5 Things You Need To Know Today

Five Things: No School, Comp Plan Hearing

Your guide for life in East Greenwich today, Feb 11.

Power: It’s largely restored in East Greenwich but for the maybe 300 households still without power, that’s little comfort, I know. National Grid is saying power will be restored by tonight. If you are without power and need anything, please let me know – elizabeth.mcnamara@patch.com. My house is open to you. Streets: DPW crews will be back at it today, plowing the streets to widen them to their full width. If your street is in dire need of plowing, let me know and I will pass it on.  Sidewalks: The DPW crews will deal with sidewalks – particularly on Main Street – when they have finished street work.  Town Council meeting CANCELLED: On the agenda is a public hearing on the town’s revised Comprehensive Plan, which has been in the works …

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Elizabeth McNamara

5:10 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013

Yes. And there will be school Tuesday: http://patch.com/A-1Q1j   more ›

Sunday Blizzard Blog: Power Picture Improves, Still No Word On School

Life is getting back to normal, but power outages, rain tomorrow are still causing problems.

Sunday, Feb. 10 4:15 p.m. 1:45 p.m. 

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Can We Help Our Out-Of-Power Neighbors?

The regional warming shelter for East Greenwich is Warwick Vets, but perhaps we can help out closer to home

I've heard from a couple of readers asking about warming shelters. The warming shelter for our region is Warwick Vets High School in Warwick. And the Community Room at the EG Police Department is available, with heat and plugs.  But how about helping our out-of-power neighbors with warm food, charging stations and, perhaps, a bed for the night? If you've got power and are willing to help, consider reaching out to those you know who are dark. Maybe it's an impromtu dinner invitation or slumber party. Let's see if we can help make these next hours/days easier.  Any suggestions of how to organize this effort are appreciated!    

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Jean Ann Guliano

5:36 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2013

Great idea, Elizabeth. I'm on Grand View Road and I have power. If anyone needs to warm up, charge cell phones or video game systems for the kids, use our fridge, microwave, oven, shower, etc, please contact me - 885-0437. If anyone is vacating to a shelter or somewhere you can't take pets, I can take in and care for cats. (if you have dogs, I think I can find someone for you.).   more ›

Power Still Out More Than 400 In EG

Town Manager Sequino gives updates on the power situation and trash and debris pickup, post Sandy.

While many in East Greenwich who lost power in Superstorm Sandy had gotten it back by Thursday morning, but more than 400 households were still in the dark, reported Town Manager Bill Sequino. Of those, he said, half were "small pockets" that National Grid may not even know about. Because of that, Sequino encouraged anyone who has a neighbor still in the dark to contact National Grid. The power company focuses first on the power lines that affect the largest number of customers, Sequino said, but now that the major outages have been fixed, crews can turn their attention to smaller outages. Meanwhile, trash pickup is now delayed one day, after collection for both Monday and Tuesday was taken care of Wednesday. So, if your trash is usually …

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Power Crews Working On 2 Main Outages

All the trees tangled in power lines have been removed and power restoration workers on on the scene.

As of noon Wednesday, there were two main electricity feeder lines still out in East Greenwich, according to Town Manager Bill Sequino. One of the lines is near the high school and the other is on Frenchtown Road.  Power restoration crews arrived in town Wednesday morning, able to get to work only once all the trees tangled in power lines had been removed. Sequino said there are 475 households without power in the area near East Greenwich High School and another 900 without power in Frenchtown. Small outage pockets exist as well. National Grid is estimating the major lines will be repaired by Thursday, with the smaller outages fixed by Friday. "People are extremely frustrated," he said, but he noted, "Today should be a major improvement …

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Power Outages Across EG

There are 16 wires down as of noon Tuesday, reports Town Manager Bill Sequino.

