Funding Approved for Changes to New Rogers


The Newport School Building Committee has unanimously approved $158,000 for design work due to recent changes to the new high school project. Final documents were also submitted to the state by project leaders, who are expecting feedback next week. Faced with a $20 million deficit due to increased costs for construction, materials and labor, the School Committee previously opted to […]

2023-01-26 E-Edition

The Battle at Fort Adams is Ongoing

For nearly 20 years, volunteers have been fighting a battle at Fort Adams. Their weapons include chainsaws, weed whackers, mowers and lots of human muscle. During a past cleanup (seen here), volunteers labor to remove excess vegetation at the fort. What no enemy has ever tried, Mother Nature has done her best to tear it down. Vegetation grew unchecked in […]

Reimagining Travel in an Overpopulated World


New York Yankees great Yogi Berra once said, when asked about the popularity of a restaurant, “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.” The contradictory statement would go on to become a widely popular saying, with its implications persisting more than a half-century later as the world contemplates the future of transportation and mobility. Evan Smith has spent the past […]

Volunteer Effort Maintains Fort Adams


When Chris Zeeman was in middle school, his family camped at Fisherman’s Memorial State Campground at Point Judith, a stop that changed his world. “There is a large bunker built for 16-inch battleship guns. After exploring the remains with my cousins, I was bitten by the bug,” said Zeeman, president of the Fort Adams Trust. “I have been exploring old […]

Middletown Public Schools

School Facilities Bond Envisioned for Middletown


Middletown voters may soon decide the fate of a roughly $190 million school facilities bond that would renovate the district’s elementary schools and build a combined middle school-high school on the Gaudet Middle School property. If endorsed by the School Committee and Town Council, the proposal could be placed on the ballot in a special election in April. A joint […]

02840 LAST WEEK: ALT Celebrates Chuck Allott

ALT Celebrates Chuck Allott


The Aquidneck Land Trust community honored Chuck Allot on Jan. 17 to recognize his 10 years serving as the organization’s executive director. ALT board chair Tom Hockaday welcomed guests to the event at the Wyndham Hotel that celebrated what he called the “wonderful work of Chuck Allot.” Hockaday said he was happy to be celebrating the legacy and hard work […]

School Regionalization

A New Pitch for Regionalization


A one-page talking paper proposes building a unified middle school for Newport and Middletown and issuing bond referendums for new high school facilities in both communities. The “Regionalization Take Two” draft from Mario Carreno, director of RIDE’s School building Authority, suggests a $70 million bond referendum in Newport, with $20 million to add automotive and cosmetology programs, and a central […]

Middletown Looks at Water Infrastructure and Schools


It is hard these days to go to a Middletown Town Council meeting without thinking you are also at a School Committee meeting. At the Jan. 17 council meeting, school officials, led by Supt. Rosemarie Kraeger, were at the podium for nearly one hour as the town began its first foray into the 2023-24 fiscal budget. At the meeting, Vice […]

Middletown Council Unveils Affordable Housing Plans


The Middletown Town Council assured residents on Jan. 18 that the town is committed to expanding affordable housing for the elderly, low-income individuals, families and work-force young people as ever-rising tax increases and rental prices threaten to drive them out of their homes. Town Council Chair Paul Rodrigues said that affordable housing is the No. 1 topic in town. “I […]