Monday, May 14, 2012
New legislation to create the quasi-public East Bay Energy Consortium needs some clarification, including an explanation of proposed eminent domain power and issuing of bonds.
The East Bay Energy Consortium, made up of the nine East Bay communities, has submitted a bill to the Legislature to enable the creation of a quasi-public agency. New legislation creates a need to clarify issues and to inform the public. Background: EBEC was formed in late 2009 to use renewable energy and energy efficiencies to save taxpayer money by reducing the amount of energy our municipalities pay for. (Schools, streetlights, water treatment, and municipal buildings require a lot of energy.) Each city and town joined through council resolution and a cash contribution or in-kind payment, and each city and town council appointed one representative and alternates to attend meetings and report back to the municipality. Entity: Rhode …
Sunday, April 29, 2012
We know you have something to say, so join the conversation on Patch and share it!
About this time last year, Patch rolled out a new platform for members of the community to be heard. Now, we're making it even easier to get involved in Middletown Patch's Local Voices. At Patch, we're devoted to finding ways to make your life as ridiculously easy as possible. So we've changed the way blogging works to make it easier for you to start blogging right away. All you have to do to get started is visit our blogging page and click "Post on Patch." From there, let your typing fingers run rampant (but coherently, please) and when you're done writing and have saved your work, hit submit! Patch is more than a news site. It is a free place to post upcoming events. It's an online conversation about the community. But to keep the …
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The following was submitted by Lauren Hayes.
- OPINION
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Thursday, March 22
Middletown student Lauren Elizabeth Hayes, who was selected to participate in the People to People Ambassador Program, shares a thank you following her recent pasta fundraiser at the FOP Hall on March 16. Dear Editor: Thank you all so much for coming! Thank you for all the gracious donations and love and support. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so very grateful for your contributions. When I was first chosen to go on this trip I thought it was too good to be true, but now I see it becoming real for me. This trip is not only for me, but it fulfills my grandfather’s dream of finally seeing the most beautiful place in the world. On this adventure I’ll be seeing the Grecian coastline, Vatican City, and the coliseum all in …
Monday, March 5, 2012
Middletown resident John Byrne submitted the following letter.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, March 5
To the editor: There has been much discussion regarding the wind turbine survey and the apparent impact that one neighbor has had on the outcome. I am that neighbor, and my opinion actually differs from that being portrayed. I agreed to meet with the three Town Council members at my home, and I commend them for taking the time to meet with a constituent to further discuss the balanced comments that I had put in my survey response. But what has transpired since then appears to have resulted in my opinion being given far too much weight in the formation of a town wide policy on turbines. I want to state that I do not have a blanket opinion on turbines one way or the other, my personal opinion is that the installation of turbines should be …
Monday, February 20, 2012
Town councilor Christopher T. Semonelli submitted this letter on why he supports the recently passed resolution to amend the zoning ordinance that would restrict wind turbine placements.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, February 20
I have been involved with wind turbine discussions since my first term, in fact I stopped the fast moving wind turbine approval freight train, with the assistance of others, then to the disappointment of a lot of colleagues. While I did not want to certainly see a large unit in Middletown, I tried to keep an open mind about smaller units, but lacked the tools and data to evaluate the impact of a unit on their neighbors, that is until recently. After reviewing the submittals to the recent Middletown wind turbine survey I noticed one submittal submitted by the neighbor of the wind turbine unit on Mitchell's Lane. I called them and asked for time to discuss their comments and invited council President Weber and Vice President Long to the …
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Middletown Town Hall
350 E Main Rd, Middletown, RI
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-councilor-semoneli-s-perspective-on-wind-turbine-zoning
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Rep. Dan Gordon says he will reject any legislation to collect tolls off the Mount Hope Bridge.
The following is from a press release issued by Rep. Dan Gordon (Dist. 71-Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton) on Wednesday. This morning, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority in a vote of 2-1, agreed to raise the cost of crossing the Pell Newport Bridge from $4 to $5, effective as of July 1. Also, most notably, the resolution passed by the authority proposes to set a toll rate on the Mount Hope Bridge and refers to a proposal by Governor Lincoln Chafee to toll the new Sakonnet River Bridge. "I am adamantly opposed to the entire resolution," wrote Rep. Dan Gordon in the press release. "Raising tolls during the height of the tourist season on the Pell Bridge will do nothing but further starve the tourism economic engine of …
Town Council member Barbara A. VonVillas was the sole opposing vote to Monday's call for a ban on all wind turbines in Middletown except for agricultural use.
- OPINION
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Thursday, February 9
To the Editor: I smell fear. Why else would four Middletown councilmen - when two of the seven Council members were absent - orchestrate approval of a motion to halt all but “agricultural” development of wind energy in Middletown – a motion that was not even on the Monday night agenda? Is it because the results of the recent town survey related to wind turbines clearly demonstrated that more than 50% of the respondents support properly sited wind turbines of all sizes? Is it because the faction that has been opposing turbines has finally been clearly identified as the minority? Is it because they wanted to minimize the public feedback before it changed the conversation? What was in the survey that so frightened these councilmen that …
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Joseph Cala, of Environment Rhode Island, urges banning plastic shopping bags.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, February 7
Dear Editor, With the State of Rhode Island boasting hundreds of miles of coastline and thousands of acres of public and state parks, the beauty of our environment is a precious resource to everyone in the Ocean State; protecting it should be a top priority. However, our state's natural beauty is threatened by plastic waste that gets into our waterways, parks, yards, and roadsides, and that clogs our landfills; with the help of plastic, the Johnston landfill is now the highest point in the state. Far too much of this trash comes from an unnecessary product used for just five minutes before being thrown away: disposable plastic grocery bags that threaten to take hundreds to thousands of years to photo-degrade. Nothing we use for just a few …
Thursday, December 8, 2011
A new report ranks all New England states among the top-10 healthiest states in America.
For the second year in a row, Rhode Island and Massachusetts rank as two of the top 10 healthiest states in America. In the 2011 America’s Health Rankings, released this week by United Health Foundation in collaboration with the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, Massachusetts is #5 on the list of healthy states, with Rhode Island at #10 for the second straight year. The report analyzes such things as obesity rates, diabetes among children and children living in poverty, as well smoking cessation, premature deaths, preventable hospitalizations, cardiovascular deaths and more. According to the report, Rhode Island’s strengths include: Rhode Island’s challenges include: Massachusetts' strengths include: …
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
A Massachusetts English teacher has been suspended while the school considers what to do about his history in pornography.
A Massachusetts high school teacher who once starred in pornographic films has been placed on administrative leave while the school administration investigates his past. According to the Boston Herald, the man is not only head of the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School English department, he was hired after a background check that included "superlative" references and criminal background checks in two states. Also according to the Herald, school officials wrote in an e-mail to parents that if the allegations are true, the man should have revealed his past during the interview process. What do you think? Is the teacher's history in pornography relevant to his current profession teaching high school English?
SAM
2:13 pm on Tuesday, March 6, 2012
it is clear to me that the Middletown council has there own agenda. The answer is putting the turbines is the right area with the right set backs. Why just famers? If I own a large parcel of land and conform to the set backs why cant I own a windturbine??? If you eliminate all the areas that do not have the proper setbacks and then look at the places that have good wind spots you elimante most of… more ›