Invenergy scores a rare but inconsequential victory

Court Challenge of Power Plant Water Deal Denied

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

Since the 1920's the Scituate Reservoir has provided clean water to more
than half of RI's population.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein disappointed opponents of the proposed Burrillville power plant with his recent ruling to allow the town of Johnston to resell the water it receives from the Scituate Reservoir, the city-owned water supply that serves 60 percent of Rhode Island.

The April 23 decision means Johnston can keep its contract to resell water it buys from a public supply to Invenergy Thermal Development LLC, the Chicago-based developer that has struggled to find cooling water for its energy project.

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed the lawsuit, along with the town of Burrillville in 2017, as part of its effort to halt the nearly 1,000-megawatt, fossil-fuel power plant being considered for forestland in the rural community.

CLF was optimistic about the prospects of its lawsuit after Silverstein turned down an appeal by Invenergy in 2017 to dismiss the case.

Back then, Silverstein agreed with CLF’s assertion that the lawsuit needed to answer “a question of substantial public interest that cries out for a declaratory judgment.”

At the Aug. 20, 2018 court hearing, CLF argued that the phrase “other ordinary municipal water supply purposes” found in state law passed in 1915 precludes Johnston from reselling water to a third party. 

The lawsuit already received a boost in January 2018 when then-Attorney General Peter Kilmartin offered his support by fling an amicus brief in the case. 

Kilmartin argued that the water agreement allows other wholesalers of public water to resell it to entities within or outside the state, thus straining the public water supply, especially during water restrictions that may be imposed during droughts.

Charlestown misses out on state grants to preserve farmland, open space

DEM gives $3.75 Million to Communities, Local Groups to Protect Open Space

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced the award of more than $3.75 million in grants to help communities and local organizations protect valuable green space throughout the state.

Seventeen projects will receive matching grants to protect 889 acres of open space and farmland across Rhode Island. 

The funding is made possible by the 2016 Green Economy Bond, which was passed overwhelmingly by Rhode Island voters, and invests $35 million in preserving open space, improving recreational facilities, and cleaning up lands and waters.

Charlestown Tapas

News nuggets for the insatiably curious

By Will Collette

Charlestown says it fixed open records problem but...

On August 5, I reported that an audit done on compliance by RI’s 39 cities and towns with the state’s open records law put Charlestown on the list of six non-comply towns. The audit looked to see if municipalities had the required trained individual registered with the State Attorney General as the person responsible for managing town records.

The issue of who has custody of Charlestown’s records came up a year ago when Town Clerk Amy Weinreich claimed she no longer had custody of the town’s lawsuit records and that only Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero had those records. Ruggiero claimed he was not subject to the state open records law because, he said, he was not a town employee.

The Attorney General’s office ruled against Charlestown and specifically against Ruggiero’s claim that he was not subject to the open records law. Charlestown’s Town Charter designates only the Town Clerk as the official custodian of town records.

On August 1, I asked Town Clerk Weinreich and Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz to comment on the audit’s finding that Charlestown was out of compliance with the requirement to train and register a specific individual as responsible for records. Neither of them responded.

However, Stankiewicz told the Westerly Sun that Amy Weinreich had taken the proper training and that “it was a matter that the attorney general was not officially notified.”

According to the Sun, Linda Lotridge Levin, president of ACCESS/RI, which conducted the audit, criticized that answer. She said it was “troubling” that a town employee would take the training but fail to fill out to form to confirm that they complied with the training requirement. The Sun quoted Ms. Levin as raising this question:

“If they have neglected that requirement, how confident can the public be about their implementation of the substantive provisions of APRA when dealing with formal requests for records?”

That, based on my direct experience, is the key question.

Red light cameras due within the month?

Channel Ten recently broadcast a story that featured Robin and Maryanne Foote, parents of Charlestown’s Colin Foote who was tragically killed by a red-light runner in May 2010. The station reported that Charlestown’s long-delayed cameras to catch red-light runners were finally going to be installed “within the month.”

OMG PD

Running With Scissors

Posted by Samantha Turner (Editor) in the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Running With Scissors

One South Kingstown woman was very eager to make away with some stolen items from Walmart last week. The woman allegedly stole a pair of scissors and face wash – the jury’s still out on whether or not these were complementary purchases – and left the store.

Police tried to stop her from leaving the parking lot, but she ignored their attempts and continued onto the highway. She made it a few miles up the road before police blocked her off at an intersection, at which point she pulled off the road and drove up a grass embankment, then jumped out of the car.

