Rhode Island
Dangerous waters – RI bays and beach breaks, pools and ponds, are death scenes this summer
Conimicut Point Beach ripe tide warning system
Conimicut Point Beach machine alerts those nearby about the perilous riptides. The machine was installed after the drowning of a 10-year-old girl.
WARWICK – As tiny waves slosh onto the sandy spit at Conimicut Point, a loud siren interferes with nature’s soundtrack.
Emergency lights flash from a warning system mounted to the top of a pole. After the piercing siren, which has a klaxon-like rhythm, an authoritative voice commands the attention of anyone on the point.
“Attention!” it says. “Attention!”
“Dangerous tidal and current conditions are approaching! You are advised to leave the sandbar immediately!”
The warning system at Conimicut Point, which includes the same cautions in Spanish, is a new feature that arrived in time for the 2024 swimming season.
Time will tell if the gadgetry makes a major impact on safety over the long term by raising awareness of the point’s hazards, deterring risky behavior and substantially reducing or even eliminating drownings and other water-related fatalities.
So far, the swimming season at Conimicut has been safer this year, with no fatalities or serious injuries, according to Warwick’s police chief, Col. Brad Connor.
Unfortunately, there are lots of other ways for people to put themselves at risk in the water in Rhode Island, from backyard pools to high cliffs along Narragansett Bay, to Atlantic Ocean rip currents.
The state has not avoided tragedy this summer.
Double fatality in Omega Pond believed to be accidental
The deaths of two kayakers on Omega Pond in East Providence drew widespread attention as the news broke on July 5.
The bodies of Joseph Fritz, 52, of East Providence, and Gregory Boerman, 37, of Allston, Massachusetts, were found submerged in the pond. Their kayaks were floating nearby.
Neither Fritz nor Boerman wore a life jacket.
Investigators believe both men drowned accidentally, East Providence police Capt. Michael Rapoza said last week.
However, the medical examiner won’t have an official report on the deaths until they receive a toxicology report.
The toxicology could clarify if alcohol was a factor in the deaths.
Nine people drowned in 2023, RI Health Department says
Tom Griffiths is an aquatic safety expert.
Griffiths, who studies drownings, developed a widely employed strategy that lifeguards can use to surveil swimmers.
Griffith believes signs can help deter some people from taking risks they shouldn’t take, but he also says signs and even blinking lights can fail.
“Signage can work, but I think it has to be creative,” he said.
He said he likes the combination of lights, signs and announcements put in place at Conimicut.
Anniversary of the Conimicut Point double fatality
June 20 was the anniversary of the 2021 double-fatality at Conimicut Point that took the lives of 10-year-old Yoskarly Martinez and a 35-year-old Central Falls man who died trying to save her.
Large warning signs with bright red lettering were posted in the sand near the device.
To the west, the back of the point, but not the submerged sandbar, was inhabited by people who were fishing.
It was a visible difference from previous years, when almost always some anglers would wade into the shallows along the point, to the east, and toward the strong currents in between the lighthouse and the dry sand at the point.
On this occasion, this year, the shallows were people-free.
Then, at high tide, a couple wearing bathing suits sauntered out onto the point. They waded in to their shins, to their waists.
Then for a while, they played together, neck deep, in dangerous waters off the point.
Water-related deaths in Rhode Island since the first day of spring include:
July 23 : North Providence police investigated the death of a 4-year-old boy in a pool. Investigators were told the boy was pulled from the pool after “an undetermined amount of time” underwater.
July 21: The body of 65-year-old Leonidas Gonzalez, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, was recovered from the Sakonnet River. Gonzalez was on the surface along a treacherous shoreline near Indian Avenue, according to Portsmouth’s deputy police chief, Maj. Michael J. Morse. Gonzalez, a retired jeweler and grandfather, frequently fished in the area, and witnesses told police he had fished for several hours on Monday, Morse said.
July 18: A 71-year-old died from injuries, including facial injuries, that he apparently suffered when a wave crashed over him as he waded along the beachfront near the Weekapaug Inn, police say.
July 5: Two men were found dead near their kayaks in Omega Pond, in East Providence. Family members say that Joseph Fritz, 52, of East Providence, and Gregory Boerman, 37, of Allston, Massachusetts, had failed to return from a kayaking excursion on July 4.
June 23: Dexter Gutierrez Matias, 20, of East Providence, was seen in an area known as the “12 O’Clock High” on the north end of Brenton Point shoreline in Newport. Matias had been enjoying the day at the beach with friends who were helping him improve his swimming skills so he could bring his son to the beach and teach him to swim, a GoFundMe page says. “His friends tried to help save him, but they were unable to,” the page says. Searchers, including a Coast Guard air crew in a helicopter, couldn’t find him. On July 3, a man’s body was recovered in the same part of the shoreline where Matias had gone missing.
June 20: Souleymane Diagne, 29, of Senegal, is pronounced dead after Smithfield firefighters try to revive him. Diagne had been unresponsive when he was pulled from a pool at The Last Resort.
May 16: The body of a man believed to be in his early 50s is found along the Woonasquatucket River near Aleppo Street, according to Providence police.
May 14: A kayaker sees a man’s body in the Pawtuxet River near a bridge at the end of Mill Street in Cranston.
April 7: A surveillance camera along the shore of the Pawcatuck River near the public boat ramp in downtown Westerly records video of 40-year-old Matthew Brouillette, unsteady on his feet, falling into the river. Searchers are unable to find him that night. The following day a K9 team detects Brouillette’s body underwater. His body is about 30 feet from where he had fallen in and about 8 feet from shore.
Rhode Island
An appreciation of Joe Biden; RI’s underpaid doctors | Letters
Thank you, Joe Biden
Trump has learned that if he tells lies often enough and loudly enough, they will be believed. He keeps repeating that Joe Biden has been a terrible president.
In fact, President Biden has accomplished much. He tackled the COVID crisis by helping hospitals get supplies, getting COVID vaccines distributed, making free testing kits available, sending checks to all Americans, and helping people return to work and students return to school.
He revitalized the U.S. participation in NATO and supported Ukraine vs. Putin.
He recognized climate change and rejoined the rest of the world in battling its effects.
He appointed the first Black female Supreme Court justice.
He initiated projects to improve the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
He oversaw the U.S. economy’s rebound from the pandemic.
The list goes on.
But, best of all, he stopped the daily flow of lies that had been streaming from the White House.
Cindy Kaplan, West Warwick
Better compensation for doctors
What is happening to the health-care system in America? The quality of care seems to be diminishing. One of the reasons is the abysmally poor salaries we pay to our medical residents and fellows, doctors who have already spent years in medical school and are now honing their skills in hospitals throughout the country.
The problem is especially acute in Rhode Island where these young doctors are paid an average of less than $70,000 per year at our hospitals (“Resident doctors make union bid,” News, Nov. 21).
How can these doctors’ patients and hospital management expect them to excel while trying to survive on such meager wages for four to seven years of residency and fellowship, especially with the high cost of housing in Rhode Island and with their average quarter-million-dollar student loan debts?
The only thing that keeps at bay the hounds who are constantly calling for the nationalization of our health-care system is that our country provides the best medical care in the world. Nationalization would destroy our system as it has done in the UK and Canada.
Poor pay and overly arduous working conditions foisted upon residents and fellows in the U.S. will lead to fewer quality doctors entering the profession. Nationalization will eventually follow.
I have opposed unions in the past, but when we pay our young doctors less than what we pay electrical and plumbing apprentices, something is terribly wrong.
If we want our citizens to continue receiving the world’s best medical care, we better start properly compensating residents and fellows and allowing them a bit of time off. Otherwise, they will enter other professions and the quality of medical care in America will deteriorate to that provided by nationalized health systems.
Lonnie Barham, Warwick
Saving RI’s forests
Many environmentalists are concerned about the upcoming administration being filled with individuals who do not take climate change seriously. While, unfortunately, these next four years will probably take us backwards in the fight against climate change, we can still protect the environment here in Rhode Island.
Currently, Rhode Island is the only state in New England with no protected forests on state-owned land. Rare and endangered species are threatened due to their habitats being destroyed by DEM and solar developers through forest clear-cutting.
By joining the Save Rhode Island’s Forests Campaign, you can help in the effort to get legislation passed to create laws to finally protect our state forests and endangered species. In Rhode Island, you can save the environment.
Nathan Cornell, Warwick
The writer is president of the Rhode Island Old Growth Tree Society.
Rhode Island
Police recover watch belonging to Travis Kelce in Rhode Island following break-in of his mansion: report
A watch belonging to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was reportedly found over 1,000 miles away from his Kansas mansion that was broken into last month.
The homes of Kelce and teammate Patrick Mahomes were burglarized last month shortly before one of their games — Kelce’s house is in Leawood, Kansas, while Mahomes’ residence is in nearby Belton, Missouri.
The watch was recovered in Providence, Rhode Island, where Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, also owns a home.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
NFL players were cautioned by the league to be on high alert after the homes were broken into last month in a wave of burglaries reportedly tied to international organized crime. It was eventually revealed that $20,000 in cash was taken from Kelce’s home.
In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the NFL issued a security alert to teams and the NFL Players Association, warning that professional athletes in different sports have become “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.”
Law enforcement officials say the suspects conduct extensive surveillance on their targets’ homes and have even posed as groundskeepers or joggers. Some have even attempted home deliveries.
49ERS’ BROCK PURDY, NICK BOSA RULED OUT FOR POTENTIAL SEASON-DEFINING GAME VS. PACKERS
The memo urged players to take special precautions, including installing home security systems. They were also encouraged not to post live updates of their comings and goings on social media or showcase their expensive items online.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating, disappointing. I can’t get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing, but, obviously, it’s something that you don’t want to happen to really anybody, but obviously yourself,” Mahomes said last week.
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The Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to the Buffalo Bills after winning their first nine games.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Rhode Island
Travis Kelce’s watch found in Rhode Island after Kansas City mansion was burglarized of $20K in cash: report
Travis Kelce’s stolen watch was reportedly found in Providence, RI, this week after the NFL star’s mansion in Leawood, Kan., was burglarized last month.
Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News Friday that a watch taken from Kelce’s residence — and not previously disclosed to the public — was recovered.
Details have yet to be revealed on what type of timepiece was stolen or how much it was worth.
Authorities previously shared that the unidentified criminals stole $20,000 cash from Kelce’s home. They did not specify whether any other items were taken at the time.
Sources told ABC News that they think the athlete’s home was specifically targeted — and thoroughly surveyed — before the Oct. 7 burglary.
Just two days before Kelce’s pad was broken into, burglars also raided the home of his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
Authorities have theorized the burglars may have targeted the athletes as their public football schedule reveals when they will be away from their residences.
“There is a concern about what happens if the athlete or his/her family members are present,” a security source told the outlet.
The insider shared that the burglars have gained access to Kelce and Mahomes’ houses by “posing as delivery men, maintenance workers or joggers to learn about residences, neighborhoods and security systems.”
Captain Jason Ahring from the Leawood, Kan., Police Department told Page Six that they are not releasing any information pertaining to an open investigation and maintained they will not be commenting.
Meanwhile, a Providence Police Department Public Information Officer told Page Six that they do “not have any record or involvement related to this incident.”
Kelce, 35, has yet to address the crime, but Mahomes, 29, previously expressed how “disappointing” the violation was.
“I can’t get into too many details because the investigation is still ongoing, but it’s obviously something you don’t want to happen to anybody — and obviously yourself,” Mahomes said during a press conference earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a source told Page Six that Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was “thankful that no one was hurt and that neither of them were home during the robberies.”
Kelce’s home was broken into around 7:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 7 – just 15 minutes before his team kicked off against the New Orleans Saints.
Meanwhile, Mahomes’ mansion was burglarized while he was celebrating Kelce’s 35th birthday on Oct. 5.
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