Archive - Oct 2012 - News Article
October 22nd
WOONSOCKET â Efforts to redevelop the site of the June 2011 fire that destroyed the historic Alice Mill have been waylaid by a legal dispute with his insurance company, the owner of the property says.
Although the fire was deemed accidental by the Woonsocket Fire Department, the Seneca Insurance Co. of New York has refused to pay the claims on the building, according to Steve G. Triedman. The dispute is the subject of pending litigation in the state courts. Triedman said Seneca is the lead defendant in the case, although there are several others.
Under a canopy of leaves colored bronze by the autumn chill, Donald Ross kneels over the moist clay soil of the forest floor and studies the upside-down, heart-shaped track of the white-tailed deer.
Kneeling next to him is his young son, also named Donald, who traces the track's muddy indentation with his finger, listening intently as his father describes the difference between the tracks of doe and those of a buck.
LINCOLN â The Spurwink School at 365 River Road is about to celebrate a milestone.
The small-setting, private school-based program serving students with a range of behavioral disorders will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a small gathering of staff, clients and friends on Nov. 14, according to Raymond Arsenault, executive director of the schoolâs parent non-profit corporation SpurwinkRI.
October 20th
GLOCESTER â Some say they worked the land. Others say the land worked them.
Survival wasnât for the faint of heart among the grist-millers, farmers, cider-pressers and others who labored in the townâs earliest and most primitive enterprises, says historian Betty Mencucci.
Their stories unfold in vivid detail in episode three of âWest of the Seven Mile Line â A History of Glocester.â Itâs the latest â and last â in the Seven Mile series of documentary videos on the townâs history that Mencucci and her husband, Carlo, began working on five years ago.
WOONSOCKET â The school departmentâs efforts to prepare two of its school buildings for return to the city for possible conversion to new uses appear to be moving forward.
School Department Facilities Director Peter Fontaine said Friday that the Second Avenue Elementary School has been emptied of all of its contents and is awaiting a final vote by the School Committee to turn the building back to city control.
October 19th
BELLINGHAM â Getting the needed two-thirds majority vote, Special Town Meeting voters last week approved a Proposition 2-1/2 override that will raise taxes in order to pay for a $15.4 million water treatment project.
Article 16 of the 23-article warrant asked voters to finance the project to construct water mains and a water treatment plant, as well as modify existing treatment and pumping systems to treat the town's drinking water through disinfection and reduce iron and manganese in tap water. The project will also ensure the town's wells meet state groundwater guidelines.
WOONSOCKET â Farmers and shepherds, tradesmen and teachers, the Macedonian-Romanians first heard the siren song of American-style opportunity in the late 1800s.
Like other European immigrant groups at the turn of the century, the newcomers from the Balkan region settled anywhere there were jobs. This boomtown of textile factories, a place that came to be known as the epicenter of the nationâs Industrial Revolution, was a natural magnet.
October 18th
WOONSOCKET â Two tart-tongued female impersonators will dish up an evening of Vegas-style song, dance and comedy in the Milk Fundâs first fundraiser of the year at the Coachmenâs Lodge in Bellingham on Nov. 9.
The featured performers are Kitty Litter and Sabrina Blaze, aka Stephen Hartley and Wayne Alan Hawkins. Theyâve been selling out theater venues with their cross-dressing schtick and comic banter for years, including a number of shows in the local area.
WOONSOCKET â Losing a family member to illness can leave a person feeling helpless, which hinders the process of coming to terms with that life-changing loss.
But there are ways to take proactive steps toward moving on, which also bring a sense of fighting back.
Noneajean McFarlane found that to be true this fall as she worked to organize a team in Sundayâs Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Roger Williams Park in Providence.
McFarlane, a Call graphic designer, decided to put together a team for the American Cancer Society fundraiser in light of her own losses last spring.
October 17th
WOONSOCKET â State Rep. Jon D. Brien, who launched a write-in campaign after being unseated in the primary, is challenging the man who defeated him to a series of debates.
With slightly more than three weeks to go before the general election, the city Democrat is asking Stephen M. Casey to participate in four debates before Nov. 6.
Casey dismissed the offer as a desperate ploy for attention.
âThe time for debate was before the primary,â said Casey. âI already defeated him in September and heâs not on the ballot.â
But Brien said heâll go solo if Casey doesnât show up.
