The Old Harbor Task Force’s annual memo to the Town Council led to some meaty conversations at the council’s meeting on December 21, in turn leading to what might be called a road map for 2023.The task force’s mission is to bring improvements to the downtown area. One may think of them as limited to
School Sports at Home Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Middlebridge, Saturday, Jan. 7 at 12:30 p.m. (School gym)Note: The Girls Varsity home game scheduled for Jan. 14 has been postponed. Recreation Department Weekly Schedule Tuesdays:• 8-10 p.m., Pickleball (School Gym)Fridays:• 6:30 – 8 p.m., Friday Ni
Tai chi is a simple, gentle, holistic exercise system performed slowly, but its benefits can have major positive health benefits for those who do it, according to Block Island physical therapist and Tai chi instructor, Tom Hobin. Hobin conducts a class weekly on Wednesdays from 4 to 4:50 p.m. at the
In 1967, a travel writer visited Block Island. The writer worked for The Providence Journal, and like all reporters in the United States at the time, saw his nation divided on many social and cultural fronts. Newspaper reporters had their hands full in the summer of 1967 as civil unrest exploded acr
As 2022 comes to a close, some of Block Island’s biggest news stories will also go the way of the calendar and some will stick around well into the new year, and perhaps, beyond.This year, islanders closed the books on the Champlin’s Marina expansion as after almost 20 years the Rhode Island Supreme
As if to prove a point, Mother Nature unleashed a whopper of a storm just a few days after the New Shoreham Sea Level Rise Committee’s December meeting. The storm that started late Thursday night did most of its damage locally during the high tide Friday morning, December 23, as waves washed over lo
Mainland grid power worries had the commissioners of the Block Island Utility District mulling the need for disaster planning at their latest meeting on December 20. After attending a meeting on the mainland, Block Island Power Company President Jeffery Wright said that ISO New England, the operator
Ballard’s Inn Realty LLC has applied to the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council for permission to have temporary “mobile” structures on the beach at the facility during the summer season and is requesting that a beach perimeter be established for their location. The CRMC cited the beac
“This has been kind of cool,” said George Davis, vice-chair of the Shellfish Commission at its meeting on Tuesday. Davis was speaking of the grand experiment he and others on the Shellfish Commission conducted over the course of the past year.The goal was to see if soft-shell clams could be successf
Officer Doug Borden had a crazy idea, and he has many, always delivered with a mischievous smile.Whether it’s greeting the ferry passengers as they disembark with song, dog biscuits for furry friends, or dancing ‘a welcome’ to the island.This idea was different and was spawned from his years with th
In the recently digitized Elizabeth Ann Evans collection is a small newspaper clipping. It reads in part, “The recent misfortune of the Nelseco II, which broke her crank shaft when entering Newport harbor on Sunday, resulted in the most modern transportation of mail, delivery by air. It was already
“I love drought,” was the utterance of more than one department head at the Town Council’s meeting on Dec. 7 when the annual review of the summer on Block Island was the main topic. Overall the feeling was that it was a successful summer on the island. LibraryLibrary Director Kristin Baumann was the
The Town Council sat down for a round-table discussion with department heads at a meeting on Wednesday that included a few lessons on what to do, and what not to do, as members of a governing body.“For folks’ background, when I was elected,” said new First Warden Keith Stover, “the preparation was n
The Block Island Power Company hopes its new rates will be going into effect on January 1. They are the result of the required annual reconciliation that converts predictions into reality. Predictions because the rates are set based onhow much energy you think you are going to sell in advance of a c
Earlier this fall we ran an article on the life of artist and soldier John Hapgood (1905-1995), whose remains are buried in the Island Cemetery. Hapgood was a successful graphic artist based in Manhattan and who specialized in advertising. During World War II, Hapgood used his artistic skills in the
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Since its inception, the Sea Level Rise Committee has been educating itself on the challenges to the island that will inevitably come as the oceans rise. While at first the group made its own assessments of vulnerable areas on theisland, they quickly determined that educating themselves on various i
After tabling the matter a few weeks ago, the Town Council renewed mobile food establishment permits, approved their locations and set a cap on the number of licenses on Monday, December 5.The reason for the delay was to allow Bethany Campbell Coviello more time to formulate her plans for a small fo
My first summer with the Historical Society, nearly some 20 years ago, I was researching an exhibition on a secret society named the Odd Fellows. I had never heard of this organization before, however, I learned later that throughout my life I had seen this organization’s symbol, namely three interl
How do you walk three miles within a very small space? Walking class at the Community Center with the Senior Advisory Group. Like many things, it’s a resumption of a pre-Covid activity, and with the onset of cold weather and sometimes icy ground, a good way to get some exercise and have fun at the s
When T.J. Martucci first came in front of the Historic District Commission, the requests were relatively simple – rearrange some exhaust hoods and outdoor stairways used for egress that were interfering with each other, and replace the top floor windows with new ones, also for egress, and replace on
The Town of New Shoreham and Ballard’s have reached a settlement agreement in the matter of the liquor and outdoor entertainment license suspensions imposed by the town on August 22, 2022 at a show cause hearing attended by over 100 members of the public and went on for about eight hours. The suspen
After months of discussions behind closed doors, the Town of New Shoreham and Ballard’s have reached a settlement agreement in the matter of the liquor and outdoor entertainment license suspensions imposed by the town on August 22, 2022. The suspensions came as a result of problems that occurred thr
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, members of the Block Island Volunteer Fire Department were treated to a, not firehouse franks and beans, but a gourmet feast of expertly prepared venison with all the fixings on Thursday, November 17. All the fixings included roasted asparagus, potatoes, home-made brea
