Charlestown
Tapas return with results from District 33 primary, Ashley Hahn’s new job, law
enforcement from the best to the worst, the latest in our local hospital feud,
racism in Rhode Island, housing, nukes and jobs
By Will Collette
Bit of an upset in
Democratic primary for House District 33
 |
| Democratic primary winner Carol Hagan McEntee |
Three
Democrats went into the May 5 Democratic primary to replace resigned Rep.
Donald Lally for the district that includes South Kingstown and Narragansett.
The apparent front-runner, US Rep David Cicilline’s sister Susan Cicilline
Buonanno took an 11th hour hit when she was hit with an ethics
complaint for using the phone and e-mail of Cranston's Gladstone Elementary School where she
is principal to conduct campaign business.
That’s a no-no, although she said it was
an honest mistake,
apparently thinking it was OK to use city property (and time on the clock) for
personal stuff.
Well,
that may have convinced enough voters to swing to her opponent Carol Hagan
McEntee, a South Kingstown Town Council member, and give McEntee the win by 75 votes
out of 1300 cast.
McEntee
now goes on to face Republican challenger Robert A.
Trager and two registered Democrats running as independents, Elizabeth Candas
and James L. McKnight Jr. in the June 9 special election.
GoLocalProv,
which is becoming more and more like Fox News, immediately speculated that
Congressman Cicilline may be in trouble. Because his sister lost a primary.
Because of a self-inflicted wound uncovered by somebody’s opposition research.
GoLocal noted that Cicilline Buonanno raised 30 times more money than
Hagan-McEntee and had the big name endorsements, including House Speaker Nick
Mattiello.
Personally,
I think GoLocal is reaching, but they’re entitled to their opinion. With a
strong Democratic Party in South Kingstown, Hagan McEntee is the clear favorite
to win on June 9 in this very Democratic district, but South County was
full of surprises
in the most recent election cycle. A four-way race could complicate the results
on June 9.
Ashley
makes another jump
No one was
surprised when Charlestown Town Planner Ashley Hahn resigned in November 2013
after doing six and a half years of hard time under the whip of Planning
Commissar and CCA Party leader Ruth Platner. It was a bit of a surprise that
Ashley picked West Warwick for her next gig, with all West Warwick’s financial
trouble and political rancor.
Ashley did her very
best in Charlestown under trying circumstances and worked hard to maintain her
integrity. I wish her the best of luck in Exeter, although their Town Council
made a radical shift to the right in the 2014 election which might make it hard
for a straight-arrow public servant like Ashley be able to do her job when they did, as Charlestown often did (and still does) that they don't want to follow state rules.
The CCA Party can stop worrying
about the Quonnie Grange
The Westerly Sun
reports that the Dunn’s
Corner Fire District has figured out a way to make repairs to the Quonnie
Grange so that it can be re-opened for rental as meeting space.
A group of
disgruntled Quonochontaug and Charlestown Citizens Alliance people raised hell with
the Fire Chief because he felt that the Fire District’s money would be better
spent on the district’s capacity to fight fires, rather than spent on repairs
to the Grange building.
I noted that the
Quonochontaug folks seem to have a hard time understanding that fighting fires
is what fire districts are supposed to do. Their own Quonochontaug Central Fire District is actually set up to deliver amenities like tennis, swimming,
boating, trash pick-up, public water, etc. to residents – everything except
fire protection which they contract out to Dunn’s Corner.
Which might make tomorrow, Wednesday, interesting since the National Weather Service has issued an alert for fires in our area. I'm not kidding - click here. It's nice when your Fire District actually fights fires.
Which might make tomorrow, Wednesday, interesting since the National Weather Service has issued an alert for fires in our area. I'm not kidding - click here. It's nice when your Fire District actually fights fires.
I still don’t
understand why these people can't use the facilities of the Quonochontaug Central
Fire District and instead want the Dunn’s Corner Fire District to bear the
cost.
Ever the champions of rich property owners from out-of-state, the CCA-led Charlestown Town Council passed a resolution last month denouncing Gov. Gina Raimondo's idea to create a state property tax on million dollar-plus properties with out of state owners. Naturally, the media called it the "Taylor Swift Tax" to honor our part-time Westerly neighbor.
