Cut your heating bills this winter

Heating Assistance and 80-100% Off Weatherizing Your Home

By State Senator Victoria Gu

Rhode Island, like a number of other states, has a free energy audit program that works in two steps:

1) the free energy audit identifies places in your home that would benefit from air sealing, insulation, and more.

2) the program pays for 80-100% of the cost of doing the weatherization work.

Every Rhode Island homeowner (and tenant, with landlord permission) can request their audit and benefit from these energy savings. Schedule your audit at https://www.riseengineering.com/residential/get-started or through RIEnergy’s website

Know someone in need of emergency assistance to pay for heating oil/fuel? A couple places to contact are:

Westerly: Jonnycake Center of Westerly

Charlestown: The Charlestown Senior Center

South County towns: Tri-County CAP for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) applications, Heat Pumps and Weatherization, and Emergency Boiler Repair

Master Gardeners grow Indigenous connections

Food, culture and history

Kristen Curry 

Master Gardeners from URI Cooperative Extension are growing connections with Rhode Island’s Indigenous community at the Pettaquamscutt Community Gardens, two miles from campus. Heirloom seeds harvested and saved there include Narragansett White Cap Flint Corn, Succotash Pole Beans, and Butternut Squash. (Photos Pettaquamscutt Community Gardens)

As University of Rhode Island students and employees departed campus for winter break, concluding the fall semester — and harvest season — URI’s Cooperative Extension celebrated its work partnering with Indigenous-led food sovereignty organizations.

Just two miles from campus is the Pettaquamscutt Community Gardens, a non-profit organization on Broad Rock Road in South Kingstown. The property is the site of a productive partnership between Pettaquamscutt Community Gardens, an Indigenous-led group, and the URI Master Gardener Program.

Pettaquamscutt Community Gardens is an Indigenous-led, multigenerational non-profit garden that uses traditional ancestral practices and heirloom seeds with a focus on the Three Sisters Garden: corn, beans, and squash. The project is led by Indigenous community members, including Shirley Brown, URI Master Gardener, Class of 2022, and a Narragansett Tribal elder. She’s keeping Narragansett traditions alive and well, and this year, partnering with volunteers from the URI Master Gardener Program to help support and expand the garden’s capacity.

August 19 School Supply Giveaway Party at the Jonnycake Center of Westerly

Wood River Health and the Jonnycake Center of Westerly join to help parents

Washington County-area non-profit organizations, including the Jonnycake Center of Westerly and Wood River Health have announced that they are partnering for a back-to-school supply giveaway party benefitting local children in need. 

This second annual event will take place on Saturday, August 19 from 10am to noon in the Jonnycake Center of Westerly’s rear parking lot at 23 Industrial Drive in Westerly. The event is sponsored in part by Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. 

After recognizing the importance of school preparedness, local organizations have come together for a second year to provide children with backpacks, school supplies, and educational items to ensure the school year starts strongly for all. Musical entertainment will be provided by WBLQ AM 1230, and there will also be games, face painting, craft tables and a visit by a firetruck! 

Families are invited to the event at the Jonnycake Center of Westerly’s rear parking lot at 23 Industrial Drive on Saturday, August 19 between 10am and noon to receive a free backpack that comes filled with essentials needed for school. The backpacks will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  

South Kingstown gets URI help to figure out housing problems

URI researchers help R.I. town to chart new directions in public housing

Research by a team of University of Rhode Island faculty and students is helping the South Kingstown Housing Authority to chart a new course for its public housing program.

At the request of the housing authority, the research team of economists, political scientists, and historians spent more than two years developing a survey to help better understand the needs of public housing residents, compiling an oral history of public housing in South Kingstown, and producing a research paper exploring best practices in public housing across the U.S. and beyond. 

The goal of the project was to provide practical, evidence-based guidance for the housing authority as it begins the process of rethinking its approach to public housing. 

Tanzi proposes universal, free school breakfast and lunch

"Children cannot learn when they're hungry"

The debate over free school meals may have been on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now that students are again paying for breakfast and lunch at school, Representative Teresa Tanzi wants the state to step in.

“We know children cannot learn when they’re hungry,” said Representative Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett). “Before the pandemic we saw dystopian headlines where children were in debt because their parents couldn’t afford to feed them. We can’t go back to those days.”

Representative Tanzi is sponsoring legislation that expands upon a bill introduced by former Representative Marcia Ranglin-Vassell, who for years had championed a free lunch bill. 

Representative Tanzi’s bill would provide all students free, nutritious breakfast and lunch, encourage schools to purchase food from local farms, ask schools to engage with the community to cook culturally relevant meals and allow parents with means to pay for meals if they choose.

