There was plenty of news to report on in 2022 in Warren — beginning with a record-breaking snowfall in late January. There were sporting accomplishments and physical developments seen and proposed throughout the town, some of which remain in limbo heading into 2023.

Here are some of our choices for the top stories throughout the past year. Other notable moments can be seen in photos selected and their accompanying cutlines.

Easter fires hit Touisset
The Warren Fire Department volunteers responded in force to three separate fire incidents on Easter weekend — all of which happened on Saturday, April 16, with the last blaze being particularly dramatic barn fire in Touisset on Saturday night being fought into the early hours of Easter Sunday.

Sousa said approximately 40 of the town’s 60 active volunteer firefighters, including all of Warren’s apparatus, as well as apparatus from Swansea and water tankers from Rehoboth and Westport, were on the scene of that fire. It took responding personnel until around 5:00 a.m. on Easter morning to beat back the fire. The Town of Bristol provided station coverage for Warren during the fire.

Fire Chief James Sousa described a frantic scene when fire personnel arrived on the scene, where neighbors and the Warren Police Department had already gathered. Responding personnel moved quickly to try and free livestock that were housed in the barn and in danger of being lost to the flames.

“We have to give the police officers credit for initially being on scene to help get animals out,” he said. “Firefighters and police were trying to figure out which gates had animals behind them, so everyone was opening any gates they could find, all through limited visibility and smoke.”

Sousa said that approximately 30 cattle were housed in the barn, and that six had ultimately perished as a result of the blaze. The rest were freed into the surrounding pasture and re-gathered after the fire was under control the following morning. Sousa said an unknown number of chickens were also lost to the fire.

No people were injured during the hectic weekend of firefighting.

Dr. D departs Mt. Hope
While she wasn’t technically removed from her position as the principal of Mt. Hope High School, Dr. Deb DiBiase was informed in late May that she did not have majority support among the nine-person school board to receive a new contract to continue leading in that position.

The revelation, which came without a clear explanation on the part of the five-person school committee majority who held the power to make that move, came as a shock to many adults and students alike throughout the Warren and Bristol communities, and lawn signs and protests popped up as a result.

Ultimately, the unrest did not result in Dr. D keeping her job at Mt. Hope, but she was approved as a member of the district’s administrative team with a new title of Director of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. Former assistant principal Michelle King took over as the new principal.

A bit of a mess at Burr’s Hill
Throughout 2022, plans for a new recreational facility at Burr’s Hill Park that would house a concession stand, new ADA-compliant bathrooms, and an informational kiosk went through multiple rounds of Town Council meetings and workshops with the public.

Initial designs from chosen vendor, Addaspace, proved immensely disliked by the public for their rugged appearance, as they were essentially repurposed shipping containers. A new design eased many (but not all) concerns regarding the aesthetics, and was approved — only for the council to find out shortly afterwards that Addaspace had an outstanding licensing issue with the RI Secretary of State’s office, and that they hadn’t gone through the proper protocols when they first accepted a proposal for the job.

As a result, the town scrapped the existing deal and, as of the last update, were seeking proposals from another vendor who could begin the job by June of 2023, the deadline by which the grant funding the proposed structure needs to be spent.

Students shine on SATs
During a year in which the dismal performance of most post-Covid classrooms throughout Rhode Island performed on standardized tests, Mt. Hope upperclassmen scored a rate victory by exceeding all expectations on the English portion of the SATs.

Data from 2018-19 (before Covid struck) showed 68.8% of Mt. Hope students met or exceeded standards on the ELA SAT. During 2020-21 (in the thick of remote learning and interruptions due to illness), that dipped way down to 47.7%. But this most recent data showed a surge of achievement, jump- ing back up to 72% in 2021-22 and surpassing even the pre-Covid numbers.

119 Water Street
In our judgment, the ongoing saga regarding a proposed development at 119 Water St. has been the story of the year in Warren — putting into focus a much larger issue surrounding the state’s desire to create more affordable housing and the subsequent impact that can have on local communities.

In this case, the community at large did not come out against the concept of affordable housing, but has rallied around a cause of historic preservation stewardship, as two structures built in the 1800s would have to be demolished to make way for the now-12-unit apartment building.

The development has already taken multiple twists and turns, as it was originally proposed to be a 17-unit structure and four stories tall, where 15 of those units would be listed at 80% of the area median income. It has now shrunk in both features — to a 12-unit, three-story building, and in the amount of affordable units it proposes to offer, from 15, down to just three.

The final chapter on this development has yet to be written, and will continue into 2023 with the next meeting of the Warren Planning Board on Jan. 23.