Wildfire Maps Help Firefighters in Real Time

So, of course, Trump-Musk is eliminating the program

NASA

A NASA sensor recently brought a new approach to battling wildfire, providing real-time data that helped firefighters in the field contain a blaze in Alabama. Called AVIRIS-3 (Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3), the instrument detected a 120-acre fire on March 19 that had not yet been reported to officials.

As AVIRIS-3 flew aboard a King Air B200 research plane over the fire about 3 miles (5 kilometers) east of Castleberry, Alabama, a scientist on the plane analyzed the data in real time and identified where the blaze was burning most intensely. The information was then sent via satellite internet to fire officials and researchers on the ground, who distributed images showing the fire’s perimeter to firefighters’ phones in the field.

All told, the process from detection during the flyover to alert on handheld devices took a few minutes. In addition to pinpointing the location and extent of the fire, the data showed firefighters its perimeter, helping them gauge whether it was likely to spread and decide where to add personnel and equipment.

EDITOR'S NOTE: On the same day NASA released this story, NBC News that NASA budget cuts put wildfire fighting programs at risk. Staff firings, budget cuts and grant suspensions at all federal agencies that help state and local firefighters are being chain-sawed to death by Musk and Trump for reasons that beggar justification. States don't have their own satellites, but maybe the answer lies with the fact that Elon Musk does - and the hidden agenda is to force states to pay SpaceX to get data that NASA has been supplying.  - Will Collette

Charlestown residents may soon see a major property tax savings

Town Council asks legislators to seek General Assembly approval for a Homestead Exemption

By Will Collette

Thank you to our CRU Charlestown Town Council
members. Looking forward to quick action to enact a
town ordinance.

In many Rhode Island municipalities, lots of property is owned by non-residents. This is especially true in coastal communities like Charlestown where waterfront properties are often bought by wealthy non-residents for far more than the tax assessed value of those properties.

Charlestown’s summertime population jumps from around 8,000 to almost 30,000. The influx of non-residents requires the town to maintain an infrastructure that supports three times the number of full-time residents. We need roads, facilities, town staff and public safety investments to support all those extra people. The town even organizes volunteers to pick up trash from around their homes and along the roadways.

Our neighboring towns address these burdens by offering a Homestead tax break to permanent residents that, in many municipalities, takes the form of a reduction in the tax assessment. Most recently, South Kingstown got General Assembly approval for a new ordinance that would reduce the tax assessment of full-time residents by up to 10%.

On April 14, the Charlestown Town Council, comprised entirely of Charlestown Residents United (CRU) members, voted to seek General Assembly approval for similar homestead exemption similar to South Kingstown. It’s very likely the legislature will approve this request.

What does this mean to you?

In 2011, Charlestown Town Democrats proposed a flat $1000 homestead tax credit, an idea that was obviously ahead of its time, but were beaten down by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance. They organized what I dubbed “the riot of the rich,” mobilizing non -resident property owners to violently protest the concept.

The CCA and its absentee owner-benefactors argued a tax credit wasn’t fair (“class war” they said) that could motivate wealthy property owners to leave or to boycott local services and charities.

Those arguments were pretty lame back in 2011 and even more so today. Out-of-state owners are paying mega-bucks for Charlestown properties. If they decide they want to leave because their tax goes up by a few thousand, that’s fine since we seem to have a big pool of buyers ready to pay as much as a million or two more than assessed value.

And seriously, are these absentee homeowners going to mow their own lawns, fix their own plumbing, clean their own houses and swimming pools, or bring their groceries with them from Manhattan?

I'm sure non-residents grab a bite or two at local eateries, but I suspect their tastes run more to the cuisine at Ocean House, not Monahans.

As for donations, other than the CCA’s campaign fund, where else do donations from non-residents go? 

All told, the main contribution non-residents make to Charlestown’s economy is in the form of their property taxes. A Charlestown homestead exemption will simply increase their share to compensate the town for their out-sized impact on the town’s costs.

Depending on the final size of the exemption, i.e. what percentage, and the assessed value of your home, you will save on taxes and pass the cost of those savings onto to absentee landowners.