But the CCA Party can relax. State revenues have vastly exceeded expectations and Gov. Raimondo has withdrawn her Taylor Swift Tax, saying it's no longer needed. I say, too bad because it's time we got some help for our state from people who can easily afford it. That tax proposal was one of the few things Raimondo has done that I heartily supported.
The CCA can also stop worrying about Taylor Swift
Ever the champions of rich property owners from out-of-state, the CCA-led Charlestown Town Council passed a resolution last month denouncing Gov. Gina Raimondo's idea to create a state property tax on million dollar-plus properties with out of state owners. Naturally, the media called it the "Taylor Swift Tax" to honor our part-time Westerly neighbor.
But the CCA Party can relax. State revenues have vastly exceeded expectations and Gov. Raimondo has withdrawn her Taylor Swift Tax, saying it's no longer needed. I say, too bad because it's time we got some help for our state from people who can easily afford it. That tax proposal was one of the few things Raimondo has done that I heartily supported.
Congratulations, Sergeant Gingerella!
Last summer, Charlestown Police Sergeant Philip Gingerella heroically rescued a vacationing New Yorker who seemed either miss or ignore all the warnings about rip currents and nearly got himself killed. Blue Shutters Beach was actually closed at the time due to bad weather.
Sergeant Gingerella rigged up some safety gear and dove into the
surf to pluck the idiot tourist from danger. Recently ousted Parks & Recreation Director Jay Primiano provided a valuable assist, not that it did him any good with CCA Party leaders gunning for him.
Sergeant Gingerella just received a national honor, as Officer of the
Month from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Well deserved.
Two others mar
Charlestown’s reputation
Two other Charlestown residents have been in the news, but not
in a good way. After getting lots of media attention last year during the trial
of Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, retired FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick of
Charlestown was indicted by the
US Justice Department for committing perjury during that trial where he gave
testimony as the first witness called by the defense.
He testified that the feds initially botched the case against
Bulger by failing to heed his sage advice that Whitey Bulger was a very bad man and
should not be used as an FBI informant.
During the trial, the prosecutor took him
head on, challenging Fitzpatrick as a guy who liked to tell stories and
exaggerate his accomplishments, such as his claim that he found the rifle that
was used to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King (it was actually three Memphis
Police officers who did). Now, the feds have backed up those court room challenges with
this indictment.
When this hit local TV
and the Channel 10 teaser said they would interview one of Fitzpatrick’s
Charlestown neighbors who believes Fitzpatrick is an honest guy, I was almost
certain it was going to be Charlestown’s other tall-tale telling ex-Feeb, CCA
Party Treasurer Dan Slattery.
But to my surprise, it turned out that it was Mini-Super owner
Charlie Beck who rose to Fitzpatrick’s defense. Well, I guess we’ll have to see
how this case turns out to see what kind of guy Fitzpatrick really is.
Then there’s Kevin Maynard, also of Charlestown. Channel 12
reports that special agents from the federal Veterans Affairs executed
a search warrant at Maynard’s home looking for tombstones that Maynard had
bragged to co-workers about taking from the state’s Veterans Cemetery in Exeter.
When tombstones are changed, usually due to damage, wear or the
death of the veteran’s spouse, the old tombstone is supposed to be respectfully
disposed of, usually by being crushed into gravel. Maynard allegedly told
co-workers that he had grabbed the stones and “used them” for his own purposes
According to Target 12:
“The search warrant affidavit includes a number of pictures from Maynard’s backyard, showing several headstones with veterans names easy to see. But other stones were face down, names, dates and service branches buried in the dirt, used as foundations for a shed and two make-shift car-ports. In the affidavit the federal agent wrote “he observed automotive fluids and debris scattered over the gravestones.”
OK. Well, as in the case against Fitzpatrick, we’ll have to see where the Maynard case
leads, remembering that under our justice system, even people like this are
presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Westerly Hospital
continues attacks against South County Hospital plans
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| Cry-baby Bruce Cummings, center |
I reported in the April 20 Charlestown Tapas that Cummings has been attempting job blackmail on the Westerly Town Council, wanting them to do something to block a private developer from building a medical building on Route One that might house an annex of South County Hospital.
