Rhode Island
Rhode Island school thrives after last-ditch purchase from diocese
![Rhode Island school thrives after last-ditch purchase from diocese](https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/storage/image/unknown-1.jpeg?jpg)
“There are so many miracles that happened in those three days and over the three months while the decision was made,” Casey said, “but we became owners of three acres with a church that seats 400 people, a school that can accommodate 160 students and a rectory [at which] we are housing our teachers.”
“It has been a crazy ride, but we believe God and Our Lady are at the helm,” Casey said.
Following the school’s acquisition of the property, volunteers and engineers both pitched in to help prepare it for opening. Workers “did quite a bit in a short time to get the buildings to code to move in,” Casey said. “We spent about $55,000 to open it and during the first year we needed about $20,000 in repairs that showed up as we started using the property again.”
He admitted that those investments were financially “draining” but that the school is engaging in fundraising as it grows into a four-year institution, after which “the financials look pretty good.” The school currently hosts about 20 students; the St. Francis property can accommodate a total of 160.
Casey said the school is well supported as it launches. Benefactors “are starting to get behind the mission and vision to help the school get to the next level,” he said, while volunteers “have been incredible, sharing their gifts in areas such as painting, construction, and much sweat equity.”
Casey said the experience with the school shows that lay Catholics looking to help the Church need to “step up and help instead of hoping someone else does it.”
“Catholic laypeople must become part of the solution for the Church’s future,” he said. “We need to support our diocese and priests.” The diocese, Casey added, has been “so supportive” of the school, with a different priest visiting the school “every day” to celebrate its daily Mass.
“Priests visit us from all over Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, and the students have an opportunity to see how each priest has a different journey in faith,” he said. “They sometimes share lunch with the students. Priests or deacons help us every month for our First Friday Holy Hours. Both bishops and a few monsignors have celebrated Mass with us.”
Casey said the school aspires to “bring spiritual life back to the Warwick and greater Rhode Island community and help families committed to raising their children to be the next generation of saints.”
(Story continues below)
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“Many Chesterton schools do not start this way with buying at the start,” he said, “but we believe with Our Lady of Hope guiding us, that we will be able to fill the school and help bring more souls to Christ.”
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Rhode Island
Now former Rhode Island teacher found guilty of molesting three children he knew
![Now former Rhode Island teacher found guilty of molesting three children he knew](https://fallriverreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Nicholas-Oliveira.png)
Attorney General Peter Neronha announced that a Lincoln man has been found guilty in Providence County Superior Court of multiple counts of second-degree child molestation against three victims between 2016 and 2017.
On April 24, 2024, following a seven-day trial before Superior Court Justice Maureen Keough, a jury found 34-year-old Nicholas Oliveira guilty of three counts of second-degree child molestation. Additionally, Oliveira has been charged with first-degree child molestation in Connecticut. That case remains pending.
During the trial, the State proved that Oliveira sexually assaulted three girls under the age of 14, all of whom were known to him, on multiple occasions between July 2016 and December 2017.
Oliveira is a now former teacher in the Cumberland School District.
Special Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Burke of the Office of the Attorney General and Detective Richard Bousquet of the Lincoln Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of these cases.
Rhode Island
Changes in wastewater billing are overdue in RI | Opinion
Richard Burroughs teaches in the Department of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island. He has served as a member of the board of Save The Bay and as a commissioner for the Narragansett Bay Commission.
The Providence Journal very correctly points out how the health of Narragansett Bay relates to the well-being of the residents around it through its March articles on the quahog. And Rhode Islanders can best benefit from changing the Bay, if they can pay for it. By federal Environmental Protection Agency standards, not all can.
Cleanup requires systems of pipes and tunnels to collect wastewaters and then elaborate machinery to clean and disinfect it prior to discharge to the Bay. A mandated 50% of nitrogen is removed along the way. As the Providence Journal articles explain, if too much nitrogen has been taken out, then there is an associated question of food for the quahogs. Using food-supply logic, less fertilizer and fewer phytoplankton results in a diminishing supply of quahogs — and the livelihoods related to them.
More: What’s a quahog? A quick guide to Rhode Island’s iconic clam.
Cleanup costs also include construction of tunnels, electricity for pumps, maintenance of tanks, additives to assist the process, as well as other expenses.
More importantly, the high costs of wastewater treatment are borne by all households and businesses. Since the fees for the Narragansett Bay Commission customers are for connection and water used, residences with varied incomes will see very different annual bills when measured as a percentage of household income. Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls have areas where the bill reaches as high as 7% of median household income. Other, wealthier, areas in Providence are at 1% or less of household income.
The Environmental Protection Agency has seen this as a weakness for many, many years and has developed and revised national guidance, most recently last month. The EPA indicates bills that are 2% or more of household income are high.
Unfair billing is a serious weakness, but it is not without solutions. The EPA suggests, and many communities in other areas have adopted, customer assistance programs. Among them are lifeline rates, where basic water needs are covered and any excess usage is billed at the standard rate. When this approach was applied in Philadelphia, collections increased as more households could readily pay. These kinds of billing changes are overdue in Rhode Island.
If implemented, costs for continued improvements to Narragansett Bay would not disproportionately fall on those with less ability to pay.
The message about billing is clear. For some, the bills are too high according to EPA guidance. Important future steps to improve the Bay need to be considered not only in terms of water quality but also in terms of billing impacts on people. Now is the time to move forward and set wastewater bills on an equitable level.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island State Police make multiple arrests for outstanding warrants – Newport Dispatch
![Rhode Island State Police make multiple arrests for outstanding warrants – Newport Dispatch](https://www.newportdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rhode-island-1.jpg)
WEST WARWICK — In a series of arrests, Rhode Island State Police took into custody individuals on outstanding warrants for various offenses, including driving with a suspended license and shoplifting.
At 9:57 a.m., Angela Wilkinson, 48, of West Warwick, was arrested by troopers responding to the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal.
Wilkinson had multiple bench warrants for failing to appear for arraignment on charges of driving with a suspended license, a fourth offense, from both the Warwick Police Department and the Coventry Police Department, as well as an affidavit and arrest warrant for shoplifting.
She was processed at the Lincoln Woods Barracks and turned over to the Coventry Police Department.
Later in the day, at 6:45 p.m., Doris Natal, 40, of Central Falls, was arrested following a motor vehicle accident investigation on Route 95 in Providence.
Natal had an active warrant for failing to appear for arraignment on a shoplifting charge from the Warwick Police Department.
She was processed at the Lincoln Woods Barracks and later transported to the Adult Correctional Institution – Women’s Intake Center.
The final arrest of the day occurred at 11:43 p.m. when Jason Depina, 22, also of Central Falls, was stopped on Warrington Street in Providence.
Depina had an active warrant for failing to appear for arraignment on a charge of assault with intent to commit a felony from the Central Falls Police Department.
After processing at the Lincoln Woods Barracks, he was taken to the Adult Correctional Institution – Men’s Intake Center.
Captain David Bassignani, District “A” Commander of the Rhode Island State Police, is available for contact at 401-764-5604 or through the provided email for further inquiries regarding the arrests.
For media inquiries, please contact Captain Bassignani at the Rhode Island State Police.
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