Charlestown Chunks #16: food, friends and foes

Local news you may have missed

By Will Collette

Pollen is back. High levels return as maple, elm and junipers start to bud. You can check the daily pollen count at the forecast at Pollen.com

This is the latest edition of “Charlestown Chunks,” the successor to my former long-running series, “Charlestown Tapas.” Both series digest news items that caught my eye that might be of possible interest to South County residents. Corporate media moguls own most Rhode Island news outlets and gutted news staffs to the point where South County is almost a news desert. We try to be a news oasis.

Rhode Island’s NPR station, The Public’s Radio, is also an exception with a full-time South County editor, Alex Nunes. There’s also a brand-new on-line non-profit news source called Rhode Island Current. EcoRI also contributes a hefty amount of South County coverage as well; they frequently run pieces by Westerly Sun veteran Cynthia Drummond, now retired from the Sun. All three are non-profits and deserve your support. 

Let’s start with some great news for a fine local restaurant. 

Sly Fox Den Too makes the cut 

Sherry Pocknett, chef and owner, advanced in the competition for the coveted James Beard Award (the Oscars for foodies), beating out two Rhode Island competitors to become a finalist in the New England region. 

Here’s her bracket: 

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

• Valentine Howell, Krasi, Boston, MA
• Christian Hunter, Community Table, New Preston, CT
• Sherry Pocknett, Sly Fox Den Too, Charlestown, RI
• Yisha Siu, Yunnan Kitchen, Boston, MA
• Renee Touponce, The Port of Call, Mystic, CT 

The final winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 5 in Chicago. 

Sly Fox Den Too occupies the space that was the longtime home of the popular Gentleman Farmer. Ms Pocknett’s menu is primarily indigenous cuisine with a gourmet twist. I’ve eaten there and the food is distinctive and delicious. 

Thanks, Frank 

I had meant to do this earlier but haven’t done a Charlestown Chunks for a while. I was pleased to note the commendation given to my friend and fellow cartoon fan Frank Glista at the Charlestown Town Council’s February 13 meeting. 

Frank was honored for his many years of service, most notably the years he’s put in hustling wooden pallets and constructing Charlestown New Year’s Eve bonfire. 

While those events were memorable and lots of fun, Frank’s service extended far beyond that, with many hours put in to improve Charlestown’s environment, business climate, Ninigret Park and to recognize of veterans of the Ninigret Naval Auxiliary Air Field and more. 

Over the years, I seen Frank take abuse for several of his good deeds. These included utterly debunked 2011 claims of mismanagement of funds collected by Friends of Ninigret Park.  

Then there was the bizarre 2014 attack on Frank from the CCA – specifically from former Councilor Dan Slattery and Planning Commissar Ruth Platner – over his sale of undeveloped land to the state Water Resources Board to be set aside as open space to preserve underground water resources. 

With Frank, it seemed that no good deed went unpunished, so I was really happy to see the Council recognize his years of service. Thank you, Frank, and may your service to Charlestown continue for many more years. That’s pretty much assured with Frank’s appointment to the Parks and Recreation Commission by the Council on March 13. 

South Kingstown seniors have until May 15 to apply for Homestead Tax Credit 

In previous articles about Charlestown’s need to adopt a homestead tax credit to compensate full-time residents for the costs we bear for an infrastructure built to accommodate our summer visitors, I missed the fact that South Kingstown has such a program too. I had noted that Narragansett, North Kingstown and Newport all have broad tax credits for full-time homeowners. 

South Kingstown’s program is more conservative than the other towns, limiting its credits to low-income seniors whose annual incomes are $45,197 or less. That’s roughly double the maximum monthly Social Security payment. 

Their program is also more complicated, using income brackets to determine the amount of the credit. 

More information is HERE. 

How safe is Charlestown? 

According to Safewise, a rating service for public safety, Charlestown failed to make the top ten list of the safest towns in Rhode Island. Top ranking went to Bristol and tenth place went to Warwick. 

South and North Kingstown came in at #2 and #3, respectively. Westerly came in #6. Rhode Island ranked in the Top Ten nationwide. 

