Block Island Times

The following was sent to The Block Island Times from the Block Island Conservancy: May 5, 2020 – The Shad are Blooming! For many weeks now, we’ve been checking the shad buds every morning to see if they’ve bloomed. Finally, after a warm and sunny day yesterday, many of the buds have opened up leaving […]

Republican House Leader Blake Filippi, R-Dist. 36, answered questions from the Block Island business community during an event sponsored by the Block Island Chamber of Commerce on Monday, May 4. Here is a link to a video of the conference call: Here is a transcript of that conversation as provided by Rep. Filippi’s office. Q:

An important ferry schedule announcement from Interstate. Schedule adjusted until May 31. Fast ferry service delayed and could begin in June. We are continuing to monitor our ridership needs and have made adjustments to our ferry schedules through May 31. Please click here for our Traditional ferry schedules. Additionally, we have delayed the start of

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management issued the following rules for boaters as the warm weather approaches: As the early boating season gears up, the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is asking boaters to follow COVID-19 social distancing rules and other safety guidelines as they work on their boats at marinas and boatyards and

Island resident and artist Tracy Finn created the idea of capturing an inside look into islanders’ lives in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I had a thought of photographing people in their doorways or yards as a way to document this time that we’re all going through,” said Finn. Finn has already begun collecting photographs

The staff at the Island Free Library, understanding that there was inequality throughout the island in terms of being able to connect to the internet, had placed an order of new “hotspots” in order to even things out. “We started brainstorming a hotspot program probably close to a year ago,” said Library Director Kristin Baumann.

When Gov. Gina Raimondo announced on April 23 that students would not be returning to school this year, it marked one month since Block Island School students had been going to class online. Principal Kristine Monje noted the Block Island School has not cancelled its classes, and “the school is still actively working.” Each grade

Block Island has been awarded a $47,000 grant from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to improve beach access and parking at Andy’s Way. The funding was part of a $5.7 million package designed to “support healthy communities and promoting outdoor recreation when the state economy begins to reopen,” according to a press release

Gov. Gina Raimondo, at her regularly scheduled daily briefing on Wednesday, April 29, stated that large gatherings and events for this coming summer, such as the Newport Folk Festival and Fourth of July parades, were likely not going to happen. It was a decision made, she said, “with a knot in my stomach.” She noted

The application to build a dock to accommodate a proposed fast ferry service between Quonset and Block Island has been denied by the Army Corps of Engineers, town attorney Kathy Merolla announced at a virtual Town Council meeting on Thursday, April 23. The letter from the Army Corps of Engineers states: “The subject proposal involves