OPINION/LETTERS: Thank you Newport for helping my wife

Thank you Newport for helping my wife

Through your newspaper, I would like to thank the people of Newport who assisted my wife when she tripped and fell. It was on Sept. 25 at around 11 a.m. We had arrived on board the cruise ship Arcadia. We had just come ashore when tripped and struck her head and face. The good people of Newport rallied around her administering first aid calling 911 and comforting her. She was seen by paramedics and taken to the hospital. When my wife was discharged we tried to get a taxi but had no luck, but luck was on our side when a very kind lady Beth Allen came to our rescue. She heard our plight and immediately offered to drive us back to the landing stage for our return to the ship.

My wife and I thank you all for your acts of kindness and assistance it renews one's faith in humanity.

Peter and Pauline Scott, Swindon England U.K.

Khamsyvoravong has the right background to serve on Newport City Council

I am writing this letter to share with my friends and neighbors why I am enthusiastically voting for Xay Khamsyvoravong for an At-Large seat on Newport’s City Council. Seldom have I met a young man who so thoroughly impressed me that, if elected, he would bring the much-needed skills, experience, vision, and energy that will help shape the future of our community.

In several conversations, Xay convinced me that he sees clearly that Newport is at a kind of crossroads regarding the future livability of our beloved city, especially for the families who live and work here. All of us can tick off on our fingers the stresses facing us: housing access and affordability, good education for our children and grandchildren that actually prepares them for the world they will have to live in, a disappearing waterfront, transportation in an increasingly crowded city, and resiliency as this oceanside community faces daunting climate and environmental challenges. We all see it and feel it.

But what Xay added to our conversations was his thoughtful commitment to solid, workable solutions. He has the educational training in public affairs and law, added to many years of public service experience. He understands infrastructure. He has led the Governor’s ‘Working Group on Transportation and Infrastructure,’ and was the innovative chair of Rhode Island’s largest water utility. Xay understands the economic dynamics of city governments. He was deputy chief of staff to Rhode Island’s state treasurer during the 2008 financial crisis. As the head of government lending and senior vice president of Webster Bank, he has spent years working with Atlantic seaboard towns, fashioning workable financial solutions to the same kind of problems that Newport faces. He also knows how to access state and federal funds to support future infrastructure. These are the skills that Newport needs to build forward.

This Rhode Islander is also very personally invested in Newport, its present and its future. He’s on the board of Grow Smart RI and the advisory board of Sail Newport. He and his wife, Alicia, chose Newport over any other place. Their hearts are here.

Dare I say it? Xay Khamsyvoravong makes me feel hopeful.

I sincerely hope you will join me in voting for him for Newport City Council At-Large on Nov. 8.

Eileen Warburton, Newport

Rhode Island Needs Environmental Leaders Like Sen. Dawn Euer

As a resident, local business owner and parent of two young children, I have directly seen the adverse impacts climate change has had on our community, my business and the quality of life for my family.

Prior to Sen. Dawn Euer becoming chair of the Senate Environmental Committee two years ago, our state had not passed a significant climate bill since 2014. Through Dawn’s leadership we passed trail-blazing legislation to combat climate change; to make R.I. carbon neutral; and to transition us to 100% renewable energy.

It's the most ambitious plan in the whole country and I’m proud of Rhode Island and Sen. Euer for understanding the positive impact it will have on our state - it will create jobs, it will stabilize energy prices, it will improve our local economy, it will improve our quality of life - and it will make Rhode Island a leader among the rest of the country.

On top of that, Dawn helped secure support for DEM so they can better monitor and enforce environmental protections. She has worked to restructure the CRMC to better protect our environment while strengthening our economy. She has also helped protect open spaces and reduce plastic waste, and secured funding for climate resiliency and preparedness.

We have a lot more work to do but I know Sen. Euer is committed to this cause and to the betterment of Newport County and Rhode Islanders as a whole. We deserve shoreline access and clean water so all of us can use our beaches. We deserve follow-through and commitment toward the goals set by the Act on Climate. We deserve a robust and healthy economy for us and our future generations.

