Charlestown Democrats unanimously endorse Jill Fonnemann for Town Council

“Jill’s inexhaustible energy, humanitarian spirit and ability to find common ground with anyone will serve our town well.”

News release from the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee

CHARLESTOWN, RI — The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee has unanimously endorsed Jill Fonnemann for Town Council in the upcoming special election Dec. 2.

“Jill is already well known in Charlestown for stepping up to help those in need and I couldn’t be happier that she is running to bring her experience and fresh perspective to the Town Council,” said Committee Chair Tristan Grau. “Jill’s inexhaustible energy, humanitarian spirit and ability to find common ground with anyone will serve our town well.”

In accepting the endorsement, Jill Fonnemann said “I’m running because I love Charlestown and I want to see it thriving and vibrant for generations to come. I’m happy to accept this endorsement from community members who feel the same way, and I look forward to working with them during the final stretch of this election.”

A lifelong native of South County, Jill Fonnemann has lived in Charlestown for 11 years. She has served on the Charlestown Parks and Recreation Commission since January 2023, and is the beverage director at the Charlestown Rathskeller, where she has worked since 2013.

If elected, she pledges to work to maintain Charlestown's low tax rate through fiscally responsible policies and practices; support affordable housing initiatives to allow seniors and children to be able to afford a home; make our children a priority by supporting our schools, quality education, sports programs and extracurricular activities; continue to support local businesses and work to protect Charlestown’s environment, including its open spaces and the breachway.

She will also propose the formation of a task force to address blighted and vacant buildings.

Early in person voting for this special election begins Nov. 12 at Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 S County Trail, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each weekday through Nov. 26. Early voting will resume Dec. 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. On election day, Dec. 2, voting will be open at Town Hall from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters who wish to vote by mail must request a ballot by Nov. 12 at 4 p.m.

Trump was already cutting low-income energy assistance – the shutdown is making things worse as cold weather arrives

King Donald doesn't care.

Conor Harrison, University of South Carolina; Elena Louder, University of South Carolina; Nikki Luke, University of Tennessee, and Shelley Welton, University of Pennsylvania

Have no doubt this will be properly heated

As fall turns to winter and temperatures begin to drop, millions of people across the U.S. will struggle to pay their rising energy bills. The government shutdown is making matters even worse: Several states have pushed back the start of their winter energy assistance because their federally allocated funds have yet to show up.

A 2023 national survey found that nearly 1 in 4 Americans were unable to pay their full energy bill for at least one month, and nearly 1 in 4 reported that they kept their homes at unsafe temperatures to save money. By 2025, updated polling indicated nearly 3 in 4 Americans are worried about rising energy costs.

Conservative estimates suggest that utilities shut off power to over 3 million U.S. households each year because the residents cannot pay their bills.

This problem of high energy prices isn’t lost on the Trump administration.

On the first day of his second term in 2025, Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency by executive order, saying that “high energy prices … devastate Americans, particularly those living on low- and fixed incomes.”

Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright raised concerns about utility disconnections and outlined a mission to “shrink that number, with the target of zero.”

Yet, the administration’s 2026 budget proposal zeroed out funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, the federal program that administers funding to help low-income households pay their utility bills. While there appears to be continued bipartisan support for LIHEAP in Congress, on April 1, 2025, the administration laid off the entire staff of the LIHEAP office. These layoffs hinder the ability of the federal government to release LIHEAP funds, even when the government reopens.

Many people already struggle to cobble together enough help from various sources to pay their energy bills. As researchers who study energy insecurity, we believe gutting the federal office responsible for administering energy bill assistance will make it even harder for Americans to make ends meet.

Let’s get the facts straight on who messed with $1 million from Charlestown’s open space bond fund

CCA continues to push phony issue

By Will Collette

Council President Carney (center)

In 2015 by an 11-vote margin, Charlestown voters authorized issuing $2 million in bonds to buy open space. In the following years, the Charlestown Citizens Alliance-controlled Town Council approved a series of land purchases proposed by Planning Commissar (and CCA de facto leader) Ruth Platner.

They took $1 million out of the General Fund to buy several properties, usually at prices much higher than their assessed value and often at the behest of CCA allies.

