Learn about research on medications for dementia and supplements for healthy brain aging at Oct. 22 URI forum

Can dementia be treated or prevented?

Neil Nachbar 

“Newest research on medications for dementia and supplements for healthy brain aging” will be the topic of a presentation on Oct. 22 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Hope Room of the University of Rhode Island Higgins Welcome Center, 45 Upper College Road, Kingston.

The event, which is free and open to the URI community and the public, is part of the URI Retired Faculty Association’s speaker series. It is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and refreshments will be provided by Belmont Market.

The guest speakers will include John Robinson, Thomas M. Ryan professor of neuroscience, co-executive director of the URI George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, professor of psychology, and professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences; and Joseph Schrader, assistant professor at the URI George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, assistant professor of pharmacy practice and clinical research.

UPDATED: Westerly pol Bob Ritacco’s rape case is going to trial AND THE JURY ACQUITS

Ethically-challenged party boss faces biggest challenge to date

By Will Collette

UPDATED: Well, that was quick! Teflon Bob once again skates as yesterday's jury verdict acquitted him on both counts. 

For many years, Bob Ritacco was the old-school political boss of Westerly Democrats, largely deciding who got elected and who was told to “wait your turn.”

Despite numerous charges of corruption, Teflon Bob always seemed to escape accountability while continuing to hold on to power.

Charlestown residents may recall the key role Ritacco played as head of the Westerly Zoning Board in keeping the infamous, mob-tainted Copar Quarry operating on the Charlestown-Westerly town line.

That ended on April 25, 2022 when Ritacco was indicted by a Rhode Island grand jury and arraigned on two counts of first-degree sexual assault (rape). He was charges with two separate sexual assaults on May 29, 2021 against a woman while she was incapacitated.

Ryan Blessing of the Westerly Sun cited the court filing that described Ritacco’s alleged crime this way:

“According to the indictment, Ritacco allegedly penetrated the victim once with his mouth and once with his penis while the victim, a woman, was physically helpless.”

After the indictment, Ritacco said he would take a “leave of absence” as chair of the Westerly Democratic Town Committee. However, the WDTC expelled him and elected new leadership.

Ryan Blessing’s article details the long and convoluted legal road travelled between the 2022 indictment and the anticipated trial. CLICK HERE to read.

If convicted, Ritacco faces a prison sentence of 10 years to life for each offense. In the meantime, let’s remember that under law, a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Charlestown Chunks #15

Good food, good stats. We need more affordable housing and less Bob Ritacco and Mikey Chambers 

By Will Collette

Chef/owner of Charlestown restaurant among finalists for prestigious James Beard award

The annual Beard Award is like the Nobel prize for chefs and Sherry Pocknett of Sly Fox Den Too is one of only three RI chefs to make the final 20 in the competition. Ms Pocknett, a Wampanoag, took over the old Gentleman Farmer space on Route 2 in 2021 and has been serving regional Native American food with remarkable creative flair. 

Since the pandemic, I haven’t gotten out to restaurants much, but Progressive Charlestown co-founder Tom Ferrio enticed me to lunch, and I was very impressed with the taste, quality and value. I had the “Indian Sammich” and it was delicious. I brought home some Indian Pudding for Cathy who declared it was the best she’d ever had. 

Winners will be announced on June 5 at a ceremony in Chicago. 

CRMC takes an unusual vote 

In other local restaurant news, Perry Raso, owner of the outstanding Matunuck Oyster Bar, wants to expand his oyster farm in Potter Pond in South Kingstown despite the usual opposition from area Aqua-NIMBYs. There is general consensus that oyster farming removes pollution from coastal pond water as well as providing jobs and helping to grow Rhode Island’s “blue economy.” 

But Aqua-NIMBYs hate the idea of seeing working people in the water, spoiling their million-dollar views. The Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) whose approval is necessary, voted uncharacteristically to defer to agency experts who are reviewing Raso’s revised and scaled down plan.  

This decision comes after CRMC decisions, often contradicting staff recommendations, were defeated in court. All of this comes as part of a running battle between the Matunuck Oyster Bar and its neighbors after it gained its well-earned reputation as one of the best seafood restaurants in southern New England. 