The rankings were largely based on crime statistics. 

It’s getting hard to find a doctor. 

According to Wallethub, ranking service that covers a broad range of topics, Rhode Island is the second worst state for doctors to practice medicine. 

Other articles have highlighted how it is especially hard to find general practice doctors – internists, family practice, etc. 

My own doctor of 20 years left her practice to go to work for URI’s student health service, telling me the paperwork was killing her.  

The Wallethub study cited comparatively low pay, as well as “opportunity and competition” and “medical environment.”

The top ranked state is Montana. Hawaii ranks just below Rhode Island for last place. 

Peeps news 

Winning entry is Progressive Charlestown's first
and only diorama contest (2014)

As long-time readers may recall, I have a thing about Peeps® the candy. People love to make fun of Peeps. For example, this year there is some buzz over getting Smoked Salmon Peeps for Easter at Seattle’s famous Pike Place Fish Market, although the story turns out to be a hoax. 

They are my favorite remedy for diabetes-induced hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) especially when they are stale as rocks. They are also a favorite for people to use to create some really wonderful dioramas. I’ve featured Peeps in numerous articles in Progressive Charlestown. 

We even held a diorama contest of our own! 

So it is with profound sadness that I must report that Bob Born, the “Father of Peeps,” died on January 29 at the age of 98. In the 1950s, he bought a small candy company that made marshmallow candies and figured out how to turn them out in shapes and in bulk. 

He lived a long life, full of gooey sweetness. A source of fun for many, he will probably be most missed by dentists around the world. 

Schartner’s green-lighted? 

This is the plan. From Schartner's Facebook page

One of the things that made the long drive to Providence from Charlestown along scenic South County Trail (Route 2) was passing Schartner’s farm, especially during holiday seasons when the crew would create witches and goblins from hay bales at Halloween, hay turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas characters. Their farm stand and nursery were always busy. 

In 2015, a huge fire destroyed all but the greenhouses. The family declared they would rebuild, but in time, they took a different direction and instead proposed an industrial-scale hydroponic greenhouse complex that would produce as much as 42,000 pounds of tomatoes a day. 

Work commenced in laying the frames in 2021 but because they lacked permits, they were hit with a cease-and-desist order that has held until February when the town lifted the order. Schartner’s will need to meet several procedural requirements to make the conditional lifting of the order permanent, but that seems to be a given. 

As you might imagine, there are pros and cons to this kind of farming, but certainly among the pros is boosting the local farm economy and keeping a South County institution in business. 

Rightwing actor loses nuisance case against his Exeter neighbor 

Actor James Woods lost his suit against the town of Exeter. Woods, 75, tried to stop a neighbor from building a modest two-bedroom home abutting the Woods family estate. 

Superior Court justice Sarah Taft-Carter ruled Exeter’s decision to allow building a single-family home on a legally non-conforming lot in the two-acre residential zone was permitted by right under Exeter’s zoning ordinance. 

Though born in Utah, Woods grew up in Warwick leading to many media references to him as a “native Rhode Islander.” He currently resides in West Hollywood.

He is described as a “staunch Trump supporter” and espouses many hard-right views including the anti-Semitic George Soros conspiracy trope. However, he obviously doesn’t subscribe to the tenet that property owners should be able to do whatever they want, within reason, on their own land.

Fight the Peep State!

 

Short Takes: Charlestown unemployment climbs to 13.2%

National toll passes 200,000

Reopening colleges and schools yields predictable results

By Will Collette 

Our Cretin-in-Chief said this YESTERDAY

As the nation passes the 200,000 mark for coronavirus deaths, Rhode Island is back on the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut list of states too sick for its residents to be allowed to visit without quarantine. We remain banned in Boston and the rest of Massachusetts. 

So in a nutshell, if you want to visit NY, NJ, CT or MA for more than 24 hours, you must quarantine for two weeks. You can still go to jobs, medical appointments, shop, etc. but you have to get out of town by sundown. 