The CCA-led Council did NOT use bonds, preferring to use cash and not coincidentally keeping the $2 million bond fund intact, presumably to allow Ruth Platner a blank check to continue her land buying spree.

Voters did not give Platner carte blanche in 2015 – they issued approval for low-interest municipal bonds. Using bonds to fund long-term capital investments is prudent normal practice, just as it is when your own family takes out a mortgage, car loan or student loan.

Taking $1 million out of the General Fund, as the CCA did, had an immediate effect on your taxes compared to amortizing the cost over years, as voters in 2015 approved. Taxes consistently rose during the CCA’s 10 years of control over town government.

This year, Town Council President Deb Carney has proposed to redress the CCA’s disregard of voters’ expressed decision by issuing one million in bonds to cover the money the CCA inappropriately used to make land purchases and put that money back in the General Fund where it belongs.

And of course, the CCA screams its outrage, claiming that Carney is betraying the 2015 voters and somehow paying twice for the same property.

Bonnita B. Van Slyke is the CCA’s nominee in the December 2 Town Council Special Election. She voiced the CCA’s new party line and added that “Certainly, the Town Council should not float a bond without taxpayers being able to vote on whether they approve of $1 million to $2 million in new spending in a general election.”

I already responded to this by noting that voters already approved the bonds in 2015. Issuing a bond to replenish the General Fund simply redresses the CCA’s past financial mismanagement; it's NOT about new spending.

Failed 2024 CCA Council hopeful Sarah Fletcher raises the same issues almost verbatim in the CCA blog. No matter how many CCA stalwarts repeat it, the facts don’t change. Voters approved long-term bonds for open space, but the CCA paid cash. By taking cash out of the General Fund, they bumped up taxes each time. 

Carney wants to put that money back in the General Fund which will give taxpayers a break on next year’s tax bill, and not raise the tax rate by 3 cents as both Fletcher and Van Slyke claim - without evidence.

Charlestown voters should note that the CCA’s misappropriation of open space money spawned not just a series of shady land deals, but also a whole string of CCA financial gaffs, including the “$3 million dollar oopsie” and subsequent cover-up.

In a nutshell, the CCA had so many special accounts and cash stashes, including a bloated “Unassigned Fund Balance,” that they lost (or “misallocated” as they prefer to call it) $3 million dollars for 2 years. Click on the links for more detail.

It took a while for Charlestown voters to finally absorb the ways the CCA betrayed taxpayers’ trust by screwing up the money finally voting down all but one CCA candidate in 2022 (the year the $3 million oopsie went public) and then taking the last CCA seat in 2024

The CCA hopes to claw back a Town Council seat and re-install their most inept member in the December 2 Special Election. I warned you when the special election was announced to expect a torrent of phony attacks and misinformation in expensive mailers from the CCA or “Friends of Bonnie Van Slyke.” By the way, that “Friends” group is a CCA proxy that helps the CCA to get around state expenditure caps on spending by political action committees.

But you do have other choices and, for me, the best one is Democrat Jill Fonnemann.

What we need

And now he wants you to pay him $230 million more

Here's what you should try when your health insurance company says no.

This Little-Known Appeal Could Force Your Insurer to Pay for Lifesaving Care. Here’s How to File It.

By Duaa Eldeib for ProPublica

CLICK HERE for detailed instructions for
Rhode Islanders wishing to appeal an insurer's denial

When a health insurance company refuses to pay for treatment, most people begrudgingly accept the decision.

Few patients appeal; some don’t trust the insurer to reverse its own decision.

But a little-known process that requires insurers and plans to seek an independent opinion outside their walls can force insurers to pay for what can be lifesaving treatment. 

External reviews are one of the industry’s best-kept secrets, and only a tiny fraction of those eligible actually use them.

ProPublica recently reported the story of a North Carolina couple, Teressa Sutton-Schulman and her husband, who we identified in the story by his middle initial, L, to protect his privacy. Last year, L suffered escalating mental health issues and needed intensive psychiatric care. Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield issued the couple multiple denials in their case, even after Sutton-Schulman’s husband attempted suicide twice in the span of 11 days.

The instructions for an external review were buried on page seven of one of the denial letters.

“You can now request that your case be reviewed by a health care provider who is totally independent of your health plan or insurance carrier,” read the letter from the state insurance department in Texas, where the treatment occurred.