Surprising survey results 

It’s been an article of faith, particularly among conservatives, that Rhode Island sucks. The media, especially the Providence Journal and GoLocal, feed into this by citing endless surveys ranking Rhode Island against other states. 

The survey industry is huge with numerous companies devoted to crunching numbers and coming up with best and worst listings. One of the largest is Wallethub. Every workday, I get an e-mail from them with the latest rankings they’ve devised. Recently, Rhode Island was ranked in several more unusual categories. 

For example, they did a survey of states that did the most to discourage smoking. In that survey, Rhode Island ranked 4^th among the states, behind Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Missouri, Mississippi, Georgia and North Carolina were deemed the most smoker friendly. 

We also ranked the 4^th worst state for driving that factored in congestion, gas prices, taxes, insurance costs, road quality and car thefts. We came in behind Hawaii, Washington State and Delaware. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see Rhode Island ranked 7^th in the category of workers least likely to quit their jobs. This category was surprisingly divided Blue versus Red, with Blue states seeming to have the best rates of job satisfaction while Red state workers were more likely to want to quit – Alaska, Wyoming and Montana topped that list. The best states for job stability are New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  

Jamestown plans higher property tax credits for volunteer firefighters 

The Jamestown Town Council voted to ask its General Assembly representatives to secure state approval for a planned boost in property tax credits for volunteer first responders which is currently $700. The town wants to raise the credits to $1,000 to $2000 depending on the years of service.  

Jamestown fire chief James Bryer said, “volunteerism is a dying breed right now, and we are trying to figure out how to maintain it here in Jamestown.” 

Charlestown’s active fire districts (as opposed to FAKE districts in Shady Harbor and Central Quonnie) suffer chronic shortages. Charlestown offers no tax incentives to recruit or retain volunteer first responders. They should, in my opinion. 

State education aid would increase to Chariho towns 

If Governor Dan McKee’s budget is passed by the General Assembly, Charlestown would receive an additional $101,029 in state aid. Hopkinton would get an additional $622,664 and Richmond’s share would be $613,523. 

That’s a total of $1,337,216 of proposed additional state aid that would go into the Chariho school system.  

Major political change goes largely unnoticed 

I’ve been watching to see what else might come out to explain the abrupt January 3 notice that former one-term RI Secretary of State Matt Brown was out as both leader and board member of the RI Political Co-op which he founded in 2018. The Co-op largely recruited and helped to support progressive Democrats to run in primaries and elections to counter the mainstream Democratic leadership. 

The Co-op was also Brown’s launch pad for several quixotic runs for state office, all of which he lost in spectacular fashion. The Co-op’s highpoint was the 2020 election that saw eight co-op candidates win. In 2022, it was a different story as Co-op candidates failed across the state. 

In a twist, new state Rep. Megan Cotter originally started out as a Co-op candidate in her near successful 2020 effort to unseat Richmond rightwing nut Justin Price. She dropped her Co-op affiliation for an encore in 2022 and won. 

I’ll update you as more of the backstory comes out, especially as it may affect the 2024 election. 

Update on Bob Ritacco 

Bob Ritacco ran the Westerly Democratic Party like an old-fashioned stereotype of a political boss and dominated town politics despite a record of shady dealings. But his domination came to a decisive close when he was indicted by a state grand jury on two counts of first-degree sexual assault (i.e., rape) last April. 

He has been out on $20,000 bond awaiting trial. However, the Westerly Sun reported that he was supposed to have his pre-trial conference in January, but now that date has been pushed back to May due to time conflicts. 

Charlestown and Charlestownians in the media

Kudos to Thom Cahir who was interviewed by public radio’s Ian Donnis and made these comments about affordable housing: 

“Charlestown Affordable Housing Commission member THOM CAHIR:

 The issue of affordable housing in Rhode Island has been a minefield since the legislature mandated municipalities reach a 10% threshold 30 years ago. Living conditions should have become fairer and more equitable, but only disparity and dichotomy remain. Legislation passed at the end of the session last year was a good start, but with housing costs and rent so high, and people living outdoors and not enough space to shelter them, now is the time to bring all stakeholders together to craft something that allows for more than a "one size fits all" solution. What works in urban areas caused those of us in the hinterlands to rewrite whole swaths of affordable housing, zoning and planning ordinances to come into compliance. Work with local officials to find specific workarounds. Convene the experts to discuss renovating existing structures in cities, and boosting accessory dwelling units in the suburbs and rural areas. And most of all, educate the NIMBY class that their kids can't move back home after college if all they care about is their property values. Also, citizens need to know that communities can't thrive without a healthy workforce. I would urge whoever ends up as the new housing secretary to work with the General Assembly as an opportunity to enlist every stakeholder to push for every creative idea being explored in every corner of the state to make housing more affordable. If not now, when?”

