Archive - News Article
May 20th, 2013
WOONSOCKET – The latest actuarial data confirms that the financial condition of the city’s locally-administered pension plan for police and firefighters meets the state’s definition of “critical” because its assets have dipped below 60 percent of its liabilities to pensioners.
The data from USI Consulting means the city is no longer exempt from having to file a Funding Improvement Plan to the state Department of Revenue under a law passed last year by the General Assembly.
May 19th
PAWTUCKET — The diary of a young soldier from Woonsocket detailing his experiences during World War II has livened up a Shea High School history class far more than any textbook ever could.
No one remembers exactly how Emilian Larue's leather bound diary ended up at Shea. By chance one day, history teacher James Matuszek was perusing a shelf in the history department office that held books and videos on WWII. “I pulled out some books and the diary fell out,” said Matuszek. “I started to read and realized, 'Wow, this is incredible stuff.'”
May 18th
GLOCESTER — Elizabeth Yuill, owner and shopkeeper of the historic Brown & Hopkins Country Store in Chepachet, has been named by the U.S. Small Business Administration as one of its 2013 Rhode Island small-business award winners.
Yuill and other recipients of the SBA awards will be honored during the annual Rhode Island Salute to Small Business luncheon on June 12 at the Alpine Country Club in Cranston.
The SBA awards will be presented in nine categories. Yuill won in the Rhode Island Women-owned Small Business of the Year category.
BELLINGHAM – Annual Town Meeting voters will be asked Wednesday to approve hiring an architect to design a new police station in town.
The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Bellingham High school auditorium, 60 Blackstone St.
The town wants to build a bigger, more modernized station because the current facility is dated, too small and unsafe, according to police officials. Not only does the current station need extensive renovation of the holding cells, it also needs a new roof and a new boiler, among other things.
The main crops from Rhode Island farms are still growing in the fields, but that isn’t stopping area food shoppers from taking advantage of farmers markets as a way to buy fresh, local products.
Some of the markets in the area, such as the Burrillville Farmers Market at the Stillwater Mill Center, have opened and are selling plants for the home gardens or staples such as garden greens, honey, jellies, jams and baked goods. Others like North Smithfield’s Farmers Market, held in conjunction with the town’s Concert on the Common series on Sunday evenings, will be starting up soon.
WOONSOCKET – The St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church community is still recovering from the November fire that heavily-damaged its ornate 70-year-old granite and wood church at 74 Harris Avenue.
But coping with the near loss of their church won’t keep St. Michael’s parishioners from offering a special tribute to the firefighters who kept total disaster at bay back on Nov. 21.
WOONSOCKET – The city would become the fourth community in the state to ban smoking in public parks and recreation areas under an ordinance up for consideration by the City Council on Monday.
The measure would prohibit smoking at all athletic fields, playgrounds, parks and outdoor recreation facilities, allowing the police to fine anyone caught violating the ordinance $100.
The proposal was introduced by Council President John Ward at the request of the Woonsocket Prevention Coalition, a non-profit arm of the city that advocates healthy, drug-free lifestyles for youth.
May 16th
The Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island assistance program for the state’s elderly residents hit another milestone Wednesday — serving its 17 millionth meal to Clara Ramos, 80, of Providence.
The highlight meal, this year served by Gov. Lincoln Chafee, is one of a long list of such events marking the work put in by the organization’s volunteers since the 1970s. That work has not only helped elderly residents maintain their nutritional health but also their independence and ability to remain at home.
WOONSOCKET – More than a month after his accounts were terminated, firearms dealer Paul Connolly says Sovereign Bank denied its actions were related to his line of work, but the bank has still not given him a reason for cutting him off.
The proprietor of Bullseye Shooting Supplies said he spoke on the telephone this week with Steve Almagno, Sovereign Bank’s retail district executive for Rhode Island.
WOONSOCKET – Jeremy Jones is a lot older and his knees are not as strong as they used to be, but his tall, lanky frame gives the impression that at 36 he’s still a formidable force on the basketball court.
Twelve years ago, Jones, a rising basketball star with an impressive scholastic hoops career at Woonsocket High School and Community College of Rhode Island, was recruited to play at Salem State University where he led the school to its first and only Final Four appearance in 2000.
