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You think that food prices are high now, just wait until Gov. McKee starts up those truck tolls again. I can’t believe that our politicians are so dense that they think that the truckers are going to pay those tolls. Oh, sure, they will pay them up front, but they will just jack up their delivery prices to the stores; then the stores will jack up their price increases to “guess who”, the Rhode Island taxpayers, you and me. It’s just another tax on us. It won’t be long before we all have to go to the food pantries to get food. When will Rhode Island politicians stop saying spend, spend, spend and say cut, cut, cut? Oh, that’s right they will probably blame Trump for the hikes.
Thayer Donovan, Middletown
Rhode Island’s legislature recently passed laws that are likely to lower your home’s value, limit your control of your community’s future and reduce your quality of life.
The legislature has very quietly enacted roughly 30 laws that all but end the ability of local communities to control their own zoning and place it firmly in the hands of state agencies. Their goal is to force Rhode Island’s 39 municipalities to allow more high-density housing.
These laws mean we residents now have much less control over how our community will look in the future. This loss of local control of zoning is almost certain to cause a decline in home values as three-story multifamily housing is fast-tracked in formerly single-family zoned neighborhoods. Falling property values plus greater demand on municipal services from a spike in population are likely to cause municipalities to raise taxes.
These laws were passed quietly without the participation of or even communications with the state’s municipalities or residents. Why? Probably to minimize resistance that would likely rise if it became widely known control of local zoning was being taken away. Who wants local zoning in the hands of remote state agencies?
One of the principles clearly stated in Rhode Island’s constitution is local control. Power is to remain in local hands except where it must be exercised at the state or federal levels. These new state laws violate this long-standing principle that enables communities to tailor laws to meet residents’ wishes. The laws also raise serious state and federal constitution violation issues.
What can you do to stop this bureaucratic power grab?
1. Tell your town or city council you want them to fight for your zoning rights. For example, Portsmouth’s Town Council has drafted a resolution seeking a court injunction to stop enforcement of the new zoning laws. The Council is also contacting other municipalities to join forces in opposing the state takeover.
2. Write letters to the editor. The Newport Daily News (450-word limit), editor@newportri.com. The Providence Journal (250 words), letters@providencejournal.com.
3. Contact your state legislators. Tell them you want control of zoning returned to local government.
4. Let Speaker of Rhode Island’s House of Representatives K. Joseph Shekarchi know how you feel, rep-shekarchi@rilegislature.gov. It is highly unlikely these laws would have passed without Speaker Shekarchi’s blessing, if not instigation.
Regaining control of your community’s future requires your immediate action. If you do nothing, your community may soon be unrecognizable and unaffordable.
Bill Welch, Portsmouth
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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