The story, “Working the Night Shift,” appears in this month’s issue of Rhode Island Monthly.

Lauren Clem, a senior editor, and Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, a photographer, shadowed workers in fields including hospitality, health care, policing, fishing and restaurants.

“I am not normally working the night shift, so we had some very sleepless few weeks,” Clem said. “The majority we did on separate nights, and we tried to line them up chronologically within the feature.”

Pitts-Wiley, a North Providence-based portrait and documentary photographer, partnered with Clem to capture moments experienced by those featured in the piece. He said he aimed to respect the dignity of his subjects while using light in different ways to capture compelling images.

“For me, it just came down to what is visually interesting and trying to create images that are compelling irrespective of having all the context,” Pitts-Wiley said. “The viewer is not in the room with you. They don’t know the smell, they don’t have the context, they only have the image.”

Later in the show, Kim and Eli discussed the “stories we wish we wrote,” including:

• Family Travel by Lauren Clem, Rhode Island Monthly (currently only available in print edition for April)
• Has 'Real Housewives' helped one cast member's RI business? We found out by Paul Edward Parker, The Providence Journal

• Three-part series on homelessness by Jim Hummel, Hummel Report
  Part 1: Out in the cold
  Part 2: Finding shelter
  Part 3: What's the plan?
• Vineyard Wind sues GE Renewables to block it from abandoning project by Anastasia Lennon, The New Bedford Light

Eric Halvarson, who has been a contributing writer since August, was hired last month to cover Providence full time. He said the hire marks an important milestone for the largely volunteer-driven organization as it looks to expand its coverage.

“One of the motivations behind starting the outlet was to cover all of the city and move beyond downtown and the East Side, and to cover areas that might not get as much in-depth attention,” Halvarson said during a taping of the show.

Halvarson, who grew up in Cranston and now lives in Providence, recently published a deep dive on murals in the city amid controversy surrounding a large painting of Iryna Zarutska on a downtown building.

The Ukrainian refugee, who was stabbed to death in Charlotte, North Carolina, has become a polarizing figure, with a group that includes billionaire Elon Musk financially backing efforts to put up murals of her across the country.

Halvarson spoke with artists, curators and Providence residents to explore what goes into placing murals in public spaces and what factors are considered when they are likely to spark debate.

“I wanted to find a way to put this in context and bring it into a broader conversation about Providence, beyond the conservative or progressive takes,” he said.

Later in the show, Dan and Eli discussed the “stories we wish we wrote,” including:

• New schools’ price: $12M a year for 26 years by John Howell, The Warwick Beacon
• Is that a $100 bill? Someone is leaving cash all around Rhode Island. by Carlos Muñoz, The Boston Globe

• New Bedford officials anticipate $10 million or more in deficit challenges by Colin Hogan, The New Bedford Light
• Barrington budget and tax levy: A new process and a big increase by Josh Bickford, EastBayRI

Alex Kuffner, who covers energy and the environment, first shed light on the issue last month with an in-depth report on the state’s largest sludge disposal facility in Woonsocket, which residents are fighting to shut down.

More than 90% of the state’s sludge — a mix of human waste, organic materials and chemicals filtered out of wastewater — is disposed of at the facility in northern Rhode Island.

“If that closes, you’re going to have dozens of cities and towns that will have not have a place to take their sludge,” he said. “They’re going to be faced with essentially finding places that can landfill it, and cities and towns now that have been forced to do this they are taking their sludge by rail to Massachusetts and then it goes all the way to Ohio or Pennsylvania.”

Now, a similar issue is emerging in North Kingstown, where residents are calling on the Quonset Development Corp. to rescind approval of a proposed sludge facility. Meanwhile, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi has supported legislation to create a commission to study biosolids, and Gov. Dan McKee is urging greater transparency around the proposed project.

Kuffner said there’s no link between the two projects in different parts of the state, but many people are watching closely to what happens in both communities to get a better sense of where sludge will go in the future.

“For people in the industry who are trying to find a place for their sludge, they’re thinking, ‘If this thing can get up and running, it’d be great because then it takes the pressure off Woonsocket and Woonsocket can then close,’” he said.

But Kuffner acknowledged the science behind the Quonset project is still relatively new and has faced challenges in other parts of the country. He said the project has several hurdles to clear before it might become a reality, and there are several factors that could prevent it from getting off the ground.

“There are a lot of stakeholders that make it very complicated,” he said.

Later in the show, Kim and Eli discussed the “stories we wish we wrote,” including:

• Homeowner dug up what looked like a toy. Was it part of a 1978 homicide? by Mark Reynolds, The Providence Journal
• As residents dodge potholes, approved repair budget will fix less than 6 miles of road by Colin Hogan and Brooke Kushwaha, The New Bedford Light

• Parents voice frustration, anger over Attleboro school rules on restraint and seclusion by Rhianwen Watkins, The Sun Chronicle
• Barrington Police: Suspects lurking in bushes were playing ‘senior assassin’ by EastBayRI