Charlestown tapas

Ten tasty news tidbits

By Will Collette

Charlestown Zoning Official featured in ProJo story

Our own Joe Warner who oversees zoning and housing rules for the town of Charlestown got a nice mention – and photo – in a major Providence Journal article on the impact of drastically higher flood insurance on properties along our waters. Joe was quoted as saying that some coastal property owners are skipping expensive additions in favor of making their houses more storm resistant.

In the article, Joe noted that this is not an option readily available to the less affluent. Joe is doing his part to abate costs. He completed the course of study and was certified as a Flood Plain Manager, which puts Charlestown in a position to qualify for FEMA’s Community Rating System that could result in major discounts on flood insurance.

Even if Joe wasn't in the ProJo article, it would be noteworthy since the ProJo rarely covers anything south of Warwick anymore.

Charlestown Police get major marks for equipping officers with anti-overdose kits

From the CPD Facebook page

Charlestown PD is among the pace-setters in equipping its officers with life-saving doses of naloxone, a drug that counters the effects of a heroin overdose. Rhode Island has seen a sharp spike in deaths from heroin overdoses since the first of the year – 45 as of mid-February.

I saw Lt. Patrick McMahon on Channel 10 talking about this and holding the kits that CPD staff will be carrying. McMahon noted that about half of CPD’s officers are also certified as EMTs; those who are not will be trained. The story hit the AP newswire and I’ve seen it pop up all over the US. Congrats!

Among some members of the far-right, this kind of humane conduct is seen as a sign that the apocalypse is coming. Tea Party Republican Governor of the state of Maine, Paul LePage, refuses to sanction first responders to carry naloxone, saying that it only encourages more drug use by giving addicts a “false sense of security.” Let ‘em die, says Maine Guv LePage.

Bill would ban strafing from the air

[CPD photo]

Thank you, Rep. Donna Walsh, for introducing H-7588 which would plug the loophole Charlestown discovered last summer when a group of men decided it would be fun to do some target shooting…from a helicopter. Neighbors called Charlestown Police who tried, but could not find, a statutory basis for arresting the men for this clearly dangerous act. Donna’s bill would make it a crime to discharge any firearm, incendiary or explosive device from an aircraft.

The Rhode Island Gun Blog lists H-7588 on its compendium of bills it wants its members to lobby against. They added this comment about the idea of banning gun-fire from a helicopter: “bummer looks like fun.” [SIC]

And now for something completely different

Boss Gentz working on his
Porsche

Congratulations, of sorts, to Town Council Boss Tom Gentz (CCA Party) for being featured in the prestigious Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car March 2014 issue. He’s featured in the DIY Weekend Project column on page 66 for his work on the love of his life, his collection of Porsches. He has three Porsches: a 1966, a 1967 and a 1988, all lovingly restored. All carry an assessed tax valuation of ZERO so Boss Gentz pays no car tax.

You can buy a copy of the March issue of Hemmings for yourself for $6.95.

Tom Gentz once described himself during a Town Council meeting as a simple “conservative guy living on a fixed income (May 14, 2012).” It’s good to know that doesn’t cramp his style.

Don’t go here, Tom

Screen shot from GoLocalProv.com

When Boss Gentz goes out tooling in one of his Porsches, he might want to avoid using Route One at the junction of Route 216 (Ross Hill Road). That intersection is the third most dangerous in all of Rhode Island. Only the infamous Providence Thurber’s Avenue Curve and Pawtucket’s scary I-95 S-Turn are ranked worse.

Our local site tallied 51 crashes, with three deaths and eight injuries.

Another list where Rhode Island is NOT #1

While Rhode Island may be #1 for having the highest percentage of people who think Rhode Island sucks (I’m not one of them, by the way), according to Forbes Magazine, these people are not voting with their feet.

Rhode Island does not make the list of states where the most people are moving out compared to the number who are moving in (we actually do pretty well, using that ratio). The worst state is New Jersey at #1. Fortunately, more would have left except they got caught in bridge traffic.

Massachusetts came in at #8 and Connecticut at #5 worst. Four bright red states made the list, too: Utah (#6), West Virginia (#4), Kentucky (#7) and New Mexico (#9).

Do you see any pattern to this? I don’t.

Semper Fi!

Actually, this blurb is about the marine trades, not the actual United States Marines. Boat-building, repair and refurbishing is a potential growth industry in Rhode Island and autothere is a Career Day coming up on March 22 for people interested in learning more about the trade. It will be hosted by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association and the IYRS School of Technology and Trades. It will be a chance for job-seekers to meet potential employers.

It’s free and will run from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Newport campus (449 Thames St.) of the International Yacht Restoration School.

Follow-ups

Cootie Alert: Be careful of those selfies! 

More signs of the Apocalypse. 

There is a new rival to Smarties®, that terrible new teenage affliction that so worries parents that the Portsmouth Middle School actually sent out a warning to parents about teens crushing and snorting Smarties® and then suffering maggot infestations in their noses. Well, now it seems that smart phone group “selfies” (where a small group of people take their own photo on their phones) are causing increased outbreaks of head lice as more and more people, especially teenagers, touch heads to take the shots and then exchange more than pictures.

More on beating the NRA. 

We ran an earlier article that the Progressive Democrats of Rhode Island (no relationship with Progressive Charlestown, though we like them) dealt the National Rifle Association a serious defeat by blowing the whistle on them for making illegal, undeclared campaign contributions in Rhode Island. The NRA was forced to pay one of the biggest fines ($63,000) in Rhode Island history and withdrew its official presence from Rhode Island. TPM, one of the most prominent national political on-line journals, just published an interview with Sam Bell, RI Progressive Dems organizer, which you can read by clicking here.

On occasion, we have re-published Sam’s columns from Rhode Island’s Future.

Safe disposal of nuclear waste. 

The Holy Grail for supporters of nuclear energy is finding some remote underground site where nuclear waste from power plants such as our local Millstone power plant can be encased and safely buried for the several million years or so it will take to decay. While the preferred site in the Yucca Mountains of Nevada has eluded them, the industry did get a pilot site started in Carlsbad, New Mexico called “WIPP” (“Waste Isolation Pilot Project”). Proponents claimed WIPP would show that it’s possible to safely eliminate radioactive waste.

Nah-uh. In mid-February, a leak was detected based on airborne radiation. Naturally, the neighbors were told there was “no cause for alarm,” but let’s remember this site was supposed to be the ultimate in safe storage. At least 13 workers were exposed. WIPP took its first shipment of radioactive waste in March 1999. If you’re counting, that means the site that was supposed to be safe forever leaked after less than 15 years.