Editorial: The real scare isn’t the white powder

Posted 2/8/20

One could not watch the scene outside the Bristol Town Common last week and come away with any conclusion other than this — what an extraordinary waste of time, resources and energy.

This …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Editorial: The real scare isn’t the white powder

Posted

One could not watch the scene outside the Bristol Town Common last week and come away with any conclusion other than this — what an extraordinary waste of time, resources and energy.

This in no way diminishes the efforts of first-responders, who displayed their high standard of professionalism and training over the course of the five-hour ordeal. Thankfully, in the end, they determined that the school administration building was not contaminated by Anthrax. Whether it was baby powder, flour or something else, they won’t say, but it was not a real threat.

However, the consumption of time for firefighters, police officers, special hazards teams and volunteers; the disruption to lives; the momentary fear for those involved … this was a massive event with significant impact.

If detectives are able to find out who did this, and why, they should bring all available measures to bear on that person. Quite simply, society could not function if scares like this were commonplace. Businesses would close, the economy would suffer.

This is one area where zero-tolerance is the only policy.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.