We seem to be backsliding as case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 climb again as the predictable result of reopenings. We have ourselves to blame. Or Gina Raimondo for her obsession with reopening schools for in person learning. 

I get it that parents want to send their kids back to school or colleges if only to get them out of the house for a little while. I get it that people feel cooped up not being able to go to restaurants, bars, public events, the beach, etc. I get it that the hospitality industry is dying. 

What I don’t get is why people won't do the most basic and simple things – like wearing an effective face covering, washing your hands and social distancing. These simple acts are fundamental to doing these things we miss doing, with relative safety. 

About the only way Trump will get his election
day vaccine is if it comes from Putin

Governor Gina Raimondo had gotten high marks for leadership during the pandemic until she got on her high horse to demand a return to in-person learning at the state’s schools. 

And re-open they did on September 14. In the first two days alone, 19 new COVID cases were detected and Gina said “By in large we’re having a great week.” WTF??? 

Rhode Island is almost at 24,000 total cases and we have had 1,099 deaths. Charlestown has had 37 confirmed cases. 

Colleges and universities are doing far worse with clusters of new cases cropping up everywhere. The recent hard spike in RI cases has been blamed on the surge in cases at Providence College. As of Tuesday, they tallied 176 coronavirus cases. 

Though deaths and hospitalizations are less common among young people (7% of RI COVID deaths were people under 60), when they bring COVID-19 home and give it to their older family members and that's when we see more people needing hospitalization or an undertaker. 

Still, it could be worse – just look at the Dakotas, Iowa, Texas and those other red states where mask-wearing is a social/political taboo and too many people still believe Donald Trump’s bullshit. 

Included in that bullshit is his blathering about a vaccine. Yes, the chances are we will have a safe and effective vaccine, but the only way we will have one before Election Day is if it comes from Russia. Last month, Putin announced the approval of "Sputnik V" and it is being injected into Russians despite warnings from international health experts that the data supporting Sputnik's safety and effectiveness is shaky.

We remain the worst in the world by just about every metric: highest case rates, deaths, death toll and hospitalizations. And we can’t stop the virus until EVERYONE starts to consistently behave like you care about your own health and those of others. 

Charlestown unemployment climbs to 13.2% 

Screen shot from the RI Department of Labor and Training table for Charlestown

While the nationwide unemployment rate dropped a bit, Rhode Island increased to an official rate of 12.8% giving RI the second-worst rate in the country, behind Nevada. 

In addition, we had more than 13,000 “gig workers” (self-employed, contractors, part-timers, etc.) file for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in a single week, making the state total 277,406. 

Since the beginning of the Pandemic Recession, Rhode Island has paid out more than $1 billion for jobless claims, most coming from federal relief dollars. But there is only a trickle of that funding left in the pipeline. 

Charlestown’s unemployment rate in August climbed to 13.2% - worse than the state average of 12.8%. This reverses several months of drops in joblessness from our all-time record of 18.9% in April. Remember: these numbers don’t include gig workers receiving special pandemic relief or those whose benefits have expired. 

I have repeatedly called upon the town of Charlestown, controlled by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance, to focus on practical ways the town can act to help the one out of five Charlestown households hurt by the pandemic recession. Their answer: buy more open space at inflated prices from their cronies. 

Vote early, though not often, and by mail 

After Rhode Island defeated a challenge from the RI Republican legal team that included state Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi and Charlestown special counsel for Indian Affairs Joe Larisa, every registered voter in RI will receive an application for a mail-in ballot. 

That’s an application for a ballot, not an actual ballot. You’ll have to wait for all those forged ballots to arrive from all those alien sources that are so worrying our Dear Leader into believing the 2020 election is doomed to fraud failure. 

Concern about COVID-19 is a valid excuse (check box #4). 

You should get your application any day now and should return it without delay, given the uncertainty of mail service after Trump administration monkey-wrenching. 

Even though Dear Leader has been giving voters illegal advice to vote twice – once by mail and then again in person – DON’T DO THAT. Rhode Island gives you an easy way to check not only your voter status but to track your mail-in ballot. CLICK HERE. 

