ROUGH POINT WENT TO THE DOGS ON WEDNESDAY!
Vol. 38, No. 37
Newport† BORN FREE
THURSDAY, September 16, 2010
What’s Inside
A Boater’s Dream
Napolitano, Waluk Top Primary
halsey conversation p. 8
Table of Contents CALENDAR CLASSIFIEDS COMMUNITY BRIEFS CROSSWORD EDITORIAL LETTERS MAINSHEET/02840 NATURE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES REALTY TRANSACTIONS RECENT DEATHS RESTAURANTS
16 22 4 23 6 6 13 22 26 6 25 14
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If you harbor a passion for boating, then there’s only one place to be this week: The Newport International Boat Show. Now celebrating its 40th year as one of the leading in-water boat events in the country, the boat show features the biggest selection of boats and boating products—both power and sail—in the Northeast. The four-day show has also become known as the place to scout newly introduced products. For full details on the show, turn to page 16. And be sure to visit www.Newport-Now.com for special features, photos ,and reviews of the show throughout the weekend .
NEWPORT – Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano retained her status as the city’s top vote getter on Tuesday, topping a field of nine candidates in a rare primary contest that now sets the stage for an eight-way race for the city’s four At-Large City Council seats. Napolitano, who has received the most votes in each of the last three elections, carried 1,611 votes according to the state Board of Elections – good enough for nearly 18 percent of the vote. Former Mayor Stephen C. Waluk placed a close second with 1,363 votes, or 15 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, former City Council member Henry F. Winthrop finished top among challengers, placing third overall, with 1,257 votes, or 13.8 percent of the vote. And fellow challenger Naomi Neville finished in fourth place, with 1,210 votes, or 13.3 percent. Rounding out the November field in the At-Large race are: Stephen R. Coyne, with 1,137 votes, Herbert B. Armstrong, with 1,006
See “PRIMARY” on page 7
Trinity Welcomes its First Female Rector By Meg O’Neil Few structures in Newport carry the amount of history like Trinity Church on Queen Anne Square. Dating back to 1726, there are have been close to three hundred years worth of masses celebrated, marriages blessed, funerals mourned, and baptisms welcomed, in a structure that has remained relatively unchanged. A new page was added to Trinity Church’s long history on Sunday, Sept. 12 as Reverend Anne Marie Richards was officially instituted as the church’s 30th Rector. What also marks this as such as a special event, is that Anne Marie is the first female Rector in Trinity’s extensive history. After a competitive process of applicants, Anne Marie, from Princeton, N.J., first visited town in February, was selected in March, moved to Newport in May and began her new mission of leading Trinity into a new era. “I had a strong sense of this is where I was meant to be. I walked in to the church and it was this sense of ‘Wow,’ not just at the architecture, which of course is stunning, but there is three hundred years of life here; all the ups and downs that are here. It sort of hit me full on. I took the ten steps up the pulpit. I guess colonial people had much smaller feet because I had to put my feet sideways. I stood up there and it literally just made me cry. The phone call came the first week of March and I said, ‘game on.’” So how did Anne Marie enjoy her first summer here? “This summer
By Tom Shevlin
School Bond, Teacher Salaries Top School Board Meeting By Meg O’Neil
Pictured here sitting in one of the unique and historic family box pews used to keep warm during the winter in colonial times, the Reverend Anne Marie Richards was celebrated as the 30th Rector and first female Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church on Sunday, Sept. 12. (Photo by Tom Shevlin) was spent getting to know those in the church, who’s all here. Now that I sort of have a grasp on that, it’s time to get to know what’s around town. Everybody walks past this place, and a lot of people, residents and visitors, think it’s just a museum; they don’t realize it’s still an active parish. I think that’s our call – we’ve got this tower that lights up the town, I think we should be lighting up the town too.”
Sunday afternoon was a time of great celebration for Anne Marie and Trinity’s community. “I think on Sunday, there was a great spirit present, people here are excited. When a church is in between Rectors, the interim period can be really hard. It can feel a lot like you’re treading water. But people here
See “RECTOR” on page 3
NEWPORT — The Newport School Committee met Tuesday night, Sept. 14 at Thompson Middle School to discuss their monthly agenda. The meeting started off with Cassandra McCarthy, senior at Roger’s High School, giving a student council update on the first week of school, stating that despite a few schedule conflicts, the first week of school ran smoothly for all students. The seniors are very excited about Virtual High School, an online education and professional development program, that has been put into place. McCarthy was alsojust back from a trip to Imperia, Italy, a sister city to Newport, saying that it was the experience of a lifetime. One topic of major discussion was on the hiring of new teachers, regardless of whether or not they live in Newport. Chairperson, Jo Eva Gaines stated, “I hope we never lose sight of having the best teacher, regardless of where they’re from.” The hunt for great teachers is a challenge. Adding another member of the committee, “Elementary teachers are still, unfortunately, a dime a dozen.” Superintendent John Ambrogi touched on the possibility of a new elementary school being built. He stated that people are, “finding out the benefits of the new school…seeing that the old schools have deficiencies.” A topic of major discussion in the upcoming November election,
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he went on to say that things are looking up for the prospect of a $30 million school bond referendum, and that more information on the plans can be found on the Newport public school’s website at www.letsbuildpell.com. Perhaps the topic of greatest discussion of the night was ways in which to improve communications between faculty, staff, and families. With a new school year just starting out, “The most important thing to parents is that they want to make sure their child is educated in a healthy and safe environment,” said one committee member. Ambrogi stated, “Sometimes, communications break down and we are trying to take steps to mitigate these issues.” One way in which the school board is trying to stay in touch with parents is through the “iParent” system that is used at the Middle and High School levels. “i-Parent” communicates directly with parents, informing them of what is going on in their child’s school and classroom. Ambrogi also said that there is a major need to upgrade school websites to be more user friendly and that technology doesn’t work if parents don’t feel welcome in the school. He closed the discussion stating, “This is an ongoing issue, communication will never be perfect, but it’s better than it has been in the past.” The next meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at Thompson Middle School on Broadway.