Editorials | EastBayRI.com - News, Opinion, Things to Do in the East Bay

Editorial: Death of the snow day

The pandemic introduced a few silver linings. Remote learning is sort of, kind of, one of them. Across America, schools figured out how to conduct themselves when no one was in the school … more

1/13/22

Editorial: Barrington school plan – How did we get here?

Not that long ago, we suggested that the Barrington School Department hit pause, take a breath, and allow more time to develop a plan for the future of its elementary school buildings. Well, they … more

11/11/22

Editorial: The answer is optics, blowing in the wind

This town’s obsession with optics is growing. It seems every passion, cause and public spat ends up on a lawn sign, waving in the breeze from front lawns everywhere. We have signs … more

4/9/21

Editorial: Time to hit the re-set button in Barrington government

The election is over, and a new era begins. It’s time to forget the past and hope a new administration can change the culture of government. We’re talking about the Barrington Town … more

11/12/20

Editorial: Marijuana vote belongs with Barrington voters

Credit three Barrington town councilors for taking a healthy approach to the question of allowing cannabis sales in town. Councilors Robb Humm, Carl Kustell and Annelise Conway elected to send the … more

6/10/22

Editorial: What a weekend at BHS

Last weekend was a time for celebrations at Barrington High School. Congratulations to the girls’ lacrosse team for shocking the dominant program in the state and taking down Moses Brown, … more

6/10/22

Editorial: 'Public Comment' rules should be open, flexible and customer-friendly

In the years leading up to the pandemic, most Americans were hyper-focused on national-level politics, with Trump, the Democrats or the Republicans seemingly responsible for everything good or bad in … more

1/26/24

Editorial: Can we dial down the animosity in America?

If written a week ago, this editorial would describe the shame and embarrassment of watching one of the sad days in American history unfold on live television. It would excoriate all those … more

1/14/21

Editorial: Turf is the solution, not the problem

Some people in town would like other residents to believe that installing an artificial turf field in Barrington would be the worst, most horrible, insensitive, irresponsible thing the town could do. … more

1/18/23

Editorial: State needs clarity and regs for e-bikes on bike paths

There are myriad dangers on every bike path. Tour de France wanna-bees weave through the crowds, believing the path should be theirs alone. Children wobble helmet-less on their tricycles with light … more

8/25/22

Editorial: A conversation long overdue, and worth having

Rhode Island's affordable housing law has long been in need of adjustments and a fresh look. We're anxiously awaiting the results of just such an examination by state legislators. more

1/18/23

Editorial: Best practices in government

A year ago, no one could have imagined that the Barrington School Committee would quickly become the model for openness in government. For much of the past five years, that board was mired in … more

6/7/23

Editorial: Pass new gun laws now

Rhode Island has enacted a handful of smart gun laws in the past decade, but it is not enough. At least five common-sense gun regulation bills sit stagnant in the Rhode Island General Assembly, where … more

6/2/22

Editorial: Good news, bad news for BMS project

Here is the good news: The Barrington Middle School construction project is 99.99 percent complete, and the contractor is finishing under budget by $4.3 million. Just a few years ago, … more

4/30/21

Editorial: Small-town governance

There was a time, not long ago, when we celebrated Barrington for setting a great example in small-town governance. Citizens with talent and good intentions volunteered for public service, spent one … more

12/15/21

Editorial: Injustice, unrest and action

The murder of George Floyd lit a match to a nation loaded with combustible material. Quarantined and isolated for months, with tens of millions jobless, with economic stability shattered, with half … more

6/4/20

Editorial: A standing ovation for a new Unified Theater production

Something remarkable happened onstage in the Barrington Middle School auditorium last Friday night. Students performed. And though it was actually the first live theater performance in the short … more

2/8/23

Editorial: Press pause on Barrington's monastery plans

A town-hired consultant says the only viable option for the former Carmelite Monastery building is to tear it down. Only then could a developer get a fair return while clustering dense housing on the … more

9/15/22

Editorial: Barrington dropped the ball with new drive-through

For a town that wants to promote walkability, the Barrington Shopping Center is a glaring failure, and the new Starbucks drive-through lane only amplifies that. The Barrington Shopping … more

3/1/24

Editorial: 8 reasons to reject the Haines Park sports plan

Here’s what we do like about the plan for two new sports fields at Haines Park: 1. The Town of Barrington is trying to do something to create more space for the thousands of children playing … more

4/27/22

Editorial: Trampling on Town Meeting

In the early days of America, residents in small New England communities would gather for “town meetings” to make spending, infrastructure or investment decisions, as a community. Those … more

5/25/23

Editorial: In the public interest, it’s time to update the public records law

Setting aside journalists and citizen watchdogs, most people don’t care about public records laws — until they do care. When they find themselves in a land dispute with a neighbor, preparing a legal defense for their son’s disputed arrest, or questioning why a school district is building a new school instead of renovating an old one, they will care a lot about public records laws. more

3/1/23

Editorial: Barrington town leaders are ignoring the storm clouds

The whole country is adrift at sea, powerless, taking on water, and hoping not to sink into the deepest Great Depression in modern history … and then there’s the Town of … more

4/30/20

Editorial: Barrington superintendent pay would be unprecedented in R.I.

The woman who oversees 36 Rhode Island school districts, 4 state-operated schools, 23 charter schools and 136,514 students could walk away from all that stress, take the superintendent’s job in … more

2/7/24

Editorial: ‘Tax the rich!’

When state governments need money, they often focus on familiar targets: personal sins (drinking, smoking and gambling), fossil fuels and the rich. In the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing … more

4/15/21