Screen shot from the RI Secretary of State 
voter tracking tool showing the dates for my
mail-in ballot for the Sept. 8 primary

I used it to determine how my mail-in ballot for the state primary was handled. It showed my application for a primary ballot was received on August 7 and the ballot was sent a week later. My completed ballot was received on August 27. It was accepted and counted. 👉

Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea has been staying on top of this process. Her staff have created some very user-friendly tools to make the whole process easy. 

So you do NOT need to follow Trump's idiotic advice to vote twice so you can "confirm" whether your mail-in ballot was received and counted. 

Rhode Island's got that covered.

Yet another horrible blow 

Just Born Quality Confections, the makers of everyone’s favorite Peeps®, has again suspended production, saying they will not be producing their annual Halloween, Christmas or Valentine specialties at their Bethlehem, PA plant. 

They had suspended production just before Easter but started up again on a limited basis in mid-May, but now they are cutting back again. 

Said the company:

“This situation resulted in us having to make the difficult decision to forego production of our seasonal candies for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day in order to focus on meeting the expected overwhelming demand for Peeps for next Easter season, as well as our everyday candies.”

COVID-19 Short Takes #3 for Progressive Charlestown readers

Weathering the viral storm in Southern Rhode Island

By Will Collette

It will all be over by Easter, says our Dear Leader. 

Who cares what Tony Fauci or any other health nerd says. By April 12, everything will be back to normal. MAGA! 

So sit back and relax, and throw a few more Peeps® on the fire while watching Trump’s daily Dr. Demento show.

Here’s some local items that I thought might interest Progressive Charlestown readers.

We’re #2

Rhode Island lost its “most aggressive state” status for dealing with COVID-19 in WalletHub’s survey. We are now in second place. Our top ranking was lost to California which jumped 22 spots to take first.

In my opinion, that’s not bad news.

California ranking went up as its coronavirus cases went up. California Governor Gavin Newsome imposed aggressive containment measures (which seem to be having an effect). Gina Raimondo has also done a pretty good job at flattening the curve in Rhode Island. Because our numbers are nowhere near California’s, she has not felt the need to impose the aggressive measures we now see in California, New York and other states.

The Providence Journal reports that Rhode Island ranks 11^th per capita in coronavirus cases.

Given the appalling behavior of the Trump Administration in this crisis, it’s all the more important for state governors and municipal governments to step up to try to fill the void.

I just wonder if Trump’s kind of leadership is what the 1906 Charlestown residents (most prominently Jim Mageau) really wanted. Care to respond?

Jobs: good news, bad news

CVS wants to hire 50,000 more workers to be able to keep its stores open to meet public health needs. They are hoping to pick up workers laid off from the hospitality industry. CLICK HERE for info on CVS jobs. Other essential retailers have been giving workers raises, “combat bonuses” and other incentives to stay on the job (examples: Stop & Shop, BJs).

Stop and Shop says it’s keeping nearing all essentials on the shelves. I’ve heard mixed reports on how successful they have been on keeping up with panic demand.

I hope we all remember how important a role these workers have played in helping us in this crisis – at their own personal risk. It sure makes worker demands for a $15 an hour minimum wage sound a very reasonable.

Our neighbors take steps

Several nearby coastal towns are taking measures to slow down the spread of the virus. As I reported in the last Short Takes, many of our summer people are returning early, presumably to escape the virus. 

After news reports of increased cases on Long Island after an influx of COVID refugees from New York City, Rhode Island towns including Westerly, Narragansett, Block Island, Newport and Middletown are calling on early summer arrivals to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Today (March 25), Charlestown issued its directive to out of state travelers and seasonal residents to self-quarantine for two weeks. 

Governor Raimondo says she is not yet at the point of closing Rhode Island’s borders but says she supports these town restrictions. She has, however, directed that all new arrivals coming in by air self-quarantine.

Also, Narragansett has decided to close town parks to further promote social distancing. Ruth Platner, de facto leader of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) has been actively pushing Charlestown residents to get out and use ours.