Skeptical but hopeful, Sutton-Schulman submitted the request for the external review. Their case was assigned to Dr. Neal Goldenberg, an Ohio doctor who works for a third-party review company as a side job. After reading the extensive appeal, Goldenberg overturned Highmark’s denial to cover treatment that had cost Sutton-Schulman and L more than $70,000.

Highmark previously said in a statement that the company was “passionate about providing appropriate and timely care” to its members. It acknowledged that “small errors made by physicians and/or members can lead to delays and initial denials” but said that those are corrected on appeals.

The lesson is simple, explained Kaye Pestaina, a vice president at the nonprofit health policy think tank KFF, who has studied external appeals.

“Appeal, appeal, appeal, appeal,” she said. “That’s all you have.”

Get the stronger flu vaccine this year

High-dose flu vaccine better protects against hospitalization, infection than standard-dose

Mary Van Beusekom, MS

Two new analyses conclude that high-dose influenza vaccine is more effective against hospitalization and infection than the standard-dose version.

For the first study, published in The Lancet, an international group of researchers, including two from vaccine maker Sanofi, parsed pooled data from two large trials comparing the efficacy of the high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-IIV) with the standard-dose (SD-IIV) version against hospitalization for flu or pneumonia in older adults.

The FLUNITY-HD trial was an individual-level pooled analysis of two pragmatic randomized trials: DANFLU-2 in Denmark from 2022 to 2025 and GALFLU from 2023 to 2025 in Spain. In both trials, participants were randomly assigned to receive either HD-IIV or SD-IIV and followed, starting 2 weeks later to May 31 of the following year, in each flu season.

At an estimated 515 older adults needed to be vaccinated with HD-IIV instead of SD-IIV to prevent one all-cause hospitalization, a simple switch from SD-IIV to HD-IIV could substantially reduce the burden of influenza on health systems.

FLUNITY-HD included 466,320 adults with an average age of 73.3 years; 48% were women, and 48.9% had one or more chronic conditions. 

Hospitalization for flu or pneumonia was documented in 0.56% of the HD-IIV group, compared with 0.62% of SD-IIV recipients (relative vaccine effectiveness [rVE], 8.8%). HD-IIV also lowered the rate of cardiorespiratory hospitalization (2.02% vs 2.16% in the SD-IIV group; rVE, 6.3%), flu hospitalization (0.11% vs 0.16%; rVE, 31.9%), and all-cause hospitalization (8.54% vs 8.73%; rVE, 2.2%).

Hospital admission for flu occurred in 0.07% of HD-IIV participants and 0.12% in SD-IIV recipients (rVE, 39.6%), and hospitalization for pneumonia was documented in 0.50% and 0.51%, respectively (rVE, 2.3%).

Participants in both groups died of any cause with similar frequency (0.61% vs 0.62%; rVE, 1.2%). The rate of serious adverse events was comparable between groups (16,032 vs 15,857).

The findings "will inform evidence-based decision making by health-care providers, policy makers, and immunization technical advisory groups, contributing to potential optimization of influenza vaccination strategies in the vulnerable older adult population globally," the authors wrote. 

"At an estimated 515 older adults needed to be vaccinated with HD-IIV instead of SD-IIV to prevent one all-cause hospitalization, a simple switch from SD-IIV to HD-IIV could substantially reduce the burden of influenza on health systems," they added.

29% greater protection against infection

The second study, published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, used a test-negative design to analyze inpatient and outpatient data from four studies on older vaccinated adults tested for flu during the 2022-23 and 2024-25 flu seasons.

The average patient age was 81.1 years, 52.1% were women, and 87.2% had at least one chronic condition, primarily cardiovascular disease (74.2%), respiratory conditions (27.0%), and diabetes (18.7%).

In this integrated analysis, Italian older adults vaccinated with HD-IIV tended to report fewer laboratory-confirmed influenza episodes than their counterparts vaccinated with SD-IIV.

A total of 102 (8.2%) flu cases were identified, all but two (98.0%) of which were type A. Cases were almost evenly distributed among type A(H1N1)pdm09 (52.0%) and A(H3N2) (48.0%).

