Charlestown Tapas

Fourteen tasty tidbits of Charlestown news

By Will Collette

Property tax revaluations came out! Let us know how you did by e-mail at  progressivecharlestown@gmail.com. We'll have more details for you on the revaluations and on the new town budget coming soon.

Neil Armstrong landing on the moon has nothing on this

This is one of those turning points in history where those alive will always remember where they were when they first heard the news. Well, here it is: Dunkin’ Donuts is coming out with a Peeps® donut. It’s a limited-time-only flavor. Why hasn’t someone come up with this before! It’s perfect!

Regular readers will notice I have slacked off a bit on my annual Peeps® coverage. Not only is this a serious time for serious people, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Even Peeps®. Although, if you want to see all of my past, enthusiastic Peeps® coverage, click here.

No need for Charlestown war with Richmond and Hopkinton

Tough break for Dan after he got a
new uniform and everything

Charlestown Town Council member Dan Slattery (CCA Party) can send the Charlestown militia back home and call off the war he had all but declared with our neighbors over the Chariho School District. 

The casus belli – bills introduced by Rep. Larry Valencia on behalf of the town of Richmond to change the relationships among the towns in the district – are now dead, dead, dead.

These bills are dead because Rep. Valencia was one of a handful of state representatives who chose, on principle, not to vote for the coronation of Nick Mattiello to replace Gordon Fox as Speaker of the House. 

Valencia’s choice means he will be punished most likely by losing his seat on the Finance Committee but also by having none of the legislation he has sponsored even emerge from committee.

New House leadership turns deadly on common sense

The Rhode Island Gun blog celebrated Nick Mattiello’s rise to Speaker of the House. Mattiello has an A+ NRA rating. They were even more excited at Mattiello’s appointment of Tea Party Republican Doreen Costa to become vice-chair of the House Judiciary Committee which has primary jurisdiction over firearms and gun control legislation. You're more liking to see Dan Slattery lead the Town Council in a chorus of Kumbayah than see these bills get out of committee.

Costa is on the left, an unusual position for her

Costa is the Queen of Rhode Island’s gun nuts and was the instigator behind last December’s failed recall effort against the four Democrats on the Exeter Town Council.

Among the immediate casualties of this leadership change: Rep. Donna Walsh’s bill to ban firing guns from aircraft, such as the infamous helicopter gunship incident in Charlestown last summer, and Rep. Larry Valencia’s bill to keep guns out of the hands of persons convicted of domestic violence are now being “held for further study.” That’s the General Assembly’s euphemism for dead.

Ironically, as the RI House leadership was turning anti-gun control, the US Supreme Court, in a rare unanimous vote, strengthened the federal law restricting gun ownership by domestic violence offenders.

Invasion of the mutant wolves

Our neighbors in North Stonington are on high alert after sightings of white alleged wolf-dog hybrids. They are accused of biting a bike-rider and some horses in North Stonington and Ledyard. A gang of them supposedly surrounded one local resident who shot one of them.

The Sun reported that Connecticut Conservation Police went to the home of Tribal war chief Ashbow Sebastian on the Eastern Pequot Reservation and found seven animals that resembled the sightings. They want to take DNA samples to test to determine if they are wolf-dog hybrids which are illegal under Connecticut law.

Note: objects made of silver or bundles of wolfsbane are recommended to ward off werewolves. Might be worth a try if you encounter one of our local mutant wolves.

Evil Weed

At its recent meeting, the Chariho Taskforce heard from Richmond Police Chief Elwood Johnson. Chief Johnson noted the sharp rise in drug overdoses in Rhode Island and said this isn’t just a city problem. He reported that his department is still studying whether it would be a good idea for his department to train officers and equip them with Narcan, the most effective way to save the lives of people suffering from overdoses. Charlestown is way past studying this and equipped its officers and EMTs with Narcan weeks ago.

Must be a gateway to something

Chief Johnson is, however, very concerned about marijuana. He talked about marijuana as a “gateway drug” to hard drugs, a widely disputed if not debunked notion. Johnson claimed that the state’s overdose toxicology reports showed that users also had marijuana in their systems. He did not note whether these reports also found oxygen in their systems.

However, on the bright side, Taskforce community outreach coordinator Kathy Gardner reported that according to their recent survey, 71% of Chariho students said they did not use marijuana. Said Gardner, “We’re tired of talking only about the youth that are doing it. Let’s talk about those that aren’t.” When I was a little kid, my grandmother used to sing me this song - "Let a smile be your umbrella if you like to gargle rain."

CPD busts Narragansett HS school nurse outside Rippy’s

This is a sad but true story that shows we have bigger drug problems than pot. 

Lynn Magnusen who lives on Shannock Road in Charlestown was busted on March 13 by Charlestown Police when she was found passed out in her car outside of Rippy’s Market. CPD found heroin on her (actually, inside her) as well as a crack pipe and syringes. She has been suspended from her job as school nurse at Narragansett High School. She is due to appear in District Court on April 25. Meanwhile, she is on paid administrative lead. Shades of Nurse Jackie.

The Swami Speaks

Speaking of Chariho, there was a rare instance of the CCA Party’s patronage appointee to the Chariho School Committee Ron Areglado publicly speaking out about something in which he has no direct personal self-interest. Except he actually does, because the new Chariho budget would lower Charlestown taxes for him and everyone else. 

Areglado, a life-long educrat, wrote a letter to the Westerly Sun to urge voters to come out and vote in support of the 2014 Chariho school system budget.