Congressional deal on COVID-19 relief is good news for the unemployed

As of this writing, there is a final deal in Congress to pass a $2 TRILLION relief package to address the effects of the pandemic. Democrats held out, demanding cuts to corporate welfare and increased benefits for the unemployed. And that is what they won in the final package.

Many workers, especially those in the “gig economy,” have been excluded from unemployment benefits. The new bill creates a new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to cover those who are self-employed or contract workers. General UI benefits are expected to increase both in terms of cash and time.

As of this writing, the Senate has not taken its final vote needed before the bill can be sent to Trump to be signed – or vetoed. You never know from day to day what Trump is going to do.

RI tax filing pushed back to July 15 BUT state running out of cash

In my last COVID-19 Short Takes, I noted the federal income tax filing date has been pushed back to July 15, but Rhode Island was still holding to the usual deadline. That has changed. Now Rhode Island too has moved the filing deadline to July 15.

But the crash in state revenues has led to a cash crunch for the state. With a dramatic drop in sales tax revenue, no money coming in from the closed casinos and now a delay in state income tax payments, we’re running out of money. 

State Treasurer Seth Magaziner has been juggling accounts to make sure state checks don’t bounce while General Assembly leaders are working on authorizing more state borrowing.

Pollen is back

At a time when we're getting a bit paranoid about coughing, sneezing and wheezing, pollen is back. According to Pollen.com, we're looking at high readings tomorrow and Saturday from trees (maple, elm and juniper). As I write this, I can see trees on our land that are budding.

FBI says hate groups want to spread COVID-19 to Jews, police.

Photo from the Anti-Defamation League

The FBI’s New York office has put out an alert that neo-Nazi hate groups have been encouraging members to try to spread COVID-19 to cops and to Jews. 


According to the alert, coronavirus-positive members are told to put their bodily fluids in spray bottles to use on police and to go to areas where Jews congregate (synagogues, markets, businesses, campaign offices) and spread the virus as much as they can.

Well, this could just be total bullshit, but it DID catch FBI attention.

There is one main Rhode Island hate group listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and that’s the Patriot Front. Here’s a recent article about their activities in Rhode Island – CLICK HERE. When our local goose-steppers hold public events, their numbers are often supplemented by out of state yahoos. And maybe they'll give coronavirus to each other.

Speaking of hate

I noted in the last Short Takes that you should distain the Trump attempt to focus blame for the coronavirus pandemic on China and the Chinese. He’s now got other Republicans doing it. The result has been an uptick in hate incidents against Chinese people. Stop it! Just stop it.

The Census

As you finish your last crossword puzzle, here’s something to while away a little time while we count down to Easter: fill out your Census form.

Two weeks ago, every address was sent an official notice from the US Census Bureau encouraging you to file your legally mandated census return on-line. The deadline on the form was April 1, though I’m sure that deadline like so much else has slipped.

I did ours on-line. It only only a few minutes. CLICK HERE for the Census on-line.

The Census is a really big deal for Rhode Island. On the line is whether or not our population will be high enough so we can continue to have two seats in the US House of Representatives. We need to make sure every single man, woman and child, whether a citizen or not, legal or not, is counted.

An undercount will surely cost us a Congressional seat and that will also mean we lose a vote in the Electoral College where both Donald Trump and George W. Bush won election despite losing the popular vote. An undercount will also cost us dearly in federal funding.

The worst news of all

Because this item is so deeply shocking, I decided to put it at the very end and to warn readers that this content may not be suitable for all.

Just Born, the manufacturer of Peeps®, has announced that it is shutting down production as of today, March 25. COVID-19.

I never realized Peeps can catch the virus.

According to the company’s news release there will be no further shipments of Peeps® to retailers for the Easter holiday.

So, add Peeps® to your Panic Buying list because they are about to become as rare as toilet paper.

Do NOT eat Peeps before bedtime

Refined carbs may trigger insomnia, finds study

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

An estimated 30% of adults experience insomnia, and a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons suggests that diet may be partly to blame.

The study found that postmenopausal women who consumed a diet high in refined carbohydrates -- particularly added sugars -- were more likely to develop insomnia.