Only a tiny peep from the CCA

I was a bit surprised to see a relatively muted response from the Charlestown Citizens Alliance to the Town Council’s recent action compared to their 2011 freak-out.

Here’s how they describe the history of the fight over the homestead tax break:

Over the years, there have been proposals to enact a Homestead Exemption. These would have exempted a percentage of the assessed value of real property from taxation for certain taxpayers. One group of taxpayers would have received the exemption, but because the town would have needed to collect a given amount of revenue to provide services and support capital improvements, another group of taxpayers would have needed to pay the difference. None of these proposals has received support from the community in the past.

Notice no mention of the CCA’s leadership of the opposition to the homestead tax break since 2011. They are also cagey about saying the truth: the homestead tax break would benefit those of us who make Charlestown their home while non-resident property owners would, as the CCA puts it, “pay the difference.” Another important, but unmentioned, factor is how much the CCA counts on political donations from non-residents to fill their campaign coffers.

The CCA also claims there was no support for a homestead tax break from the community. Well, the CCA ensured there would be none by shutting down all discussion about this tax break for years after their political donors objected. Town voters rejected the CCA in the last two elections so the CCA’s claim is no longer valid.

Finally, the CCA blandly complains that “There seems to be a rush on the part of the Council to get this authority” but admit “it is late in this year’s legislative session.”

Even though it is late in the 2025 General Assembly session, Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero told the Council on April 14 that there were ways to get action on legislation this year.

Back in 2011, I supported a flat rate Homestead tax credit of $1000. I still like a flat rate because it would provide the greatest amount of tax relief to owners of lower priced homes. But I’m OK with a 10% exemption. 

Under the 10% plan, the higher your assessment, the bigger your assessment. That obviously favors high-end properties, unless the Council decides to cap the assessment subject to exemption, like $1 million just for the sake of argument. But everyone who makes Charlestown their home can benefit.

These are all questions to be addressed if the General Assembly authorizes Charlestown to proceed to craft an ordinance. That is a lengthier process and all the more reason to take this modest first step. That’s not rushing it – this tax break for Charlestown residents is 14 years overdue.

Recruitment

Why unions?

How to Help Wild Birds During Their Spring and Fall Migrations

Human-related causes leave birds susceptible to injury and death.

Jairus James

During their spring migration, billions of birds fly from their southern wintering habitats. 

After the spring breeding season ends and as fall and winter approach in the northern latitudes, they begin the journey to warmer areas—unless they’re hardy, resident birds like cardinals or blue jays. 

With migration occurring twice a year, birds in urban and suburban regions consistently face multiple threats, including being attacked by cats, collisions with windows, and habitat loss. A deeper understanding of the dangers birds face at various stages of their development can help us protect them.

356,000 heart attack deaths every year

Common plastic chemicals linked to 356,000 annual heart disease deaths worldwide

Brian Bienkowski  

Green Science Policy Institute

Chemicals used to make plastics more flexible are linked to more than 356,000 deaths annually across the globe, creating what researchers called a “substantial global health burden,” according to a new peer-reviewed study. 

The study, published Tuesday in the journal eBiomedicine, is the first to estimate heart disease deaths from exposure to di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a class of phthalate chemicals that are used in raincoats, food packaging, shower curtains, PVC flooring and pipes, IV bags and other items. The chemicals make plastics softer and more pliable but are associated with multiple health problems, including hormone disruption, obesity, diabetes, infertility, cancer and heart problems.

The study does not prove DEHP causes heart-related deaths, however, it adds to evidence that exposure to the widespread chemicals — and the plastics that carry them — could raise people’s risk of heart disease. 

The new study comes as US regulators are undertaking a risk evaluation of DEHP to see if it requires further regulation and are accepting public comments on the review until May 6. The study also adds to a global debate over how to limit plastics and other chemicals linked to human and environmental health problems.   

R.I. environmental police are finally staffing up

No surprise: better pay and benefits improve recruitment

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Rhode Island’s state environmental police force has been troubled by vacancies for at least 20 years.

But not for much longer. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement is poised to reach its full 32-person staff for the first time since Deputy Chief Mike Schipritt began working there in 2005.

