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Mt. Hope High School student Sophia Ferolito, who spoke in favor of keeping the Mt. Hope High School theatre program, was one of more than 300 people to virtually attend Monday evening's Bristol Warren Regional School Committee meeting.

Bristol Warren school board rejects budget cuts, setting up one final vote

The fate of the Mt. Hope High School theatre program will remain up in the air for one more week, after school committee members on Monday night overwhelmingly rejected Supt. Jonathan Brice's … more

By Ted Hayes | 5/10/21

Bristol Warren Regional School Committee Budget/Facilities Subcommittee Chairwoman Sheila Ellsworth, at a recent school committee meeting.

Bristol Warren to vote on $2.3 million in cuts

Members of the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee's budget/facilities subcommittee on Thursday night approved a list of budget cuts totaling $2.3 million, sending the proposed cuts to the full … more

By Ted Hayes | 5/7/21

Members of the Mt. Hope Masqueraders on stage in 2019, after they won the most recent Rhode Island Drama Festival. Mr. Mendillo is front and center.

Curtains for Mt. Hope theater program?

Mt. Hope High School theatre director Nick Mendillo is fighting for the program's life, and his job, after he was surprised to learn Thursday evening that Supt. Jonathan Brice has proposed … more

By Ted Hayes | 5/7/21

Police offer threat assessments and training to Bristol companies

There’s more than one way to catch the bad guys. Police officers can catch them in the act, catch them after they commit the act — or they can stop them before anything even happens. The … more

By Scott Pickering | 5/7/21

Sagamore William Guy (above) and Lorén Spears will deliver the commencement address to two years of Roger Williams University graduates.

Roger Williams University announces commencement plans

Roger Williams University’s commencement celebration this year will be a hybrid of in-person and remote events. Families of graduates will be allowed on campus — briefly — while the … more

5/6/21

Bristol begins property revaluation, expands research to 2019 sales

The Town of Bristol has begun a new cycle of updating property assessments, led by a team from Northeast Revaluation Group of Warwick. Northeast has done previous townwide assessments and currently … more

By Scott Pickering | 5/6/21

Bristol Warren district hires consultant to start fixing finances

Earlier this spring, the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee received a sobering evaluation of the district’s financial leadership , policies and procedures from an outside evaluator. Last … more

By Scott Pickering | 5/6/21

Bristol Fire Chief Michel DeMello gives instruction to EMS volunteers as the first day of vaccinations comes to an end back in December. Chief DeMello and Bristol Police Lt. Steven St. Pierre led an enormous team of town employees and volunteers in ramping up and executing vaccine distribution and testing centers for months.

Bristol's first-responders aced their COVID response test

Now that vaccination appointments are easy to obtain and the vaccine is moving through state clinics and local pharmacies, it’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago they were being … more

By Christy Nadalin | 5/6/21

Emily Slusarczyk is shown competing in a sprint event at a recent swim meet.

She swims, she runs, she studies, she excels (Video)

Emily Slusarczyk’s schedule involves swimming in the pool, running on the track and building in the studio. Emily is a senior, a captain on the Roger Williams University women’s … more

By Megan Julian | 5/6/21

Back when things were “normal,” a large crowd turned out to watch Colby James and the Ramblers perform in the 2019 Bristol Fourth of July Concert Series at Independence Park beside Bristol Harbor. The series is expected to resume this year, but it will be moved to the Roger Williams University campus. Colby James is scheduled to perform once again.

Bristol Fourth concert series moves to Roger Williams

Technically, the 2020 Bristol Fourth of July concert series was never canceled. First, it was delayed until August while the Fourth of July Committee waited to see if COVID restrictions would allow … more

By Christy Nadalin | 5/6/21

East Bay vaccination pod now accepts walk-in clients

EAST PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Department of Health last week announced the East Bay COVID-19 vaccination pod located in city at the Shoppers Town Plaza, 589 Taunton Ave., would going … more

By Mike Rego | 5/5/21

Bristol Chief of Police Kevin Lynch swears in Brody (yes, he was sleeping on the chief's desk), assisted by his partner, School Resource Officer Keith Medeiros, last April.

