Thursday, October 29, 2026
AI recaps Charlestown Town Council Oct. 26 meeting
Council Advances Ninigret Park Cell Pole, Reshapes Farm Committee
Adriana
Vossari, RI & Local Government, is NOT an actual person but rather is an AI-bot used by UpriseRI to review and summarize public records. Click here for their explanation for how this is done:
The council also updated the membership rules for the
Charlestown Agricultural Preservation Committee, approved a Charlestown Land
Trust cleanup at Ninigret Park on Saturday, Nov. 7, and passed its
consent agenda. Councilor Stephen Stokes was absent, so every vote was 4-0.
The meeting lasted roughly 17 minutes.
The meeting opened with a moment of silence for Libby Bray,
the town's assistant emergency management director, who the council president
said was in charge of the special needs registry.
Ninigret Park cell facility
The item concerned an agreement between the Town of
Charlestown and Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, to
install, operate and maintain a wireless communications facility at the park at
no installation or maintenance cost to the town, according to the agenda.
The council president said the matter "has been
percolating a while." The agreement was drafted as a lease, but the
president said that since the park's utilization plan was approved, the town is
now required to use concession agreements instead of leases.
Councilor Bonnie Van Slyke, who said she was not on the
council when the matter was discussed before, raised several questions. She
asked whether the National Park Service had been contacted, and said graves in
that area of the park had come up during the master plan. Van Slyke said the
spot is probably not in the 10-foot square, but the town should check. A
speaker responded that the spot has already been designated but that they could
check.
Van Slyke also pointed to language in the draft allowing
overhead utility wires. A speaker said that area of the park is wired
underground and that there would be no overhead wires. She also asked about
commercial liability insurance, and a speaker said they would check with the
trust.
Van Slyke asked why the equipment would go in the park
rather than on the tower at the police station. In response, a speaker said
portable units are typically brought in for large park events, that Verizon
service at the park is poor, and that a permanent facility would help public
safety services there. A speaker said the pole would be 40 feet or higher and
that there should be no lighting on it.
Councilor Craig Marr moved to authorize the town solicitor
to convert the document into a concession agreement and to address the overhead
wire language, inspection of any grave sites, and a provision for no permanent
lighting. Van Slyke seconded. Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero said he was
comfortable with the direction. The motion passed by voice vote, 4-0.
‘Voting is medicine’: These health professionals want you to vote in the midterms
Your vote matters
Dr. Cynthia Mahoney, a retired California internist and nephrologist, helps lead Climate Health • Civic Health, an all-volunteer alliance of health professionals and organizations, alongside colleagues Margie Chen and Karina Maher.
Yale Climate Connections spoke with Mahoney about how climate change affects our health, why data centers have galvanized action, and what readers can do leading into Election Day.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Yale Climate Connections: How does climate change affect people's health?
Dr. Cynthia Mahoney: Climate disruption and fossil fuel pollution impact our health from cradle to grave, and it's going to get much worse unless we change course now.
Think of a worker who collapses in 105-degree heat and ends up in the hospital. That's going to get worse. That's climate change.
What's so unique about climate change is that it's going to impact all of us. It puts us all in this together.
YCC: You practiced in intensive care units. Does that shape how you see this problem?
Mahoney: I was trained as a nephrologist and practiced a lot in ICUs. What I prided myself on was not just treating what I saw in front of me, but asking, "Where is this patient going? How do I intervene now to keep them from deteriorating?"
This is an ICU moment. The health of the people on Earth needs ICU-level care. We see where this is heading, and we need to intervene.
YCC: Why do you want people to vote?
Mahoney: Democracy is the way we change direction.
A lot of young people think, "Look what I've lived through. Voting hasn't helped me. Why should I bother?" Some people are cynical: The politicians are just in it for the money. There may be some truth to part of that. But that is furthering the goals of the people who are trying to corruptly extract our health from us. If voting wasn't important, they wouldn't be trying that hard to suppress it.
Trump’s FEMA Head Tells States to Prepare to Handle Disasters on Their Own
We have a federal government to handle problems too big to be managed locally
Trump tells campaign crowd no FEMA support unless they elect Republicans.
Stephen Prager for Common Dreams
Politico reported that Cameron Hamilton, the administrator of the US
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told state officials at
the National Emergency Management Association’s annual meeting in Little Rock,
Arkansas, that they would need to allocate resources to respond to most
disasters without help from the federal government.
“Every state must have the appropriate financial reserves”
and other abilities “to ensure that recovery efforts can start immediately and
not necessarily be held up simply because of the federal [disaster] declaration
process,” Hamilton said, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by
the outlet.
“A future that I hope we would shoot for is one where we
wouldn’t require as many disasters because the capability of states is so high
and so substantial,” Hamilton added, referring to presidential authorizations
of federal disaster aid.