On this, I agree with him.

Last year, the Chariho budget was voted on – and rejected – three times. Charlestown voters voted YES while Richmond and Hopkinton voted NO. I noted then that our two CCA-appointed School Committee reps, Areglado and Donna Chambers, made no public statement or appeal to the voters for or against the budget. What changed from last year to this year? This year is an election year and both Areglado and Chambers will have to stand before the voters.

Preference to local farmers

Local farmers should take note that the state has just released a request for bids. The Rhode Island Food Council notes that the state buys more than $4.1 million in food every year. Under the state’s “Buy Local” rules, preference may be given to locally sourced food. The state can also bid out its needs for perishables separately from non-perishables.

All local governments – state and municipal – should attempt to find local vendors for contracts for goods and services.

Unintended Consequences

One of those consequences is a higher profile and greater chance of success for legislation to make fried calamari Rhode Island’s official state appetizer. 

The lead sponsor of the bill is Joe McNamara (DINO-Warwick) who worked the phones on behalf of new Speaker Nick Mattiello. 

McNamara is likely to be rewarded for his efforts not only with plum committee assignments, but by having his bills passed. This is the second time McNamara introduced his calamari bill.

His leading co-sponsors are two unlikely allies from the House Progressive Caucus, Rep. Donna Walsh (D-Charlestown) and Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Peacedale). Donna and Teresa co-sponsored the bill to support Rhode Island’s squid fishing industry. Squid is one of the most reliable sources of revenue for the beleaguered fishing fleet as their numbers are abundant.

Offshore wind power advances

Deepwater Wind hopes to land a billion dollar contract with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to build a 200 megawatt offshore wind farm that would be 30 miles east of Montauk Point and possibly visible from Charlestown. Deepwater is responding to LIPA’s request for bids for projects that can provide the utility with a large amount of renewable energy.

Deepwater’s proposal is in addition to its planned 30-megawatt five-turbine pilot project off Block Island which may go operational in 2016 and the much larger wind farm it hopes to build further out into the continental shelf.

Meanwhile, Cape Wind has received a $600 million loan from a Danish company for its planned 130 turbine wind farm off Cape Cod. Denmark has been one of the world leaders in developing wind to energy technology and now derives most of its energy from renewable sources. The US Energy Department also intends to provide Cape Wind with a loan guarantee to make it easier to line up private financing.

Charlestown’s anti-wind power NIMBY group has opposed off-shore wind power. One of Ill Wind RI’s leaders, Maureen Areglado, testified against the Deepwater project, claiming that big, scary turbines might cause health effects even when they’re miles out in the ocean.

Charlestown residents may recall that the fight against the Whalerock land-based turbines waged by Areglado and her colleagues ended when the town of Charlestown spent $2.14 million to buy the property where the turbines were to be sited.

Push to close URI nuke in Narragansett

Building at URI housing RI's only nuke (EcoRI photo)

Most local folks don’t realize that Rhode Island’s only nuclear reactor is located just down the road at URI’s Bay Campus. It’s a 54 year old, obsolete “research” reactor that generates two megawatts. 

Long-time reactor critic, progressive former state Representative Ray Rickman is hoping this is the year to begin decommissioning this reactor. This time, he has support from ultra-conservative think tank, the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity.

Left-right unity on this issue springs from the costs to run the facility – RI taxpayers spend $1.2 million a year and federal taxpayers spend a lot more. Closing down – “decommissioning” – a nuke doesn’t come cheap. 

Nuke director Cameron Goodwin says decommissioning will cost around $30 million. He further claims there is no set life span for a nuclear reactor and as long as the reactor is approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it can continue what he claims is an important and expansive educational role.

Ray Rickman disagrees. He specifically challenges Goodwin’s $30 million closure cost claim, noting that a reactor at the University of Michigan that was five times bigger than URI’s nuke was decommissioned for $9.4 million. He says the cost to decommission URI’s nuke is closer to $3 million and could be financed and carried out over several years.

In October, 2011, an accident at URI’s nuke exposed a student worker to excessive amounts of radiation. Click here for more details.

Two Charlestown realtors honored

Congratulations to Christine Holden of Randall Realty’s Charlestown office for being named top rental agent in Rhode Island last year. This must be for beach properties, because Charlestown has so few year-round rental units. Cecile Cohen, manager of Randall’s Charlestown office won Randall’s 2013 Spirit Award.

Roller Derby is back

Providence Roller Derby photo

Rhode Island Roller Derby kicked off its tenth season with its opener in Narragansett on March 28. The opener pitted two Rhode Island teams against two Connecticut teams. At the risk of dating myself, I kinda grew up on roller derby when it was a popular Saturday afternoon feature. That and Godzilla movies.

They use the same rules as 60s-style roller derby except 21^st century roller derby is all-women. I think tattoos are also a mandatory feature.

You can read about them on their website. Their next two matches are away games, but they’ll be back on April 26, returning to the Ocean Club Skate in Narragansett. Advance tickets purchased on-line are $8; at the door, $10.

Prosit!

The Sons of Liberty craft distillery in South Kingstown just won one of ten “World’s Best” awards at a competition in London sponsored by Whiskey Magazine. 

They were competing against 350 other brands. The distillery puts an emphasis on “seasonal brews,” such as their “Pumpkin Spice” which is infused with the flavor of locally-grown, fire-roasted pumpkin. 

They also produced a “Hop Flavored Whiskey” using India Pale Ale to produce a lighter tasting whiskey with citrus notes.