Of 1,238 participants, influenza positivity was lower among HD-IIV recipients than in the SD-IIV group (6.6% vs 10.3%; rVE, 29%). Relative to SD-IIV, HD-IIV was 54% more effective against infection among adults aged 80 years and older.

In the entire cohort, rVE of HD-IIV versus SD-IIV estimated using an unadjusted model was 40%, but when parsimoniously (28%) or fully (29%) adjusted, the estimate wasn't statistically significant.

"In this integrated analysis, Italian older adults vaccinated with HD-IIV tended to report fewer laboratory-confirmed influenza episodes than their counterparts vaccinated with SD-IIV," the researchers wrote. "This benefit was particularly evident in the oldest old, where the observed rVE consistently indicated a meaningful effect, regardless of the modeling strategy employed."

As the country suffers, King Donald rolls out his latest self-indulgent rape of history

Sure, of course Abraham Lincoln used a bathroom that looked like one in Trump Plaza

Brad Reed

The bathroom adjacent to the White House’s Lincoln Bedroom is seen after being remodeled by President Donald Trump. 

 (Image via Truth Social)

As millions of families across the US are about to lose their access to food aid over the weekend, President Donald Trump on Friday decided to show off photos of a White House bathroom that he boasted had been refurbished in “highly polished, statuary marble.”

Trump posted photos of the bathroom on his Truth Social platform, and he explained that he decided to remodel it because he was dissatisfied with the “art deco green tile style” that had been implemented during a previous renovation, which he described as “totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.”

“I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble,” Trump continued. “This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”

Charlestown mobile home park residents buy their own properties to defend against predatory buyers

Coop ownership to preserve the future

Cassie Powell, University of Richmond

EDITOR'S NOTE: In Charlestown, the residents of the Border Hill Mobile Home Park on South County Trail (Route 2) put together financing for a $5.125 million group purchase of their 16-acre mobile home complex. Deb Foss, treasurer of the Border Hill Mobile Home Park Home-Owners Association noted “We wanted to purchase the park to secure our future. We didn’t want to wait for a hedge fund to come in and jack up our lot rents or kick us out" as described in the following article.

With help from the Cooperative Development Institute and financial support from the Rhode Island Foundation, they closed the deal on September 29. It's a great success story and congrats to the new owners!   - Will Collette

One of America’s most affordable paths to homeownership is slipping away.

At manufactured home parks – sometimes called trailer parks or mobile home parks – rents are rapidly rising due to large-scale buyouts by private equity firms.

Although private equity’s foray into the housing market is not new, the buyout of mobile home parks by investment firms is on the rise – with devastating consequences for residents. Over the past decade, rents in these parks have risen 45%, according to census data. Once a park is sold, the risk of eviction rises significantly in the following year.

SNAP facts

Trump is now in a fight with Pope Leo

Imprisoned immigrants are not only denied access to clergy but also to lawyers and to family. Also decent food, medical treatment, safe and sanitary quarters since they are kept in conditions more like concentration camps than jails. Pope Leo, a native of Chicago, DOES know what he's talking about.

Trump claims ​‘wind mills’ kill whales but then kills the science that would prove (or disprove) it

Guess we'll just have to take King Donald's word on it

Researchers at the New England Aquarium spotted this
right whale during an aerial survey in 2021. The Trump administration
recently clawed back nearly $500,000 in federal funding for the
aquarium's whale-monitoring program. (New England Aquarium;
 photo taken under NMFS Permit #19674)

By Clare Fieseler

The Trump administration has repeatedly blamed offshore wind farms for whale deaths, contrary to scientific evidence. Now the administration is quietly abandoning key research programs meant to protect marine mammals living in an increasingly busy ocean.

The New England Aquarium and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, both in Boston, received word from Interior Department officials last month stating that the department was terminating funds for research to help protect whale populations, effective immediately. The cut halted a 14-year-old whale survey program that the aquarium staff had been carrying out from small airplanes piloted over a swath of ocean where three wind farms — Vineyard Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind — are now being built.