While East Greenwich was spared the worst of Hurricane Sandy's force, there were still thousands of residents without power as of noon Tuesday, with outages from east of Division Street near downtown to South Road in the southwest of town. According to Public Works Director Joe Duarte, his workers can't deal with downed trees until National Grid secures the power lines. In some cases, such as on Frenchtown Road west of Tillinghast, that means a major town road is closed.  National Grid's power outage map (click here) provides information and updates. If you are out of power, you can make sure National Grid knows by clicking here or calling 800-322-3223. You can also contact the Police Department at 884-2244 to let them know of outages. …

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Early Morning Power Outage Affects EGHS, Tanglewood Area

National Grid was back on the scene Friday morning replacing a broken wire on Middle Road

Power was out to parts of East Greenwich High School and the surrounding neighborhood early Friday morning, resulting in a delayed start to the school day just two weeks after the multi-day power outages caused by Tropical Storm Irene. "Classes will start at 8:30," said EGHS Principal Michael Podraza, standing outside the high school a little after 8 Friday morning. "They'll just miss the first period." Students had reported to school at the regular time - 7:30 - because the power troubles were not discovered until the first staff members arrived at the building after 6 a.m. The outage did not affect every room. In some cases, according to Podraza, the lights in a classroom were working but not the computers. He said that three different …

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Kristin Costa Offiler

10:04 am on Friday, September 16, 2011

I'm in Potowomut and woke up this morning to a flashing 00:00 clock on the microwave-- guess we lost power down here at some point too. It's back on now though, thank God!   more ›

Rants and Raves

Saving Bacon, Annoying Calls From Rita & Morons

What to love and hate about East Greenwich this week.

RAVE: A friend once said all that lies between civilization and chaos is a light bulb. Well, chaos hit East Greenwich and all of Rhode Island and the rest of this East Coast this past week. I shudder to think what would happen if we had to deal with a real emergency – like an actual hurricane. We lost power much earlier than expected. I didn’t even get a chance to fill up the tub. I must say, I used to like candles but cooking on the grill by candelabra got old pretty fast. Drinking coffee without milk got even older. I feel sorry for all those people who stocked up on milk and meats and other perishables. Just saying. All in all, though, everyone behaved remarkably well. But special raves go out to: RANT: There are three things you can't …

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The Agony & The Ecstacy: The Powered & The Powerless

Well into Day Four of life after Tropical Storm Irene, some find very-welcome relief, while others hear that power is still days away

For Sally Miranda, of River Farm Drive, it was all about flushing the toilets. After three-and-a-half days without power - which in her case also meant no way to activate the sewer pump - Miranda learned at about 4 Wednesday afternoon that the power was back on in her neighborhood. “The power is on and we can flush all our toilets,” said Miranda soon after she’d arrived home. “So that’s great. Very exciting. All the toilets are flushed.” Meadowbrook Farms School was also back online by Wednesday afternoon, the last of the six EG public schools to regain power. Power came back on at Meadowbrook less than an hour after Supt. Victor Mercurio sent out an email stating that the first day of school would be delayed again - to Tuesday, Sept. 6. …

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Patricia Van Hise

2:49 pm on Thursday, September 1, 2011

Kudos to the Patch for being so helpful. A great cloud was lifted when I heard from my friends last night when their power was returned. The kindness of neighbors was mentioned as also helping them get through.   more ›

EG Public Schools To Start Tuesday, Sept. 6

For the third time in three days, the School Department announces a delay to the start of school due to Tropical Storm Irene

The news came this time in an email from Supt. Victor Mercurio: classes for the 2011-12 school year will not begin in East Greenwich until Tuesday, Sept. 6. It's the third time in three days that the start date for school has been pushed back. School was originally to start Wednesday, Aug. 31. As of Wednesday at 3 p.m., power was back on to five of the six public schools. Only Meadowbrook Farms remains without power. According to National Grid, that area of town should not expect the power to be back on until Monday, Sept. 5. Here is the email message from the superintendent: This is Dr. Victor Mercurio, Superintendent of Schools, with an important message for teacher orientation and the beginning of school.  Due to contnued complications …

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