Now
Cummings is
concerned about potential development at another site at 50 Wells
Street, just 500 yards away from Westerly Hospital. Cummings wants to make sure
that nothing is built there that competes with his subsidiary Westerly Hospital’s
operations.
Yeah, it's true that Westerly Hospital probably would have closed down if L&M had not bought it (at a distress sale price),
but where in the purchase and sales agreement is it written that L&M
deserves to be protected from competition?
His squawks against South County
Hospital were especially galling, given that South County Hospital puts its
energies into being one of the best hospitals in the country – as measured by
outside rating services and Medicare – while Cummings plays at being a robber
baron.
South
County Hospital just reported that for the fifth
straight year, it ran with an operating surplus. That latest
surplus was $6.8 million and they did it without a brutal lock-out of their own
workers.
They did it while expanding the depth and breadth of services they
offer, rather than cutting back as Cummings has done at L&M.
And
they did it while still offering top-notch service. Once again, South County
received an “A” grade for hospital safety. The only other hospital in
Rhode Island to be so graded is Miriam. Westerly Hospital was not listed, but
parent Lawrence &
Memorial was, receiving a “C.”
Their
grade was dragged down by failing in the category of “death
from treatable serious complications.”
So,
Bruce, until you get your grades up and start treating your workers like human
beings, when it comes to competition, STFU.
Speaking of ratings and statistics…
Here’s one I didn’t see coming – a new peer-reviewed study reports that in addition to the rural South, the other deep hotbed of racism in America is the rural Northeast. According to their research, Rhode Island in general and South County in particular displayed signs of racism similar to some of the worst redneck racist parts of the South and Appalachia. That’s not good news given the long-running attacks by Charlestown town government led by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance against our neighbors in the Narragansett Indian Tribe.
One
of the factors the researchers used was the relative number of times residents
searched the internet using the rude N word racists use to describe African
Americans. I’m sure most Charlestown residents have heard that same N word used
by white residents who call the Narragansetts “N….s from Providence” or sometimes, as in this example, the same message, cleaned up slightly.
This is Charlestown's shame. Thanks to them, we find ourselves in the company of some of America’s more enlightened locales in Alabama, West Virginia and Mississippi.
This is Charlestown's shame. Thanks to them, we find ourselves in the company of some of America’s more enlightened locales in Alabama, West Virginia and Mississippi.
%%%%%
The
American Lung
Association has given South County an “F” for air quality, largely due to
our terrible summertime ozone levels that come along with all the tourist
traffic. Providence also got an F where industry and cars dirty their air.
%%%%%
Despite
bad weather and our chronically slow economy, Rhode Island’s
housing market is trending upward. In Charlestown, overall sales
are down by 4.35% so far this year, but average sales price is up by 3.97%. But
from what I’ve seen of Charlestown sales data from all sources, overall there
isn’t much action in Charlestown’s housing market.
Zillow currently
says that Charlestown
home values are up 1.5% over last year to an average of $327,500 and are
forecasting another 1.5% increase over the next 12 months.
In my coverage of our troubled local Millstone Nuclear Power plant, when a nuclear power plant has a problem, we all hold our breath. But more can go wrong than a nuclear release as residents along New York's Hudson River learned last week. The Indian Point nuclear plant, just 30 miles north of Manhattan, had to shut down after a crucial transformer caught fire.
As a result of this accident, thousands of gallons of oil were spilled into the Hudson. Of course, the plant and public officials claimed there was no cause for alarm, but emergency crews have been scrambled to try to contain the oil spill.
Nuke news
In my coverage of our troubled local Millstone Nuclear Power plant, when a nuclear power plant has a problem, we all hold our breath. But more can go wrong than a nuclear release as residents along New York's Hudson River learned last week. The Indian Point nuclear plant, just 30 miles north of Manhattan, had to shut down after a crucial transformer caught fire.As a result of this accident, thousands of gallons of oil were spilled into the Hudson. Of course, the plant and public officials claimed there was no cause for alarm, but emergency crews have been scrambled to try to contain the oil spill.
Local environmental groups, including the Riverkeeper organization that was organized by the late, great Pete Seeger, are calling for Indian Point to be shut down, noting that because of its close proximity to millions of people, it would never have gotten a permit today.
Jobs
Wood River Health Services in
Hope Valley has four current job openings for medical professionals. These
openings are:
