News

The following information was sent to The Block Island Times by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management regarding motorist precautions for deer activity: Motorists should be alert for deer crossing roadways, particularly at dawn and dusk. With shorter daylight hours, many drivers are on area roads during the dawn and dusk hours, when deer […]

The Atlantic Shark Institute is reporting that its newly deployed audio equipment detected the presence of two great white sharks in Rhode Island Waters this summer. The sharks were detected in two different locations near Block Island in July. The Wakefield-based organization, in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, noted that high-tech

Near the end of the most recent Recreation Board meeting, member Colleen Ernst told the story of how a personal friend, who had also been her coach and mentor, had died just the day before. Her reason for telling the story was to make a plea for island residents to volunteer as coaches for the

Proposed changes by the Planning Board to the definition of developable land has caused the three major conservation groups on Block Island to have something akin to an existential crisis. Those three groups are the Block Island Land Trust, the Block Island Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy. Representatives from all three groups were in attendance

There was both good news and bad news about the Block Island School building at the New Shoreham School Committee’s Sept. 16 meeting. The good news: The committee unanimously awarded the contract for the long-planned façade renovation to Pariseault Builders, the low bidder. No asbestos was found in the dust that was kicked up when

Block Island’s American Legion members, part of Post number 36, are exploring expansion of their single-story wood frame building to include a second-story caretaker apartment. The group is also seeking to construct a restaurant, and bar within the building’s first floor footprint to serve food and alcohol at the site. War veterans Charlie Weber and

Sewer Company Supt. Dylan Chase informed the members of the Sewer Commission that he is thinking of undertaking a study to see how much it would cost the department to get off the power grid during July and August and return to using its two diesel generators for those two peak-use months. The company connected

With their colorful pinwheels held aloft, more than 70 Block Island residents took part in the first-ever Block Island Walk to End Alzheimer’s Disease, a fundraising event they hope will lead to medical breakthroughs that will cure the illness. Each pinwheel represented what is called a “promise color.” Carrying a purple flower means that you

A boy on Block Island has become friends with a boy living on the mainland in an unusual way: by finding a message in a bottle. Resident Shannon Cotter-Marsella said her son, Eli, found a message in a bottle sent by Gavin McGreevy, who lives with his family in Mattituck, New York. The boys, who

The New Shoreham Town Council voted (3-1) to instruct town Facilities Manager Sam Bird to cast the town’s vote in favor of the Block Island Utility District’s ballot referendum. By casting the vote, Bird is acting as the official designated voter to represent the town. The Town Council also voted unanimously to have Bird cast the