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The week in review - our thoughts |
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009 |
•We are happy to hear that Hopkinton will retain the meal site for area seniors.
Though we don’t like to see anybody lose their job (including the meal site director), we do think the council did the right thing by making the position part-time. With so much financial uncertainty in the air, area councils have to make difficult decisions and cuts like this one.
Saving close to $12,000 is nothing to sneeze at. Even with cuts, it looks like Hopkinton tax rate will increase 62 cents per $1,000 due to declining revenues. Yikes, that’s almost a 4 percent increase to the budget.
•Congratulations to the Chariho High School Interact Club for raising over $1,068 for the South County Community Action heating assistance program. Through their annual floor hockey tournament on March 13, the students and teachers not only have fun but raise money and awareness for a worthy cause.
•And the next day there was more good work going on at the school. The Chariho Task Force on Substance Abuse and Prevention held a fundraiser dance – raising over $1,700 to send students to conferences and trainings on substance abuse prevention. With over 250 attendees partaking in the fun, the fundraiser certainly was a win/win.
•Kudos to the town of Richmond for setting a great example by completing energy retrofits at the Richmond Town Hall, the Richmond Senior Center and the police station. These updates will save energy and money for the long haul and will hopefully inspire homeowners to make similar changes. Go Richmond.
•Please be careful out there. We had an e-mail from one concerned reader about people casually hanging out in the railroad right of ways in Westerly – where the Acela high speed train cruises through at 100 mph. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Be careful. We’ll have an upcoming story on this very issue.
•Just as we predicted the Narragansetts will not be kept down for long. Though the U.S. Supreme Court nixed the idea of tribal trust land, held by the federal government no less, the tribe is planning a protest and march in Providence on March 21.
•Though we certainly feel for the ancestors of the Narragansett’s and the terrible atrocities heaped on them by European settlers – it’s time for this generation of Narragansetts to move on. Release the anger, stop fighting for the overturning of court decisions and the Chafee amendment and focus on the continuance of tribal culture. Living as a victim is no way to live.
•As for the upcoming public hearing on the American Legion's liquor license on March 23, we support another suspension of the license since trouble continues to plague the location. Case in point: remember the recent fight in the parking lot that we reported on?
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 March 2009 )
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