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Columnists

February Celebrations

Kim Gaffett

Thu, Jan 21

Category:

Ocean Views

February is a maligned month. For all its detractors, February has much to offer: traditional celebrations and the subtle reddening and swelling of shad buds are among the offerings. The February moniker hales from the Roman words februum and februa, relating to festivals of purification, of light...
The Luddite

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Jan 21

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Back in my school teaching days I proudly called myself a “Luddite raging against the machine,” because back in those days I truly hated the linear and newfangled technology of computers and word processors. Moreover, like the Luddites of the textile industry during the 19th century - who sabotaged...
From the road

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 21

Category:

Island Notes

Today, the sun shone, and it was not terribly cold, the wind blew. The dog was happily outside, bounding about; when she came back in it was to lie in the sun, following the patch of warmth as it moved across the floor. Then the sun slid behind the clouds and the sunny bright was gone. I noticed...
The EV Revolution is Here!

Tony Pappas

Thu, Jan 14

Category:

The Solar Report

Well, at least an uprising. In the fall of 2020, the Solar Initiative offered subsidies towards the purchase of electric vehicles. From 14 applications, eight subsidies were awarded. And now the first six have arrived on the island. Look at these smiling faces (behind their masks). Pictured above...
To Windward in a pivotal 2021

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Jan 14

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Just shy of a year ago we started hearing about the word coronavirus; however, it hadn’t yet entered the news cycle on a mind-numbing twenty-four and seven blast of baffling information. On 11 March, I had just returned from a trip to Martha’s Vineyard and I distinctly remembered going to George’s...
A Sin Against the Nation

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 14

Category:

Island Notes

On most mornings, the light changes when the sun clears the horizon, and the soft, spreading promise of approaching dawn is realized. The difference is often enough for me to open my eyes and look out at the colors of the wakening sky floating over the ocean. I think, fleetingly, of how the sun has...
20th Annual Community Bird Census: Socially Distanced & Communal

Kim Gaffett

Thu, Jan 7

Category:

Ocean Views

This year’s Community Bird Census (CBC), on December 26, 2020, dawned cold and windy, but fortunately it was only partly cloudy; there was enough sun throughout the day to keep spirits up and bird watchers afield. My expectations for this twentieth anniversary CBC were low. The cold and wind...
To keep Christmas well

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 7

Category:

Island Notes

It is from one of the take-away lines from A Christmas Carol, that Mr. Scrooge learned “to keep Christmas well...” variations of which we repeat every year, wondering why we cannot maintain the magic of the season throughout the cold of winter, the activity of spring, the wilting summer and — for...
Good news and bad news

Tony Pappas

Thu, Dec 31

Category:

The Solar Report

Well, I have good news and bad news for anyone hoping to go more solar in the immediate future. The bad news is that the Solar Initiative will be unable to accomplish installations at the present time. This is due to a couple of unfortunate factors. Firstly, the winter season makes roof work...
The Year 2020

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Dec 31

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One day recently I was running our cairn terrier Maddox down at the Charlestown Navy Base and got to thinking how this year felt like it has been one of those decades. This has been a wakeup call for all of us to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of the human condition and figuring how to play...
Threads across time

Martha Ball

Thu, Dec 31

Category:

Island Notes

Advertisements for various Hope-to-be-Hot Items for Christmas usually pass by me. One, with an old, but unmistakable, annoying, but catchy, jingle, for “ch-ch-ch-chia” rang a little bell but wasn’t enough to make me pay attention until I saw it had morphed with a pop icon, Baby Yoda. These things...
Candle in the Window

Martha Ball

Thu, Dec 24

Category:

Island Notes

With this dark year coming to a close, the Historical Society launched a last minute effort to brighten our building and our corner, with sponsored battery-operated candles (blockislandhistorical.org for further info). I was reminded, again, of five years ago, when the Historical Society was...
The Solar Initiative subsidy programs are extended through March 31, 2021.

