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12.28.2001 10:40
Memories of an unforgettable year
• The stories that helped to shaped our part of the world this year are filled with wonder, excitement and controversy.
From the sun-splashed waterfront to the traffic-clogged bridges, from the playgrounds to the classrooms, whether at home or at work, East Bay's eight communities offered stories that revealed equal measures of hope and frustration in 2001 -- but with enough kindness to soften the edges of a challenging and sometimes difficult year.
Here's a look at some of the more memorable stories of the year in the East Bay region. Some of these stories have found resolution. Others await completion.
But regardless of where these stories stand at year's end, the richness and diversity of the people and the landscape in this little part of our smallest state hold new promise for a new year.
Good-bye chief;
Cat case unsolved
BARRINGTON
Police Chief John T. Lazzaro has less than a month before his replacement, state police Maj. John LaCross, takes over the reins.
Lazzaro, 59, is resigning after 39 years. He says he's been "too busy to think" these days.
"You're only as good as the people you work with," he said recently. "When you work this long with these people, I often ask myself, 'Do you really want to retire?' "
His last day is Jan. 18, just three days before 43-year-old LaCross begins. LaCross has been with the state police for nearly 23 years.
Mietze, the Bay Spring Avenue area cat that was shot between the eyes early last month, is doing well.
"I think he lost 8 1/2 lives that night," said Sean Solley, the cat's owner. "He may lose sight in his right eye."
The Humane Society of the United States and Defenders of Animals are offering $3,000 for anyone who has information about the incident.
But there haven't been any leads in the case, the police said.
Airing their case;
Playground squabbles
BRISTOL
parents Joseph and Gail Thorpe helped land the Bristol Warren Regional School District on the talk-radio airwaves in May. They appeared on the Dan Yorke Show after their pleas to school officials to delay the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Guiteras School -- so all students could participate -- fell on deaf ears.
Since then, the situation has "improved significantly," Gail Thorpe said last week.
School officials are "trying to delay as long as they can to make sure as many students as possible can be there," she said.
Perhaps the most controversial issue to come before Bristol's governing board this year was the question of what to do with the ailing Town Common playground.
Despite some residents' protests, the council in May voted 4 to 1, with Councilman Halsey C. Herreshoff dissenting, to tear down the existing playground -- built by volunteers in 1987 -- and replace it with a new one, which opened in August to rave reviews by officials, parents and children.
When asked what members of the committee established to renovate the old playground thought about the new one, committee chairwoman MaryKae Wright said, "Everybody thinks that it looks really nice, and they are pleased that the children are using it."
Family fued
LITTLE COMPTON
began the year with an unusual feud.
The Azevedo family, of 35 Town Way, were longtime residents with a little extra space on their waterfront land. They parked not one but two trailers on their property, blocking the beautiful seaside view of Sal Marinosci and his fiance, Rose Strokes, who had purchased 24 Oliver Lane last year as a retirement home.
Although the couple had not yet moved in, they were furious about the situation and sought the resolution of the Town Council in early January. The request sent the town's building official on a whirlwind of state Department of Environmental Management paperwork.
It also sent some Azevedo family members packing to another town. While a trailer still sits at 35 Town Way, the dispute hasn't returned to the council since late March.
Stiking teachers;
Flooding worries
MIDDLETOWN
teachers took to the picket line in September, after their three-year contract expired Aug. 31. The district's 2,900 students missed seven days of school. A resolution with the School Committee before the end of the year seems unlikely, a mediator said.
Members of the Middletown Parents Group, which demanded last month that the contract be settled by Dec. 31, are unhappy.
"We are asking all parties involved to meet and get this resolved by the end of the year," said group member Nancy Callaghan. "We believe it can be done."
About 15 residents of Wood and Maplewood Roads suffered devastating losses in late March. Water and sewage, more than 3 feet in some cases, backed up into their basements after Bailey Brook overflowed is a storm that brought up to 5 inches of rain.
It took Franklin and Jane Wilbur, of 20 Wood Rd., and their family 2 1/2 weeks to clean up the 3 1/2 feet of sewage that ruined the family's washer, dryer, refrigerator, freezer, hot-water heater and three dumpsters worth of family possessions.
"It's dry now, but they still haven't solved the problem," Franklin Wilbur Jr. said last week.
To determine what went wrong, the town has begun a comprehensive study of the sewer and storm-drainage system in that area, Phase 1 of which was completed and presented to officials and residents in October.
Some short-term solutions have already been implemented, but long-term solutions are still undecided. Residents should know in the next two to three weeks if they will be compensated for any of their losses, some of which reach $15,000, Town Administrator Michael E. Embury said last week.
