Charlestown Tapas

Eleven quick takes for busy readers

By Will Collette

Jobs – where they are, where they’re not

I’m going to lead this edition of Charlestown Tapas with jobs because it affords the opportunity to link several recurring topics. 

First, Charlestown’s overall unemployment rate is beginning to creep upward again. After a very encouraging drop to only 5.7% in June (a pre-Recession level), we’ve now had two straight months of increases in the rate which went up by 0.1% in August to 7.2%.

The actual increase in the number of Charlestown residents collecting unemployment benefits only grew by one person from July to August, but the number of people seeking employment (but not finding it) increased by 16. Our chronic unemployment figure has been running between 300 and 400 people for most of the year.

There continue to be non-profit jobs opening up. The best source for finding out about non-profit openings is RI Community Jobs, a free service of Brown University’s Swearer Center – click here to sign up for their daily e-mail).

The Literacy volunteers of Washington County in Westerly are looking for a part-time development and marketing officer. Click here for details. 

While I don’t normally list jobs in Providence, I happened to notice that Rhode Island Housing, an agency much hated by Planning Commissar Ruth Platner and her Charlestown Citizens Alliance colleagues, is posting two job openings. What a great opportunity for the CCA Party to gather intelligence on Rhode Island’s lead agency on affordable housing that also happens to be its blood enemy.

One opening is for a KeepSpace Coordinator (click here for details) and the other is for an administrative assistant (click here).

But the job opportunity that really grabbed my interest is for an “equipment operator” at the Millstone Nuclear Power plant, just over 20 miles to the west of Charlestown in Waterford, CT. I swear I am not making this up.

If you are a high school graduation or hold a GED, you can get hired to run equipment around the two operating nuclear reactors, start up and shut-down their radioactive waste storage system, read all those little tiny gauges, dials and switches, and respond to plant emergencies.

You will have to pass a test, but don’t worry, they even provide you with a sample test so you can practice (click here). Again, I am not making any of this up.

Here is the actual list of working conditions you might be subjected to if you get the gig: confined spaces, cold. dust/grease/oil, energized wires, fumes, heat, loud noise, operating machinery, outdoors, office work environment, pressurized lines & valves, and last on their list but hardly the least, radiation.

That radiation part is a real thing

Earlier this month, the community review panel assigned to oversee safety issues at Millstone grilled management over the series of accidents and unexpected shut-downs that have plagued the nuclear power plant over the past several months. Even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which tends to turn a blind eye toward most problems, has been alarmed.

According to the New London Day, Nuclear Energy Advisory Council chair Bill Sheehan peppered Millstone managers with questions: “Are you looking to see if alertness is slipping, or if the care is slipping, or if the attitude is changing? Have you looked for a pattern in what seems to be occurring in these dissimilar events, related to materials, or personnel, or training?”

Plant management said it was improving training (e.g. for the first time ever, despite 9/11, the plant ran a simulated exercise to cover what to do in the event of a terrorist attack). Lori Armstrong, director of nuclear safety and licensing, added, "We have recently hired some additional talent, including a corrosion engineer."

And, see above, they plan to hire more high-powered talent.

Militarizing the police

Perhaps inspired by what turned out to be a very popular Progressive Charlestown article on the “Militarization of the Charlestown Police” – which showed that Charlestown is in no danger of a Ferguson, MO style of horror show - GoLocalProv did its own survey of police forces around Rhode Island and the extent to which they are turning to military hardware.

Johnston Police Deputy Chief
Parillo wants to be ready for
anything - insurrection, alien
invasion, whatever

Of course, Charlestown was not mentioned, since this is a non-issue here, but fifteen other police forces were. As Charlestown Chief Jeff Allen noted, the most militarized force in Rhode Island is Johnston, which seems to be just daring ISIS to run their convoys down Route Six.

Johnston took Charlestown’s “Tank/Duck” armored personnel carrier and gave Charlestown one of their Humvees in trade, leaving Johnston with seven. All told, they’ve acquired more than 2,300 pieces of military hardware, almost all of it for the SWAT (“Special Response Team”).

Johnston Deputy Chief Daniel Parillo told GoLocal, “You always prepare for the worst and you train for the worst. You never know what’s going to happen.”

More free flu shot dates announced for Charlestown

Don’t take a chance. Get your flu shot before flu season begins. In Charlestown:

• Senior Center, 3 Oct, 9 am – noon
• Town Hall, 17 Oct, 9:30 am – noon

My colleague Tom Ferrio calls these two events “Saved and a Shot” because you can get your flu shot just before services. Not known: whether you have to stay for services.