Thu, Dec 17

Category:

The Solar Report

Yes, Block Island homeowners can get a discount of $800 per KW on our rooftop mounted solar systems (up to 15KWs). This coupled with the Federal Tax credit for 2021 makes for a good deal through the first quarter of 2021. And up to $6,000 discounted off heat pump installations. Contact Tony...
B.I. Resident purchases Chevy Bolt through the Solar Initiative grant

Thu, Dec 17

Category:

The Solar Report

“We are so grateful to the Solar Initiative grant for making the purchase of a fully electric vehicle possible for us. We are thrilled with our new Chevy Bolt. We charge it at our house each night so it’s always full and is very fun to drive and ideal for the island. It has lots of instant torque,...
Community Bird Census: One birder at a time

Kim Gaffett

Thu, Dec 17

Category:

Ocean Views

“December 26, 1920 – 7 a.m. Temp. 14. Loon 3, H. Gull 20, H. Lark 12, Starling 12, Meadowlark 5, Song 4. A little vapor. — Elizabeth Dickens Bird Journals On Dec. 26, 1920 Elizabeth Dickens had been keeping her daily bird journal for just nine years; and had not yet started leading the Christmas...
Crossing oceans, redux

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Dec 17

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Newport Harbor has always been a place where boat people come and hang for the summer; however, once the weather turns and the thermometer drops, some yacht owners will move their boats to warmer climates. These owners must rely on yacht transport services, and have their own professional crews...
Angel Chimes

Martha Ball

Thu, Dec 17

Category:

Island Notes

A few summers ago I was wandering through the stuff amassed for a summer sale at the Harbor Church, feeling quite pleased with myself for having brought a collection of books, relatively new paperbacks I had read and would be happy to find on a sale table. They were all fiction, most set in...
Crossing oceans, fast

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Dec 10

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“I hate being frightened, but, even more, I detest being prevented by fright.” — Sir Francis Chichester During the 1840s and 50s, ship designers started to push the boundaries of what ocean- and coastal-going vessels could be expected to do in all weathers; they had to make time in strong...
Solstice Countdown

Martha Ball

Thu, Dec 10

Category:

Island Notes

It is the time of year when the sun drops the earliest, and darkness lasts the longest. A little more than two months ago, now, I came home from the hospital, a thankfully clean break high in my right humerus held together by what I somehow presumed to be a couple of pins — which I later saw to be...
This should rate your interest!

Tony Pappas

Thu, Dec 3

Category:

The Solar Report

The first major initiative of The Solar Initiative was to put solar panels on the roofs of the Block Island Power Company facility. The intent was to reduce the need for local diesel generation and/or decrease electricity purchase from mainland non-renewable suppliers. This has been accomplished to...
But that was yesterday

Martha Ball

Thu, Dec 3

Category:

Island Notes

Monday night I took Autumn to the door, my west-facing front door that is the only one I use, contrary to tradition. It is to an entry, a rather informal space that is as much a garden shed as anything. The storm door hasn’t opened properly in over ten years, since I came home after a trip away to...
The Shamrock and other memories

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Nov 26

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

It was a sunny day in late June 1970, and the new and freshly painted ferry plowed and lumbered into a light southerly swell. I was heading to Block Island for the first time since 1960 and my childhood buddy Tim and I were going to check this place out, and he’d help me schlep my gear up to the...
At Boat Time

Martha Ball

Thu, Nov 26

Category:

Island Notes

Back in the spring we had hoped by this time the spread of Covid-19 would have been contained and we would be in a holding pattern awaiting a vaccine. We feared the summer, and were haunted by historical reminders that the great pandemic of 1918 had abated in the warm weather only to surge in the...
Eight smiling islanders

Tony Pappas

Thu, Nov 19

Category:

The Solar Report

More solar-sourced energy; less fossil fuel emissions. That is the goal of Block Island’s Solar Initiative. Towards that end, the Solar Initiative (tSi) has recently awarded eight subsidies toward the purchase of an electrically-powered vehicle to island families. The subsidies run over three years...
Summer of 2020

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Nov 19

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“The island got eaten alive.” — Anonymous. Is there anyone on the south coast of Rhode Island who didn’t think that this summer was a combination of a Federico Fellini film and an apocalyptic zombie movie? Especially during and after the Fourth of July weekend? If there are, they must not...
The east side has the boat

Martha Ball

Thu, Nov 19

Category:

Island Notes

The afternoon is crisp, the line of the horizon off to the east sharp and clean, a seam binding the deep blue of the ocean to the paler hue of the sky, the two stitched with tiny, perfect, invisible stitches. Overhead there are no clouds but out over the water there are layers of white and violet...
Autumn Earthquake

Martha Ball

Thu, Nov 12

Category:

Island Notes

My dog is big and my house is old. The latter is a constant source of worry, what did some noise signify, every first-time-notice sound, be it an engine offshore or the clattering of metal at the transfer station across the Neck, more than a mile away. There is a spot in my dining room where Autumn...
Let’s have some fun in the sun

Tony Pappas

Thu, Nov 5

Category:

The Solar Report

We at the Solar Initiative hope that this series of columns has convinced you to at least consider installing a solar system at your home. It is a big step with financial and ecological ramifications, heavy stuff. So while you are deliberating, take a moment to look at the light side. Fun facts...
The right to read a book in your own way

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Nov 5

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

A French writer named Daniel Pennac created, in 1992, the “The Rights of the Reader,” which is about a reader’s right to read anytime or anywhere as long as it is a joyful experience. Here is my spin on these inalienable rights: The Right to not read. This is my favorite right because it gives me...
In living color

Martha Ball

Thu, Nov 5

Category:

Island Notes

These days when I walk into my living room half-listening to voices, I glance reflexively at the space where the television used to be. It has moved all of a few feet, from a space between two west-facing windows — where a television has been most of my memory — to a different wall. I am of an age...
360 Video

Walk Crescent Beach

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Thu, Nov 5

Category:

News, Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk along Crescent Beach, courtesy of The Block Island Times. Take a break from the ongoing U.S. election and relax with the sound of the crashing waves! Video captured on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the environment, and pause, and...
The Red Trailer

Martha Ball

Thu, Oct 29

Category:

Island Notes

There is a horse trailer in the front field. It arrived nearly a week ago, all shiny and bright red. The three Icelandics who live down here have all been introduced to it, with appropriate fanfare, and it has moved a bit, but not much and never on its own. It still catches my eye when I walked...
Meet David Reidy

Tony Pappas

Fri, Oct 23

Category:

The Solar Report

Why should I meet David Reidy? Who is he anyway? David is the installation contractor for the solar systems sponsored by the Solar Initiative. David can save you money while you help save the planet! He is the President of Cool Energy — but let’s begin at the beginning: David is a native Rhode...
Theme Radio

J.V. Houlihan

Fri, Oct 23

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Singer, songwriter, troubadour, wiseass, painter, and businessman Bob Dylan is stumping his own whisky brand around the ether these days, and is part of what brought him back to doing his radio show. He had such a show 11 years ago and then took a hiatus. The new show recently aired on Monday, 21...
One night in October

Martha Ball

Fri, Oct 23

Category:

Island Notes

On the long list of things I need to replace is a computer; it is old even by my standards, and keys stopped working over a year ago. It’s a MacBookPro, a plug in keyboard was absurdly expensive then someone suggested I try a generic, an “Amazon Basics” which even by my standards was inexpensive...
Shimmering October blue

Martha Ball

Thu, Oct 15

Category:

Island Notes

The boats did not run yesterday. The long spell of good summer weather was, I think, more a blessing than a curse. While it surely lured more people to Block Island, it also kept life outside, windows stayed wide open, air circulated and for all that went terribly wrong the over-riding fear of the...
EVs for EVeryone?

Tony Pappas

Thu, Oct 8

Category:

Columnists

What’s an EV and is it contagious? EV is short for “electric vehicle,” and while it is not contagious, we hope EVs will catch on out here on Block Island. At the moment gasoline is relatively cheap and so you may not be thinking of alternative ways to power your car or truck. But don’t count on low...
A lesson in perception

Martha Ball

Thu, Oct 8

Category:

Island Notes

Well, drat, someone pointed out the obvious, that I do not need two hands to type, only a keyboard, although I am finding it a tough adjustment using both hands on a plug-in keyboard. Back to the old system of up and down arrows, which predated the computer mouse, which predated touch pads. Both of...
Porches and bird’s nests

Martha Ball

Thu, Oct 1

Category:

Island Notes

Ed. Note: Our columnist Martha Ball broke her arm this week. She’s fine — it was set at South County Hospital. But she is out of commission for a while, so we grabbed a column that describes an August in 2014. Another note: this week’s photo was taken by Chris Blane. While I have never...
360 VIDEO