Women whose diet included higher amounts of vegetables, fiber, and whole fruit (not juice) were less likely to develop problems with insomnia.

"Insomnia is often treated with cognitive behavioral therapy or medications, but these can be expensive or carry side effects," says the study's senior author James Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

"By identifying other factors that lead to insomnia, we may find straightforward and low-cost interventions with fewer potential side effects."

Why you should stick to Peeps™

Is your chocolate Easter egg bad for the environment?

University of Manchester

With Easter fast approaching, the thought of chocolate is probably on all our minds, but could the UK's love of chocolate be having a damaging effect on the environment?

A recent study by researchers at The University of Manchester and published in the journal Food Research International has looked at the carbon footprint of chocolate and its other environmental impacts. 

It has done this by assessing the impacts of ingredients, manufacturing processes, packaging and waste.

The study estimates that the UK chocolate industry produces about 2.1m tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG) a year. 

Put down those Peeps

Sugar’s “tipping point” link to Alzheimer’s disease revealed

University of Bath

For the first time a “tipping point” molecular link between the blood sugar glucose and Alzheimer’s disease has been established by scientists, who have shown that excess glucose damages a vital enzyme involved with inflammation response to the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

Abnormally high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycaemia, is well-known as a characteristic of diabetes and obesity, but its link to Alzheimer’s disease is less familiar.

Diabetes patients have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to healthy individuals. In Alzheimer’s disease abnormal proteins aggregate to form plaques and tangles in the brain which progressively damage the brain and lead to severe cognitive decline.

Scientists already knew that glucose and its break-down products can damage proteins in cells via a reaction called glycation but the specific molecular link between glucose and Alzheimer’s was not understood.

But now scientists from the University of Bath Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy and Pharmacology, working with colleagues at the Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, King’s College London, have unraveled that link.

Stand in solidarity with workers who make marshmallow Peeps®

Not a joke – Peeps® workers fight to save pensions, health care

By Ethan Miller, Jobs with Justice

Last week, 400 people who make marshmallow Peeps® and other iconic candies walked out on strike because the corporation they work for, Just Born Inc., wants to bully them into agreeing to eliminate their hard-earned pension plan and make life-changing cuts to their health care.


Support the employees of Just Born today and sign our petition in solidarity.

The hard-working people in Bethlehem, Pa., who make Peeps® have never gone on strike before.

They’re making a sacrifice for good jobs that sustain their families and those who follow. 

No special exception for Peeps®

Senate passes Sosnowski bill that forbids the advertising of unhealthy foods in schools

The Rhode Island Senate today passed legislation sponsored by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, New Shoreham, South Kingstown) that would forbid the advertising of unhealthy foods to children in schools.

The bill (2016-S 2673) would prohibit the advertising of unhealthy food and beverage products in schools, particularly those that may not be sold on the school campus during the school day, since they do not meet the minimum nutrition standards.

Senator Sosnowski sponsored the initial legislation in 2006 that required the phase-out of unhealthy drinks and snacks from all public schools in Rhode Island.

Food author attacks Peeps

It can be hard to know where to draw the line, but Peeps are definitely past it.

By Jill Richardson

Peeps take a beating in this week's Jill Richardson food column

If you’ve read any nutritional advice lately, you’ve probably encountered one hard-and-fast rule: Avoid processed foods.

But what does “processed” mean?

On one level, anything humans do to food — slicing fruit, cooking beans, fermenting cabbage into sauerkraut — constitutes processing. 

It’s obviously silly to say that an apple eaten whole is healthy, while the same apple sliced isn’t.

And even if you can call the ingredients “processed,” there’s nothing unhealthy about a good, crusty sourdough bread made with whole wheat flour or cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. Why should a diet forbid them?

Another school of thought says that if cooking and chopping are benign and even healthful, then any other form of processing is good, too. But what rational person would say that a roasted chicken is nutritionally equivalent to a Chicken McNugget?

Here’s what you really need to avoid: ultra-processed fare. Ultra-processed foods are made with ingredients not normally found in a household kitchen, such as artificial flavors, colors, and emulsifiers.

