This Just In: Marijuana legalization breakthrough? Plus, 2 years of COVID data

Also, why state buildings still say "Providence Plantations." [providencejournal.com]( This Just In Tuesday, March 1 [A marijuana plant.]( [Marijuana legalization breakthrough? Plus, 2 years of COVID data]( Also, why state buildings still say "Providence Plantations." Good afternoon and welcome to This Just In. I'm Mike McDermott, managing editor of The Providence Journal. Do you remember what you did two years ago on this date? On the morning of Sunday, March 1, 2020, Rhode Island [reported its first coronavirus case]( and a second one later the same day, both in people who had traveled to Italy with a group from Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket. I had a feeling it was a big deal, but I didn't realize that this particular Sunday would be my last normal weekend day for many months, even as I went out to lunch and attended a URI game with my family. Which Rhode Island communities have been hardest-hit by the coronavirus over the last two years? It depends on what metric you use: cases, hospitalization or death. As a percentage of the 2020 Census population count, the communities with the most coronavirus cases since March 2020 are Central Falls (cases 40.6% of population), Johnston (34.2%), Pawtucket (34.0%), Cranston (33.3%) and Providence (33.0%). The communities that have seen the fewest cases per capita are New Shoreham (13.5%), Little Compton (14.1%), Jamestown (16.7%), South Kingstown (19.4%) and Richmond (21.0%). The communities with the most deaths per capita are Smithfield (7.7 deaths per 1,000 people), Johnston (6.5), Woonsocket (5.9), Warren (5.6) and North Smithfield (5.3). New Shoreham has recorded no coronavirus-related deaths, while Charlestown, Hopkinton, Jamestown and Little Compton have each recorded fewer than five total. The communities with the most hospitalizations per capita are Johnston (17.0 hospitalizations per 1,000 people), Providence (16.3), North Providence (16.0), Woonsocket (15.2) and East Providence (14.6). Little Compton and New Shoreham have each had fewer than five total hospitalizations; the other communities with the fewest per capita are Tiverton (2.3 per 1,000 people), Jamestown (4.3) and Portsmouth (4.8). Today, the Rhode Island Department of Health reported one coronavirus-related death and 170 additional cases of COVID-19, along with 5,554 negative tests, for a 3.0% positive rate. There were 117 COVID-positive patients in Rhode Island hospitals at last count, down from 119 reported yesterday, with 10 in intensive care. Rhode Island has reported an average of 183 new cases a day over the last seven days, down 28% from a week ago and down 57% from two weeks ago. COVID has had a devastating effect at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, far beyond the disruptions that followed the 9/11 terror attacks or the Great Recession. And [as Paul Edward Parker writes today]( it may be years before the long-term effects of the pandemic are sorted out. [It will take two years longer than anticipated]( to meet the goals envisioned when the state took over the Providence schools, Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green told a Senate panel last night, due to pandemic disruptions. It what might be a significant step toward legalization of marijuana in Rhode Island, leaders in the House and the Senate [released identical pieces of legislation]( that seeks to reconcile long-running arguments over how legalization would happen, and who would regulate the new industry. More than a year after voters approved a referendum to remove the words "Providence Plantations" from the state's official name, the words [are easy to find]( at official buildings across the state, and there is still no estimate of how much it will cost to finally remove them. With increasingly harrowing scenes coming out of Ukraine, and as President Joe Biden prepares to give his State of the Union address, Gov. Dan McKee [wrote a letter to the president]( offering to take in Ukrainian refugees.  It's the end of the road for a ship carrying thousands of cars that caught fire en route to Davisville. And since there are no actual roads in the Atlantic, what I'm really saying is, [the ship has sunk]( You might not have noticed it when you woke up to 20-degree temperatures this morning, but meteorological spring is here. After a slow start, the recent December-February winter period [was the 17th-snowiest on record]( (going back more than 100 years). But despite some very cold stretches, the winter was still warmer than usual on average. The Big East regular-season title no longer hangs in the balance, but it will still be a key game for NCAA Tournament seeding when [Providence visits Villanova]( tonight, with a glorious 6:30 p.m. tip time. [Here's some solid pregame reading]( Have a great night. 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