Germane to Thom’s point: new data ranks Charlestown as #14 among Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns for fastest growing home prices. Charlestown’s home prices rose by 8.8% over last year with a typical Charlestown residence priced at $625,840. 

CCA ideologue Mikey Chambers has returned to his former role as the CCA’s most prolific commenter and writer of letters. Lately, he has joined in beating the drum on a couple of favorite new CCA themes: that Charlestown’s low tax rate absolves the CCA of all crimes and misdemeanors and that the CCA really and truly loves the town’s staff, especially those who do exactly what the CCA tells them to do. 

Mikey was particularly worked up over the resignation under pressure of the CCA’s favorite, Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz (whose rancid record is detailed HERE).  

In a Jan. 28 comment on the CCA blog, Mikey assumed the mantle of an Old Testament prophet on behalf of Stanky, writing: 

“The people responsible for forcing Mark out of his job will be judged on their humanity and character and cannot be absolved from this heinous act unless they publicly come clean. It is not my place to forgive them this sin, they sinned in public and need to seek redemption in public."

Holy shit, Mikey. That’s way over the top even for you. As one of Stankiewicz’s long-time critics, I am proud of my well-documented challenges to him and to his CCA masters.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

CRASH

A bus carrying Prout High School’s girls’ varsity basketball team to Chariho High crashed on King’s Factory Road on the way to the game on January 6. The bus went off the road and hit a tree.  

Several of the young women suffered minor injuries. The driver was charged with several violations including failure to maintain control and leaving the lane of travel. He was not charged with hitting the tree, in violation of Charlestown Ordinance 163-10, “Protection of Trees within public rights-of-way.” 

Charlestown Police Chief Michael Paliotta said investigators found the driver was fiddling with the GPS at the time of the crash.  

EVENTS 

Notices have recently appeared calling for local singers to audition for upcoming performances at the Chorus of Westerly.  This local institution is looking for singers, young and old, to apply. 

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

If you’re looking for something worth picketing, the RI Republican Party has joyously announced that former Trump strumpet Kellyanne Conway will keynote the GOP’s March 2^nd Lincoln Day Dinner at the Event Factory in Warwick. Aside from showing a video of Abraham Lincoln spinning in his grave, you can count on Conway to serve up a steaming pile of lies for all the MAGAnuts in attendance to swallow up. Click here for more details on the event. 

Here's a sad non-event. The once annual RI National Guard Air Show at Quonset is “no longer,” according to Major General Christopher Callahan. The show took a big hit from the pandemic, but the cancellation now has more to do with logistics including a $100 million construction project. The show used to draw thousands of spectators.

Charlestown Chunks #7

News nuggets you may have missed

By Will Collette

The CCA will also be rolling out its new
line of eco-fashions to wear in
conservation developments. You,
too, can become a tree. Or a shrubbery. 

This seventh installment of Charlestown Chunks is another effort to report on smaller news items that really don't on their own warrant full-length article treatment.

Postponements

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance is desperate to pass a new ordinance that would increase the scope of power for the all-mighty Planning Commission. Having once condemned “conservation developments,” the CCA now embraces them, but with a twist.

The new ordinance is essentially designed to be so onerous and complicated that no one is likely to try to build any new housing developments in town. It’s clearly another CCA power play.

Property owners angrily stormed the first hearing on the ordinance, forcing a continuance of the hearing to be bumped to the earliest possible date. Then, so many people showed up that the Council could not continue the hearing due to an over-capacity crowd exceeding Fire Marshal limits. 

Now the hearing is postponed to August 22 at 7 PM at the auditorium at the Charlestown Elementary School. Be sure to bring your balloons and banners.

Also postponed is former Westerly Democratic town chair Bob Ritacco’s pre-trial conference on the two counts of rape contained in a grand jury indictment. Pre-trial conference has been postponed until September.

