STORY OF THE WEEK: The timeline for creating a new westbound Washington Bridge remains uncertain, as Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and state Transportation Director Peter Alviti indicated during a Smith Hill news conference this week. The two men tried putting a positive face on things, but there have been questions all along about the initial time and cost estimates for putting a new bridge in place.

Now, costs are rising and state officials plan to issue a request for information to get a better sense of why the RFP to construct a new structure failed to attract bids. The attenuated process means work on the bridge will probably extend into the thick of the 2026 race for governor, serving as a tangible backdrop for questions about the effectiveness of state government.

But Max Wistow, part of the outside legal team hired by McKee, indicated during a separate news conference that a lawsuit over the bridge is more likely than not, and he said a decision on that is expected in early August. The roots of the problem with the bridge “goes way back before the McKee administration,” Wistow told reporters, although he declined to elaborate or specify just who might get sued and how much money might potentially be recovered by the state.

As it stands, many motorists are still dealing with frequent backups leading to I-195 east, and afternoon congestion around Providence seems worse than before the abrupt emergency closing of the westbound bridge last December. How voters express their collective feelings about the situation — and who they feel is most responsible for it — is a story that will play out in the months and years to come.

THE RHODE ISLAND ANGLE: U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, is among the top Democrats who have President Biden’s ear as he mulls whether to stay in the race or get out. And while Pelosi was raised in Baltimore, her grandparents met in Pawtucket, her mother often talked about her cousins in Rhode Island, and Pelosi was college roommates with the late mother of Helena Foulkes.

HIGH ANXIETY: Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election marks him as a historic outlier. But a handful of presidents, going back nearly to American independence, have periodically threatened democracy. John Adams outlawed dissent and tried to prosecute his critics. Andrew Johnson’s presidency was marked by threats against perceived opponents. More recently, Richard Nixon engaged in a criminal conspiracy that went unprosecuted.

Corey Brettschneider, a Brown University professor of political science, writes about these sagas in his new book, “The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend it.”

The common thread, Brettschneider writes, is how Americans have responded by repelling threats to democracy. Now, however, there’s a unique threat, he said, since Trump understands where the choke points in democracy are from his previous time in office.

With the U.S. Supreme Court expanding executive power, and the Heritage Foundation putting forward a plan (made with input from many former Trump staffers) to remake the federal government, where will accountability come from? “You know, I wish I could tell you that we have a system of checks and balances, the one that we learned about in grade school, that will certainly hold,” Brettschneider said during an interview on Political Roundtable. “But part of what the book is saying is that what we think of as these constitutional police, these checks that are always there, actually turn out to be pretty weak.”

Given that, he said, elections are a crucial form of influence by citizens. With ongoing uncertainty about whether Joe Biden will remain the Democratic nominee, Brettschneider said, “I believe that If Democrats unite behind whoever the nominee is, that the country will come to see, despite the flirtation with authoritarianism, that that candidate is the candidate to beat Donald Trump. It isn’t about the specific nominee, it is about the issue of democracy generally.”

GRASSROOTS: Former state Rep. Aaron Regunberg (highlighted last week for his outspoken stance) and state Sen. Tiara Mack (D-Providence) are among those urging Biden to Pass the Torch, as part of a broader grassroots effort.

ON THE GO: As the drama over the Democratic nominee plays out, U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo is devoting some of his energy to supporting fellow Democrats on the road. The freshman from CD1 campaigned for Biden in New Hampshire, and Amo is headed to Nevada early in the coming week to aid U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Rhode Island lawmakers passed lots of bills this session on housing, healthcare and other important topics. But there are typically some measures that fail to get a floor vote, even if they have a reasonable chance of winning approval. Payday lending is a case in point. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill in 2023 to clamp down on payday lenders, but the measure went nowhere in the Senate, and here we are, about 15 years after advocates first launched a campaign against payday.

Writing at the RI Current, Kate McGovern added: “There is no rule preventing legislators from making motions in committees or preventing committee chairs from taking votes on pending matters. However, they know not to act without permission from the leadership. This is why bills get stuck out in a pasture for years as the electric fence warns them off.” As McGovern notes, the ‘electric fence system’ “is complex and self-reinforcing,” and therefore “not easily unplugged,” although she suggests some concepts — a time limit or a threshold of support — for compelling a vote on legislation. Don’t hold your breath for these concepts coming to fruition, although a critical mass of public interest could sharpen the debate.