Trump has instituted dramatic cuts to FEMA that have hampered its response to
disasters. When Texas faced
floods last year that killed at least 138 people, for example, the
administration’s spending restrictions delayed FEMA’s deployment of search-and-rescue teams for
more than 72 hours, while lapsed call-center contracts left thousands of
survivors’ calls for assistance unanswered.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Déjà vu all over again in House District 39 as Democratic incumbent faces MAGA Republican
District 39 continues to be a culture war battleground
By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
 |
| It's work like this that serve as reasons to re-elect Cotter |
They are both moms in their 40s who want to lower energy bills and preserve western Rhode Island’s rural beauty.
The similarities between Democratic Rep. Megan Cotter and her Republican challenger Jasmin Roy end there.
Cotter, the two-term incumbent for House District 39, has a record of legislative accomplishments she can point to while canvassing the 100-square mile district, spanning Exeter, Richmond, and Hopkinton: adding more money to the green bond for forest and farmland preservation, spurring — and leading — a newly begun legislative panel to study how housing developments affect water supply in rural communities; and limiting self-checkouts at grocery stores to preserve jobs.
“I don’t coparent with the government,” Roy proclaimed in a June 1 episode of local conservative podcast Cumberland Unfiltered.
A vocal Trump supporter who touts Second Amendment protections and parental rights in education, Roy’s views, as shared on her campaign website and social media, are likely to resonate with many of the voters in the district, which backed Trump in the last three presidential elections. Cotter’s predecessor, Republican Justin Price, attended the Jan. 6 rally outside the U.S. Capitol, though Price said he did not participate in the riots.
Trump adds Norway to his enemies' list and wants to ban immigrants from Norway (around 400 a year)
Trump's new position on Norway:
Trump's former position on Norway:
Scientists Say the Secret to a Happier, Healthier Society May Begin in Childhood
How children are raised may matter for social well-being worldwide
By University of Nottingham
At home, a child seeking comfort depends on a caregiver’s
response, while time for free play offers room to explore. A University of
Nottingham-led study linked these experiences, along with a positive
emotional atmosphere at home, to well-being years later. 
Psychiatric professional Mary Trump, Donald Trump's
niece, blames Trump's father for son's mental problems
Positive childhood
experiences were generally stronger predictors of adult well-being than the
absence of negative ones, suggesting that avoiding harm captures only part of
what matters.
Across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan, adults’ reports of supportive childhood experiences were associated with better health, greater happiness and life satisfaction, and lower anxiety.
The
connections extended to how people felt about those around them, including
their satisfaction with social relationships, sense of belonging in their
neighborhoods, and trust in others. Published in the Journal of Happiness
Studies, the findings were consistent across substantial cultural
differences and remained statistically significant after accounting for
demographic factors such as income and education.
Plea from a father who lost his 5 year old daughter to flu
Sometimes it’s not ‘just the flu’
Zachary Yaksich
 |
| Alana Yaksich. Photo courtesy of JoAnna Yaksich |
In 2003, my life
was completely shattered. My daughter, Alana, was 5½ years old when she died from complications of influenza.
My family and children had received all of their childhood vaccinations on schedule and as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but in 2003, the age recommendation for influenza vaccination was 6 months through 59 months.
Alana was older than that. She had not received a flu vaccine, nor had
her pediatrician ever recommended one to us or explained the dangers that
influenza could pose to a child.
Until Alana died,
I had no idea that the flu could kill. Like so many people, I thought of
influenza as a miserable but relatively routine illness—something that would
make you feel awful for a few days and then eventually pass. I was wrong. It
often is that way, but far too often for grieving parents and families, it can
be much worse.
A new study
changes the conversation
A recently
published study in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal Pediatrics,
titled “Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Pediatric
Death in the United States: 2016–2025,” provides some of the most compelling evidence
yet about what influenza vaccination can mean for children.
Conducted by CDC
researchers, the study examined pediatric influenza deaths in the United States
over nearly a decade. Its conclusion deserves the attention of every parent: Influenza
vaccination reduced the risk of fatal influenza among children with and without
known underlying medical conditions. Influenza vaccine was 80%
effective in preventing deaths overall, with 77% among children with
underlying medical conditions and 87% among children without such conditions.
Why is this
more important than ever?
The internet and
social media have made it easy for misinformation to spread. People can find
almost anything online to reinforce what they already believe, including
information that contradicts decades of scientific evidence.
If these horrible billionaires control everything we see and hear in the media and on social media, they won’t have to spend a penny on elections to keep their candidates in power.
