2014. Cash tolling was discontinued on

535-413: A U.S. Coast Guard flyover salute, a fireboat shooting water into the air, and two ribbon-cuttings. In addition, concerts were scheduled for Fort Adams State Park , along with cruises, fireworks, and other events. A documentary on the construction and history of the bridge, titled The Newport Bridge: A Rhode Island Icon , debuted on Rhode Island PBS on December 4. The approach and access road to and from

642-636: A bill creating a national right to abortion. In 2007, the National Journal ranked Whitehouse the second-most liberal senator. He voted to confirm Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court . In the spring of 2007, Whitehouse joined other senators in calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's resignation. After Gonzales's first appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee related to

749-555: A fourth Senate term in 2024. In August 2024, Whitehouse said that if Democrats won control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives in the 2024 elections, they would be "virtually certain" to pass a Supreme Court reform bill by a simple majority, which would evade the 60-vote requirement for cloture . Whitehouse said Democrats would include 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices and establish ethics and recusal rules in an omnibus package that would also include

856-544: A group south where they founded Providence Plantations , which grew into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1636. At this time, Vermont was uncolonized, and the territories of New Hampshire and Maine were claimed and governed by Massachusetts. As the region grew, it received many immigrants from Europe due to its religious tolerance and economy. Relationships alternated between peace and armed skirmishes between colonists and local Native American tribes,

963-477: A history of accepting dark money and overlooking it when such contributions flow to his Democratic colleagues. Whitehouse critiqued conservative dark money groups who backed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh 's nomination. The Washington Post criticized him for not addressing anti-Kavanaugh groups with the same scrutiny. In 2019, Whitehouse announced that he intended to introduce legislation that would require groups that file amicus curiae briefs with

1070-497: A long tradition in Rhode Island." A spokesperson for Whitehouse said the club did not have any restrictive racial policies and that it had members of color. Whitehouse declined to provide details of the club's membership, and the club initially refused to answer questions about its policies or membership. The club ultimately put out a statement saying reports that all its members were white were "inaccurate and false". The club's president urged members to use "restraint" when speaking to

1177-419: A murder case, was shot by a relative of the man she was to testify against later that year. Whitehouse ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Rhode Island in 2002. He lost the primary election to former State Senator Myrth York , who was unsuccessful in the general election against Republican Donald Carcieri . Whitehouse launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Lincoln Chafee ,

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1284-540: A part of Massachusetts, but it was granted statehood on March 15, 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise . Today, New England is defined as the six states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. New England's economic growth relied heavily on trade with the British Empire , and the region's merchants and politicians strongly opposed trade restrictions. As

1391-429: A science advisory board to ensure that the planning uses the best available science". Of a proposed action on mandatory emissions curbs, Whitehouse told The Hill , "I am not hearing anybody on our side, even the people who are more economically concerned about the climate legislation who come from coal states, that sort of thing, saying, 'What are we going to say about this, is this a problem?'" Whitehouse dismissed

1498-512: A steady pace from the 1840s until cut off by World War I . The largest numbers came from Ireland and Britain before 1890, and after that from Quebec, Italy, and Southern Europe. The immigrants filled the ranks of factory workers, craftsmen, and unskilled laborers. The Irish and Italians assumed a larger and larger role in the Democratic Party in the cities and statewide, while the rural areas remained Republican. The Great Depression in

1605-402: A third of its industrial workforce. It was also the most literate and most educated region in the country. During the same period, New England and areas settled by New Englanders (upstate New York, Ohio's Western Reserve , and the upper midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin ) were the center of the strongest abolitionist and anti-slavery movements in the United States, coinciding with

1712-649: A variety of the Eastern Algonquian languages . Prominent tribes included the Abenakis , Mi'kmaq , Penobscot , Pequots , Mohegans , Narragansetts , Nipmucs , Pocumtucks , and Wampanoags . Prior to the arrival of European colonists, the Western Abenakis inhabited what is now New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as parts of Quebec and western Maine. Their principal town was Norridgewock in today's Maine. The Penobscots lived along

1819-545: Is a better predictor than general forest age or biomass. Due to an increasing the amount of nitrogen in the soil from climate change , the red maple is becoming one of the most abundant trees in the region, and outcompeting other maples such as the sugar maple . The most populous cities as of the 2020 U.S. Census were (metropolitan areas in parentheses): During the 20th century, urban expansion in regions surrounding New York City has become an important economic influence on neighboring Connecticut, parts of which belong to

