BY ABBY FOX

The final vote tally, released Thursday following the counting of nearly 700 absentee ballots, showed the next town council has two new men, Michael Kiernan and Richard Buonauito and the three incumbents who ran again, Michael Isaacs, Henry Boezi and Mark Schwager -- the same results as on Election Day.

Steve Gregson, former school committee member, came 28 votes short of Buonauito’s 4,086 votes, keeping him off the council.

In a small town, the difference between winning and losing is a razor’s edge. The top vote-getter, Isaacs, had 4,783 votes, while Gregson had 4,058.

Buonauito said, “I’m very honored to have been elected. I’m looking forward to the next two years.”

BY ABBY FOX

The town council awarded Ai Designs, the firm that MADE the preliminary drawings for the senior/community center, a $195,000 contract on Monday to administrate and supervise completing the design and construction of the project.

“We’re hoping for May or June” to start the construction, said Erin McAndrew, director of senior services.

BY ABBY FOX

By Matthew Cate

Imagine a typical day at work.  It probably shapes up something like this: Phone calls, staff ad client meetings. E-mails. Lunch.  Then more meetings, a break or two around the water cooler and the drive home.  Except for the other cars on the highway, and maybe a backstabbing co-worker, most people’s jobs are pretty tame,  relatively safe.  Now imagine a day in the life of Staff Sergeant Brooke Ardito  during one of her typical work days in Iraq five years ago.  Sniper fire, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and sweltering heat were everyday realities for this young woman from Smithfield, RI. 

On Monday evening, Brooke was the honored speaker at the Varnum Armory where she addressed a small group of patrons about her experiences in Iraq. 

BY ABBY FOX

The possibility of a kindergarten-through- sixth grade charter school being established in the neighborhood has become much more likely, now that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded a parent group in Warwick a $750,660, three-year grant to implement it.

BY ABBY FOX

Grace Dugan of Dugan Custom Jewelers on Main Street will talk to anyone who will listen about the “It Takes a Village” Rhode Island Community Food Bank Drive, running the entire month, until collection day on Saturday, Nov. 29.

BY ABBY FOX

The Public Utilities Commission last Thursday approved higher rates for customers of the Kent County Water Authority, increasing revenues by 21 percent or $3,443,000.

The increase, bringing an average customer’s quarterly bill from $111.67 to $136.24, roughly speaking, took effect Nov. 1.

By ABBY FOX 

East Greenwich stood by its incumbents in Tuesday’s election, while welcoming two brand new town council and school committee members.

BY ABBY FOX

If you assume that almost every student wanted the $52 million school bond referendum to pass, you’d be wrong.

Tuesday afternoon outside of the Cole Junior High polling site, students were standing on opposite ends of Question 4, holding up signs, trading barbs with each other and trying to capture the attention of the entering and exiting voters.

BY ABBY FOX

East Greenwich voters stood behind the $52 million bond referendum for school renovation, most notably for a totally new middle school, showing their support with 62 percent of the vote.

The vote was a solid 4,115-2,460 for Question Four, a virtual mandate that made supporters so excited that Cole Principal Michael Zajac called for a next-day celebration at Cole Junior High.

“The feeling is relief and elation,” said Jay Gowell, chair of the building committee. “We’re just delighted that all the effort that’s gone into both the building plan as well as the most recent advocacy has resulted in success.”

The vote indicates that “The future of the schools is now assured,” he said.