Rhode Islanders deserve a coastal agency that is transparent and accountable – one that makes decisions based on science and the rule of law.

Tear down this wall

By Topher Hamblett, Rhode Island Current

A Quidnessett Country Club spokesperson defended the club’s illegal construction of a 600-foot rock wall on the shores of Narragansett Bay as an effort to “protect our cherished Bay” in a story published Sept. 24 in Rhode Island Current.

Rhode Islanders, do not buy what Quidnessett Country Club is trying to sell you.

The fact is, the North Kingstown country club knowingly and flagrantly broke the law. Now, they are trying to change the rules by asking the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) to downgrade protections for Narragansett Bay to keep their illegal wall.

Council members are not required to have expertise in coastal matters, yet seem willing to accommodate the country club despite the recommendations of CRMC’s professional staff to deny their request. In a Sept. 20 memo to the politically appointed council, CRMC’s staff warned of the “potential negative impacts to shoreline lateral access, coastal habitat and marine resources” of such a decision.

CRMC’s professional staff has also taken enforcement actions, including fines and requiring that Quidnessett remove its 600-foot-long rock wall and restore the shoreline and coastal habitats wrecked by the wall. It has been over 400 days since they were issued an order to remove the wall.

Meanwhile, the federal Army Corps of Engineers has issued a notice of violation against the club for illegally filling the intertidal zone of Narragansett Bay.

Patricia Morgan's mystery mailer

Attack postcard against Sheldon Whitehouse sent from Alabama PAC, Roosevelt Society Action

By Will Collette

We received an interesting postcard (above) promoting Patricia Morgan (R-MAGA) in her bid to unseat incumbent US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. It raises several MAGA issues such as immigration and blaming VP Kamala Harris for the influx of fentanyl into many local communities by means they leave to your imagination. It holds Whitehouse responsible for rising local property taxes - how a US Senator affects local property taxes is NOT explained.

Channel 12's Ted Nesi spotted the fine print, circled above, and tried to find out who is backing Morgan. Here's what he wrote in his weekly Nesi Notes:

6. Rhode Island’s U.S. Senate race has been a lopsided fight financially, with incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse vastly outspending GOP nominee Patricia Morgan so far. But Morgan is now getting some outside help. Roosevelt Society Action, a super PAC with an Alabama address that was established last month, just spent $54,000 on a pro-Morgan mailer that is now hitting mailboxes. The group has also posted a 30-second ad on YouTube attacking Whitehouse and talking up Morgan, though it’s unclear if it will air on broadcast TV or just be a digital spot. Who’s paying for all this, and do they plan to spend more? That’s unclear. The super PAC’s only reported income to date is a $200,000 contribution on Sept. 17 from an entity called The Roosevelt Society. It has an address in Hudson, Wisconsin, that pops up in the FEC database tied to other conservative political donations.

I followed the tracks Nesi laid down to see if I could find out more. Mostly, I confirmed what Nesi wrote and found a few more details that interested me.

The postcard makes the claim that "Patricia Morgan stands for Rhode Island, not DC politics" (whatever that means.) However, the Roosevelt Society super PAC uses a DC bank, the Chain Bridge Bank of McLean, VA.

There are no names of who gave the money the Roosevelt Society gives out to MAGA candidates like Morgan. The only name in their FEC paperwork is Kayla Graze. On her Linked In page, Graze describes herself as a CPA working for the Birmingham, AL firm of Crosby Ottenhoff Group. 

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Crosby Ottenhoff is linked to 80 far-right politic candidates as well as a variety of right-wing Super PACs. 

I'm glad Ted Nesi followed one of the important rules of research - always read the fine print - to give us some insight into Patricia Morgan's dubious qualifications to become Rhode Island's US Senator.

Trump's McD's stunt

Yes! to Question 5

Donald Trump Lies, Hurricanes, Haitians, and What Is at Stake

If we elect a lying, demented despot....

By Thomas Schueneman

By Nick Anderson

Floridians are still recovering from the double impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Fueled by record ocean temperatures, both storms rapidly intensified from tropical storms to Category 4 and 5 hurricanes within hours.

The powerful storm ravaged the Appalachian Mountains, delivering torrential rain that triggered severe flooding, reaching as far north as Ohio. Up to 30 inches fell in some areas, leading to unprecedented damage in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Thousands of residents were stranded, facing power outages and water shortages, while roads and communication lines became impassable, leaving entire communities isolated in the wake of Helene’s destruction.

FEMA offices in hard-hit Rutherford County and elsewhere were forced to modify or suspend their on-the-ground operations in response to threats of violence due to the lies and misinformation spewed by Donald Trump and his cult minions.