Schipritt, who was promoted to deputy chief in 2024, will get a break from the endless hiring paperwork. More importantly, he won't have to struggle so much over how to deploy critical environmental guardians across the sprawling landscape of state-owned land and waters. 

Rhode Island Republicans red-bait new Senate President

RIGOP deploys MAGA-style McCarthy tactics to smear Senate President Valerie Lawson

By Will Collette

Let's deal with some key facts about the Rhode Island General Assembly. If you get elected, you'd better not quit your day job. The annual salary for Rhode Island legislators is $19,817. 

Unless you are retired or independently wealthy, everyone elected to the General Assembly has a real paying day job. Many are lawyers. Some are real estate agents, insurance brokers, teachers and cops. Some are health care providers. Some work in non-profits. Some are small business owners. Some make enough at their day jobs that they symbolically decline to take their salary.

A small number of legislators work for labor unions and, to hear it from the Republicans,  only they should be disqualified from serving. Because "socialist." Yeah, if you work for a union, you must be a commie.

As you can see from their statement above, the RIGOP is really upset that the Senate elected Valerie Lawson as new President of the Senate, replacing the recently deceased Dominick Ruggerio who was also a lifelong trade unionist. 

Lawson's crime in the eyes of the RIGOP is that she is also President of the National Education Association RI and doesn't plan to give up her day job. 

Rhode Island is a deep-blue state with a long and proud history of trade unionism with union membership rates among the highest in the nation. So why shouldn't trade unionists serve in the General Assembly alongside all those lawyers, bankers, small business owners, etc.?

The Rhode Island Ethics Commission routinely rules on legislators' compliance with state law, either by reviewing complaints or issuing advance advisory opinions. Whether you are a banker or a union organizer, the same rules apply.

If we want a legislature where members are unencumbered by their day jobs, make the General Assembly a full-time job with salary and benefits befitting, and rules barring outside employment of any kind.

I am sick of Republicans and MAGAnuts treating organized labor as if it was organized crime. That's no more logical or fair than considering all businesspeople to be bloodsuckers.

Definitely slap a warning label on his forehead

Sick man

Female bonobos keep males in check -- not with strength, but with solidarity

Waiting to see if Trump issues an executive order banning "woke" bonobos

Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Two female bonobos are engaged in grooming.
© Martin Surbeck, Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project

Biologically speaking, female and male bonobos have a weird relationship. First, there's the sex. It's the females who decide when and with whom they mate. They easily parry unwanted sexual advances -- and the males know better than to force the issue. 

Second, there's the food. It's the females who usually control high-value, sharable resources -- a fresh kill, say. They feed while sitting on the ground, unthreatened, while males hover in tree branches waiting for their turn.

This freedom enjoyed by females might sound normal by our standards, but according to Martin Surbeck from Harvard University, it's "totally bizarre for an animal like a bonobo." 

Bonobo males are larger and stronger than females, which gives them the physical upper hand to attack, force matings, and monopolize food. Like almost all other social mammals with larger males, bonobo societies should be dominated by males. And yet, bonobo females famously maintain a high social status compared to their larger male counterparts. Until now, though, nobody knew how this paradoxical dynamic was possible at all.

$1.5M in Green Bond Grants Available

This is state money, unaffected by Trump funding cuts for environmental projects 

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced the launch of a supplemental round of its Local Open Space Grant Program making up to $1.5 million available, depending on demand, in matching grants to help communities and local organizations protect the state’s valuable green spaces.

Funded through the 2018 and 2022 Green Bonds, this 2025 grant round supports land conservation efforts across Rhode Island. Grant awards of up to $500,000 are available and may cover up to half of total project costs. 

Eligible projects include the purchase of land or conservation easements that protect properties of natural, ecological, or agricultural significance. Priority will be given to projects that connect with or expand existing protected lands, and proposals that address or mitigate climate change impacts will receive additional consideration.  

Legislators unite across party lines to protect 340B discount prescription program

Under-the-radar drug discount program helps make medicine more affordable 

Rep. Jon D. Brien, Rep. Megan L. Cotter and Rep. Marie Hopkins —an independent, a Democrat and Republican from three very different areas of the state — are joining forces to call for the passage of legislation to prevent practices that subvert a critical prescription drug discount program.