Pandemic reduces crime, as Bristol police step up their game

The pandemic can take credit for having one positive impact on Bristol. It significantly reduced crime. According to statistics released by the Bristol Police Department, arrests, citations and … more

By Scott Pickering | 4/30/21

Officers break up college party, cite three for providing alcohol

Among the numerous noise complaints and calls about sickly animals, Bristol police officers broke up a college party and cited three young men for providing alcohol to minors. Monday, April 19 … more

4/30/21

Chris Iseleib and his wife, Ann Marie, moved from the Washington, D.C. area to Barrington, buying a million-dollar house that they saw only on Zoom. Located off Nayatt Road and close to the water, it is more than 100 years old and comes with a unique stone gazebo.

Urban buyers have been moving out to the 'country'

It’s been just over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, shaking up lives around the globe. One phenomenon now becoming a trend is the mass exodus from cities to more rural … more

By Joan D. Warren | 4/30/21

Luke Daniel shows off his winning design in the 2021 Bristol Fourth of July button contest.

Young artist designs Fourth button for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, middle school student Luke Daniel has designed the official Bristol Fourth of July button. The Fourth of July Committee sorted through 39 entries for this year’s … more

4/30/21

Brian Devolve can get obsessive about making sure his cars (or this customer’s) look perfect. The disabled veteran is known for his attention to details — and his inspirational social media posts.

For this veteran, salvation is in the details

As a student at Portsmouth High School in the late 1990s, Brian Devolve loved his car — a 1985 Monte Carlo — and looked forward to what he hoped would be a long, decorated military … more

By Christy Nadalin | 4/29/21

Both Silver Creek Manor and St. Elizabeth Manor were purchased by a New Jersey corporation for a combined $10.2 million.

Bristol nursing homes sold to New Jersey-based corporation

Two nursing homes — Silver Creek Manor, family owned and operated for more than 50 years, and St. Elizabeth Manor, part of a family of homes and rehabilitation facilities run by a corporate … more

By Christy Nadalin | 4/29/21

As seen a week ago, the osprey have ignored DEM eviction efforts and have learned to live with their large, orange, uninvited guest atop the chimney of the historic Colt Park barn.

Despite state’s eviction, these birds aren’t budging

A pair of Colt Park osprey had a decent following before the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) adorned their nesting site with an orange cone last week . Now they’re … more

Christy Nadalin | 4/29/21

School board and Brice bristle over budget cuts

Bristol Warren Regional School Committee members were left with more questions than answers when they met via Zoom Monday evening to review the spending cuts Supt. Dr. Jonathan Brice recommends to … more

By Ted Hayes | 4/28/21

Police release video footage of 'White Boy' sticker suspects

Bristol Police have now released video footage of the two suspects they are hoping to identify and question regarding a string of six "White Boy Summer" stickers placed in public locations downtown … more

4/28/21

Consultant shows why Bristol Warren school finances are a mess

The Bristol Warren Regional School District has received a sobering assessment of its financial management, systems and controls. A consultant hired to review the district’s financial … more

By Scott Pickering | 4/22/21

This osprey seems to be surveying what has become of the nest that, until Monday, was perched atop this chimney at the historic barn at Colt State Park. Heavy osprey nests can damage structures and so, when unoccupied by eggs or fledgelings, the DEM seeks to relocate the raptors to appropriate sites. Wildlife officials hope this raptor notices there is a welcoming site just east of the barn.

High-altitude eviction for Colt Park osprey

It’s not just retirees flying north as the weather warms in the spring — ospreys are returning from their winter homes in Central and South America to breed. Ospreys mate for life and … more

By Christy Nadalin | 4/21/21

Bristol Police: Arrests for domestic assault, theft and DUI

Bristol Police made a handful of arrests in the first full week of April, including two for domestic assault, one for driving under the influenced and another for breaking-and-entering. Monday, … more

4/16/21

Wenley Furgeson (center), director of habitat restoration at Save the Bay, discuss plans for a pond on the new golf course with landscape architect Tim Gerrish (right) and a project manager.

A win-win for golf and the environment in Bristol

Meetings on the golf course are nothing new — though the rumble of earth-moving equipment was a constant at this particular one, last Friday morning on the site of the Bristol Golf Course, just … more

By Christy Nadalin | 4/15/21

Mt. Hope Principal Dr. Deb DiBiase (center) with Mt. Hope parents Karen Zagorski (left) and Nina Murphy, who nominated her for the honor.

Mt. Hope's Deb DiBiase named state's top high school principal

Dr. Deborah DiBiase, the always smiling, hug- and laughter-prone principal of Mt. Hope High School, has been named Rhode Island's High School Principal of the Year for 2021. She learned about the … more

By Ted Hayes | 4/15/21