The Westport Planning Board has cancelled 25 percent of its meetings since this time last year after failing to reach a quorum — the minimum number of members who must be present to conduct …

For several days outside Portsmouth Town Hall, 219 flags fluttered in the late-summer breeze. Each represented a Rhode Islander who died from an opioid overdose in 2025.

We put together a short back-to-school shopping list. Yes, classes have already started. And yes, the pants we bought last year still fit fine. All the same, here’s our list: • Air …

It happens every two years in Rhode Island. In late August, a few leaves begin twirling down from trees. College students depart; or return. Yellow buses return to the roads. And then, bam! It’s …

There are certain jobs in a town government that belong to the town council, and there are certain jobs that belong to the town administrator.

In the last few weeks, a handful of towns in Rhode Island have parted ways with Flock traffic cameras. Some communities have cited concerns over privacy rights as the driving force behind the …

In the context of small-town municipal affairs, what the Barrington Town Council did last week was shocking. With one seat vacant and one member absent, a three-person council voted unanimously to …

There is finally some encouraging news about climate change, and Rhode Islanders have the Heartland Institute to thank for it.

Electric bicycles and scooters are not going away, and the problems they cause are not getting any better. They’re getting worse. Too many parents are giving too young children too many of …

Barrington’s new trash and recycling program has been in place for less than three weeks, and while it’s too soon to render final judgment on the new system, it’s not too soon for a couple of …

A town that cares as much about the environment as Barrington does should have thought twice before approving the production/creation/distribution of more than 12,000 extremely large plastic trash …

For years, Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC) has made transparency one of its rallying cries. The taxpayer advocacy group regularly calls on town officials, boards and commissions to conduct …

It keeps happening. Pedestrians, bicyclists and people driving cars keep colliding where the East Bay Bike Path crosses over roads.   On Tuesday, June 9, a teenage girl riding a bicycle …

This year’s financial town referendum offered a little bit of everything: The good. The bad. The yet to be determined. The good was turnout. The town’s first-ever FTR drew nearly 1,700 …

What happened on May 27, 2026, when Barrington voters went to the polls? From our perspective, a lot. The first Financial Town Referendum in the town’s 309-year history was not just an …

Chianese Park feels like a lost cause.   We have looked at the numerous plans and ideas pitched for “improving” Chianese over the years, and there seems to be no clear path to building …

There is a certain energy that settles over a room when public comment begins. It is part confession booth, part open mic night, part therapy session conducted under fluorescent lighting. People …

Nearly a week later, it’s still difficult to make sense of a special meeting held by the Barrington Town Council. Last Thursday evening, the council gathered for a session that was far from the …

The reopening of the East Bay Bike Path bridges was met with much pomp and circumstance on Monday, and with good reason. Every Rhode Island delegate in Congress, the governor and half the local …

Every so often at a Portsmouth Town Council meeting, a familiar complaint rises from the audience: “We never hear about these things until it’s too late.” The frustration is …

There is something deeply Rhode Island about fixing potholes with a phone number. Not fixing them, exactly — let’s not get carried away — but creating a system by which we may report them …

Before the Rhode Island General Assembly are two bills that serve the public and improve transparency in government. Both were heard before a House committee this week, and both are led by and …

Every so often at a Portsmouth Town Council meeting, a familiar complaint rises from the audience: “We never hear about these things until it’s too late.” The frustration is …

It was revealed this week that Barrington High School students attend class for less time than their peers throughout Rhode Island, and they have done so for years. Regardless of how the community …

For fourteen years, the Belton Court property has hovered over Barrington like a question waiting to be answered. The debate didn’t start yesterday. It began even before the property was purchased, …