The legislation (2025-H 5634), sponsored by Representative Brien and cosponsored by Representatives Cotter and Hopkins, prohibits insurers, pharmacy benefits managers and other payors from engaging in discriminatory practices against community hospitals, clinic and other health care provider agencies that purchase prescriptions through the federal 340B discount program.

The 340B program is a lifeline for community health centers, safety-net hospitals and rural clinics. It allows them to purchase medications at reduced prices and reinvest those savings into direct patient care — providing things like primary care, behavioral health, dental services, and addiction treatment to tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders, regardless of income or insurance status. 

Under 340B, prescription drug manufacturers must enter a pharmaceutical pricing agreement that discounts the drug for qualified entities that serve vulnerable populations, in order to have the drug qualify for coverage by Medicaid and Medicare Part B.

The 340B discount doesn’t rely on taxpayer dollars. It’s a self-sustaining program that makes health care more accessible and more affordable.

But over the past few years, some pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have undermined the intent of the program. They’ve limited which pharmacies providers can work with, imposed unfair restrictions, and reimbursed 340B providers less—sometimes solely because they’re using a discount program designed to help patients.

CCA favorite, former Charlestown Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz leaves the second job he’s held since leaving Charlestown in 2023

After only two years, Stankiewicz leaves Pawtucket Finance Director position

By Will Collette

He manned the ramparts at Town Hall,
fending off all non-CCA interlopers

Remember Stanky? For 10 years, Mark Stankiewicz did the ruling Charlestown Citizens Alliance's bidding. He insured a place for himself in the CCA Hall of Fame by being a Town Administrator who actually told me that he “works for the CCA” and not the citizens of Charlestown.

Ex Town Administrator Stankiewicz served the CCA by covering up shady land deals, denying access to public records and rationalizing financial screw-ups such as the CCA’s infamous “$3 million Oopsie” where $3 million in Charlestown funds were, to use Stanky’s term “misallocated” for two years. The CCA is STILL talking about what a great job he did.

Under Stankiewicz, Charlestown racked up the state’s highest per capita administrative costs - $566 per capita. Compare that to Cumberland, the lowest at $106 or to our neighbors in South Kingstown ($175), Richmond ($199), Hopkinton ($234) or Westerly ($270). But to the CCA, he was worth every penny.

He left Charlestown February 2023 after the 2022 election that saw voters overturn the CCA's decade of control over the Town Council.

CCA spokes-troll Bonnita Van Slyke claimed Charlestown Residents United (CRU), winners of the 2022 and 2024 town elections, ousted Stankiewicz and denied there were ever any problems. The CCA Steering Committee stridently asserted: “Do not be fooled! This is a FORCED, not a voluntary, resignation. Mark has served the town masterfully for ten years and has no desire to leave.”

But the fools turned out to be the CCA because Stankiewicz had already lined up a new job to become Town Administrator in Berkley Massachusetts even before the first vote in November 2022 was counted. Clearly, the CCA was clueless about his secret plan and looked pretty stupid.

Stankiewicz played the game out to its end, squeezing more money out of the citizens of Charlestown by timing his departure to coincide with his February 13, 2023 first day at his new job.

He only lasted six weeks in Berkley. In his resignation letter, Stanky told the town "It's because I got a fine job offer, and after careful consideration, I am taking it. I was approached with this job offer. Another municipal position. I wasn't searching for another job. I wasn't looking. If not for this job offer, I'd still be here."

That “fine job offer” was a gig as Pawtucket Finance Director.

Confidential sources in Pawtucket city government told me Stanky’s 2023 appointment was made by Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien over the objections of top city officials. Shortly after taking the job, Stankiewicz told subordinates that he "isn't a finance guy" clearly indicating that he didn’t think he was qualified for the job he was holding. His record in Charlestown certainly supports that admission.

Stankiewicz brought Irina Gorman, Charlestown’s ex-treasurer who was directly involved in the $3 million “oopsie,” with him and she became Pawtucket Treasurer.

Upped the Mayor’s salary by almost double

One of Stankiewicz’s first major projects was to engineer a huge pay increase for his patron, Mayor Grebien – raising the Mayor’s base salary from $80,000 to $150,000. No doubt Grabien appreciated the value of such an unquestioning soldier as Stanky.

