Just moved to the area and wish to enroll your child in the Chariho Regional School District?  Then you will need a Locator Card as part of your school registration. What is a locator card? It is just what it sounds like!  Your local town hall will issue you a card that serves as verification that you reside in a Chariho district town.   Why do we need one?  Having a geographically large regional school district, including students attending from other districts, means keeping track of where students reside is necessary for the all important aspect of public ..read more

In the state as a whole, creating a healthcare infrastructure with sufficient staffing, space and access is a challenge.  This is particularly true for rural areas like Richmond.  Adding the usual challenges of the American healthcare system to an area with limited public transportation and frontage to house facilities makes accessing care an issue for many residents. In answer to this, we are fortunate to have Wood River Health operating close by at 823 Main Street in Hope Valley.  Wood River Health is a not-for-profit, Community Health Center serving patients from Rh ..read more

We’ve set up a new set of roadside signs on Route 138. We’ve been looking for a way to communicate the values of our members and candidates. But we figured we’d also invoke some classic Americana in the process! The arrangement of the signs was inspired by the Burma-Shave ads from the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920s saw the first big mainstream spike in automobile use, about the time when Burma-Shave was getting into serious competition for their product. They took advantage of the emergence of new cars and new roads to launch an advertising campaign of roadside signs. As road trips and long d ..read more

With a series of elections and referendums coming up this year, it’s worth highlighting that there are a number of different ways to vote. First, it’s worth highlighting how to register to vote. For most elections, you have to register to vote at least thirty days before the election. However, in Rhode Island, you can register to vote the same day that you vote, but you’ll only be able to cast a vote for the President that day. To register, you can go to the Voter Information Center and register to vote. You can also visit the Richmond Town Hall and register for the town clerk. Many also regis ..read more

I had attended a seminar a few weeks ago on college financial options, FAFSA, and other aspects of paying for college. Towards the end of the session, one of the attendees had expressed frustration with the FAFSA changes that are coming. Now, there’s plenty about the FAFSA and college financial application process to be frustrated about. However, the FAFSA is a federal form, and the woman giving the seminar on how to fill it out is just there to support the federal process, and isn’t a good target for our frustration. So, given that, how do we express our frustration for federal activities in ..read more

The economy today puts a wide array of pressures on people, as rising costs of living adds tremendous stress on working families and older residents. The town government of Richmond recently emphasized that an important part of its responsibility is to help make sure that folks in Richmond are able to get help if they need it. To this end, they’ve stood up the Human Services Department in Richmond, and hired Kate Schimmel as the Human Services Director. Her job is to work with you, the residents of Richmond, to help find the right kind of help for any problem! Obviously, everyone has a differe ..read more

Recently our family had the fairly common rural experience of being adopted by a feral cat. The very friendly little guy was wandering the neighborhood and, much to the dismay of our neighbors, singing an aria in nine parts in the early morning hours. After a few days of him returning to our yard, we managed to catch him and contain him in our little “foster” set up. At this point we really thought he must belong to someone given how friendly he was. So what is an animal lover to do when possibly catnapping a neighborhood pet? You call your local Animal Control. Richmond Animal Control is a sm ..read more

Learn365 is a Rhode Island effort aimed at providing more educational opportunities for children outside of school hours. The town of Richmond is sponsoring its own events as part of this effort. Though aimed at education for kids, the events that Kate Schimmel is helping to put together or highlight are as useful to parents as they may be to kids. To start, Richmond is hosting a quiet homework room on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm in the community room at the ,,Arcadia YMCA. This provides a quiet, safe place for middle school and high school students to work on their homewo ..read more

In the past week, we’ve been hit by two heavy rainstorms. This is following up on another heavy rainstorm in mid-December. As most Richmond residents are aware now, the heavy rains tends to soak upper branches, which fall and damage power lines, buildings, and block roads. However, there are a couple ways where the local government is working to help. First, the Department of Public Works is working during each storm to keep the roads clear. During the snow storms, they work plow routes to remove snow and sand the roads. The plow routes are prioritized, so they may initially bypass some side ..read more

One of the town’s biggest selling points is its trees. Living in an area with acres of forests in every direction is certainly a draw to the area for nature lovers. With the local flora and fauna constantly changing around us, getting out on a hike is a great way to spend a day during any season in New England. While walking trails, conservation areas and state/town lands abound, there are a few local trails that are perfect for a family hike. With moderate distances and elevation changes, some even designed specifically for accessibility, there is a hike out there for any skill level and abil ..read more