“When we talk about educational outcomes, we focus on testing, teacher recruitment, and school buildings,” said Kate Brewster of the Jonnycake Center for Hope. “All of that is important, but none of it matters if kids are hungry. Kids who don’t get regular nutritious meals can’t concentrate as well and just aren’t on a level playing field. This has lifetime consequences for their education and earnings.”

Hoping to make it easier for seniors to get added health care coverage

Sen. Gu introduces legislation to expand Medicaid eligibility for seniors

Charlestown's Sen. Gu (center) at the
Jonnycake Center

Sen. Victoria Gu has introduced legislation increasing the income eligibility threshold for seniors to be eligible for Medicaid. The bill aims to help seniors pay for medical needs that Medicare does not cover.

“So many seniors in our community are struggling to get by, and medical bills are a big part of that,” said Lee Eastbourne, Executive Director of the Jonnycake Center of Westerly. “It’s really sad to see folks who worked their whole lives unable to afford to go to the dentist or get the medications they need in their golden years.”

Currently, most Rhode Island adults are eligible for Medicaid if they earn up to 138% of the federal poverty line (FPL). Rhode Islanders 65 or older, however, lose eligibility if they earn more than 100% FPL ($13,590 for an individual, $18,310 for a family of two). That leaves many lower-income seniors on the hook for expensive medical bills they have little ability to pay.

Mind the Gap

R.I.’s Affordable Housing Stock Fails to Meet Need

Decades of implicit and explicit discriminatory housing policies leave Black people three times more likely than white people to live in neglected and unsafe housing

By Frank Carini / ecoRI News staff

The amount of affordable housing in Westerly is half of what state law requires. This house, being built in 2020, doesn’t fall into that category. (Frank Carini/ecoRI News)

Their eyes welled with tears when they spoke about their current housing situation. Both women had been through plenty before they were able to call anyplace home.

Karen (she asked that her last name not be used) welcomed ecoRI News into “my beautiful home” on Hamilton Street in Providence in early April, about nine months after she and her three children, 18-year-old twins and a 22-year-old daughter, moved in.

The spacious two-story apartment with four bedrooms is a significant upgrade from the family’s previous housing accommodations. They had moved from a single-family home they were renting about 3 miles away on Joslin Street because the landlord neglected the property and ignored their concerns and requests to have things fixed.

The house was infested with cockroaches and mice when they moved in, Karen said. The 46-year-old, who was born and raised in Providence, said her kids stayed at a friend’s house for a while until “we got the bugs out.” The situation never improved. She called the owner “a slumlord.”

Before that, the family of four lived in cramped apartments, at shelters, or with friends and family, often sleeping on the floor in tight living quarters. The family had been on waiting lists for affordable housing for years — not ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONB), the family’s current landlord; they didn’t know about the Olneyville-based nonprofit until they applied for housing. Karen said she even knows people who have even been put on a waiting list for the waiting list.

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, #3

Unfortunately, we live in interesting times

By Will Collette

Guns

In the wake of the slaughter of innocents in Uvalde, Texas, we have still heard nothing from Charlestown’s State Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi who is also House Republican leader. 

Several important gun control measures are about to come up for a vote as the General Assembly nears the end of its session.

Filippi and his MAGA colleagues Rep. Justin Price (R-Richmond) and Sen. Elaine Morgan who represents the northern half of Charlestown have always opposed any and all efforts to control gun violence.

Filippi, as the highest ranking Trumplican in the General Assembly, needs to take a stand on this issue. Instead, he tweeted out this:

Can anyone tell me why the hell Flip sent this out?

Filippi will finally have a serious opponent in the November election in Tina Spears, Democrat of Charlestown. Flip at one point might have faced two Dems for his House District 36 seat when Victoria Gu, also of Charlestown, announced her interest. 

But the retirement of Sen. Dennis Algiere who represents the southern half of Charlestown as well as all of Westerly, presented Ms. Gu with the opportunity to run for the open Senate District 38 seat. Spears and Gu are no longer prospective primary opponents and have announced they will support each other.

Victoria Gu

But Gu will face at least one, maybe two Westerly Democrats, in September primary. Michael Niemeyer, a member of Matt Smith’s RI Political Coop, had announced for District 38 earlier. Sources tell me another Westerly Democrat is likely to run.

Legal weed

Photo by Will Collette

The General Assembly has approved, and the Governor has signed, legislation to legalize recreational use of cannibis. Up to 33 retail licenses to sell will be allowed.

It’ll be interesting to see if anyone  wants to start up a cannabis store in Charlestown as a nice contrast to our existing gun shops. Maybe the Narragansetts will try to re-purpose the old Smoke Shop on Route 2.