Walk Clay Head Trail

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Mon, Sep 28

Category:

Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk along the Clay Head Trail to view the ocean and surrounding bluffs, courtesy of The Block Island Times. The Clay Head Trail is located off of Corn Neck Road on a dirt road, about three miles from town. The video was taken early last week, Monday, Sept. 21. Note: Turn up...
Sailing Ships

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Sep 24

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

I’ve been around Newport Harbor since the 1960s and I’m never bored in my roaming and hacking. The place has been the locus for centuries of maritime tradition and history since the early days of the American Revolution. It’s where the French fleet mustered their ships and land forces — about six...
Knife in the Road

Martha Ball

Thu, Sep 24

Category:

Island Notes

The first time I noticed the knife in the street near Rebecca, it was bright and shiny, the white of new plastic in the sun. Another year I might have picked it up but this year we are all more hesitant to touch things we would not — or I would not — have given a second thought in the past. Instead...
Order this…

Seaside hospitality at The Beach House

Amy Lockwood MacDougall

Fri, Sep 18

Category:

Columnists

The Block Island Beach House (formerly known as “The Surf Hotel”) is sporting some great new dining areas this year. While the inside and outside have been lovingly spruced up and redesigned, the backside of the hotel has undergone the biggest transformation. A lovely seating area called The Shells...
Of foils and sails

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Sep 17

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One day this August I was sailing across Narragansett bay toward the Pell Bridge and saw this kid tear-assing by me on a foiling boat called a WASZP. It’s a sailboat with a foiling rig and the kid displayed some skills as he powered by my bow. He flew by me going 10 to 14 knots — maybe faster. This...
Seven years

Martha Ball

Thu, Sep 17

Category:

Island Notes

Fall comes next week, officially, astronomically. It used to come sometime in the week after Labor Day, then to the holiday and earlier as schools opened sooner and sooner. Oddly, September seems to be our first and last gasp of a normal summer, people still on the streets as the days turn crisp...
360 video

Walk to New Harbor Boat Basin

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Wed, Sep 16

Category:

News, Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk along the beach by the New Harbor Boat Basin, courtesy of The Block Island Times. The Boat Basin is located close to Payne’s Dock in New Harbor. The video was taken on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the environment, and pause, and click...
Weather anomalies

J.V. Houlihan

Fri, Sep 11

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“If you don’t like weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.” — Mark Twain Twain’s quote is baked into the psyche of many New Englanders who reside in the mountains or along the coast. We can all cite our own personal experiences regarding, hail, twisters, squalls, blizzards,...
There is green, and then there is green

Tony Pappas

Fri, Sep 11

Category:

Columnists

The following was submitted by Tony Pappas of the Solar Initiative project: Most folk would like to make the environment greener without making their wallet less green. So let’s look at the economics of going solar. The cost for a basic roof top solar array now being installed on a...
The Tractor

John Willis

Fri, Sep 11

Category:

Columnists

This is a story about a tractor that has spent much of its life on Block Island. A good piece of equipment out here may spend many years toiling the turf, with many different owners, and be passed on — sometimes to family, friends or neighbors. I purchased a 1967 International Cub farm tractor from...
Lost a pedal?

Martha Ball

Thu, Sep 10

Category:

Island Notes

This morning I heard a rumbling while I was still lolling around, discussing the upcoming day with my dog. It happens, sometimes the town road crew early to work, over the past weekend, engine noise punctuated by the slamming of little motorboats out on the ocean. This sound was coming up the road...

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Island Buzz

Lila Delman Real Estate has joined Compass, the leading independent brokerage in the country.

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New year. New hope. New you! Embrace your life to the fullest this year at Solstice Senior Living at Groton. Visit our...
History Happening Here

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*** Annual Meeting September 20th 11am Program 11:30 am Please join us on zoom ** Thank you for your interest in the Block...
This weeks Nature Conservancy Schedule

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1/21

Check out this weeks Nature Conservancy Schedule at https:// www.natureblockisland.org
Antique Maps and Vintage Photographs

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1/21

The Block Island Historical Society has a great selection of antique maps; vintage photographs; unique posters & prints...

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