MAINSHEET Pg. 12
BOrN FrEE
thursday, august 1, 2013
Vol. 41, No. 31
School Committee Could Sue
What’s INsIdE
By Meg O'Neil
ARCHI-TEXT Pg. 21
table of Contents CaLENdar COMMuNIty BrIEFs CrOssWOrd PuZZLE dINNINg Out dININg Out MaP dINNEr & a MOVIE EdItOrIaL FaIth COMMuNIty FIrE/POLICE LOg FrOM thE gardEN MaINshEEt NaturE NaVy COMMuNIty rEaLty traNsaCtIONs rECENt dEaths rEEL rEPOrt sudOKu
13 4- 5 26 18 17 19 6 22 5 11 12 25 8 27 23 24 26
www.Newport-Now.com twitter.com/newportnow Facebook.com/newportnow
Jazzed for the Weekend
Chick Corea, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, and dozens of other jazz artists will perform this weekend at the Newport Jazz Festival. The annual outdoor festival began in 1954 and was the first in the country of its kind. The event draws thousands of people from all over the world to Newport. It is held at Fort Adams State Park, overlooking Newport Harbor. Historic appearances at past festivals include Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. The 1958 festival was the subject of a celebrated 1959 movie documentary by photographer Bert Stern, “Jazz on a Summer’s Day.” Tickets and information available online at newportjazzfest.org. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
historic Farm raises grass-Fed Cattle By Esther Trneny
Barbara van Beuren decided to return it to its colonial-era roots Drivers on busy East Main and raise beef and chickens. She Road in Portsmouth may not reapproached Booth, a local caralize that they are passing just penter and small-scale farmer, to a stone’s throw from a 360-acre run it. farm, parts of which have been At first, he was hesitant. “I had farmed for over 200 years. work, and I had a life invested in Originally known as Vaucluse where I was going,” said Booth. Farm and now known as Aquid“But I was interested.” neck Farms, the property has Since becoming farm managearned a reputation for raising er in 2001, Booth has worked to top quality pasture-fed beef catcreate a strong herd of around tle and chickens under the man175 primarily Angus cattle that agement of Jim Booth. are grass-fed only. After processThe van Beuren family, which ing, the beef is sold through the owns the farm, had been rentfarm’s store on Friday afternoons, ing it out to a turf grower until as well as through Farm Fresh Rhode Island, a food cooperative run by local growers who supply area restaurants and farmers’ markets. Much of the beef cattle currently raised in the United States are kept in small pens and are fed a grain diet in order to fatten them quickly. By contrast, explained Booth, grass-fed cattle roam in pastures, which is thought to give them a lower stress level, yielding beef that has a richer flavor and is more dense than that of grain-fed cattle. It takes longer to raise cattle that are exclusively grass-fed around 22 to 26 months versus 15 months for grain-fed. The payoff is in the taste and the quality of the meat, says Booth. GrassJim Booth helped return the property fed beef is leaner than grain-fed. to its roots as a working farm.
The Newport School Committee is likely to take legal action against the City Council under the Caruolo Act. At a special meeting held on Tuesday, July 30, the committee was unable to balance the schools’ Fiscal Year 2014 budget, which currently has a $776,932 shortfall. Early in the meeting, Joan Tracey, the school department's business manager, discussed how a previous $70,000 deficit in the FY12-13 budget had swung to a surplus of $541,509. The shortfall stood at $1.2 million as recently as June. Tracey said on Tuesday that the dramatic change in the amount of the deficit was due to the fact that she had discovered funds that added $541,509, which pushed the FY12-13 budget into the black and decreased the FY14 budget shortfall to $776,932. During the meeting on Tuesday, the committee decided not to adopt superintendent John Am-
see COMMIttEE on page 7
yacht Lease under scrutiny By Tom Shevlin
These bulls aren't bothered by the rain. The two on the left are Aquidneck Farms' Angus cattle. On the right is a Belted Galloway Steer, owned by the Swiss Village Foundation, a heritage breed preservation farm, which is grazing at Aquidneck Farms as part of their custom grazing program. (Photo by Esther Trneny)
Fat, of course, is what makes beef tender, but Booth said Aquidneck Farms breeds their animals for good marbling, which is the term for the streaks of fat running through cuts of beef. Newport resident Kerry Novack has been purchasing food from Aquidneck Farms since first learning about it several months ago. “It was the eggs that first brought me here. I love that the chickens are free-range and the prices are reasonable,” she said. Novack said she believes that pasture-raised beef is healthier and more nutritious than grainfed, and she likes the idea that
www.Newport-Now.com Free Local News Matters
she can feed her family a better diet on locally raised animals. Booth said sales at the farm are increasing rapidly, in part due to the desire of many people to eat foods that are grown locally. “People had became so far removed from their food. It’s good that they are getting interested in it again,” said Booth. As he headed out into the rain to tend to his herd, he added, “We try to have a stress-free environment for all the animals. Unfortunately, not so much for the farmers!”
see hIstOry on page 9
City Manager Jane Howington has been directed to enter into good faith discussions with representatives from the Newport Yacht Club after city council members last week passed a resolution aimed at shedding more light on the city's lease arrangement with the club. In two separate resolutions sponsored by Third Ward Councilwoman Kathryn E. Leonard and AtLarge Councilor Michael T. Farley, councilors made clear their desire to seek more information regarding the lease and to explore whether to seek new concessions from the club. Farley, who offered a similar resolution during the council's July 10 meeting only to withdraw it before it could be taken up for discussion, again deferred on the subject, leaving only Leonard's proposal on the floor. In addition to calling for more details of the current lease, Leonard's resolution also asked that the city manager enter into negotiations with the club and report back to the council no later than Sept. 11. "I'm one of those people who likes to gather the facts and know what you're talking about before moving forward with anything," Leonard said.
see LEasE on page 3
Newport-Now Right Now: Scan the QR (Quick Response) Code with your mobile phone’s barcode app to get instant access to our website, with updated local news.