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Carolina Fiber & Fiction at the Farmers' Market

Don't tell me you have to work today. There are more important things in our list of What's Happening!

Judge to issue ruling on part of the Donoghue v. Charlestown “Y-Gate” case

Y-Gate lawsuit to continue
Also, more from Avedisian testimony

By Will Collette

After a Town Council majority (Boss Tom Gentz, Gregg Avedisian and Marge Frank) voted at its February 13 meeting to give $475,000 of your tax dollars to the Charlestown Land Trust so it can buy the derelict and abandoned Westerly YMCA camp, the deal was “put on hold” by a lawsuit by Dr. Jack Donoghue.

Dr. Donoghue charged the Council violated the state Open Meetings Act by failing to give the public proper notice that they planned to vote on a big money deal on February 13.

He has good hair

And is less crazy than the others were

By Tom Tomorrow


Click here to see the whole cartoon.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

M65 and M66

From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

Nearby and bright, spiral galaxies M65 (top) and M66 stand out in this engaging cosmic snapshot. The pair are just 35 million light-years distant and around 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own spiral Milky Way.

While both exhibit prominent dust lanes sweeping along their broad spiral arms, M66 in particular is a striking contrast in red and blue hues; the telltale pinkish glow of hydrogen gas in star forming regions and young blue star clusters. 

M65 and M66 make up two thirds of the well-known Leo Triplet of galaxies with warps and tidal tails that offer evidence of the group's past close encounters. The larger M66 has been host to four supernovae discovered since 1973.

Read on to see the dramatic photo.

Not destined to be popular in Charlestown

And we're Glad!

An Autopsy of RIEDC

By Tom Sgouros in RIFuture.org

As the dust slowly settles on the carcass of 38 Studios, plenty of questions remain, and you can bet the entrails will be picked over thoroughly. Some of the most entertaining questions are about how the debacle happened, since it’s such a delicious tale of arrogant insiders getting their comeuppance. (Of course it would be more delicious if we weren’t on the hook to pay for it.)  But there are also dull questions about important matters: what to do with the state’s economic development apparatus, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

RIEDC was formed under the Almond administration, when the Department of Economic Development was closed and those responsibilities moved over to the Port Authority, which was renamed.

New Cross Mills Fire Engine 812

Click to enlarge (photo: Laura Knudsen)

The old Cross Mills fire station didn't have room for modern fire trucks. So we've had to keep old, even technically antique, trucks that broke down regularly and didn't have enough room for crews and equipment or much water. 

When the new Cross Mills station of the Charlestown Fire District opened earlier this year the district could implement their plan of replacing trucks when they reach 30 years old.
Now the new engine 812 has arrived, replacing the 30-year old engine 812. (Actually the old 812 will become the reserve engine for when another one is out for repairs and the current 35-year old reserve engine, 715, will be retired.)

The new engine 812 is similar to the 5-year-old engine 713 based at the station at the junction of Routes 2 and 112, with some improvements.

And, before I hear the usual lament, it is being purchased over several years without a need to increase tax revenue. Thank you to our tax payers for your support of the Fire District's efforts to serve you better.

HEALTH ADVISORY EXTENDED: Bad air in Charlestown and south coast

Be very careful out there today
Weather due to improve on Friday

By Will Collette

While Rhode Island "north of 138" is going to be hot and muggy for through Thursday night, it's South County and along the south coast where there will be very unhealthy air - ground level ozone at unhealthy levels.

The air quality warning will be in effect all day Thursday until 11 PM.  South County is also under a heat advisory, even though our temperatures are not expected to be as scorching as Providence today and tomorrow.

The elderly, those with heart conditions or breathing problems should avoid strenuous activity today.

Please keep reading to see the official NOAA and RIDEM notices, which have been extended through Thursday..

That was then, this is now

CCA used to be irate about "secret" meetings, even perfectly legal executive sessions. Now they’re fine with them

By Will Collette

There was a time when the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) claimed to be the champion of open, honest, transparent government. After all, this was their rallying cry when they organized to oppose former Town Council President Jim Mageau (2006-2008).

They even continued to trumpet this cause after they won all five Town Council seats in the November 2008 elections.