The Trump Weave: Reading From the Same Incoherent Script

Some of Trump’s lies are laughable. Most are not. Some cause immediate harm to Americans, many of whom claim his allegiance, all of whom deserve better from a presidential candidate.

From Haitians eating pets in Springfield to FEMA agents out to get Republicans, Trump has no compunction for the harm his shameless rhetoric causes. Political expediency trumps all else (begging your pardon). Instead of offering solace, the words of a true leader in a time of need, he elicits hindrance and harm, stoking fear, sowing distrust, and disseminating lies.

That’s what he always does, of course. Trump is a one-trick pony. Even his cult followers leave his carnival shows early. They’ve heard it before. They know how the plot ends.

Laced with incoherent non-sequiturs, Trump “weaves” together a dark tapestry of retribution, the coming invasion of sub-human “animals,” and of enemies to be crushed.

The Plastics Industry’s Wish List for a Second Trump Administration

The ultimate pay-to-play

By Lisa Song for ProPublica

Tucked into a green-sounding federal recycling bill filed last month is a wish list, not of tough new mandates to get a handle on the world’s plastic’s crisis, but of regulatory rollbacks and government assistance that would boost the plastics industry.

Endorsed by petrochemical lobbyists, the legislation is being criticized by environmentalists who are calling it the industry’s own Project 2025 — a playbook for a potential Trump administration to support an oil and gas industry that’s increasingly dependent on manufacturing plastic.

Among the bill’s supporters’ litany of wishes: They want taxpayers to help prop up “advanced” chemical recycling methods that companies have oversold as a solution for plastic-choked oceans and communities.

They want one of the plastic industry’s dirtiest and most inefficient technologies — one akin to incineration — to be redefined as manufacturing, which would make it exempt from air pollution laws.

They want to legitimize an accounting method that allows companies to exaggerate how much recycled plastic is in their products.

And they want to ensure secrecy around how companies process old plastic and prevent states from setting more stringent regulations for the industry.

Even though the bill itself is a legislative long shot, federal agencies under Donald Trump could adopt some of its most extreme provisions without congressional approval, said Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal toxics policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The previous Trump administration had already started the most consequential rollback — the exemption from air pollution regulations — before the Biden administration reversed it.

Thundermist Health Center Announces Stabilization of Finances

Major provider, with two South County offices, dodges the bullet

Thundermist Health Center today announced that it worked with a variety of partners and stakeholders to secure the operating capital it needs to stay open, operate at full capacity, and fulfill its budgetary obligations going forward.

Thundermist’s Interim CEO Maria Montanaro states, “Achieving this milestone assures that Thundermist will remain viable as one of the state’s largest, independent community health centers, ensuring that it will be able to fulfill its mission to the communities and the patients it serves.”

Thundermist had announced in early September it was facing a financial crisis and needed to close a budget gap of $2 million a month. Thundermist’s board of directors subsequently terminated its contract with former President and CEO Jeanne LaChance and reduced the health center’s workforce by 14%, along with implementing additional measures to help stabilize the organization. 

The board hired Maria Montanaro as interim CEO to oversee turnaround efforts. Montanaro had previously served as Thundermist’s president and CEO 1997-2011.

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance is lying - AGAIN - about Ninigret Park

Reject the CCA’s 39 Million Dollar Lie

Charlestown Residents United (CRU)

Contrary to what the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) would like you to believe, this Town Council is NOT spending $39 million in Ninigret Park.
❌ We are NOT building a stadium.
❌ We are NOT ruining the dark sky.
❌ We are NOT running a negative campaign or spreading false information.

The Town is required to update the Master Plan, which was last updated in 2008. 

We are overdue by six years in fulfilling this obligation. 

And let’s be clear — NOTHING can get built in Ninigret Park unless the voters approve the funding.

Just because something is in the Plan does NOT mean it will be built.

For example:
• The 1994 Plan included a "bandshell" that was never built.
• Both the 1994 and 2008 Plans had football fields, which were also never built.

On the other hand, something not in the Plan could still be built if approved. Take the multi-purpose trail near the playground and senior/community center — that wasn't in the Master Plan, but it was built.

Let’s be clear: This is CCA fearmongering.

NOTHING can be built without voter approval for funding.

Once again:
❌ This Town Council is NOT spending $39 million in Ninigret Park.
❌ We are NOT building a stadium.
❌ We are NOT ruining the dark sky.

Only tricks. No treats

 

Unnecessary and too expensive

Trump's Project 2025 Threatens Full Privatization of Medicare

A Death Sentence for Millions

Diljeet Singh

Once you’ve been told you have cancer, waiting is the last thing you want to do. As a practicing Gynecologic Oncologist, I know patients with so-called “Medicare Advantage” plans will be waiting—waiting to find a specialist like me within their network, waiting to get pre-authorization for the tests they need so we can discuss their diagnosis and possible treatments and, ultimately, waiting to get approval for their surgery and treatments.