She can’t always get what she wants

Here is the actual map LaBossiere included in her proposal for $375,000
to build new bike paths. There was also a second map that is equally
useless in telling you exactly where the path would go.

One article of faith in Charlestown is that CCA matriarch Faith LaBossiere always gets what she wants. Whether it’s a bike path in Ninigret Park that was not needed – and according to Faith would only cost $7000, except it ended up costing $266,927 plus interest – more regulations on landscaping, shrubbery or whatever, the Charlestown Citizens Alliance could be counted on to give her what she wants.

Until now. On July 18, the Town Council held a special meeting to go over a list of projects proposed for funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Faith snuck a project onto the list under the auspices of the illegally appointed “Block Island Sound Subcommittee” to spend $375,000 for 1.79 miles of new bike paths.

Aside from being improper on its face, Faith’s scheme is a revival of past biking schemes that would involve either asking property owners to give up land for the right of way or town purchase of land rights. Also the destruction of some portions of stone walls along the route. Variations of this scheme failed in the past due to those problems as well as liability issues – i.e. who pays when bikers inevitably get injured in a fall.

Then there is the money question, namely can Faith's cost estimates be trusted? Like Faith’s Folly in Ninigret Park, the one that Faith said would only cost $7,000 went over-budget by 4,000%. If you apply the same arithmetic to Faith’s new scheme, the final cost could be around $15,000,000.

Little details like this didn’t stop the CCA Council majority from giving Faith what she wanted in the past. However, on July 18, a miracle happened. Faith’s scheme was killed by a 4-1 vote, with CCA counselors Susan Cooper and retiring Councilor Bonnita Van Slyke voting NO.

Hooray Fidget!

Fidget is OK

Charlestown-based journalist Cynthia Drummond recently had a scare when her vet thought her beloved Corgi Fidgit might have cancer. But after a battery of tests, it turns out that the growths the vet thought might be cancer turned out to be “benign nodules.”

I’m very happy for Cynthia. I’ve gone through this kind of crisis with several companion animals in the past – usually not with as good a result – so I understand the range of emotions you go through as you try to get the right answers.

But in this case, Viva Fidget!

Fidgit is frequently featured in Cynthia's entertaining Tweeter site.

Party! Party! Party!

Now that Charlestown’s state Representative Blake “Flip” Filippi has decided to abandon his party and not run for re-election in the face of his first opponent since his initial election in 2014, I wonder what he’s going to do. 

Flip says he decided to quit because he wants to concentrate on an arcane lawsuit he has brought against the Joint Committee on Legislative Services. What’s the case about? How decisions are made in the General Assembly.

When Flipper’s attentions are not required on this crucial lawsuit that everyone in Rhode Island is watching with rapt attention (sarcasm alert!), Flip also has the family businesses on Block Island to tend to. 

Also, he needs to take care of his cute cows on his Lincoln ranch before he slaughters them to sell as organic beef.

It’s his Block Island businesses that probably need his attention most right now. Local police conducted a sting on establishments serving liquor to determine whether the laws on under-age drinking were being followed. For the most part, bars and restaurants, including Filippi family properties, were not carding young customers. They were issued warnings and told to knock it off.

According to the Providence Journal:

“However, Ballard's [a Filippi property]  issued a statement to ABC6, saying that they take the matter "very seriously and will be working with the police department to ensure best practices are enhanced and put in place immediately.”

No Red Flags in Charlestown

All but the most fanatical gun nuts generally support red flag laws designed to enable police to take guns away from people who are found to pose a danger to themselves and others. 

It was one of the better provisions of the bi-partisan gun bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by Joe Biden.

Rhode Island also has had a red flag law on the books.

The Boston Globe recently surveyed Rhode Island cities and towns and found that the red flag law was used 128 times in the four years since the law has been in effect.

Nearly every municipality has used the red flag law to take guns from dangerous people, some through the State Police where the town lacks its own police department (e.g. Exeter). 

Charlestown was one of the ONLY towns to report no instances where CPD intervened to takes guns away from a dangerous. Even Burrillville, which declared itself to be a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” where gun laws are not enforced, reported three instances where the red flag law was used.

Still hoping the feds bust Justin Price

Local nutcase legislator Rep. Justin Price (Trumplican- Richmond, Hopkinton, Exeter) took part in the January 6 Trump-led coup attempt in Washington. 

We know that because he tweeted all about it until Twitter revoked his account. He claimed he didn’t go inside the Capitol but got close enough to definitely I.D. the rioters as Antifa.

Aside from the debunked Antifa bullshit, by his own admission, Price must have crossed police lines to get close enough to make his bogus ID. 

I want to know WHY Price failed to take action against what he perceived to be enemies of the state. As a rough, tough former Marine, he took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. How about it, Justin?

The feds are slowly but surely rounding up legislators who broke the law on January 6, as they did with West Virginia state Delegate Derrick Evans who received a three month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony civil disorder. I am hoping that Price will also be called to account for his actions on January 6.

Drought prompts Westerly to order stop to water wasting

South Kingstown has had water restrictions in place for years, but now Westerly has decided that it too must stop water waste. Almost all of Rhode Island is suffering a “severe” drought. Only a small strip of the coast, including the south end of Charlestown is in “moderate” drought. See map, below.

Nonetheless, all of us should be mindful of wasting water since our wells are drawing on aquifers that count on rain to recharge.

In Westerly, wasteful uses include watering lawns, filling swimming and wading pools, washing houses, cars, sidewalks, and boats, etc. 

Westerly residents with even numbered addresses can use water without restriction on even numbered calendars; odd address numbers, odd days.

It’s a warning for the first offense but $100 if you do it again.

Aside from stressing trees and withering gardens, the drought also boosts the chance of wild fires.

Charlestown Chunks #4: Lawyers,. guns and COVID

All the local news that doesn't fit into a regular-sized article

By Will Collette

Sparsely attended "rally" of Fat White Guys Against Sensible Gun Control (screenshot from Scott McKay's twitter site). That's our state "Senator" Elaine Morgan to the right (of course) wearing a Deborah Birx scarf. She also spoke.

GUNS

It's never too early to teach your child how to fire a machine gun

As the General Assembly nears the close of its session, it seems likely that some new gun control measures will be enacted. They won't be enough to stop our outrageous gun violence, but they will be steps in the right direction. They will also infuriate right-wing gun nuts (see photo above). 

Nice to see Sen. Elaine Morgan, the Trumplican who represents the northern half of Charlestown had the guts to defy logic,  decency and the vast majority of voters to put gun rights ahead of innocent gun violence victims.

Her two local Trumplican colleagues, Blake "Flip" Filippi and Mad Dog Justin Price, have largely stayed out of the limelight. That's hard for Flip to do since he started mainlining publicity upon his entry into politics even though he not only supports gun rights but also illegal armed private militias. 

I suspect Justin Price is hiding in a cave with a small arsenal of automatic weapons waiting for the FBI to show up with an arrest warrant for his participation in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

COVID

You need to stop saying the pandemic is fading or listening to anyone who says that it is. The pandemic is NOT going away. 

In Rhode Island, our infection rates are higher than they were a year ago and there are two new variants that are even more contagious than the Omicron BA 2.12.1 variant that has been infecting so many of your friends and family. 

The two new variants – BA.4 and BA.5 - are even more adept at evading antibodies to re-infect those who have had COVID already or break through those who are fully vaccinated. But getting fully vaccinated and masking up are still your best protection from landing in the hospital or dying. 

But that’s something many fully vaccinated adults aren’t doing. Instead, they are treating COVID like it’s gone and are going to big events, restaurants and taking long trips unmasked. My nephew Chris and his wife both got sick from COVID after an unmasked trip to a California wedding – a super-spreader event. Chris says he and the others were guilty of “magical thinking” that they were safe when they weren't. 

Guardian columnist Brigid Delaney says the pandemic has undergone “social death” where, though it is still all around us, nobody wants to talk about it anymore. 

Some alarming new research shows that even mild break-through cases can lead to “long COVID” effects. A new article in Fortune magazine states that studies are showing long COVID in COVID survivors at rates ranging from 10% to 80% with the most recent estimate at 23 million people. The article does a great job at laying out the effects and symptomology of long COVID. 

It’s been said before that just because we’re done with COVID doesn’t mean COVID is done with us. 