OMG PD

Twerk What Your Mama Gave You

Posted by Samantha Turner (Editor)

One East Providence police officer may be a wee bit mentally scarred after a rather interesting encounter with a belligerent bar patron last week.

While officers helped staff at East Bay Tavern clear out the remaining customers, an officer noticed one man attempting to leave the establishment with his beer. When the officer told him he couldn’t take the drink with him, the 22-year-old man allegedly threw the cup on the ground, spilling it.

OMG PD

Double Crack Entendres and Edward Knifehands

Posted by Samantha Turner (Editor), in the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Edward Knifehands & the Case of the Stolen Sneakers

One Woonsocket man wanted to make sure others knew he was serious about his accusations that someone had stolen his shoes. What better way than with knives?

The 20-year-old man accused a woman of stealing his sneakers, causing her to leave the apartment building to avoid confrontation. That only exacerbated the situation as the man ran back after her, carrying a handful of knives he had found in his kitchen cabinet.

OMG PD

You're Not in Massachusetts Anymore, Dorothy

Posted by Samantha Turner (Editor) in the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Woman Accuses Officer of Being Member of IRA

Yup, you read that right. In Newport last week, police tried to help a woman who was reportedly drunk and crying outside the Hotel Viking. As they tried to help her call for a ride, she became agitated.

Apparently, the best insult the 42-year-old woman could dish out was to accuse the officer of being a member of the Irish Republican Army. Though it’s not necessarily a good thing to be accused of, I’m sure he’s heard far worse.

You’re Not in Massachusetts Anymore, Dorothy

Descent into madness

Wheels are coming off the local tea party too

By Bob Plain in Rhode Island’s Future

- See more at: http://www.rifuture.org/wheels-are-coming-off-the-local-tea-party-too.html#sthash.PNiKd9Ca.dpuf

The Republican Party “is acting as if the entire world is a GOP primary,” moderately conservative talking head Mike Murphy told Mike Allen of the Washington Post. “That is a very dangerous way to operate. We have massive image problems with the greater electorate, and the silly antics of the purist wing are making our dire problems even worse.”

Allen, in his piece titled “Republicans are their own worst political enemy,” then went on to list a number of examples from across the country in which what he called the “tea party wing” has become the biggest thorn in the side of the GOP “- more than anything Democrats have done,” he wrote.

Is a similar struggle going on here in the Ocean State in which the moderate wing of the GOP is being overshadowed by the conservative fringe? 

Right-wing group lavishes praise on Treasurer

ALEC loves Raimondo

By Bob Plain of Rhode Island's Future

The pro-big business bill mill known as ALEC released a report this week that not only praises Gina Raimondo and local legislators for what they did to retirees in 2011, but also uses Raimondo’s Rhode Island model for why and how to downsize public sector pension plans.

The new ALEC overview even uses Raimondo’s emotionally compelling words as a visual graphic in its executive summary. Furthermore, the 45-page report is also the same exact game plan she used to sell the state on her plan.

OMG PD

'Fast' Food Fury

Authored by Samantha Turner, Community Editor Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Not so fast, Mr. Blunt

If you look up “hangry” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of this guy. A 30-year-old Middletown man with an insatiable hankering for fast food took his fury out on a window at Burger King due to the restaurant’s reportedly slow service.

How slow are we talking here? We probably couldn’t put it more eloquently than the arrestee who told officers, “I could probably roll six blunts and smoke them faster than they could make food.” 

Charlestown Shorts

Pshaw's...Ruptured rails…Aquaculture grows…Squid squabble…Seaweed count…Beaches are clean…Chariho report card

By Will Collette

Shaw’s Market in Westerly will close by August 3

 Shaw's Supermarkets will close its Franklin Street store in Westerly by August 3^rd. They are also closing their Woonsocket store, leaving Shaw’s with eight in Rhode Island.

Shaw’s has been in trouble for a while. This is their second recent round of store closings. Last June, they eliminated their customer savings card program. It is tough for conventional supermarkets, especially those that provide their workers with decent wages and benefits, to stay alive in markets where there are Wal-Mart Superstores whose low prices come from low wages and almost no benefits – with the associated costs passed on to taxpayers.

Commuter rail to Boston will be disrupted every Friday in July and August

The Associated Press reports that Amtrak’s work on its tracks around New England will disrupt the MBTA’s rail service between Rhode Island and Boston on Fridays in July and August. This will affect many of the trains running out of Wickford Junction where passengers will have to rely on bus shuttles that will take them back and forth to the train station at TF Green Airport.