Spay and neuter

If you received a Peeps bunny for Easter, be responsible!

Peeps by the numbers

Special Easter VIDEO: 10 Ways to Kill Marshmallow Peeps

Watch this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0OIxb3dJ3w

Getcher red-hot Charlestown Tapas

Crunchy news bites back by popular demand

By Will Collette

But first, check out the baby goat which has nothing to
do with anything in this article.

One of the by-products of my summer semi-sabatical has been fewer editions of Charlestown Tapas, our special collection of news tidbits. But now that summer is over, I hope to catch up on the backlog and bring this popular feature back.

First, some congratulations.

To us here at Progressive Charlestown for hitting the two-million mark for page-reads (people actually reading an article not just “hits”). Tom Ferrio and I started Progressive Charlestown in January 2011 as an alternative voice on politics in Charlestown, and never expected this kind of readership.

Belated congrats to Charlestown Housing and Zoning official Joe Warner for being named by the Governor to the RI Building Code Standards Committee. It’s an important position, so this is yet another recognition of Joe’s good work.

And also congratulations to Vicky Hilton for being picked as full-time Parks & Recreation Director. Vicky had been serving as acting director after the forced resignation of her former boss Jay Primiano. Vicky deserves the job on merit, but no doubt the Town Council preferred hiring her than having to publicly post the job and then have to deal with an application from ex-Councilor Lisa DiBello who received special permission from the Ethics Commission to apply if the job was opened up.

Jane Weidman also gets congratulations for being bumped up from part-time to full-time Charlestown Town Planner. The move became pretty much a sure thing after Block Island dropped Weidman from their payroll as part-time planner (Weidman was doing the same job for both Charlestown and Block Island) – without explaining why. Those reasons matter naught in Charlestown where the key criteria for Town Planner is to do exactly what CCA Party matriarch and Planning Commission leader Ruth Platner wants.

Chuck Wentworth deserves high praise – and got it in a very nice Projo piece doing just that – for the just-completed 35^th annual Rhythm and Roots Festival, one of the few remaining large events done in Ninigret Park. It’s hard to tell how long this tradition will continue, given the interest of many of the key Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) backers in ending most human activity in Ninigret.

Peeps® Redux: Great use for left-over Peeps®

How to Make Peeps®-Infused Vodka

By Will Collette

Editor's note: As we have the past two years, here is yet another wonder use for Peeps®. I almost forgot it, but Tom Ferrio reminded me and also sent this link to Wiki-How.

Now here is a great way to dive off the deep end into life’s guilty pleasures – homemade Peeps® vodka.

I did not make up this recipe. Indeed, it’s copyrighted, so I can tell you a bit about it and then send you to the source for the instructions.

The basic scheme involves Peeps®, a wonder-food that used to be, in my pre-diabetic days, one of the four basic food groups, especially if they’re stale, and cheap vodka.

Kind of a Limoncello for everyday folks. Except instead of reminding you of Sorrento, it’s more likely to remind you of Olneyville.

Final Peeps® push, Narragansetts testify before Congress, Taylor Swift tax and other crazy politics and lots of new job postings

New plate of Charlestown Tapas for the discerning reader

By Will Collette

Things you never knew about Peeps®

Easter is less than one week away. For me, the main reason to celebrate Easter is marshmallow Peeps®, pretty much a forbidden food since I learned that I am diabetic. But it’s great having them around, stale of course, in case of low blood sugar episodes. 

Anyway, I am not the only one with Peeps® on the mind, evidenced by all the Peeps® diorama contests (click here and here for examples. The folks at Mental Floss did their part to contribute to our greater understanding and appreciation of Peeps® with this insightful list of “Twenty Delicious Facts About Peeps®.”

Narragansett leader testifies before US Senate

Narragansett Tribal Council member Randy Noka traveled to DC to give testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on the so-called “Carcieri Fix” on March 25 The "Carcieri Fix" is legislation that would declare the clear intent of Congress that the nation’s laws on the relationship between Indian tribes and the government apply to all tribes, and not just those who have been federally recognized prior to 1934.