US Billionaires Compete for ‘Most Awful Human Being’ Award
This has led to many reporters being
fired and threats to others to make their reporting toe the Trump
line or risk being fired. Many of the network’s longest-serving reporters just
quit.
The fun doesn’t stop here. The Ellison clique is also
getting control of CNN through Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Presumably
we can look forward to more Trump-friendly reporting there also.
To be clear, neither of these networks was a paragon of objective reporting before the Ellison family takeover. Both networks regularly marginalized and belittled progressives in the US and around the world. But they did at least have an ostensible commitment to objectivity, unlike, say, Fox News.
Then we have Mark Zuckerberg, who seems to view the huge Meta social media platforms as important mechanisms for pushing his political agenda. Last Saturday, the Instagram site for the No Kings march went down for four hours, exactly when it was being most widely used. Meta claimed there was no political motive; it was just incompetence.
We might be more inclined to accept the incompetence story
if there wasn’t a comparable picture in Brazil in the lead-up to its
presidential election. Lula, the incumbent president, is locked in a tight race
with Flavio Bolsanaro, a right-winger who is openly allied with Donald Trump. It seems
that the sites of supporters of Lula and his supporters have repeatedly run
into the same sort of technical difficulties with Meta.
Then we go to everyone’s favorite evil billionaire, Elon Musk. Musk bought Twitter with the explicit
intention of using it as a vehicle to support his politics. He not only opened
the gates to all sorts of racist, sexist, and harassing material; he has
throttled the accounts of many progressives so that their comments are less
widely viewed.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Trump says high prices for gas, diesel and heating oil are great because “We’re making a freaking fortune”
Question for Trump: who is this “We” you’re talking about?
Olivia Rosane for Common Dreams
 |
| Add "We're making a freakin' fortune" to this list |
During a midterm campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, Trump
acknowledged the high price of oil and gas, but said that the US fossil fuel
industry was “making hundreds of billions of dollars.”
His advisers, he told the crowd, had instructed him not to
mention this “because people are paying a little higher,” he said in a
condescending voice. “That number’s going to come way down,” he continued, “but
what we’ve done for this country, we’re making money like this country has
never made before,” seemingly conflating the fortunes of wealthy oil and gas
companies with the US as a whole.
“Trump to people who want lower gas prices: ‘Fuck you, I’m
making money!’” Melanie D’Arrigo, the executive director of the Campaign for
New York Health, posted
on social media.
“Just run this as an ad.”
Nation writer Jeet Heer made a similar point, saying
that Trump’s remarks were an “amazing closing argument—for the Democrats. They
just need to run this clip.”
Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim noted the tone of Trump’s
voice.
“Trump here does a widdle baby voice to mock people who are
complaining about high gas prices, explaining that the oil and gas industry is
making ‘hundreds of billions, trillions,’” Grim wrote
on social media. “It’s never been clearer how much he hates the people who
voted for him.”
New data shows Charlestown is still unaffordable
You need an annual income of $216,356 to afford a median-priced single-family home
 |
| HousingWorksRI factbooks - CLICK HERE. |
And there's this from GoLocal with a slightly higher median home price:
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
If you love to read, reading will love you back
By University of Cambridge
 |
| EDITOR'S NOTE: My favorite recent new book read for pleasure. - Will Collette |
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and The Queen’s
Reading Room examined evidence spanning childhood through old age. Their
findings suggest that reading for enjoyment, whether alone or with others, may
support brain health in several ways, with some benefits potentially appearing
after just a few minutes.
Reading Early in Life Is Linked to Better Brain
Development
Some of the strongest evidence comes from a study
involving more than 10,000 young people. Children who began reading for
pleasure at an early age tended to perform better on tests of attention,
memory, and executive function, the mental abilities involved in planning,
decision-making, and controlling behavior. They also showed stronger academic
performance, fewer mental health problems, healthier sleep habits, and less
screen time.
Reading is closely associated with literacy development, but
its relationship with learning extends to mathematics. Both activities rely on
overlapping cognitive processes, including working memory, language
comprehension, and executive control. Despite these potential advantages,
surveys indicate that recreational reading among children and teenagers has
fallen to its lowest recorded levels, particularly among adolescent boys and
children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Reading may also provide psychological benefits throughout
adulthood. Surveys associate reading for enjoyment with lower stress, greater
relaxation, stronger empathy, and more openness to different perspectives. In
one survey, nearly two in five adults (38%) identified reading as their
preferred way to unwind.
A neuroscience study commissioned by The Queen’s Reading
Room in 2024 reported that just five minutes of reading fiction could reduce
stress by up to 20%. The research also identified improvements in concentration
and problem-solving, alongside reduced feelings of loneliness. These results
suggest that even brief reading sessions may offer benefits, although the size
and persistence of those effects require further investigation.
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