7/30/25: Colleen Cronin talks recycling violations in Providence

Colleen Cronin of ecoRI News this week joined Eli Sherman and Kim Kalunian on “Behind the Story” to discuss her reporting about recycling violations in Providence.Cronin is a Report for America fellow working at ecoRI News, a nonprofit news outlet that focuses on environmental news. She obtained years of recycling violations data that revealed Providence has ticketed most frequently in its poorest neighborhoods.Cronin talks about how she gathered, analyzed and used the data to inform her reporting, along with how it led her to interviews with key community members.She also learned that ticketing has begun to ramp up again after a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley's first year in office.Later in the show, Eli and Kim talk about the “Stories We Wish We Wrote.” They include (not all mentioned on air):Kim's picksState may miss DCYF lease renewal deadline. Here’s why union workers are OK with that. by Christopher Shea and Alexander Castro, Rhode Island CurrentWhy a decade-old fight over bake sales at RI polling places is rising again by Katherine Gregg, The Providence JournalEli’s picksLocals recount the ‘craziest’ moments they’ve seen in South County by Bill Seymour, The IndependentHow did Dante Bellini convince Ken Burns to do a biopic? First he had to change careers by Mark Patinkin, The Providence JournalA special shoutout this week to some really cool new shows launching on our new WPRI 12+ TV app:Johnny Villella and Mike Montecalvo have created a podcast-style show called "Street Stories Unpaved," a spinoff of their amazing weekly TV segment "Street Stories"Sarah Guernelli has started her own 30-minute show called "12 Responds," which goes in-depth on consumer-related issues and stories she covers on the investigative consumer beatWatch “Behind the Story” Thursdays at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on the WPRI 12+ TV app.How to download the free WPRI 12+ smart TV appIt airs on TV (Sundays at 8 a.m. on FOX Providence and 11 a.m. on The CW Providence), and will be available on demand through the WPRI 12+ app and right here on WPRI.com.“Behind the Story” is hosted by Eli Sherman and Kim Kalunian of 12 News, along with Dan McGowan of the Boston Globe.