Unfortunately, Project 2025 would make this already difficult process even worse. By fully privatizing Medicare, this Heritage Foundation plan would shift even more power into the hands of corporate insurers, who prioritize profits over patient care. 

The result would be even narrower provider networks, more restrictive approvals for tests and treatments, and a system designed to delay or deny care to those who need it most. For patients, that means critical time lost—time that may mean more pain, more symptoms, and a decreased chance of being cured.

Under Project 2025, the burden of navigating these hurdles would fall not just on patients, but on physicians and health care workers who are already stretched thin. Physicians for a National Health Program estimates that doctors and their teams would spend up to 43 million hours annually dealing with prior authorizations alone. 

Charlestown wildfire danger persists, fire started by idiot with fireworks

Dry weather, low humidity continues to pose fire threat

By Will Collette

This was yesterday's threat level.
Danger remains today

Saturday saw our area put under the highest level of warning for brushfires with officials urging extreme caution. No rain, low humidity, wind and high temperatures on Saturday combined to make officials put out their highest alert.

Naturally, some clown with fireworks apparently took the opportunity to test the warning last night, setting off a brushfire that consumed about three-quarters of an acre. See map for location.

Charlestown Fire Chief Don Rathbone told Channel 10 News, "It came up near the driveway, but we were able to knock it down. The difficult part was the terrain that it was in." The fire was extinguished at around 10 PM.

Even though the Sunday forecast is for lower winds and temperatures, the ground is still bone dry. There is NO rain in the extended forecast except for a 30% chance of showers Tuesday night. 

The National Weather Service to issue this warning for our area for today:

ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS FOR SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TODAY...

West winds are expected to not be quite as strong today across southern New England. However, minimum relative humidity values should fall between 25 to 40 percent. The combination of recent dry weather and very dry ground will continue to make conditions favorable for wildfire development today.

Use caution when handling and disposing of ignition sources. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

Is childproofing the internet constitutional?

It's up to the Supreme Court to decide

Meg Leta Jones, Georgetown University

The U.S. Supreme Court and Congress are wrestling with
how to protect kids online. Meg Leta Jones, CC BY-ND

Mounting pressure to regulate children’s use of technology in the United States raises the question: Is childproofing the internet constitutional?

In response to significant political pressure stemming from alarming revelations about youth experience with digital technologies, a wave of state laws have recently passed across the U.S. 

They address a variety of online harms affecting children, ranging from exposure to pornography and risky content to manipulative design and social media access.

Most of the newly passed state laws have already been challenged, and those challenges are working their way up through the appeals process of the court system. In the 2024-25 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of a Texas law that obligates porn sites to block underage users in the case Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.

The controversy found its way to the highest court after a federal district court determined that the law violated the First Amendment but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court decision. The 5th Circuit ruling compared the new law with those banning the sale of pornography magazines to minors in the 1960s, which were ruled constitutional.

While the court considers the Texas law, the U.S. House will be considering the Kids Online Safety Act, known as KOSA, and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, referred to as COPPA 2.0, because it updates the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, COPPA. KOSA addresses addictive design features and parental controls, and COPPA limits data collection and use. Senate leaders merged the two into KOSPA, which passed 91-3.

The right’s unhinged anti-immigrant rhetoric is putting people in danger — and letting the real villains off the hook

Scapegoating Immigrants Hurts All of Us — Except Elites

.By Sonali Kolhatkar 

Republicans are counting on fears of immigrants to draw white conservatives to the polls. This calculation is dangerous — and it lets the real villains in our politics off the hook.

There’s a direct line between Donald Trump’s 2015 declaration about Mexican “rapists” and his 2024 lie about Haitians eating pets. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), has echoed the horrific contention about Haitians even while admitting it was a lie.

Both men are married to women of immigrant origins and may not even believe their own lies. In fact, as a Yale law student in 2012, Vance wrote a blog post decrying Republican anti-immigrant rhetoric. But after he found how convenient it is to bash immigrants for votes, Vance asked his former professor to delete it.

During the vice presidential debate between Vance and Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), Vance scapegoated immigrants every chance he got. In Vance’s world, immigrants are smuggling fentanyl and importing illegal guns. They’re also driving up housing prices while simultaneously putting downward pressure on wages by working for pittances.

Never mind that it’s mostly U.S. citizens smuggling fentanyl, and that illegal guns are flowing the other way across the border — from the U.S. into Mexico. Never mind that it makes no sense for immigrants to be working for less while paradoxically being able to afford homes that Americans cannot.

Truth and logic are beside the point. Fear of the “other” is the plan. This makes life very dangerous for immigrants. Haitian migrants, among others, are facing threats to their safety.

Born to be a scumbag