1926-534: Is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States : Connecticut , Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island , and Vermont . It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick to the northeast and Quebec to the north. The Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean are to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound

2033-676: Is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party , he served as the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 1993 to 1998 and as the 71st attorney general of Rhode Island from 1999 to 2003. In 2006 , he won his first term to the Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Lincoln Chaffee . Whitehouse

2140-693: Is dotted with lakes, hills, marshes and wetlands, and sandy beaches. Important valleys in the region include the Champlain Valley , the Connecticut River Valley and the Merrimack Valley . The longest river is the Connecticut River , which flows from northeastern New Hampshire for 407 mi (655 km), emptying into Long Island Sound , roughly bisecting the region. Lake Champlain , which forms part of

2247-865: Is geologically a part of the New England province , an exotic terrane region consisting of the Appalachian Mountains , the New England highlands and the seaboard lowlands. The Appalachian Mountains roughly follow the border between New England and New York. The Berkshires in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the Green Mountains in Vermont, as well as the Taconic Mountains , form a spine of Precambrian rock. The Appalachians extend northwards into New Hampshire as

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2354-501: Is less snowfall (especially in the coastal areas where it is often warmer). Southern and coastal Connecticut is the broad transition zone from the cold continental climates of the north to the milder subtropical climates to the south. The frost free season is greater than 180 days across far southern/coastal Connecticut, coastal Rhode Island, and the islands (Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard). Winters also tend to be much sunnier in southern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island compared to

2461-435: Is only the 39th-largest state, slightly smaller than Indiana . The remaining states are among the smallest in the U.S., including the smallest state —Rhode Island. The areas of the states (including water area) are: New England's long rolling hills, mountains, and jagged coastline are glacial landforms resulting from the retreat of ice sheets approximately 18,000 years ago, during the last glacial period . New England

2568-466: Is the responsibility of property owners to abate and mitigate lead hazards. When Black Providence police officer Cornel Young Jr. was shot and killed by two fellow officers while he was off duty in January 2000, Whitehouse was criticized for not appointing an independent prosecutor to investigate the shooting. Later that year, Whitehouse was criticized when 15-year-old Jennifer Rivera, a witness in

2675-500: Is to the southwest. Boston is New England's largest city and the capital of Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the largest metropolitan area, with nearly a third of New England's population; this area includes Worcester, Massachusetts , the second-largest city in New England; Manchester, New Hampshire , the largest city in New Hampshire; and Providence, Rhode Island , the capital of and largest city in Rhode Island. In 1620,

2782-420: Is very high technology manufacturing, such as jet engines, nuclear submarines, pharmaceuticals, robotics, scientific instruments, and medical devices. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented the format for university-industry relations in high tech fields and spawned many software and hardware firms, some of which grew rapidly. By the 21st century, the region had become famous for its leadership roles in

2889-487: The Blackstone and Merrimack river valleys. The physical geography of New England is diverse. Southeastern New England is covered by a narrow coastal plain , while the western and northern regions are dominated by the rolling hills and worn-down peaks of the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains . The Atlantic fall line lies close to the coast, which enabled numerous cities to take advantage of water power along

2996-476: The Climatic Research Unit conspiracy theory : "Climategate should properly be known as Climategate-gate because it was the scandal that was phony." Whitehouse has said that the development of alternate energy sources , including solar power , will eliminate U.S. dependence on foreign oil. He has cited the installation of new solar panels on three new bank branches in Rhode Island, saying that

3103-464: The Dominion of New England , an administrative union including all of the New England colonies. In 1688, the former Dutch colonies of New York , East New Jersey , and West New Jersey were added to the dominion. The union was imposed from the outside and contrary to the rooted democratic tradition of the colonies, and it was highly unpopular among the colonists. The dominion significantly modified

3210-558: The Mayflower Compact before leaving the ship, and it became their first governing document. The Massachusetts Bay Colony came to dominate the area and was established by royal charter in 1629 with its major town and port of Boston established in 1630. Massachusetts Puritans began to establish themselves in Connecticut as early as 1633. Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts for theological reasons; he led

3317-604: The New Deal coalition and making the once-Republican region into one that was closely divided. However, the enormous spending on munitions, ships, electronics, and uniforms during World War II caused a burst of prosperity in every sector. The region lost most of its factories starting with the loss of textiles in the 1930s and getting worse after 1960. The New England economy was radically transformed after World War II. The factory economy practically disappeared. Once-bustling New England communities fell into economic decay following

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3424-559: The New York metropolitan area . The U.S. Census Bureau groups Fairfield , New Haven and Litchfield counties in western Connecticut together with New York City and other parts of New York and New Jersey as a combined statistical area . The following are metropolitan statistical areas as defined by the United States Census Bureau . Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955)

3531-816: The Penobscot River in Maine. The Narragansetts and smaller tribes under their sovereignty lived in Rhode Island, west of Narragansett Bay, including Block Island . The Wampanoags occupied southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket . The Pocumtucks lived in Western Massachusetts, and the Mohegan and Pequot tribes lived in Connecticut. The Connecticut River Valley linked numerous tribes culturally, linguistically, and politically. As early as 1600 CE, French, Dutch, and English traders began exploring

3638-708: The Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony , the second successful settlement in British America after the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia , founded in 1607. Ten years later, Puritans established Massachusetts Bay Colony north of Plymouth Colony. Over the next 126 years, people in the region fought in four French and Indian Wars until the English colonists and their Iroquois allies defeated

3745-574: The Puritan work ethic , in contrast to the Southern colonies which focused on agricultural production while importing finished goods from England. By 1686, King James II had become concerned about the increasingly independent ways of the colonies, including their self-governing charters, their open flouting of the Navigation Acts , and their growing military power. He therefore established

3852-570: The Rhode Island Attorney General 's office as a special assistant attorney general from 1985 to 1990, chief of the Regulatory Unit (which oversaw utilities) from 1988 to 1990, and as an assistant attorney general from 1989 to 1990. Whitehouse worked as Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun 's executive counsel beginning in 1991, and was later tapped to serve as director of policy. He oversaw the state's response to

3959-447: The Rhode Island banking crisis that took place soon after Sundlun took office. In 1992, Sundlun appointed Whitehouse the state's Director of Business Regulation, where he oversaw the state's workers' compensation insurance system. President Bill Clinton appointed Whitehouse United States Attorney for Rhode Island in 1994. Whitehouse held the position for four years. With the 1996 extortion conviction of mobster Gerard Ouimette , he

4066-546: The STOCK Act , which is designed to combat insider trading, by failing to disclose two personal stock purchases by the federal deadline. The stocks in question were for the Target Corporation and Tesla, Inc. Whitehouse's office acknowledged that he missed the disclosure deadline, blaming it on a staff transition in his office. In September 2022, an investigation by The New York Times found that Whitehouse

4173-668: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with his war on "unlisted securities". Hull gave testimony to the US Senate (Sen. Duncan Upshaw Fletcher ) for work on the Pecora Commission , which revealed that neither Albert H. Wiggin (born in Medfield, MA) nor J. P. Morgan Jr. had paid any income taxes in 1931 and 1932; a public outcry ensued. Boston figured prominently on the subject of securities laws in

4280-634: The Siege of Boston by continental troops. In March 1776, British forces were compelled to retreat from Boston. After the dissolution of the Dominion of New England, the colonies of New England ceased to function as a unified political unit but remained a defined cultural region. There were often disputes over territorial jurisdiction, leading to land exchanges such as those regarding the Equivalent Lands and New Hampshire Grants . By 1784, all of

4387-632: The Supreme Court of the United States , a hallmark of his Senate tenure. Whitehouse was born on October 20, 1955, in New York City, the son of Mary Celine (née Rand) and career diplomat Charles Sheldon Whitehouse , and grandson of diplomat Edwin Sheldon Whitehouse (1883–1965). Whitehouse's father served as the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand and Laos . Among his great-great-grandfathers were Episcopalian bishop Henry John Whitehouse and railroad robber baron Charles Crocker , who

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4494-556: The White Mountains , and then into Maine and Canada. Mount Washington in New Hampshire is the highest peak in the Northeast, although it is not among the ten highest peaks in the eastern United States. It is the site of the second highest recorded wind speed on Earth, and has the reputation of having the world's most severe weather. The coast of the region, extending from southwestern Connecticut to northeastern Maine,

4601-516: The controversy , Whitehouse told NPR , "[Gonzales] had a hard sell to make to me, and he didn't make it." He continued to question Gonzales's service in the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy . Upon Attorney General Eric Holder 's announcement in September 2014 of his intention to step down, some speculated that Whitehouse could be nominated as Holder's replacement. In February 2016, after

4708-513: The gun show loophole and boyfriend loophole . He voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . During its passage, Whitehouse cautioned that conservative opposition to the bill was moving toward historical instances of mob violence. In December 2009, Whitehouse said " birthers ", "fanatics", and "people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups" opposed Obamacare. In September 2014, Whitehouse

4815-588: The 1850s, and all of New England became strongly Republican, including areas that had previously been strongholds for both the Whig and the Democratic parties. New England remained solidly Republican until Catholics began to mobilize behind the Democrats, especially in 1928. This led to the end of "Yankee Republicanism" and began New England's relatively swift transition into a consistently Democratic stronghold in national elections. The flow of immigrants continued at

4922-566: The America's Cup sailing race being held in Newport. Before the establishment of the E-ZPass system of toll collection, toll discounts were available to the general population through the use of tokens. A roll of 9 bridge crossing tokens could be purchased for $ 10 (plus one free crossing) bringing the effective price per crossing $ 1, available to anyone. The establishment of the E-ZPass system and

5029-436: The Authority had voted to raise tolls for passenger vehicles to $ 5. However, on June 15, 2012, this plan was abolished as Rhode Island lawmakers approved tolls to be added to the newly built Sakonnet River Bridge in the future. The bridge also charges a fee equal to the toll for improperly mounted E-ZPass transponders that require a toll-booth operator to manually raise the gate. Out-of-state residents pay full price, even with

5136-585: The Beverly Cotton Manufactory. The Connecticut River Valley became a crucible for industrial innovation, particularly the Springfield Armory , pioneering such advances as interchangeable parts and the assembly line which influenced manufacturing processes all around the world. From early in the nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth, the region surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut served as

5243-496: The Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture , utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in capturing carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with President Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that do carbon capture research. Since 2012, Whitehouse has spoken on the Senate floor about climate change every week

5350-522: The FBI investigation of Kavanaugh had been "fake", saying "This kind of paranoid obsession is Nixonian poison to public trust." On July 9, 2024, it was reported that Whitehouse and Senator Ron Wyden sent a official letter the previous week to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting him to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for possible tax and ethics violations. In 1986, Whitehouse married Sandra Thornton,

5457-522: The French and their Algonquian allies. In the late 18th century, political leaders from the New England colonies initiated resistance to Britain's taxes without the consent of the colonists . Residents of Rhode Island captured and burned a British ship which was enforcing unpopular trade restrictions, and residents of Boston threw British tea into the harbor. Britain responded with a series of punitive laws stripping Massachusetts of self-government which

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5564-773: The New World, trading metal, glass, and cloth for local beaver pelts. On April 10, 1606, King James I of England issued a charter for the Virginia Company , which consisted of the London Company and the Plymouth Company . These two privately funded ventures were intended to claim land for England, to conduct trade, and to return a profit. In 1620, the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower and established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, beginning

5671-489: The Protestant Great Awakening in the region. Abolitionists who demanded immediate emancipation had their base in the region, such as William Lloyd Garrison , John Greenleaf Whittier , and Wendell Phillips . So too did anti-slavery politicians who wanted to limit the growth of slavery, such as John Quincy Adams , Charles Sumner , and John P. Hale . The anti-slavery Republican Party was formed in

5778-612: The Rhode Island band Downtown Boys , contributed to changing his position. Whitehouse is a supporter of gun control legislation. In 2022, Whitehouse voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act , a gun reform bill introduced following a deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The bill enhanced background checks for firearm purchasers under the age of 21, provided funding for school-based mental health services, and partially closed

5885-737: The Senate has been in session, giving his 250th speech on the issue on July 24, 2019. Whitehouse was a member of the Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, which published a report of its findings in August 2020. Whitehouse supported a vote that would limit continuing U.S. support for the War in Yemen . Initially, he was one of the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, but an activist effort, including mobilizing fans of

5992-639: The Supreme Court: The Big-Money Assault on Our Judiciary". He alleged that a "multi-hundred million dollar covert operation" influences the U.S. Supreme Court. Also in March 2021, Whitehouse wrote U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter asking him to investigate "what appears to have been a politically constrained and perhaps fake FBI investigation into alleged misconduct by now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh." Senator Ben Sasse critiqued Whitehouse's allegation that

6099-559: The Supreme Court—even as that 'dark money' now floods in to support the judicial nomination process his party controls." Roll Call wrote that when talking about undisclosed political spending, Whitehouse "can sound conspiratorial". Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute , serving as a witness at one of Whitehouse's congressional hearings about political spending, said Whitehouse was on a "quixotic crusade". The New York Times and Wall Street Journal have complained that, while positioning himself as someone opposed to dark money, Whitehouse has

6206-408: The U.S. Census Bureau's nine regional divisions and the only multi-state region with clear and consistent boundaries. It maintains a strong sense of cultural identity, although the terms of this identity are often contrasted, combining Puritanism with liberalism, agrarian life with industry, and isolation with immigration. The earliest known inhabitants of New England were American Indians who spoke

6313-435: The U.S. Supreme Court to disclose their donors. Whitehouse has received over $ 175,000 in campaign donations from the League of Conservation Voters . Billionaire Tom Steyer has donated $ 17,300 directly to Whitehouse since 2006. Other donors to Whitehouse include the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council . In March 2021, Whitehouse convened a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled "What's Wrong with

6420-413: The United States of the 1930s hit the region hard, with high unemployment in the industrial cities. The Boston Stock Exchange rivaled the New York Stock Exchange in 1930. In the beginning of 1930 John C. Hull , first Securities Director of Massachusetts (1930–1936), helped to mitigate the consequences of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. He was helpful in the passing of

6527-410: The United States and the United Kingdom fought the War of 1812 , New England Federalists organized the Hartford Convention in the winter of 1814 to discuss the region's grievances concerning the war, and to propose changes to the United States Constitution to protect the region's interests and maintain its political power. Radical delegates within the convention proposed the region's secession from

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6634-418: The United States' epicenter for advanced manufacturing, drawing skilled workers from all over the world. The rapid growth of textile manufacturing in New England between 1815 and 1860 caused a shortage of workers. Recruiters were hired by mill agents to bring young women and children from the countryside to work in the factories. Between 1830 and 1860, thousands of farm girls moved from rural areas where there

6741-424: The United States, but they were outnumbered by moderates who opposed the idea. Politically, the region often disagreed with the rest of the country. Massachusetts and Connecticut were among the last refuges of the Federalist Party , and New England became the strongest bastion of the new Whig Party when the Second Party System began in the 1830s. The Whigs were usually dominant throughout New England, except in

6848-410: The amount of federal activity nearby. In July 2020, he cosponsored a Senate bill to grant D.C. statehood. In November 2011, Whitehouse introduced the Safeguarding America's Future and Environment (SAFE) Act, a bill that would require federal natural resource agencies to be concerned with the long-term effects of climate change, encourage states to prepare natural resource adaptation plans, and "create

6955-495: The appointment of the governors. After the Glorious Revolution , in 1689, Bostonians overthrew the royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros . During a popular and bloodless uprising , they seized dominion officials and adherents to the Church of England . These tensions eventually culminated in the American Revolution , boiling over with the outbreak of the War of American Independence in 1775. The first battles of which were fought in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts , leading to

7062-440: The bloodiest of which was the Pequot War in 1637 which resulted in the Mystic massacre . On May 19, 1643, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven , and Connecticut joined in a loose compact called the New England Confederation (officially "The United Colonies of New England"). The confederation was designed largely to coordinate mutual defense, and it gained some importance during King Philip's War which pitted

7169-437: The border between Vermont and New York, is the largest lake in the region, followed by Moosehead Lake in Maine and Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. The climate of New England varies greatly across its 500 miles (800 km) span from northern Maine to southern Connecticut: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts have a humid continental climate (Dfb in Köppen climate classification ). In this region

7276-403: The bridge access roads were made between 2001 and 2020. Ground was broken on the new onramp in July 2021. The new approach, which utilizes a former portion of Halsey Street, was opened in October 2022 for eastbound traffic. Traffic on and off the bridge began using the new connector roads in January 2023. A segment of JT Connell Highway that was bisected during the construction of the Newport Bridge

7383-400: The bridge deck. The Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge is a toll bridge. As of 2022, the toll is US$ 4.00 for cars with a non-resident EZ-Pass , and US$ 6.00 for cars without an EZ-Pass. The toll for Rhode Island residents with an EZ-Pass is US$ 0.83. From its opening in 1969 until 2009, the toll could be paid by cash or with tokens, which were purchased at the RIBTA office in Jamestown . E-ZPass

7490-448: The bridge in Newport was initially intended to be part of a highway connecting to Rhode Island Route 24 in Portsmouth that was never completed. Instead, traffic from the bridge was unloaded at a stoplight on Admiral Kalbfus Highway facing the Newport Grand slot parlor. The onramp overpass for eastbound traffic coming off the Pell Bridge was locally dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" or "Highway to Nowhere". Plans to reconstruct and reconfigure

7597-489: The bridge in October 2021 in favor of all-electronic tolling through EZ-Pass or bill-by-mail. Bicycles and pedestrians are not permitted on this bridge, but Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus #64 has bike racks for weekday and Saturday travel. The bridge was constructed from 1966 to 1969 at a cost of U.S.$ 54,742,000 by the Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas company . The bridge opened on June 28, 1969, with ceremonies, celebrations, and fanfare. The bridge

7704-451: The charters of the colonies, including the appointment of royal governors to nearly all of them. There was an uneasy tension among the royal governors, their officers, and the elected governing bodies of the colonies. The governors wanted unlimited authority, and the different layers of locally elected officials would often resist them. In most cases, the local town governments continued operating as self-governing bodies, just as they had before

7811-518: The colonists and their Indian allies against a widespread Indian uprising from June 1675 through April 1678, resulting in killings and massacres on both sides. In the aftermath of settler-Native conflicts, hundreds of captive Indians were sold into slavery . Up until 1700, Native Americans comprised a majority of the non-white labor force in colonial New England. During the next 74 years, there were six colonial wars that took place primarily between New England and New France , during which New England

7918-617: The colonists called the " Intolerable Acts ". These confrontations led to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 and the expulsion of the British authorities from the region in spring 1776. The region played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States, and it was the first region of the U.S. transformed by the Industrial Revolution , initially centered on

8025-776: The death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia , USA Today named Whitehouse as a possible nominee to fill the vacancy. Whitehouse's service as a U.S. Attorney and as Attorney General of Rhode Island gives him both legislative experience and experience as a legal official, though not as a judge. Whitehouse was ultimately not nominated. Whitehouse has faced some criticism for alleged insider trading , avoiding big losses by trading stocks after top federal officials warned congressional leaders of "the coming economic cataclysm" on September 16, 2008. After meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on September 16, and being briefed on

8132-641: The early 1930s in response to the Great Depression. Harvard University professors Felix Frankfurter , Benjamin V. Cohen , and James M. Landis drafted the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was the first chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , and he was from Boston. The Democrats appealed to factory workers and especially Catholics, pulling them into

8239-490: The east passage side and the Jamestown Bridge from the mainland over the west passage, in which one-third of the residents owned summer homes. After the bridge it has become a more wealthy community whose residents now commute to jobs and opportunities in neighboring towns. At the same time, the island's local commerce became more dependent on tourism by visitors from off-island. New England New England

8346-512: The elimination of tokens also eliminated discounts for non-residents. In June 2019, a series of events were held to mark the 50th anniversary of the bridge. On June 28, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on the lawn of nearby Gurney's Newport Resort & Marina. In attendance were Senator Sheldon Whitehouse , Zechariah Chafee, son of the late Governor John Chafee , former Governor Donald Carcieri , Dallas Pell, daughter of late Senator Claiborne Pell, and Rep. David Cicilline . The ceremony included

8453-530: The elite private club Bailey's Beach have attracted scrutiny. The New York Times called the club a haven for members of America's "ruling class" and various media outlets have said it has an all-white membership. In June 2021, Whitehouse defended his family's membership in the club. Asked whether the club had any nonwhite members, he replied, "I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I'm sorry it hasn't happened yet." Asked whether such clubs should continue to exist, he said, "It's

8560-466: The fields of education, medicine, medical research, high-technology, finance, and tourism. Some industrial areas were slow in adjusting to the new service economy. In 2000, New England had two of the ten poorest cities in the U.S. (by percentage living below the poverty line): the state capitals of Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut . They were no longer in the bottom ten by 2010; Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire remain among

8667-399: The first Democrat to win this Senate seat since John Pastore in 1970 . On November 6, 2012, Whitehouse won reelection to a second term in office, defeating Republican challenger Barry Hinckley by 30 points, with 64.9 percent of the total vote. On November 6, 2018, Whitehouse was reelected to a third term, defeating Republican Robert Flanders by 23 points. Whitehouse is running for

8774-500: The flight of the region's industrial base. The textile mills one by one went out of business from the 1920s to the 1970s. For example, the Crompton Company went bankrupt in 1984 after 178 years in business, costing the jobs of 2,450 workers in five states. The major reasons were cheap imports, the strong dollar, declining exports, and a failure to diversify. The shoe industry subsequently left the region as well. What remains

8881-556: The history of permanent European colonization in New England. In 1616, English explorer John Smith named the region "New England". The name was officially sanctioned on November 3, 1620, when the charter of the Virginia Company of Plymouth was replaced by a royal charter for the Plymouth Council for New England , a joint-stock company established to colonize and govern the region. The Pilgrims wrote and signed

8988-404: The many rivers, such as the Connecticut River , which bisects the region from north to south. Each state is generally subdivided into small municipalities known as towns , many of which are governed by town meetings . Unincorporated areas are practically nonexistent outside of Maine, and village-style governments common in other areas are limited to Vermont and Connecticut. New England is one of

9095-495: The media. Whitehouse said he would not ask his family members to resign from the club because "they are on the right side of pushing for improvements" and "my relationship with my family is not one in which I tell them what to do". Whitehouse later acknowledged belonging to a Newport sailing club that he said lacked diversity, saying, "Failing to address the sailing club's lack of diversity is squarely on me, and something for which I am sorry." John Rothman portrayed Whitehouse in

9202-564: The more Democratic Maine and New Hampshire. New England was key to the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The Blackstone Valley running through Massachusetts and Rhode Island has been called the birthplace of America's industrial revolution. In 1787, the first cotton mill in America was founded in the North Shore seaport of Beverly, Massachusetts as the Beverly Cotton Manufactory . The Manufactory

9309-703: The observation plaza at the Gay Head Light in Aquinnah on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard , from the upper floors of skyscrapers in Providence (approximately 22 miles), and as far northwest as the parking lot of Stone Hill Marketplace in Johnston, RI (approximately 23 miles) and Interstate 295 south in Smithfield north of U.S. Route 44 . The Providence skyline is likewise visible from

9416-631: The other inaccuracies in Whitehouse's speech". In a May 29, 2015, Washington Post editorial, Whitehouse advocated prosecution of members of the fossil fuel industry under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) . In April 2019, Whitehouse was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that

9523-505: The projects "created jobs, they put people to work, they lowered the cost for these banks of their electrical energy, and they get us off foreign oil and away, step by step, from these foreign entanglements that we have to get into to defend our oil supply". PolitiFact investigated the economics of renewable energy and determined that solar and wind investments would not have a large effect on oil consumption, calling Whitehouse's comments "mostly false" due to "this misimpression—and because of

9630-628: The rest of New England. New England contains forested ecosystems with a variety of terrestrial vertebrates. Land-use patterns and land disturbance, such as the dramatic increase in land clearing for agriculture in the mid eighteenth century to nineteenth century, greatly altered the ecosystem and resulted in extinctions, local extirpations , and recolonizations. According to an analysis of USDA Forest Service data, tree species diversity increases from north to south at about two to three species per degree in latitude. In addition, taller trees are associated with higher tree species diversity, and tree height

9737-406: The states in the region had taken steps towards the abolition of slavery, with Vermont and Massachusetts introducing total abolition in 1777 and 1783, respectively. The nickname "Yankeeland" was sometimes used to denote the New England area, especially among Southerners and the British. Vermont was admitted to statehood in 1791 after settling a dispute with New York. The territory of Maine had been

9844-414: The ten wealthiest states in the United States in terms of median household income and per capita income. The states of New England have a combined area, including water surfaces, of 71,988 square miles (186,447 km ), making the region slightly larger than the state of Washington and slightly smaller than Great Britain . Maine alone constitutes nearly one-half of the total area of New England, yet

9951-568: The unfolding financial crisis, Whitehouse sold a number of positions, valued between $ 250,000 and $ 600,000, over the next six days. After coming under scrutiny due to possible insider trading, a spokesperson for his office denied it, saying Whitehouse "is not actively involved in the management" of the implicated accounts and that he "neither directed his financial advisor to undertake any transaction during that time, nor ever took advantage of any exclusive or secret information". In March 2022, Business Insider reported that Whitehouse had violated

10058-452: The winters are long and cold, and heavy snow is common (most locations receive 60–120 inches (150–300 cm) of snow annually in this region). The summer's months are moderately warm, though summer is rather short and rainfall is spread through the year. In central and eastern Massachusetts, northern Rhode Island, and northern Connecticut, the same humid continental prevails (Dfa), though summers are warm to hot, winters are shorter, and there

10165-851: Was allied with the Iroquois Confederacy and New France was allied with the Wabanaki Confederacy . Mainland Nova Scotia came under the control of New England after the Siege of Port Royal (1710) , but both New Brunswick and most of Maine remained contested territory between New England and New France. The British eventually defeated the French in 1763, opening the Connecticut River Valley for British settlement into western New Hampshire and Vermont. The New England Colonies were settled primarily by farmers who became relatively self-sufficient. Later, New England's economy began to focus on crafts and trade, aided by