Other than knowing the infection rate is high, we don’t really know how many people are getting sick. Our vapid Gov. Dan McKee (right) has effectively dismantled the state testing system, plus most households now have home testing kits. 

There is NO mechanism to get home-test positive readings counted. Thus, all reported case statistics are grossly undercounted. And that’s without considering those who had asymptomatic COVID and didn’t use a home-test. 

A new survey of cases in New York City by researchers at CUNY indicated the real number of people with COVID is actually thirty times higher than the official count. 

McKee has been a leading voice of denial in Rhode Island telling people the pandemic is over and to go out and spend money in restaurants. COVID be damned. 

His approach epitomizes Rhode Island’s major problems: lack of leadership. A third top-ranking Health Department official, interim department director Dr. James McDonald, has resigned. Dr. McDonald took over when Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott resigned a few months ago after clashing with McKee over COVID policy. Tom McCarthy, former executive director of COVID-19 response, also resigned, explicitly blaming McKee for politicizing COVID response. McDonald said he was leaving for family reasons: to care for his very elderly parents. 

It’s not known who’s left on the Health Department bench to replace McDonald. Maybe McKee has a veterinarian crony from Cumberland who needs a job. Or maybe he just doesn’t give a shit. 

Ritacco released on bail

Speaking of corrupt politicians, on June 1, former Westerly Democratic Town Committee chair Bob Ritacco was formally charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Both charges are capital offenses in Rhode Island that carry the potential for a life sentence. 

He was released on a $20,000 surety bond. 

These rape charges result from an alleged rape that took place almost exactly one year ago. 

This is not Ritacco’s first time under a legal or ethics cloud. CLICK HERE for more. 

Shoreline access bill passes House 

Here's the fence bill co-sponsor and full-time hypocrite Rep. Blake "Flip"
Filippi erected - illegally - in from of his own beach front property on
Block Island (Block Island Times photo)

The full House voted unanimously to pass H8055, the bill produced by the shoreline access commission. While that’s good news to local activists like Charlestown’s Scott Keeley, the compromise bill may face a harder sell in the state Senate. 

The bill would ensure people can walk along the beach freely up to six feet above the high tide line. It doesn’t address how you actually get to the beach. Parking is restricted or expensive all over the coast. 

Beach property owners, ranging from fake fire districts to out of state owners to beachfront business owners – such as bill co-sponsor Blake “Flip” Filippi – have notoriously blocked public paths to the beach. In 2015, Filippi erected a fence across the entire beach in front of one of his properties (see photo above). 

Alex Nunes at Rhode Island’s The Public’s Radio reports that despite the unanimous vote in the House, there is no Senate version of the bill and the bill is not a priority for the Senate leadership. 

Nunes quotes an e-mail from Senate spokesperson Greg Paré that the bill “is not a focus at this time” and the Senate has “not had hearings on it or conducted any of the necessary diligence on it at this point.” 

Accidental Gov. Dan McKee has not committed one way or the other, but that’s par for the course for him. 

To become law, bills must pass both houses of the General Assembly and then be signed by the Governor. The General Assembly plans to adjourn in a couple of weeks. 

Animal Rights group calls for federal investigation of Mystic Aquarium

Free these intelligent creatures from the taunts of children

Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), a national animal welfare group with a history of successfully challenging animal abuses, filed a formal complaint with the US Department of Agriculture over the mistreatment leading to death of beluga whales at the popular Mystic Aquarium. 

We reprinted an excellent piece by Charlestown’s Cynthia Drummond in EcoRI last April on the deaths of beluga whales at the Aquarium. 

After Cynthia’s article ran in EcoRI, I cut back Progressive Charlestown’s coverage of Mystic Aquarium, including their events, seal releases in Charlestown and other news, pending a change in policy by the Aquarium. 

In my opinion, Mystic made the classic organizational mistake of taking on too much by those importing sick belugas from Canada. More belugas, more ticket sales. 

Belugas are remarkable, intelligent marine mammals. But none of these wonderful creatures whose intelligence rivals that of humans should be kept in watery cages unless there is a genuine medical reason why they can’t be released into the wild. 

I have long admired Mystic’s marine mammal rescue program that has saved, healed and then released hundreds of seals and sea lions usually from Charlestown’s beaches. 

