• A collaborative effort between the town and state agencies secured an $8.4 million plan to repair the breachway.
• The project involves rebuilding the breachway’s stone wall and dredging the channel to replenish the beach.

CHARLESTOWN – With a population of 7,997, this seaside town doesn’t have a lot going for it in terms of industry.

It is among the smallest employers – both as a town and in the private sector – in Rhode Island, according to the Department of Labor and Training. But it somehow manages to also have one of the lowest tax rates in the state.

“If you drive around town, we don’t have a lot of industry,” said Stephen McCandless. “We don’t have the big box stores. We don’t have a lot of business. And we are still the third or fourth lowest tax rate in the state.”

McCandless, who is Charlestown’s coastal geologist and GIS coordinator, reckons there is an easy explanation for this.

“It comes to the environment,” he said. “People come here for nature.”

Charlestown is home to Ninigret Pond, a popular boating, fishing and swimming spot. In fact, the town’s population more than triples during the summer due to tourists coming to enjoy its recreational offerings.

The pond is also an aquaculture engine for the state. About 40% of the oysters harvested in Rhode Island come from it.

But Ninigret Pond’s – and Charlestown’s – ecological and economic health has been under threat after winter storms from 2023-2024 eroded the breachway that connects the pond to the ocean.

The storms left a gaping hole in the breachway’s western wall, allowing water to pour out and sand to build up in the channel. This created navigational hazards for boaters, impacting businesses in the pond, erased 135 feet of valuable beach real estate and affected the water quality, endangering the health of shellfish in the pond.

A $500,000 emergency repair, performed last October, stymied the leak and stabilized the breachway, but a longer-term fix has been needed.

On Wednesday, Oct. 8, the Town of Charlestown, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the Coastal Resources Management Council announced a plan to repair the breachway.

The project will cost $8.4 million, with the lion’s share – $5 million – coming from the state through a DEM budget allocation through CRMC, $2 million from CRMC’s dredging budget and $1.4 million from Charlestown.

McCandless, who has spent over two decades studying the pond and spearheaded the work to restore the breachway, said that the project came together quickly thanks to efficient collaboration between the town and the state. Usually, between permitting from state agencies and funding, a project like this can take between two to three years, he estimated, but Charlestown and state officials were able to turn it around in a year.

“Trying to get that money in one year, it just doesn’t happen. I mean, it was a feat to get that accomplished that quickly,” McCandless said.

The project will be done in two main phases: first, rebuilding the breachway’s western stone wall to a height of eight feet, and second, dredging the channel and using the sand to rebuild the beach and its dunes

Work will begin Oct. 20 and run through Feb. 26, according to McCandless, though a press release from the state indicates it is expected to be completed by April 2026.

The breachway will remain open during construction, though access to the Blue Shutters Town Parking Lot may be restricted. The state encourages visitors to use the East Beach parking lot.

The breachway was originally constructed in 1952, though some structures dated back to 1890. Once completed, the renovated structure’s projected lifetime will be 100 years. That includes climate change scenarios.

“We designed it to last 100 years, and we hope it works. All the math says it will,” McCandless said.

The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Oct. 9, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Oct. 9 drawing

09-11-27-42-46, Lucky Ball: 17

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Numbers numbers from Oct. 9 drawing

Midday: 3-5-8-1

Evening: 7-7-5-1

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from Oct. 9 drawing

05-12-25-29-37, Extra: 08

Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

• Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
• Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
• Winners of the Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.

Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” talks a lot about Swift’s journey in the spotlight, but unfortunately, there is no behind-the-scenes look at the showgirl’s downtime at her Watch Hill mansion.

However, in a recent interview with SiriusXM, Swift discussed how certain lines in “The Fate of Ophelia,” the opening track and lead single from her new album, reference one of her many Rhode Island Fourth of July parties.

While the song overall says that fiance Travis Kelce coming into Swift’s life saved her from the fate of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” in the first verse, Swift talks about exactly when Kelce came into her life: “I swore my loyalty to me, myself and I / Right before you lit my sky up.”

In a recent interview with “Morning Mash Up” on SiriusXM Hits 1, host Nicole Ryan tells Swift she noticed the connection between her Instagram post and “The Fate of Ophelia” lyrics, with Swift responding “Oh my god, right?”.

Swift went on to talk about the irony in the timing of the caption, saying “how deranged is that post? I think back on that, I’m like that’s – there’s no way.”

“The fact that it was right before the Kansas City show, where like, I’d been like, ‘Happy Independence Day from your local, single girlies’ or something like that. And then I the next day go and play in Kansas City – not knowing that Travis was gonna come to the show,” Swift added. “It’s unreal.”

Here’s a breakdown of this reference, and how it involves Rhode Island.

Reference to Rhode Island party in ‘The Fate of Ophelia’

Kelce first entered Swift’s life – or “lit her sky up” – by attending an Eras Tour concert in Kansas City, Missouri on July 8, 2023. Famously, Kelce brought a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it for the singer, and while he did not get to give it to Swift during the concert, the gesture launched their romance.

Where was Taylor Swift “right before” Kelce attended her concert? She was celebrating the Fourth of July with friends at her Rhode Island mansion. On July 7, 2023 – just one day before Kelce went to The Eras Tour – Swift posted on Instagram about the Ocean State celebration, sharing pictures posing in front of the water, laughing in the kitchen and enjoying red, white and blue popsicles with friends Este, Danielle and Alana Haim, as well as Selena Gomez, Ashley Avignone and Sydney Ness.

More interestingly, Swift’s caption for the post declared the single status of herself and her friends: “Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies.”

Swift directly references this declaration of her independence with the line “I swore my loyalty to me, myself and I.”

As if the callback to the specific caption is not enough, Swift solidifies the reference to her Rhode Island Taymerica bash with other clever references to Independence Day throughout “The Fate of Ophelia,” such as repetitions of “I pledge allegiance” in the chorus of the song and the image of a firework exploding with the line “you lit my sky up.”