Beth Comery (who was formerly in law enforcement and is a long-time legalization advocate) summarizes the legislation in the Providence Daily Dose:

• Permits adults to possess and purchase up to one ounce of cannabis and cultivate up to three cannabis plants at home;
• Directs the Rhode Island Judiciary to automatically clear past convictions for cannabis convictions by July 2024;
• Creates a cannabis retail excise tax of 10%, in addition to the normal sales tax rate of 7%, with another 3% local sales tax;
• Reserves a quarter of all new retail cannabis licenses for applicants that qualify as social equity businesses while another quarter of new licenses will be awarded to worker-owned cooperatives; and
• Establishes a social equity assistance fund to provide grants, job training programs, and social services for communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization.

Those conditions about social equity seem to me to be favorable to a Tribal enterprise (will someone please pass the smelling salts to Ruth Platner?). The town would get a 3% cut. Maybe the Tribe could work out a parking deal with Town Hall since there are lots of unused parking spaces available and it's a short walk to the Smoke Shop.

American Rescue Plan money in Charlestown

Because Stankiewicz doesn't trust town
staff, he hired this guy instead

As I’ve reported earlier, Charlestown stands to receive $2.3 million in federal funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz told the Providence Journal he decided the town needed consultants to help the town figure out how to spend it because Town Hall staff lacked “the bandwidth” to handle the money properly.

You would expect that an experienced town manager would have “the bandwidth.” 

Stankiewicz never explained why his staff, who apparently haven’t been properly trained or supervised by Stankiewicz can nevertheless handle federal and state funding all the time, including large chunks we receive after every major storm.

Nonetheless, the Charlestown Citizens Alliance Council majority (the CCA-3) agreed with Stankiewicz. Finally, after spending almost half a million ARPA dollars in our proposed town budget (up for a vote by mail or in person up to June 6) without the benefit of the consultants’ advice, the town held a meeting with the consultants.

The Sun’s Jason Vallee covered the meeting. He reports the Council considered:

“grants or conditional funding to aid with affordable housing reconstruction and rehabilitation, investment in small businesses, construction of the Maddie Potts Memorial Field House, purchase of fire and ambulance equipment, and financial assistance to Wood River Health Services.”

One of the consultants the town hired is Trumplican candidate for Congress, Second District, Allan Fung – a potential ethics breech since Fung is an active candidate for Congressional District 2 which includes Charlestown. He has an open-ended contract with Charlestown for $250 an hour.

Not one single Republican in Congress – which Fung seeks to join – voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan.

Anyway, according to Jason Vallee, Fung said: 

“the community may be better situated to limit conditions, however, as providing unnecessary oversight can cause delays that would potentially lead to money going unused and returned.” And that “the town needs to be cautious in allocating funding directly to construction projects, noting that it would require following uniform federal RFP guidelines and other stringent regulations, or the town would risk the money being forfeited.”

That’s a big help, Allan, especially since Charlestown is still snakebit over controversies involving the management and spending of public money.

Vallee ended his article with a quote from the senior member of the CCA-3, Councilor Bonita Van Slyke of Arnolda: “We certainly need to take some time and digest this. We have only really just begun to look at where we might spend this.”

Yeah, well, we’ve only known about this money for about six months so in CCA time, I suppose that’s not enough time to digest it.

One observer expressed surprise that CCA leader Faith LaBossiere didn't come forward with some bicycle-related project, like a Bicyclists' Hall of Fame. But as it turns out, that idea come up 122 years ago in Newport. So sorry, Faith, you're too late.

Coverage of Fake Fire Districts wins coveted journalism award

Charlestown resident Will Collette poses for a photo at the Shady Harbor Fire District boat launch in Charlestown.  ALEX NUNES/THE PUBLIC'S RADIO

These fake fire districts do not fire fires. They don’t have fire stations, firefighters or fire trucks. But they do offer fire district residents an array of amenities such as public water, snow plowing, tennis courts, and are on the front line in fighting off any public access to their private beaches.

Alex Nunes, South County Bureau chief for The Public’s Radio, won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for his series on South County’s bevy of fake fire districts. In this series, Alex took a hard look at two of Charlestown’s fire districts – Shady Harbor and Central Quonnie – as well as others like Bonnet Shores, Watch Hill, etc.

They get huge tax breaks on the large quantities of prime shore property they own – in the case of Shady Harbor, they pay no property tax at all. Residents can take an income tax deduction for the “tax” the fire districts are allowed to levy for what would otherwise be non-deductible home owner association fees,

These fake fire districts are simply plush gated communities who found a way to game the system and rip off other taxpayers. Congratulations to Alex for his fine writing.