As much as I have loved watching whales in the wild, watching them in a tank is just plain sad.HEALTH 

Million dollars to Tomaquag 

When the Champlin Foundation of Providence announced its new grant awards, one grant really stood out: a million dollar grant to the Tomaquag Museum to help it build “a comprehensive, four-building campus on 18 acres of rural University of Rhode Island land in South Kingstown” to honor the history and culture of Rhode Island’s indigenous people. 

I wish this project could have been built in Charlestown, perhaps in Ninigret Park. But Tomaquag’s partnership with URI makes a lot more sense. 

If this project had been proposed for Charlestown, it would have faced bloody resistance from the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA), the town’s professional Indian fighter attorney Joe Larisa and a death struggle with Planning Commissar Ruth Platner. All are committed to maintaining institutional racism in Charlestown largely centered on the Narragansetts. 

Tomaquag Executive Director Lorén M. Spears said this about the Champlin grant: 

“Support and enthusiasm for our campaign continues to grow, and this gift from Champlin further underscores the momentum we have for elevating the stories of Indigenous people and engaging more Rhode Islanders in exploring, understanding, and honoring that legacy.”

Jonnycake Center forms another partnership

In the last Charlestown Chunks, I wrote about a new partnership between Wakefield’s Jonnycake Center and Wood River Health Services to provide food, nutrition and services to pregnant women, babies and small children. 

The Independent reports another partnership, this time between the Jonnycake Center and the Westerly Credit Union to help low-income households with trashed credit rebuild their credit rating, using $500 micro-loans. 

Having a decent credit history is one of those things you don’t appreciate until you lose it and find you can’t rent an apartment or get a car loan. 

Those who receive the micro-loan will get credit counseling and home finance education and will be expected to pay back the loan in one year. The idea is to show a pattern of reliability to help lift credit scores higher. 

Said Jonnycake Center director Kate Brewster, “The credit union wanted to do more for the community at the time the Jonnycake Center identified the housing problem for rentals for low-income individuals and families… Without a good credit score, they may be unable to qualify for housing in a tight market where rentals are scarce anyway.” 

Save Spanish 

In my youth, an anarchist friend of mine used to tell me “petitioning the government is like pissing in the wind.” Though that’s still mostly true 50 years later, there are some petitions worth signing. 

Alex Korus has started up a Change.org petition to try to save K-12 Spanish-language classes at Chariho as the district cuts back after voters twice defeated their proposed budget. 

Alex makes the sound argument that this will hurt students’ ability to compete for college admissions. He notes it’s easier to learn languages when you’re young – I can certainly attest to that. Then there’s the fact that Spanish is the largest second-language in the US spoken by almost 42 million people. 

Support Alex and his fellow Chariho Middle Schoolers by signing the petition HERE.

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Charlestown chunks

Shorter news tidbits for Charlestown area

By Will Collette

In election years especially, there are lots of news items that often go unnoticed. This year, there are the elections, plus Russia’s war on the Ukraine, COVID’s fifth surge, corporate greed and price hikes competing for our attention. So here is a collection of local stories that you may or may not have seen. Here we go.

What happened to Charlestown’s children?

The statewide child advocacy organization Kids Count issued its annual Fact Book which produced one startling fact: Charlestown is one of only four RI municipalities to lose 20% or more of it’s under 18 population. Using the new 2020 census data, Kids Count reports a 22.9% drop - 345 children - in Charlestown’s population under 18.

This abnormal drop can be laid at the feet of the concerted effort by Ruth Platner and the Charlestown Citizens Alliance to eliminate housing for families with children. The CCA/Platner even developed a bogus mathematical formula to “prove” its theory that children are simply parasites sucking up tax dollars. Don’t believe me? CLICK HERE.

Instead, the CCA’s vision is that only a small number of older, well-to-do adults surrounded by open space in what would essentially be one great big happy gated community. The 2020 census shows significant progress toward that vision.

One person who seems unlikely to stick around for this grim future is one of the CCA’s founders, Tom Gentz, who has listed his house on Sea Breeze Drive with Randall Realtors. Boss Gentz ran the Town Council for several years, presiding over some of the most bizarre of the CCA’s excesses. He’s only asking $1.25 million.

