Ten tasty news tidbits
By
Will Collette
Charlestown
Zoning Official featured in ProJo story
In the article, Joe
noted that this is not an option readily available to the less affluent. Joe is
doing his part to abate costs. He completed the course of study and was
certified as a Flood Plain Manager, which puts Charlestown in a position to
qualify for FEMA’s Community Rating System that could result in major discounts
on flood insurance.
Even if Joe wasn't in the ProJo article, it would be noteworthy since the ProJo rarely covers anything south of Warwick anymore.
Even if Joe wasn't in the ProJo article, it would be noteworthy since the ProJo rarely covers anything south of Warwick anymore.
Charlestown
Police get major marks for equipping officers with anti-overdose kits
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| From the CPD Facebook page |
Charlestown
PD is among the pace-setters in equipping its officers with life-saving doses
of naloxone, a drug that counters the effects of a heroin overdose. Rhode
Island has seen a sharp spike in deaths from heroin overdoses since the first
of the year – 45 as of mid-February.
I
saw Lt. Patrick McMahon on Channel 10 talking about this and holding the kits
that CPD staff will be carrying. McMahon noted that about half of CPD’s
officers are also certified as EMTs; those who are not will be trained. The
story hit the AP newswire
and I’ve seen it pop up all over the US. Congrats!
Among
some members of the far-right, this kind of humane conduct is seen as a sign
that the apocalypse is coming. Tea Party Republican Governor of the state of
Maine, Paul LePage,
refuses to sanction first responders to carry naloxone, saying that it only
encourages more drug use by giving addicts a “false sense of security.” Let ‘em
die, says Maine Guv LePage.
Bill would
ban strafing from the air
 |
| [CPD photo] |
Thank
you, Rep. Donna Walsh, for introducing H-7588 which
would plug the loophole Charlestown discovered last summer when a group of men decided it would be fun to do some target shooting…from a helicopter. Neighbors
called Charlestown Police who tried, but could not find, a statutory basis for
arresting the men for this clearly dangerous act. Donna’s bill would make it a
crime to discharge any firearm, incendiary or explosive device from an
aircraft.
The
Rhode Island Gun Blog
lists H-7588 on its compendium of bills it wants its members to lobby against.
They added this comment about the idea of banning gun-fire from a helicopter: “bummer looks like fun.” [SIC]
And now
for something completely different
 |
| Boss Gentz working on his Porsche |
Congratulations,
of sorts, to Town Council Boss Tom Gentz (CCA Party) for being featured in the
prestigious Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car March 2014 issue. He’s featured in
the DIY Weekend Project column on page 66 for his work on the love of his life,
his collection of Porsches. He has three Porsches: a 1966, a 1967 and a
1988, all lovingly restored. All carry an assessed tax valuation of ZERO so
Boss Gentz pays no car tax.
You
can buy a copy
of the March issue of Hemmings for yourself for $6.95.
Tom
Gentz once described himself during a Town Council meeting as a simple
“conservative guy living on a fixed income (May 14, 2012).” It’s good to know
that doesn’t cramp his style.
Don’t go
here, Tom
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| Screen shot from GoLocalProv.com |
When
Boss Gentz goes out tooling in one of his Porsches, he might want to avoid
using Route One at the junction of Route 216 (Ross Hill Road). That
intersection is the third most dangerous in all of Rhode Island. Only the infamous Providence Thurber’s Avenue Curve and
Pawtucket’s scary I-95 S-Turn are ranked worse.
Our
local site tallied 51 crashes, with three deaths and eight injuries.
Another
list where Rhode Island is NOT #1
While
Rhode Island may be #1 for having the highest percentage of people who think
Rhode Island sucks (I’m not one of them, by the way), according to Forbes Magazine,
these people are not voting with
their feet.
Rhode
Island does not make the list of
states where the most people are moving out compared to the number who are
moving in (we actually do pretty well, using that ratio). The worst state is
New Jersey at #1. Fortunately, more would have left except they got caught in
bridge traffic.
Massachusetts
came in at #8 and Connecticut at #5 worst. Four bright red states made the
list, too: Utah (#6), West Virginia (#4), Kentucky (#7) and New Mexico (#9).
Do
you see any pattern to this? I don’t.
Semper Fi!
Actually,
this blurb is about the marine trades, not the actual United States Marines.
Boat-building, repair and refurbishing is a potential growth industry in Rhode
Island and autothere is a Career Day coming up on March 22 for people interested in learning more about the trade. It
will be hosted by the Rhode
Island Marine Trades Association and the IYRS School of Technology and Trades.
It will be a chance for job-seekers to meet potential employers.
It’s free and will run from 10:30 a.m.
to 1 p.m. on the Newport campus (449 Thames St.) of the International
Yacht Restoration School.
Follow-ups
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| Cootie Alert: Be careful of those selfies! |
More
signs of the Apocalypse.
There is a new rival to Smarties®,
that terrible new teenage affliction that so worries parents that the
Portsmouth Middle School actually sent out a warning to parents about teens
crushing and snorting Smarties® and then suffering maggot infestations in their
noses. Well, now it seems that smart phone
group “selfies”
(where a small group of people take their own photo on their phones) are
causing increased outbreaks of head lice as more and more people, especially
teenagers, touch heads to take the shots and then exchange more than pictures.
More
on beating the NRA.
We ran an earlier
article that the Progressive Democrats of Rhode Island (no relationship
with Progressive Charlestown, though we like them) dealt the National Rifle
Association a serious defeat by blowing the whistle on them for making illegal,
undeclared campaign contributions in Rhode Island. The NRA was forced to pay
one of the biggest fines ($63,000) in Rhode Island history and withdrew its
official presence from Rhode Island. TPM, one of the most prominent national
political on-line journals, just published an interview with Sam Bell, RI
Progressive Dems organizer, which you can read by clicking here.
On
occasion, we have re-published Sam’s columns from Rhode Island’s
Future.
Safe
disposal of nuclear waste.
The Holy Grail for supporters of
nuclear energy is finding some remote underground site where nuclear waste from
power plants such as our local Millstone
power plant can be encased and safely buried for the several million years
or so it will take to decay. While the preferred site in the Yucca Mountains of
Nevada has eluded them, the industry did get a pilot site started in Carlsbad,
New Mexico called “WIPP” (“Waste
Isolation Pilot Project”). Proponents claimed WIPP would show that it’s
possible to safely eliminate radioactive waste.
Nah-uh.
In mid-February, a leak was detected based on airborne radiation. Naturally,
the neighbors were told there was “no cause for alarm,” but let’s remember this
site was supposed to be the ultimate in
safe storage. At least 13 workers were
exposed.
WIPP took its first shipment of radioactive waste in March 1999. If you’re
counting, that means the site that was supposed to be safe forever leaked after
less than 15 years.