CLICK HERE to read Alex’s work on this subject.

The Bishop, abortions and donuts

Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has decided to pick a fight with one of South County’s most popular donut shops, Allie’s Donuts in North Kingstown.

Now why would the state’s highest ranking Catholic cleric – who is, not coincidentally, a registered Republican and conservative activist – pick this fight?

It’s because Allie's employees chose Planned Parenthood as their charity of the month. Tobin called for a boycott against Allie’s without even confirming it was true, according to WPRI.

Tobin also weighed in on the controversy stirred by one bishop’s decision that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should be denied Communion because of her support of women’s right to choose.

Tobin told RI News Today that “all Catholics need to be in union with the Church, spiritually prepared, and in the state of grace, before they presume to approach the Table of the Lord to receive Holy Communion.“

Tobin has often criticized Pope Francis for his far more tolerant views on a broad range of issues including the conservative tendency to deny Communion to Catholics who are not “in union with the Church.” Pope Francis pointedly said “I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone.” 

Not only has Pope Francis expressed his tolerance for Catholics who are not 100% with the program, he just elevated the liberal Bishop of San Diego to Cardinal and has him ranking over arch-conservative Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone who had banned Nancy Pelosi from Communion.

If you happen to be passing Allie’s, you might want to stop in to buy some donuts. Tell them Bishop Tobin sent you.

Wood River and the Peacedale Jonnycake Center are teaming up.

Wood River Health Services’ Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program will soon be offered at the Jonnycake Center for Hope in Peace Dale. WIC is free and open to income-eligible pregnant, breastfeeding and post-partum mothers and children up to the age of five. Participants will receive access to infant formula through an EBT card, one-on-one nutrition counseling services and referrals to services that address each child's unique needs.

Individuals who enroll in the WIC program at the Jonnycake Center for Hope will receive a $25 gift card from Shaw’s supermarket; free diapers or pull-ups; wipes and socks; and underwear for toddlers and children. Following the appointment, mothers will be invited to become a Jonnycake Member and have immediate access to the Jonnycake Market.

For more information about available services, visit jonnycakecenter.org and WRHSRI.org.

Legislation of local interest advances in closing days of the General Assembly

Legislation to expand residents’ right to beach access advanced in the House of Representatives but is going nowhere in the state Senate. Even if it does pass, though, as the Boston Globe’s Brian Amaral pointed out, the proposed new law provides much less access than people think. 

Rep. Deborah Ruggiero (D-Jamestown) got the full House to approve her legislation (2022-H 7540) to speed up emergency closures of aquaculture operations by moving responsibility for them to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM).

Casino workers represented by Laborers Union Local 271 called for Rep. Teresa Tanzi’s bill (2022-H 7855) to be moved out of committee where it was sent “for further study” (i.e. to die) to give it a chance to pass. But before that could happen, management at Twin River announced they would unilaterally impose the ban. That’s a win for the workers and for Teresa (D-South Kingstown).

Two CCA elders cross the rainbow bridge

On May 22, a memorial service was held for former CCA Steering Committee member Rev. Jan Knost who actually died in 2021. His service in Dedham, MA was delayed due to the pandemic. On May 13, another CCA stalwart, Dr. Milton Krantz, died at age 94 in Mystic, CT. His lengthy and detailed obituary appears in the New London Day. While his obit notes his time on Charlestown’s Zoning Board, it makes no mention of the years he spent on the CCA Steering Committee nor his CCA officer status.

ProJo features Ninigret

Retired ProJo editor John Kostrzewa still writes the occasional column. This week, he wrote a nice article entitled Walking RI: Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge harbors naval, tribal history

While the article details the landscape of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge and tangentially Ninigret Park, the main focus of the article is on the historical and cultural history of the land, especially the Narragansetts, the colonial plantation owners who displaced them and farmed the land with slaves, and the World War II era Naval Auxiliary Air Field (NAAF).

A good example of Kostrzewa’s style and approach can be seen in this sidebar on Chief Ninigret:

Trail fact

Ninigret (1600-1676) was a sachem of the Niantic and Narragansett tribes and a major figure during inter-tribal rivalries and wars with the colonists. He led a decades-long war against the Mohegans and formed regional alliances with the Mohawks and Pocumtucks.

In 1637, Ninigret, also called Juanemo, joined the colonists and the Narragansetts to fight the Pequots. He refused to fight the English during King Philip's War (1675-1676) and died at the end of the conflict.

Affordable Housing?

