Spare Change: Let go of school regionalization once and for all
Some leftover oddzendz as I end down a quart in the fresh ideas category.
• Some can’t take no for an answer. A guy last week told me he wants to exhume the concept of a regionalized Newport-Middletown school system.
He was revved up like the Music Man … new plans, new energy, meetings.
Stop. This is over. Last fall’s regionalization vote passed in Middletown and died in Newport.
I doubt there’d be a different vote in a few years. Newport’s currently building a new high school. Middletown plans one, too.
You may recall several years back Middletown leaders barely deigned to talk to Newport folks about combining systems.
Then Middletown stacked a Dagwood sandwich of school debt … and guess who showed up, tin cup in hand?Newport voters giddily said no.
And now there’s no support, no interest, no nothing.
Does anyone think that’s changing?
• R.I.P. Ericka Nicole Morris. I’m saddened that this full-of-life young woman is gone at 43.
• My maternal grandmother, the great Harriet McNall, died at age 82 in 1978.
She raised three children as a thirtysomething widow in the Great Depression and outlived each one.
She patched boots and resisted efforts to give her new ones. She lived on essentially the contents of her purse.
Her indulgences were Coca-Cola, Saturday night bingo and the occasional high ball.
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When she died, my uncle found about $3,000 stuffed in her mattress, an inheritance of sorts for her five grandchildren.
After she lived through the Crash of ‘29, she kept a bank account but probably didn’t fully trust banks. The mattress seemed safer.
Lately, I’ve come to understand (though not repeat) her thinking.
• Someone needs to explain the magic of green beer to me.
• While I think of it, the appeal of Kevin Hart eludes me. And Tim Allen is one more.
• Who’d have thought Helena Foulkes would turn down Washington and PC basketball coach Ed Cooley would grab the chance to move there?
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• Recent meme:
Fox News: “We’re lying to you.”
Fox News viewers: “No, you’re not.”
• R.I.P.: Aidan Graham. For several years Aidan ran a Newport version of his legendary Aidan’s Pub in Bristol.
It’s now the Fastnet Pub.
Aidan was a low-key Irishman who enjoyed a tale or two. He told me how he drummed in a band whose 45 topped the charts in Ireland.
“Relax, you can sell 5,000 copies and have the No. 1 hit in Ireland."
Safe travels, lad.
• Just when you think you’ve heard every bit of idiocy that comes from the Statehouse, along comes state Rep. Robert Quattrocchi, a Republican and election denier type, from Scituate.
Scituate? You wonder if he drinks directly from the reservoir.
Last week state Rep. Rebecca Kislak submitted legislation requiring that every bill include how it would affect certain races, religions and sexual orientations.
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Quattrocchi questioned whether the bill was too broad (a valid point). But he eventually tacked to ignorance.
“Do I have to take into account with ‘sexual orientation’ how it affects pedophiles in Rhode Island, anything like that?”
Kislak quickly explained to state Rep. Flintstone that pedophile is not a sexual orientation.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to,” Quattrocchi responded. “Are you a pedophile?”
Quattrocchi likely knew that Kislak is a lesbian. And he was probably busting chops. Or he’s an imbecile.
And Republicans wonder why Rhode Island seldom back their candidates?
Be glad you don’t live in Scituate.
• As Donald Trump gears up for a remake of NYPD Blue, you realize Jan. 6, 2021, was the greatest day of his life.
Jim Gillis is a Daily News columnist. Send him email at jimgillis13@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Let go of school regionalization once and for all: Spare Change
