Steve Klamkin & The Saturday Am News

Michael Mwenso of Mwenso and the Shakes talks about their high-powered performance at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival. #WPRO http://mwensoandshakes.com/

Singer - songwriter Madison Cunningham performed at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival. #WPRO She talked about her tour and her new album, "Who Are You Now". http://www.madisoncunningham.com/

Adia Victoria performed at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival. #WPRO Outspoken artist Adia Victoria brought her self-described "gothic blues" to the Folk Festival. https://adiavictoria.com http://www.newportfolk.org/

Eric Wurzelbacher, a saxophonist from Cincinnati led his quartet at Newport Jazz Festival. #WPRO He has a long history of attending the Festival, where he and his father build the stages. https://www.ericwurzelbacher.com/ http://www.newportjazz.org/

Anthony Hollingshead is President of the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. #WPRO Swan Point, which is the final resting place for a number of notable and historic Rhode Islanders is now offering a "green" or natural burial area. Also, it is open to the public. http://swanpointcemetery.com/

Ben Morris is the 2019 ASCAP Foundation/Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Winner. #WPRO His quartet performed at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival. https://www.ascapfoundation.org/ http://www.newportjazz.org/

Kris Brown is President of Brady, the gun control group named for the late White House spokesman James Brady. #WPRO The debate over guns in America continues in the wake of two mass shootings on the same day in Ohio and Texas, and Brady is calling for passage of what it calls common sense gun legislation. https://www.bradyunited.org/

Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green talks about her plans to assume control of the troubled Providence schools. #WPRO https://www.ride.ri.gov

Mark Thompson, Executive Director of the Newport Restoration Foundation. #WPRO The group is exploring approaches to safeguarding properties threatened by climate change, primarily affecting dozens of historic homes in The Point neighborhood of Newport. http://www.newportrestoration.org/

Nicole Flores is a Partner of the Polar Society. #WPRO July is Polar Bear Awareness Month and a decline in bear population is a wake-up call for climate change action. Her clothing line raises funds to support efforts to counter climate change. https://polarsociety.com/

Laura Zahn is founder and CEO of Generation Teach. #WPRO This New Hampshire - based nonprofit pairs college students and high school upperclassmen with professional teachers to offer full-day "STEAM" instruction to middle school students in Providence, Boston and Holyoke, Mass. and Denver, Colorado, focused on science, technology, engineering, art and math. https://www.generationteach.org

Maurice Mitchell is National Director of the Working Families Party. #WPRO He says the party, which focuses on bringing working people and progressives into politics, has made inroads in at least 16 states, and plans to encourage candidates to run for the Rhode Island General Assembly in the 2020 election. https://workingfamilies.org/

Dr. Amy Nunn, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute. #WPRO The Institute is planning to open a new "Open Door Health Center", an LGBTQ Health Care clinic in Providence by this Fall. https://riphi.org/

Jennifer Wood responds to the scathing report, critical of the Providence schools. She is Executive Director of the Rhode Island Center for Justice, which is suing the state over poor civics education for Rhode Island students. #WPRO https://centerforjustice.org/

Before the Trump administration dropped its effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, Marcela Betancur of the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University talked about the community's concerns and the challenge to getting people to complete the census. #WPRO https://www.rwu.edu/life-at-rwu/rwu-community/lpi

Joseph R. Bonavolonta is special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Field Office. #WPRO He talks about working with state and local police in preparation for the Bristol 4th of July parade and the FBI's counterterrorism role. Also, dealing with violent neighborhood street gangs, the FBI's counterintelligence efforts to guard against spying on military and commercial interests, as well as FBI morale in the face of political attacks. https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/boston

Providence police report lower rates of homicides and violent crimes in the latest statistics. #WPRO Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare, Police Chief Hugh Clements and Mayor Jorge Elorza talked about the improving crime stats, all pointing to community policing as a big factor in the change. http://www.providenceri.gov/police/crime-statistics/

With local news coverage in crisis, Northeastern University journalism Professor Dan Kennedy is among those suggesting the Massachusetts legislature look at whether government can help look for solutions to helping communities that are not being served by news outlets. #WPRO https://bit.ly/2X1VGXx

Katie Spaziano of Waterfront Concerts, which is staging concerts all summer long at Bold Point Park in East Providence. #WPRO https://www.waterfrontconcerts.com/

Hilary Levey Friedman is a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Freedom. #WPRO The group says it is continuing to press the General Assembly for passage of a bill to preserve abortion protections regardless of the fate of Roe vs. Wade before the Supreme Court. https://www.ricrf.org/