Rhode Island Oyster Aquaculture featured on NPR

Gordon Fox - head DINO

Progressives should vote against the budget

Gordon Fox's leadership strategy

By Samuel Bell in Rhode Island's Future

Progressives have always had a complicated relationship with House Speaker Gordon Fox.  Though deeply concerned that Fox’s very conservative economic policies are destroying our state, we have always supported the House leadership team because Fox’s likely successors, Helio Melo and Nick Mattiello, are even more conservative than he is.

When Speaker Fox faced the progressive voters of the East Side in November, they were angry—angry at the bevy of red-state legislation Fox had actively pushed for.  Fox promised to change. 

He promised to sunset the ALEC-backed voter ID law he supported, a law he passed even though the chairwoman of the national Democratic Party called him to beg him to reconsider.  He promised to consider not bailing out Wall Street on the 38 Studios deal he helped orchestrate. 

OMG-PD

 Family Business

By Samantha Turner from Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

A Family-Themed Breaking-and-Entering

When breaking into one of your properties without giving your tenant proper notice, it’s always great to take the kids along. It all began when the 38-year-old landlord called his tenant at 5 a.m. and allegedly told her to move out so he could move back in. (FYI: Rhode Island law states that tenants must be given a warning a month in advance of eviction.)

OMGPD

Adventures on the Road

By Patrick Luce  Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Drunken Bumper Cars

A Newport woman was arrested around 6 p.m. Wednesday after she allegedly hit two cars and fled the scene. The woman, 48, was charged with driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident of an attended vehicle and for an open container. No injuries were reported.

Police said she registered a .278  and .277 on Breathalyzer tests, which is more than three times the legal limit.

OMGPD

Bikini Man, Biological Weapon

By Samantha Turner in the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Bikini-Clad Man Arrested in NK

It’s a story every guy can relate to: your favorite bikini is dirty and you have nothing to wear except a girls size 10 bikini that you just happen to have in your possession. Ok, maybe not every guy, but at least one man from North Kingstown had this problem last week.

The 54-year-old man was arrested after reportedly yelling, cursing and flipping off neighbors. One neighbor caught the act on tape as the man allegedly trespassed on his property. The neighbor told the man he was calling police, prompting the suspect to say his cat knew more than local law enforcement.

OMG PD

Drive-Thru Don Juan

By Samantha Turner  Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Not That Kind of Tip

Dunkin’ Donuts employees appreciate tips, but we’re guessing they didn’t appreciate this one. According to reports, a 46-year-old Cranston man exposed himself to an employee at the store’s drive-through as he paid for his order. He drove off, but employees were able to get the man’s license plate number.

He turned himself into East Providence police shortly after. According to records, this isn’t the first time he’s shown the full monty. Back in the 1990s, he was also charged with indecent exposure.

OMG PD

Axe Attack, Good Dog

·     By Samantha Turner in the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Truly a Man’s Best Friend

One Boston man’s decision to settle an argument with a golf club turned out badly when the victim’s dog had a different agenda. The man was embroiled in an argument with two Woonsocket men last week at a party when he grabbed a golf club and allegedly hit both men in the head. That’s when the victim’s pit bull intervened and attacked the man, biting his calf, hand and chin. (Check out the mug shot to the right if you don’t believe us.)

The Study Ken Block SHOULD have done

WaPost Investigates RI SNAP Benefits Too

By Bob Plain in RIFuture.org

The big story on the front page of the Washington Post on March 17 is the same one we’ve been talking about locally: the SNAP program. 

But instead of looking into the couple dozen poor people who seem like they scamming the system, the Post took a different angle: a third of Woonsocket is on food stamps and the local economy ebbs and flows with as does their dispersal.

Read this important story here. 

OMG PD

Sister Punch & the Bathroom Bandit

By Samantha Turner. Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Sisterly Love

This week’s OMG PD submission from North Kingstown delves into the age-old question: is it illegal to punch your sister in the face?  One NK woman had some difficulty ascertaining the legality of assaulting her sister when she allegedly showed up to her sibling’s home uninvited and heavily intoxicated. The 41-year-old woman allegedly assaulted her sister while she was trying to get her to leave. 

OMG PD

Pond, Parking Lot ... What's The Difference?

By Samantha Turner Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

Cars: Not Meant For Ice Skating

While most have been cursing this week’s weather, one Woonsocket woman is grateful for these subfreezing temperatures. According to police, the 52-year-old woman was attempting to turn right on to what she thought was a road during her morning commute.

Something “went wrong,” causing her to drive down a bank and then on to a frozen pond. Because Rhode Island has been as cold as the planet Hoth this week, the ice was thick enough to support the car, and crews were able to tow it off the ice without a problem.