Office of the Mayor

WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND

 

 

Mayor Baldelli-Hunt Announces Paving of "Ruff" Gravel Road Leading to City Dog Park to Enhance Year-Round Accessibility

 

WOONSOCKET, R.I.: Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt announced today that the Woonsocket Highway Division is paving the gravel road leading to the City's dog park at the Rivers Edge Recreation Complex, as well as the parking lot near the park. The City received approval from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) to perform the work. The City's in-house crew is doing the paving and expects it to be completed by mid-November.

The Mayor indicated that paving the road and parking lot at the dog park was appropriate because of the sharp increase in the number of resident dog owners using the facility and their expressed interest in having these areas plowed so they can continue to use it in the wintertime.

"Our dog park is a tremendous success, and paving the road and parking lot will make it much easier for our residents, especially seniors, to get there in the wintertime to exercise their dogs and socialize with other dog owners. Allowing our residents more time to be in the fresh air with their dogs at our dog park is a positive thing," said Mayor Baldelli-Hunt. The Mayor added, "I want to compliment our in-house road paving team for moving quickly on this project, for what promises to be another job well done."

Public Works Director, Steve D’Agostino explained that the binder course for the road and parking lot will be installed this year with the topcoat completed next spring. He indicated that the binder course will allow for snow plowing, and for the park to be opened year-round during daylight hours.

"We needed approval from RIDEM before we started paving, but once we received it, our in-house paving crew was immediately able to start the project so we could have the binder course done before winter," said D’Agostino. "That is the advantage of having our City crew, the only in-house municipal paving crew in the state. If we had to use an outside paving company, we wouldn't be able to get this started until next spring, and our dog park would be inaccessible for much of the winter."

 

 

Twelve more hostages have been released by Hamas as part of an extended ceasefire deal with Israel. Yesterday, the temporary pause in fighting was extended an additional two days. Israeli and Palestinian officials said 30 Palestinian detainees -- 15 women and 15 minor males -- were also released from Israeli prisons today.        The Pentagon says missiles fired from a rebel-controlled area of Yemen in the direction of a Navy warship were not intended for the vessel. Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said in a briefing Tuesday that he can't speak to what the target actually was. The missile landed near the USS Mason and a commercial tanker, but the Pentagon assessed they weren't singled out.        A Republican super PAC is backing Nikki Haley's presidential campaign. The political action network financed largely by billionaire Charles Koch [[ Coke ]] has endorsed the former South Carolina governor's bid for the White House. It's seen as a major boost to Haley's campaign as a viable Republican alternative to former President Trump.        Hunter Biden is willing to testify before Congress in the House's investigation into his actions, but only if he can do so publicly. The president's son's legal team said so in a letter to the House Oversight Committee. Hunter Biden's attorneys accused the House of using "closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public."        The judge in Elon Musk's lawsuit against Media Matters is recusing himself from the case. New court documents revealed Judge Mark Pittman was stepping away and asked the case to be assigned to a different judge. Pittman didn't give a reason for the recusal. Musk is suing the media watchdog for defamation, alleging they defamed his social media platform X.        Pope Francis is pulling out of his planned trip to the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai. The Vatican said the Pope is continuing to deal with the effects of the flu as he recovers from it, along with lung inflammation. The 86-year-old pope was due to travel to the Middle East this weekend for three days. The pope agreed to stay home "with great regret." The Vatican is looking into ways he can still join discussions remotely.