Westerly Dem kicked to the curb

After a state grand jury handed down indictments on two counts of first-degree sexual assault (rape) against long-time Westerly Democratic Town Committee chair Bob Ritacco, Ritacco was voted out of that position by the Committee. Under RI law, these charges are considered “capital crimes” meaning they can bring a life sentence.

Ritacco ran the Westerly Dems like a stereotype of an old-time political boss for about 23 years. Thanks to great reporting by Dale Faulkner at the Westerly Sun, we learned about the major role Ritacco played in the infamous COPAR quarry scandal. The crime-riddled quarry was issued a cease-and-desist order by a town inspector, but appealed that decision to the Town Zoning Board, chaired by Ritacco.

COPAR was allowed to continue operations until their hearing was held – a hearing Ritacco refused to schedule. Meanwhile, Faulkner learned, Ritacco was negotiating for a new job as head of the Westerly Housing Authority with the Chair of the Housing Board, George Comolli, whose family owned and leased the land where the COPAR quarry was located.

If you don’t know the COPAR story, you can get the gist of it HERE, the story I wrote on the day it closed.

Despite new COVID wave, Charlestown Memorial Day Parade will take place

After a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Charlestown Memorial Day Parade is back. That’s despite a fifth surge of infections in Rhode Island with community transmission rates now topping 500 per 100,000 – compared to only 12 per 100,000 on the Fourth of July last year. Out of less than 8,000 people, 2,107 Charlestown residents have suffered COVID.

It’s unlikely that you’ll see much masking and social distancing despite the alarming COVID numbers which also include a sharp increase in hospitalizations as the current COVID variant is causing breakthrough infections among the vaccinated and repeat infections among the unvaccinated.

The Parade will start at 1 PM on Sunday, May 29 at Compass Hardware and will head down Old Post Road to the end point at Charlestown Liquors.

Rumble

Location of earthquake cluster. US Geological Survey.

Last weekend, southern Rhode Island experienced a cluster of earthquakes centered just off our coast. You probably didn’t feel them but they did happen.

They started early Saturday morning and the third was early Sunday morning. They ranged in magnitude from 2.0 to 2.5 on the Richter scale. Damage to buildings usually required a force of 5.0 or higher on the Richter scale. The strongest recent earthquake was a 4.6 quake on June 10, 1951 just offshore from Westerly.

URI geologist Brian Savage told WPRI these and similar quakes seem likely to due to very old faults left over from eons ago when Rhode Island was attached to Africa:

“There were two existing faults that existed hundreds of millions of years ago that likely slipped along the surface and that caused energy to be radiated out into the ground of the Earth….I don’t think this is something to be concerned about. We have 300 years of [white] people living here in the New England area and we’ve had minimal earthquakes.”

Wood River Health Services adds a family nurse practitioner

Wood River Health Services (WRHS) announces that it has added Taryn Bishop, FNP to its dedicated team of Family Nurse Practitioners. 

Taryn is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner who previously worked at Ocean State Healthcare in Westerly. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of Rhode Island in 2006 and worked in an emergency department and critical care setting as a Registered Nurse for several years in Connecticut. 

After earning her Master’s degree from Sacred Heart University in 2017 as a Clinical Nurse Leader, she transitioned into nursing management prior to obtaining a Post Master’s Certificate from University of Rhode Island as a Family Nurse Provider. For the past five years, she has worked diligently to develop a large panel of primary care patients.  

Taryn Bishop works out of our Westerly facility at 17 Wells Street Wednesdays through Fridays. Beginning in the fall, she will also be available at our Hope Valley location at 823 Main Street. She is currently accepting new patients. 

For more information about WRHS, call (401) 539-2461 or visit www.woodriverhealthservices.org. 

New General Stanton Inn owners hope to recruit staff

Janice Falcone finally found suitable buyers for the iconic General Stanton Inn (founded in 1740), the gateway to Charlestown’s historic village district. The new owners hope to revive the Inn’s restaurant and are actively recruiting servers and kitchen staff.

They told WPRI that experienced servers can earn up to $20,000 this summer and that they will pay dishwashers who stay the whole summer a $500 bonus.

Those who are interested can apply online or connect with a recruiter over the phone by calling (401) 680-5960.