I without doubt support the work Dawn has accomplished and will accomplish. I urge you to support her.

Paul Marshall, Newport

Coyote need is misguided

Maurice Halladay's letter of Oct. 7 (“A reason we need coyotes on Aquidneck Island”) reveals a misguided plan to protect his garden from small animals. If he had lost a cat to a coyote as I and a neighbor have recently, perhaps he would have a different perspective. Better to lose a few vegetables than to have a beloved pet killed by one of the coyotes he so desires.

Lawrence L. Chase, Newport

Carson will protect shoreline access for all

“We are all joined by a common interest, a common devotion and love for the sea.”

Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy spoke those words right here in Newport, Rhode Island.

Nearly 300 years prior, King Charles the Second, in the Royal Charter of Rhode Island declared the “free inhabitants… their heirs and successors… shall have full and free power and liberty to continue and use the trade of fishing upon the said coast, in any of the seas thereunto adjoining, or any arms of the seas, or salt water, rivers and creeks.”

And, roughly, somewhere in between these two proclamations, the Rhode Island Constitution of 1842 further established that “the people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore… [including] leaving the shore to swim in the sea and passage along the shore.”

Notwithstanding any entirely-substantiated eye rolls in regards to King Charles, colonialism, and the audacity required to dream up restricting access to something that never truly belonged to you in the first place… one would hope the idea that you “don’t mess with Rhode Islanders shoreline access” would be, by now, both evident and sacrosanct.

And yet, stories ranging from microaggressions to full-fledged skirmishes to businesses straight up usurping our shores for personal gain are prolific.

Developers with deep pockets, out-of-state vacation home seekers, ever-changing shorelines, ignorance, greed, and confusion are well-known characters in these recurring stories over Rhode Island’s coast.

Much of the muck slinging around this issue is often traced to the arcane – and ever- elusive – “mean high tide line” which waded into the shoreline conversation after a 1982 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision casually restricted Rhode Islanders’ constitutional rights and negated centuries worth of legislative intent.

This past June, however, the House passed long overdue, bipartisan, and commonsense legislation (H 8055) which would restore Rhode Islanders’ constitutional rights and redefine the line that separates private from public land to a visible and recognizable high tide mark.

Rep. Lauren Carson, a cosponsor of H 8055, has been a consummate champion for her district and, in particular, the environment.

She was the lead sponsor on the Act on Climate bill – which Gov. McKee signed into law – and which puts the Ocean State on a path to 100% renewable energy.

A staunch supporter of protecting Narragansett Bay and a straight shooter, Rep. Carson has proven to be an indispensable advocate at the State House.

I commend her continued work on shoreline access and look forward to voting for her – and other shoreline supporters – this November.

Ryan Patrick Kelley, Newport

Now is the time for school regionalization

As a retired educator and former member and chair of the Middletown School Committee, I wish to express my strong support for the school regionalization proposal coming before the voters of Newport and Middletown. I urge my friends and neighbors to carefully consider and support the proposal. In spite of what some may think the two communities have far more similarities than differences in student population, educational needs and socio-economic identities. Now is the time for all of us to make a commitment to the proposal as a starting point for a new and improved school department for Newport and Middletown.

The regionalization program has clearly defined financial benefits enabling both communities to benefit monetarily. Savings in administrative expenses, capital expenditures and debt reduction will have a positive impact on prevailing tax obligations. The educational benefits are also significant and perhaps more important than financial benefits. Newer, more modern facilities, expanded program offerings, more cooperation and collaboration between teachers and administrators are only some of the exciting possibilities.

Speaking as a Middletown resident it is time for the elective and appointive leaders of the town and school committee to indicate their views on the regionalization process. I commend council President Rodrigues for his leadership on this matter. I also appreciate the support given by members of the town council and in particular councilor Von Villas for her long-term support for a regional school department. I am a bit dismayed that we have not heard from members of the school committee and superintendent of schools on the proposal. One would hope that issues of job security and or inflated egos are not clouding the importance of this matter.

Patrick Noel Sullivan, Middletown

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: LETTERS: Thank you Newport for helping my wife