TIME TO
Turn your clocks back one hour Sunday, Nov. 7 at 2 a.m.
Vol. 38, No. 44 What’s Inside
BORN FREE
THURSDAY, November 4, 2010
Victory Celebration
ART SHOW OPENINGS
By Tom Shevlin
SEE this week’s CALENDAR
Table of Contents CALENDAR 16 CLASSIFIEDS 22 COMMUNITY BRIEFS 4 CROSSWORD 21 EDITORIAL 6 NATURE 8 MAINSHEET 11 REALTY TRANSACTIONS 7 RECENT DEATHS 22 RESTAURANTS 12 TIDE CHART 8 www.Newport-Now.com Twitter.com/newportnow Facebook.com/newportnow
Naomi Neville (center) celebrated her victory with friends and family at the new People’s Cafe on Thames Street. Supporting local businesses to open and grow, she said, will be a priority over the next two years. See page 3 for more election news. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
The Sen. Claiborne d. Pell Elementary School will be built after all. After 10 years of debate, design, and redesign, Newporters finally had their say on Tuesday, voting to approve a $30 million bond to construct a new elementary school in the city’s North End. By a margin of 3,770 to 2,924, voters said ‘yes’ to the project, which will ultimately turn the page on the city’s network of neighborhood schools in favor of a single K-4 facility on Dexter Avenue. According to Newport Public Schools Supt. Dr. John H. Ambrogi, construction on the new school could break ground as soon as the end of the academic year. “I’m very happy for the students who attend the Newport Public Schools; I think it’s a great thing for them, and as a resident and as a taxpayer, I think
See “SCHOOL” on page 3
A Grand Opportunity for Newport Grand
Coyote Population a Concern By Jack Kelly This two part series will explore the relationship between the local coyote population and the human residents of Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands. Part one will explore the probable causes of the coyote abundance as well as their increasingly bold behavior, while part two will explore the effects and solution policies being proposed. One of the truly emotional issues that has surfaced in our area in the past ten years, is what to do with our local coyote population. Of all of Aquidneck Island’s wildlife species, the most misunderstood and mistrusted, is the coyote. Coyotes are clever and intelligent animals that can adapt to any urban, rural, or suburban environment. Love them or hate them, addressing the issues associated with the sizable coyote population is a complex situation that faces the residents of Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands. Since 2005, the Narragansett Bay Coyote Study (NBCS) has conducted a survey and scientific probe of the coyote populations of both islands. Headed up by the lead scientist, Numi Mitchell, Ph. D., a dedicated team of students, scientists, educators, and volunteers have gathered a treasure trove of biological data. After five years of exhaustive research, the NBCS released a report and a practical, natural plan for dealing
PELL YES: Voters Approve School Bond
Adding entertainment opens new doors for the 34-year-old facility By Katherine Imbrie
This coyote, a member of the Sachuest Point pack, observes the author from a distance. (Photo by Jack Kelly) with the management of the coyote population in January 2010. This plan has the endorsement of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the Potter League of Animals. This study was initiated to address the rising number of coyotes and the upsurge in their displays of bold behavior. The data recovered by the NBCS through observation, tracking, and charting the coyote movements and habitat, has revealed some startling results and conclusions. A breakdown of the biological information has revealed that interaction with the animals has caused problems
that now exist between the coyotes and the human population. Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking collars used by the NBCS definitively prove that humans are directly or indirectly providing food to the animals. Unfortunately, some humans don’t see the inherent dangers of feeding coyotes. By subsidizing the diet of the coyote, humans are inadvertently contributing to the increase in their population. Simply put, the more food the female coyotes eat, the more fertile they become. This leads to larger pup litters and in turn, a larger coyote population overall. To better understand the
complexity of this issue, I took a crash course in “Coyote 101” with Mitchell. I wanted to know the facts about the animals. For instance, a natural, normal coyote diet, not subsidized by humans, consists of fruits, vegetables, mice, voles, rabbits, woodchucks, geese, ducks, and deer. Coyotes serve a useful purpose in helping control pest populations and keeping deer populations stable and healthy. I also discovered that a coyote pack consists of a territorial family unit, of between three and ten individuals. Typically, a pack will roam in an area
See “COYOTE” on page 8
LOCAL NEWS MATTERS PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
When you’ve got a building of the size and visibility of the Newport Grand, you need to find ways to maximize its potential. That’s what Grand CEO Diane S. Hurley is doing by turning a 6,800-squarefoot upstairs room into an event space for hosting concerts and theatrical events such as the four-person cabaret act “Downtown” that is performing there Thursdays and Fridays through Nov. 26. Even though the room has only been in use since July, it was part of the 2000 design plan for Newport Grand to include a concert and entertainment space, says Hurley. “That room was always intended to be an entertainment event center. Back then, I was in conversations with Lynn Singleton at the Providence Performing Arts Center and Larry Bonoff, putting together a marketing plan for the space.” But those plans changed when the slot machines took off with “double-digit increases over a year,” says Hurley. “So we put more slot machines in there instead.” Recently though, as the economy tumbled, so did the numbers of people playing slots – or video lottery terminals (VLTs) as they’re technically called.
See “GRAND” on page 9