Here’s an e-bleat the CCA sent out on June 23, 2009 attacking the Affordable Housing Commission for going into executive session to discuss the acquisition of property next to Town Hall which was then being considered for a new affordable housing complex.

Take two aspirins and call me in December

Are you suffering from Election Fatigue?

By Brian McFadden




To find out if you are, click here.

The invaders are winning!

Aquatic Invaders are Out of R.I.’s Control

By ROWAN SHARP/ecoRI News contributor

Most of Rhode Island’s freshwater invasive
plants can reproduce, grow and spread
through fragmentation. (DEM)

In his bestselling book, “The World Without Us,” Alan Weisman painted a vivid picture of Manhattan without people. He described how the physical infrastructure would degrade, and which plants would take over. One of the most ubiquitous plants, Weisman asserted, would be a Chinese shrub in the acanthus family. This hardy invader, brought to New York for landscaping, would thrive and even dominate in a post-human ecosystem — a more lasting human mark on Manhattan than the subway or the Sears Tower.

Not every non-native species is invasive. Invasives are those that, reproducing outside their native range, actively cause ecological or economic harm, according to the Invasive Species Act of 1996.

Lately, much attention has come to aquatic invasives in Rhode Island for their impact on human well-being. The Ocean State has some of the most invaded watersheds in the country — more than a quarter of the plants and animals in our watersheds are non-native, according to an analysis by the University of Rhode Island and Stanford University professors. Freshwater invasives have created nuisance conditions to the point of public outcry, and marine invasives pose a serious economic threat.

Yet another event on Saturday

Add this to the jam-packed event calendar for June 23

By Will Collette

As Tom has reported, this Saturday is loaded with activities in Charlestown and the rest of South County.

We have so many things going on that we might be up to our eyeballs in out-of-town visitors to these many activities.

So here's a suggestion - as the hoards are deciding south from the metro area to South County, you can head in the opposite direction and get yourself signed up and prepped to be a campaign volunteer for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's re-election campaign.

Cathy and I admire and support Senator Whitehouse's re-election. Last September, we were part of that great - and quite successful - fund-raiser for the Senator here in Charlestown.

So please consider going to the campaign volunteer orientation for the Senator that will take place in East Providence this Saturday. Please continue reading for more details.

What's Happening in Charlestown - through June 26

at the Charlestown Farmers' Market - 2011

With the opening of the Charlestown Land Trust Farmers' Market and the Big Apple Circus we can safely say that summer activities are in full swing!

There are so many activities scheduled for Saturday June 23 that we wrote a separate article for that day.

We also wrote a "teaser article" about the Charlestown Farmers' Market opening.

This article gives you additional suggestions for the next week.

A Legislative Postmortem

By Bob Plain on June 18, 2012

For progressives, the best thing to come out of the 2012 legislative session will be the 2012 elections. Having lost – or merely having held the line – on all the major policy proposals they weighed in on, the best that can be hoped for is that the local electorate knows that the left was with them even if the powers that be were not.

Councilor’s sworn statement confirms secret Y-Gate meeting

Town Council members met with Y-Gate players in secret session

Y-Gate - the issue that will not die

By Will Collette

On May 22, I reported on a secret meeting the Town Council had with four key players in the growing Y-Gate Scandal when the Council met in closed, executive session on May 14. 

This session preceded the public decision by the Town Council to remove $475,000 from the Town Budget to pay the Charlestown Land Trust so it could buy the Westerly YMCA’s abandoned campground on Watchaug Pond.

The Council members, most conspicuously Councilor Gregg Avedisian who has been at the heart of Y-Gate from the start, pronounced the Y-Gate deal dead unless it is presented to the voters for their expressed approval.

But apparently a lot more went on behind those closed doors than was publicly revealed because at the June 11 Town Council meeting, CCA Town Council President Boss Tom Gentz attempted to ramrod two resolutions through the Council, one to pay $398,000 in town funds to the Charlestown Land Trust, and the second to draw $200.000 from the town’s Open Space/Recreation Bond.

Both resolutions have been carried over to the Council’s continuation of its June meeting next Monday, June 25.