Mistakes led to big money trouble for Pawtucket Schools

An on-going problem that was apparently due to Stankiewicz’s inattention was last year’s revelations that money had run out to continue construction of two new schools. Pawtucket voters had approved $570 million in borrowing.

Here’s how the Providence Journal described what happened:

The situation became obvious in mid-March when city Finance Director Mark Stankiewicz alerted public schools Superintendent Patricia Royal in a memo that money for key payments was running out. Stankiewicz warned in the memo that without additional funds for ongoing projects, come April 15, "we will no longer be able to make substantial contractor payments in order to reserve sufficient funds for normal operating expenses, including payroll."

Stankiewicz said records show that of the $220 million approved, just $30 million in bonds were issued last May. In the meantime, roughly $50 million has been spent on the school projects. From the state, $40 million has been paid out for the projects, and Stankiewicz said in his mid-March memo that there's no money left, and there were no requests for further funding from the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation, the "quasi-public" agency that helps health care and educational institutions access financing for construction and renovation projects.

This looks remarkably like how Stanky handled Charlestown’s $3 million “Oopsie.” 

While it’s a good thing that Stankiewicz brought this issue to the School Superintendent’s attention, the crucial mistakes that led to this financial crisis happened on his watch during the ten months after he became Finance Director.

Here’s how the Pawtucket City Council President described it:

[City Council President Terrence] Mercer said it was his sense the problem is "a whole host of things that don't seem to be getting done," including crucially important reimbursement requests that need to be sent to the state's education department if the city is to get more money for its projects.

Part of the issue, Mercer suspects, is some recent turnover in the finance department, which caused the city to lose institutional knowledge.

Council President Mercer is talking about Stankiewicz. As Finance Director, it was his job to not only make sure city bills got paid but also that city collected the reimbursements that it was due. He does not get any points for finally warning the School Superintendent that the money had run out when he should have attended to it from Day One.

It's deja vu all over again and a much bigger screw-up than the CCA's $3 million oopsie.

This will cost every Rhode Island household at least $302

Stankiewicz has also been a major player in the controversial minor league soccer stadium being built in Pawtucket. It’s first home game was just held ending in a zero-zero tie. 

The stadium is receiving a massive amount of corporate welfare from city and state funds. Rhode Island taxpayers are on the hook for $132 million in bond payments. When the bonds are paid off on this nice stadium, neither the state nor the city will have any ownership stake in the venue. According to GoLocal, that will cost the average Rhode Island household $302 each.

The project ended up 50% over budget and years late. The City of Pawtucket’s lead financial advisors resigned after concerns about the long-term financial future of the stadium were unheeded.

In a letter to the City, three executives of Hilltop Securities wrote:

“As you know we have detailed concerns about the proposed stadium transaction and bond offering. As a fiduciary to the City of Pawtucket and its development agency…we must do what we believe is in the City’s and PRA’s best interest…Therefore, please let this serve as Hilltop’s notice to the city and the PRA of our withdrawal as municipal advisor on this bond offering”

The letter was dated August 16, 2023, a couple of months after Stankiewicz took over as Pawtucket Finance Director. Despite this protest resignation, Stankiewicz soldiered on with this project while cancelling numerous other city projects – and neglecting to pay attention to the city schools finances.

So what? Why should Charlestown voters care?

The life and times of Mark Stankiewicz continue to be relevant to Charlestown residents and not just because every Rhode Island household is on the hook for $302 to pay for the Pawtucket soccer stadium.

The CCA’s determined deification of Stankiewicz speaks to the CCA’s lack of judgment on financial and governance matters, something voters need to remember. As recently as last July, the CCA is still defending Stankiewicz and denying that the thoroughly documented financial screw-ups ever happened.

You can bet that if the CCA somehow regains control over the Charlestown Town Council, they’ll be looking to replace our steady, drama-free Town Administrator Jeff Allen with some toady like Stanky. We don’t need to go backwards.

If you are interested in applying for Stankiewicz’s Pawtucket job, the city wants to hire ASAP.

Here is the job posting:

If you have tattoos, you should self-deport