• St. James Chapel, 18 Oct, 4 – 5 pm
• St. James Chapel, 19 Oct, 9:15 – 10:15 am

Red Light Camera watch continues

Still waiting for the promised installation of cameras at the intersections of Route One and East Beach and West Beach roads to catch red-light runners. Still no sign of any activity.

I’ve been covering this issue ever since it came up after the tragic death of Colin Foote in May 2010. He was killed by a red-light running multiple offender Laura Reale at the West Beach and Route One intersection where one of the red-light cameras is supposed to be installed.

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance “voices of greed” anonymous chorus opposed the cameras, mainly on the grounds that they have the Constitutional right to drive to kill without being recorded on video (click here for a sampling of CCA Party opinion).

A recent story showed that it could be worse. In Saudi Arabia, they are not only sharply vigilant at traffic light intersections, but they are actually putting offenders in jail. In Jeddah, if you are caught on the city’s CCTV system, you pay a mandatory fine and spend 24 hours in jail.

In case you missed it

There was a fine turn-out at the Breachway Grill on September 22 to support Rep. Donna Walsh’s campaign for re-election. Donna has been called one of Rhode Island’s most effective legislators and is a champion for jobs, the environment, ethics and good government.

She faces a millionaire wingnut who is running as an independent. He has campaigned for radical causes such as states’ rights and militias; if you take his creed to its logical conclusion, he would have us re-fight the Civil War (with him on the side of the Confederacy).

Donna needs your support. Click here to find out how you can help.

Still little sign of mosquito-borne disease

Knock on wood, we’re still doing so much better this year than last for the incidence of mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile or Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Last year, it seemed like DEM was finding infected bugs all over southern RI and hospitals were seeing lots of very ill people. This year, not so much and once again, DEM and the Health Department announce another week with no positive test results.

Reader’s tip on “Bad Actor” laws

After my article on mining in Charlestown, a Progressive Charlestown reader sent me a news link showing that on September 24, the Province of Quebec just tightened up “bad actor” restrictions on major public contracts. 

Firms seeking contracts worth more than $100,000 or subcontracts over $25,000 will have to undergo a background check with Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), and the province’s permanent anti-corruption squad, UPAC.

Quebec Treasury Board President Martin Coiteux told the Montreal Gazette that the government intends to move toward having bidders on all public contracts submit to background checks.

The background check will look into the finances and legal record of applicants and bidders.

Inspired by the nightmare caused by the Copar-Armetta Quarry in Bradford, I have been promoting the idea of Charlestown enacting a “bad actor” ordinance or regulation that would apply to any business seeking either a business license or town contract. After all, why should Charlestown do business with criminals? Or give licenses to criminals? Or permit businesses to operate that lack the ability to pay their bills or taxes?

Hooray, we’re #1 again

In the never-ending stream of state rankings, Rhode Island once again wins the dubious #1 position, this time on the national list of bad bridges. According to the Reason Foundation, Rhode Island’s bridges overall are the worst in the country.

But the good news in that same survey is the Rhode Island is the best in terms of “rural interstate pavement condition.” So I guess that means that we can enjoy the drive on I-95 between the Connecticut state line, but that we should take the exit for Route 4 south lest we stray into urban Rhode Island where we will surely be killed in a bridge collapse.

What do Donald Trump and Ron Areglado have in common?

No, I’m not talking about hairpieces, but their shared hatred of wind energy. The Donald has been crusading against wind energy ever since the British government proposed an off-shore wind farm in Scottish coastal waters somewhat within sight of Trump’s luxury golf resort in Aberdeen.

Using his usual impeccable logic, Trump Tweeted that the reason for Scottish voters’ rejection of independence was due to “ugly wind turbines.” Even though green energy in general and wind power in particular are national priorities in all of Britain, Trump fixated on the enthusiastic support for wind energy by Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond for the surprisingly large “No” vote on independence.

Trump’s remarks drew scorn from both “Yes” and “No” vote supporters. Lots were funny. Many were pretty naughty. Here’s one of my favorites:

Westerly Hospital connected to new Connecticut non-profit hospital “alliance”

It remains to be seen how this will affect, for good or not, patient services at Westerly Hospital, but its owner, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital of New London announced the organization of a new seven-hospital “Value Care Alliance.”

Since Westerly is a wholly-owned L&M subsidiary, that ties Westerly in, de facto. This Value Care Alliance is supposed to lower the cost of services and boost insurance and Medicare reimbursements while improving quality for patients.

I have no doubt that L&M management, ever focused on the bottom line, may very well use this alliance to lower costs and boost reimbursements, but I’m less confident about the improving patient care part, given L&M’s persistently low patient satisfaction rankings.

The other non-profit hospitals in this Alliance are Griffin Hospital in Derby, Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport and the three hospitals in the Western Connecticut Health Network — New Milford Hospital, Danbury Hospital and Norwalk Hospital.