HOSPITALS: A few weeks after the conditional approval of the Centurion Foundation’s takeover, from Prospect Medical Holdings, of CharterCARE Health Partners (mostly Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital), it’s unclear where things are headed. “Communications have been limited, but both Centurion and Prospect have contacted our office to confirm their understanding of certain conditions in the decision,” Timothy Rondeau, a spokesman for Attorney General Peter Neronha, said via email. While there is no precise timeline governing when Centurion has to respond, Rondeau said a response is expected in the coming weeks. ChaterCARE spokesman Otis Brown has not responded to request for comment.

In related news, Rondeau said, Prospect filed affidavits July 1 indicating it has complied with a court order to pay $17 million it owed to vendors. The AG’s office found the affidavits “do not contain sufficient documentation to establish compliance and we have required Prospect to supply additional documentation.”

AT THE BEACH: Alex Nunes has the story of how the Charlestown Police Department is using video surveillance captured by private individuals to help enforce a town driving ordinance at the Quonochontaug Barrier Beach. Steve Brown of the RI ACLU calls the delegating of private citizens to engage in this kind of activity “quite disturbing.”

ON THE WATERFRONT: In a statement this week, Attorney General Peter Neronha called the latest fire at Rhode Island Recycled Metals another indicator of the company’s “inability to safely operate.” In a joint statement, state Rep. Jose Batista and Sen. Mack, both Providence Democrats, said, “When we talk about environmental justice zones, [the latest fire] is a perfect example of why this crucial policy is needed, because the low-income and minority residents of this area have had to endure the constant polluting and environmental devastation of these industries for too long, with their health and safety severely impacted due to the actions of businesses that do not care about the damage they cause to the surrounding people and environment in the City of Providence.” On Friday, the scrap operation was ordered temporarily closed.

RI PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: Ernie Almonte, one of the most genial people in and around state government, plans to retire at the end of the year from his role as executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns … Farouk Rajab has been appointed as the new president/CEO of the RI Hospitality Association … Glenn Robertelli is the new executive director of RI Bio, the professional trade group for life sciences in the state.

OPIOIDS: While racial disparities persist in fatal overdoses and addiction treatment, the number of overdose deaths in Rhode Island fell for the first time in five years, according to the state Department of Health. More from Lynn Arditi: “The mix of fentanyl with stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine is what experts call the national opioid epidemic’s ‘fourth wave.’ And the mixture is challenging efforts to reduce overdoses, because many users of stimulants don’t know they are at risk of ingesting opioids. And people who think of themselves as stimulant users are less likely to take overdose precautions or enroll in addiction treatment programs designed for opioid users.”

IN MEMORIAM: Count me among those saddened by the passing of Cedric Huntley, who left us way too soon. I got to know Cedric when he was involved in early efforts to launch the Nonviolence Institute in Providence — an organization that he later led. Cedric cared a lot about young people in Rhode Island’s capital city and he devoted a lot of time and energy to trying to help them. “His passion for teaching young people that nonviolence is the solution undoubtedly saved countless lives,” Warwick Police Chief Bradford Connor, head of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, said in a statement. 

TRASH TO TREASURE: My colleague Ben Berke is a gifted storyteller, so do yourself a favor and listen to the audio version of his story about artist Duke Riley, who engraves pollution scenes on ocean plastic. As Ben notes, “Riley uses discarded bottles of engine coolant, bleach and Gatorade to bend the rules of an artform that’s become illegal to practice using the customary whalebone. A piece of his recently acquired by the New Bedford Whaling Museum depicts a grim scene of industrial pollution, tacking a new chapter onto the city’s lore as a famous seaport.”

REST IN PEACE, MCCOY STADIUM: The City of Pawtucket is launching an auction Monday for rows of seating and other leftovers from the former home of the PawSox, with the proceeds going to charity. 

KICKER: Life, like baseball, is about making adjustments. For further evidence, consider the emergence of Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran as full-fledged all-stars after their early struggles in MLB. The same holds true on the political stage. As David Leonhardt noted this week, “Politicians often get better at their jobs, and become stronger candidates, by listening to criticism and addressing their weaknesses.” So if personality is largely immutable, performance is more fungible — and that offers a little hope for all of us.

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@thepublicsradio.org.