Hope VI out of luck;
Blow to hospitality
NEWPORT
narrowly failed to receive Hope VI funding from the federal Housing and Urban Development program for the third year in a row.
City officials had applied for a $34 million grant this year. They intend to revitalize the city's North End, including the Tonomy Hill low-income housing neighborhood, which would be demolished and replaced under the city's plan.
The city will decide in January if it will apply once again for a Hope VI grant.
A year ago, Rogers High School was put on probation by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges, which listed more than 25 "concerns" in its review of Rogers, including "a low set of academic expectations and a nonengaging curriculum."
This past year, the high school's administration and staff have been addressing those concerns and, in October, submitted its redress report. If it's well received, NEASC could reinstate Rogers as early as next month.
In the summer, the hospitality industry did its best to counter a weakening economy. For the first time, it advertised for summer in summer. And, for the most part, the promotion paid off. The city experienced only a mild decline in tourism.
Then came Sept. 11. A dozen cruise ships canceled visits. Hotels reported double-digit declines in occupancy compared to September 2000. And in November, in a proactive attempt to turn the tide, the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau announced a 50-percent to 70-percent increase in its winter advertising campaign.
Trouble at home
PORTSMOUTH
experienced a pair of home problems that forced two households to move.
Little progress has been made since July at a Bourbon Street home that was accidentally saturated with 150 gallons of heating oil by Lauder's Cash Oil Delivery Inc. of Portsmouth.
The Vashon family, who owns the house and continue to pay its mortgage, has lived at Courtyard By Marriott in Middletown all year while attempts are being made to return the house to livable standards.
"We may just cut our losses and sell the home to the insurance company," said Jon Vashon last week.
"It will get better at some point," said Vashon, who has multiple sclerosis and is partially blind. "It's just not today."
Meanwhile, 45-year-old Martha Barrows is starting her life over after losing the majority of her belongings in August and suffering several health problems when she discovered that the Aquidneck Avenue house she was renting was infested with toxic mold.
She recently moved into a Newport apartment and is concentrating on her health.
"I've pulled together furniture and household items from friends and family," she said last week. "My heirlooms are still in storage until they are 100 percent safe to be around me."
Taxing tolls;
Moniz saga
TIVERTON
was the focus of one of the state's major infrastructure controversies this year.
In July, the state Department of Transportation announced its desire to replace the deteriorating Sakonnet River Bridge with a new bridge just south of the existing span.
To pay for the $108 million bridge, the DOT proposed a new $4 toll.
Interim repairs to the bridge closed one lane on each side for most of the year, creating lengthy rush-hour delays. The repairs were completed in October, and a final decision on the bridge's fate is expected "sometime in 2002," according to the DOT.
After five years of delays and lengthy court hearings, most of the millions of pounds of clamshells have been removed from the farm of John Moniz Sr.
The state Department of Environmental Management and the Moniz family were able to agree on a plan to cleanup the farm, and the family is months ahead of the cleanup schedule.
Moniz ended up spending 91 nights in jail this year for not complying with the court, and his four sons were added to a civil lawsuit by the DEM. The case is back in court for a review on Jan. 28. The land is supposed to be fully cleaned by March.
Honor for veterans;
Wanted: Town manager
WARREN
residents welcomed the long-awaited honor roll, featuring the names of 2,646 veterans from the town who served in wars from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf.
The honor roll was dedicated Nov. 11. Hundreds of people packed the Town Common to see the 8-foot tall North American pink granite walls and bronze plaques.
The town has seen three acting town managers this year.
Fidele Incollingo -- who was in the post since the last full-time manager, Raymond W. Houle Jr. left in December 1999 -- stepped down in June. Peter Barilla took over until November, when Louis A. Perrotta, the current acting manager took over.
On Dec. 18, the Town Council choose five finalists for the job. This is the third search since Houle left, but the first since a charter amendment removed municipal leadership experience as a requirement.
In August, local entrepreneur and shipbuilder Luther H. Blount pledged $1 million to help preserve the town's waterfront.
To get the money, the town must have "zoning rules in place for five years to promote a waterfront with fuller use by townspeople of said space, with historic values and jobs instead of waterfront housing."
The town also must create a land-acquisition plan and change its zoning laws by August. Last month, the Town Council created a Waterfront Advisory Commission to make recommendations about the waterfront.
This story was compiled by staff writers Scott Mayerowitz, Jerry O'Brien, Alisha A. Pina, Kristen Rasmussen and Bryan Rourke.
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