Earlier, I reviewed the Westerly Sun’s coverage of Charlestown’s meeting with consultant and Trumplican Congressional candidate Allan Fung on how Charlestown should spend its $2.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. 

Mentioned in the Sun headline and briefly in the article without detail is affordable housing as a possible use. As Progressive Charlestown readers know, the CCA has long fought to block affordable housing in town especially for families with children. I seriously doubt the CCA will approve one nickel of ARPA spending on affordable housing.

Families have been barred entry and the children of Charlestown residents who have started their own families have had to look elsewhere for housing. All the while, the cost of housing in Charlestown has skyrocketed.

Data published by What’s Up Newport, taken from Zillow, name Charlestown as the 11^th most expensive town to buy a home, showing these price rises:

• 1-year price change: +$106,132 (+21.5%)
• 5-year price change: +$238,344 (+65.7%)
• Typical home value: $600,872 (#11 most expensive city in metro)

An example of what’s driving these higher prices is the recent record highest sale in Charlestown - $9.5 million for a nice little cottage on West Beach Road in Quonnie (right).

According to detail in the GoLocal article on the sale, this property had actually been flipped for a tidy $3 million profit, having been bought in September 2020 for $6.5 million.

The added $3,000,000 in valuation will mean an additional $25,000 in Charlestown property tax.

Southern Rhode Island Volunteers get Bank grant

Sometimes it seems that What’s Up Newport gives Charlestown more coverage than the Westerly Sun. A case in point is a short article noting BankNewport’s $10,000 grant to Southern Rhode Island Volunteers, headquartered in Ninigret Park.

The grant will support SRIV’s independent aging adult services.

SRIV director Deb Tanner said: 

"BankNewport provides vital funding that is used to provide transportation and delivery services for our seniors to access healthcare providers, food to maintain nutrition and security, as well as other vital assistance necessary for healthy aging.”

Gina screws Rhode Island again

Former Gov. Gina Raimondo may have hopped the first opportunity she got to leave the state to join the Biden Administration as Commerce Secretary. She left us with our ethically-challenged, inept accidental Governor Dan McKee.

Following the debatable custom of using public money to pay for a fancy portrait of former Governors to hang in the State House, a request for proposals went out from the RI Council on the Arts. The state raised its budget for the portrait from $15,000 to $25,000 and the National Governors Association kicked in another $50,000. If they spend all that money, it will be the most expensive portrait ever to hang in the State House.

There were 350 applicants, including 75 Rhode Island artists.  Of all those artists, Gina picked New Yorker Patricia Watwood for the gig. Thanks, Gina, for another nice hit to the Rhode Island economy.

 

URI to host Get Housing RIght Conference to explore affordable housing options locally, nationally

Too bad Charlestown doesn't believe in affordable housing

By Kate LeBlanc

On the heels of a research project on public housing in Rhode Island, the URI Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies is hosting the two-day Get Housing RIght Conference in an effort to explore affordable housing options and public policy. 

The event will be hosted virtually May 12 and in-person at URI’s Providence Campus, 80 Washington St., on May 13. Day one will focus on public housing issues nationally, and day two will focus on public housing issues in Rhode Island. 

Jennifer Vincent, who graduates this May with a master’s degree in public administration, is the conference organizer. Vincent began working on the conference last semester after helping on a public housing research project. 

Research began in 2021 after several professors in the political science department were approached by the South Kingstown Housing Authority and asked to generate research on public housing in the state, she said. The Housing Authority wanted to create a new public housing development in town and wanted to ensure it would be developed effectively, she said. 

The team of professors, graduate students and undergraduate students then set out on a three-part research process. Funded by the Rhode Island Foundation, the South Kingstown Housing Authority, and the Jonnycake Center in Peace Dale, the team conducted about 300 door-to-door surveys of public housing residents living throughout the state. The surveys asked residents about their satisfaction with the physical conditions of public housing, access to amenities such as public transportation, and interactions with housing authorities. 

Wood River Health Services hosts Wellness Fair on April 19

Free food and check-ups!

Wood River Health Services (WRHS) is hosting an outdoor Head-to-Toe Wellness Fair on Tuesday, April 19 at its Westerly location at 11 Wells Street. 

The event, sponsored by Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, is from 11 AM to 2 PM. The Wellness Fair will take place outdoors and is free and open to the public.

The Head-to-Toe Wellness Fair, scheduled during school vacation week, is tailored towards families with children. There will be free food, raffles, giveaways and activities for the kids. 

Health related information and resources will be distributed by WRHS’ Medical, Dental, and Behavioral Health Services, its Community Resources Team and Women, Infants & Children (WIC) department and its community partners.