Federal officials did not publicly announce the cancellation of funds. In a statement to Canary Media, a spokesperson for the New England Aquarium confirmed the clawback, saying that a letter from Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management dated Sept. 10 had ​“terminated the remaining funds on a multi-year $1,497,453 grant, which totaled $489,068.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: On October 28, Bloomberg News reports that RFK Jr. has ordered the CDC to "probe the potential harms of offshore wind farms." This follows the pattern of Bobby Jr.'s abuse of the scientific method. Rather than have the science inform your conclusions, under Trump and Kennedy, you determine the conclusion and then twist the science to fit. - Will Collette

Landmark Study Finds Alternative Autism Treatments Lack Scientific Proof

Patients deserve safe and effective care

By University of Southampton

A sweeping international review of nearly 250 analyses has found that popular complementary and alternative treatments for autism lack strong scientific support, and their safety is rarely evaluated.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition that affects how people communicate, process information, and interact with others. It is estimated to affect around 1 in 100 people worldwide.

In a study published in Nature Human Behaviour, researchers from Paris Nanterre University, Paris Cité University, and the University of Southampton reviewed 248 meta-analyses, which together included 200 clinical trials and more than 10,000 participants.

The research examined how well complementary, alternative, and integrative medicines (CAIMs) work in treating autism, as well as their safety. The team analyzed 19 different approaches, such as animal-assisted therapy, acupuncture, herbal remedies, music therapy, probiotics, and Vitamin D.

The team also created an online platform to make it easier for people to see the evidence they generated on different CAIMS.

American oligarchs cash in on Trump

10 Richest Americans Have Gained $700 Billion in Wealth Since Trump Reelection

Jake Johnson

New research published November 3 shows that the 10 richest people in the United States have seen their collective fortune grow by nearly $700 billion since Donald Trump secured a second term in the White House and rushed to deliver more wealth to the top in the form of tax cuts.

The billionaire wealth surge that has accompanied Trump’s return to power is part of a decades-long, policy-driven trend of upward redistribution that has enriched the very few and devastated the working class, Oxfam America details in Unequal: The Rise of a New American Oligarchy and the Agenda We Need.

Between 1989 and 2022, the report shows, the least rich US household in the top 1% gained 987 times more wealth than the richest household in the bottom 20%.

As of last year, more than 40% of the US population was considered poor or low-income, Oxfam observed. In 2025, the share of total US assets owned by the wealthiest 0.1% reached its highest level on record: 12.6%.

The Trump administration—in partnership with Republicans in Congress—has added rocket fuel to the nation’s out-of-control inequality, moving “with staggering speed and scale to carry out a relentless attack on working-class families” while using “the power of the office to enrich the wealthy and well-connected,” Oxfam’s new report states.

“The data confirms what people across our nation already know instinctively: The new American oligarchy is here,” said Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America. “Billionaires and mega-corporations are booming while working families struggle to afford housing, healthcare, and groceries.”

“Now, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress risk turbocharging that inequality as they wage a relentless attack on working people and bargain with livelihoods during the government shutdown,” Maxman added. “But what they’re doing isn’t new. It’s doubling down on decades of regressive policy choices. What’s different is how much undemocratic power they’ve now amassed.”

Are we headed back persistent worries about nuclear war?

Donald Trump has Effectively Ended All Nuclear Agreements

Dr. Bandy X. Lee

I wish I did not have to do titles in all bold—but we have arrived at this point in so many domains! Even as day-to-day matters are consuming us, I have emphasized the need to respond proactively and to understand deeply, so as to prevent things getting out of hand. 

This includes matters related to the future welfare of our country, our world, ourselves, and our families—no person can afford to ignore what is happening. 

As nuclear weapons have proliferated tremendously, increasing the magnitude of their destructive power and the speed at which they can be employed, not to mention their metastasizing types, we have become psychologically inured to their presence. 

This is a huge, quite possibly fatal, mistake to let happen. There are very good reasons Albert Einstein and his colleagues tried to bring to our consciousness this potential through “the Doomsday Clock”—soon after they quickly realized that their scientific discoveries had changed the human condition—which now counts down in seconds rather than minutes.

Especially in the new political, economic, and military situation we are now in, we need to urgently bring our focus to de-escalation, not only of the weapons but of the ways we think about the weapons and about how we are conducting international affairs.

Just minutes before Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with Xi Jinping of China, he declared that the U.S. would resume nuclear testing—for the first time since 1992. With this statement, he has, in effect, effectively ended all nuclear agreements.