10272-545: Was also considered the largest cotton mill of its time. Technological developments and achievements from the Manufactory led to the development of more advanced cotton mills, including Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island . Towns such as Lawrence, Massachusetts , Lowell, Massachusetts , Woonsocket, Rhode Island , and Lewiston, Maine became centers of the textile industry following the innovations at Slater Mill and

10379-615: Was among the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad . Whitehouse graduated from St. Paul's School , an elite boarding school in Concord , New Hampshire, and from Yale College in 1978. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982. Whitehouse worked as a clerk for Justice Richard Neely of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from 1982 to 1983. He also worked in

10486-562: Was among the members of Congress who had bought or sold stock that intersected with his congressional work, including trading stock in public companies that came before the committees on which he serves. In a 2018 interview with the Providence Journal , Whitehouse expressed opposition to D.C. statehood . He was dismissive of efforts to give District residents representation in Congress, suggesting they should be satisfied with

10593-554: Was elected Rhode Island Attorney General . He initiated a lawsuit against the lead paint industry that ended in a mistrial; the state later won a second lawsuit against former lead paint manufacturers Sherwin-Williams , Millennium Holdings, and NL Industries that found them responsible for creating a public nuisance. This decision, however, was unanimously overturned by the Rhode Island Supreme Court on July 1, 2008. The court found that under Rhode Island law it

10700-558: Was held which marked the first time in recent history that runners were allowed to cross the bridge (which was closed to traffic). In the spring of 2012, the Bridge Authority brought Open Road Tolling to the Pell bridge, allowing drivers with E-ZPass to pass through a special E-ZPass only toll lane at 40 mph. Violators are subject to a $ 10 fine, on top of the unpaid toll. The new lanes opened to traffic on June 22, in time for

10807-518: Was introduced as a toll payment in 2008. Shortly thereafter, the tokens were phased out as a form of toll payment. The final day that tokens were accepted on the bridge was December 31, 2009. Following that date, the only accepted forms of payment were cash or E-ZPass. Rhode Island residents with a Rhode Island E-ZPass pay a discounted toll of only 83 cents once they sign up for the RIR-RI Resident Discount Plan. Early in 2012,

10914-486: Was no paid employment to work in the nearby mills, such as the Lowell Mill Girls . As the textile industry grew, immigration also grew. By the 1850s, immigrants began working in the mills, especially French Canadians and Irish . New England as a whole was the most industrialized part of the United States. By 1850, the region accounted for well over a quarter of all manufacturing value in the country and over

11021-772: Was one of 69 members of Congress to sign a letter to then- FDA commissioner Sylvia Burwell requesting that the FDA revise its policy banning donation of corneas and other tissues by men who have had sex with another man in the preceding five years. He has publicly supported reintroducing the Equal Rights Amendment . Whitehouse has been a staunch critic of so-called " dark money ", or political spending by nonprofit organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. According to Roll Call , "Whitehouse hasn't been as convincing as he'd hoped in his campaign to curb conservative anonymous donors and their influence on

11128-535: Was reconnected in March 2023, and provides a direct connection between the North End neighborhood and downtown Newport that had previously utilized the bridge ramps. The so-called "Bridge/Highway to Nowhere" overpass was demolished in April 2023. The building of the bridge changed Conanicut Island's lifestyle and economy significantly. Before the bridge, Jamestown was a "summer-resident town" accessible only by ferry on

11235-601: Was reelected in 2012 , 2018 , and 2024 . A political progressive and climate hawk, Whitehouse became chair of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget in 2023. He has given hundreds of Senate floor speeches about climate change and has made his assertion that politically conservative " dark money " groups are conducting a campaign to seize control of the American government, specifically

11342-448: Was renamed for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell in 1992, though it is still commonly referred to as the Newport Bridge by residents of nearby towns. The bridge was featured on the Rhode Island state quarter in 2001. The first time that runners were allowed over the bridge was when a group of 300 runners ran over in the early 1980s in a half-marathon for Save The Bay. In the fall of 2011, the inaugural Citizens Bank Newport Pell Bridge Run

11449-413: Was the first prosecutor to convict a member of organized crime under Clinton's " three strikes law ". Ouimette was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Whitehouse initiated the investigation into municipal corruption in Rhode Island that led to Operation Plunder Dome , in which Mayor of Providence Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was eventually convicted on conspiracy charges. In 1998, Whitehouse

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