Press & News
The Boston Globe — Finding a 50-foot-wide path to the shore in Westerly, R.I.
By Brian Amaral — An April 1939 plat map, unearthed by attorney Michael Rubin, shows that a blocked off path on Weekapaug Point used to be accepted as a public right-of-way
ecoRI News — For Many On Coast, Climate Crisis Means Rising Insurance Rates
By Caitlin Faulds — The country’s largest flood insurer is changing how it analyzes risk, and it could signal a reckoning for coastal communities.
Projo — Waterfront Warwick neighborhoods are full of 'No Parking' signs. Many aren't legal.
By Antonia Noori Farzan —Try to get to the water in Warwick's desirable Potowomut neighborhood, and you'll quickly find that virtually every street is lined with "No Parking" signs. But on many of those streets, parking isn't actually banned by the city.
The Boston Globe — Life, liberty, and the right to a beach cabana?
By Brian Amaral — Some Narragansett residents up in arms over the possibility of term limits for coveted cabanas
The Public’s Radio — ‘It doesn't seem fair’: In shoreline fire districts, taxes buy residents ‘beach club’ perks and exclusivity
By Alex Nunes — In South County, several shoreline fire districts bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and other revenue annually but spend much of it on expenses more in line with a private beach club, not a fire department. That has drawn the ire of beachgoers who are being blocked from the shore.
Projo — Top DEM official urged staffers to expedite wetlands application from former McKee aide
By Antonia Noori Farzan — A top official in the Department of Environmental Management urged staffers to expedite a wetlands-alteration application filed by Anthony Silva, a former top aide to Gov. Dan McKee, records show.
The Public’s Radio — R.I. Superior Court finds no wrongdoing in coastal agency’s mediation with Block Island marina owner
By Sofie Rudin — Rhode Island’s coastal agency followed the law when it went into mediation with a Block Island marina owner. That’s the decision released Thursday by Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear.
The Boston Globe — The view of R.I. beach access from a private beachfront home
By Brian Amaral — While activists are pushing for more access to the shore, property owners are trying to balance their own rights with the public’s
The Public’s Radio — Former assistant R.I. attorney general: ‘White collar vigilantism’ has denied beachgoers public right of way in Westerly
By Alex Nunes — A special fire district says it owns a contested path to the ocean and that it can block the public from using the trail. Now a retired Rhode Island assistant attorney general has joined shoreline rights activists to try to open the path up to the public.
Projo — The little-known story ofwhy Narragansett TownBeach can charge to geton the sand
By Antonia Noori Farzan — One summer Sunday in 1991, dozens of protesters streamed onto Narragansett Town Beach, breezing past the guards who asked them to pay the $4 admission fee.
The Public’s Radio — House commission to invite public comment in South County on shoreline access
By Alex Nunes — A State House commission set up to study access to Rhode Island’s shoreline will take one of its meetings to South County later this year to get public comment from communities where disputes over beach access have been most contentious.
Projo — Sept. 9 deadline looms for ruling on controversial Block Island marina deal
By Jim Hummel — The mediated settlement of a controversial marina expansion on Block Island was a common-sense solution to nearly two decades of litigation. Or, it was a secret backroom deal that violated state law and excluded opponents who had fought the proposal every step of the way.
The Boston Globe — An argument over beach access in R.I. leads to a libel and trespassing lawsuit
By Brian Amaral — Cooler heads are not prevailing after one particular confrontation in Charlestown earlier this summer
CRMC — CRMC designates four new rights-of-way
The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) recently designated four new public rights-of-ways – three in North Kingstown and one in Providence.
The Boston Globe — PODCAST Beach access, equity, and the right to collect seaweed
PODCAST Ed Fitzpatrick talks with Globe RI reporter Brian Amaral about the history of beach access in Rhode Island, and what needs to change to make coastal privileges more equitable.
ecoRI News — Special House Commission Appointed to Study CRMC
By ecoRI News Staff — Rhode Island Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi has appointed the 15 members to serve on a new commission to study the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).
EastBayRI — Barrington Beach parking now open to non-residents
By Josh Bickford — About two weeks ago Barrington officials shifted their position on non-resident parking at the town beach. While the beach had not allowed non-resident parking at the start of the summer season, local officials decided to change that recently.
The Boston Globe — Here’s who will serve on a commission looking into R.I. shoreline rights
By Brian Amaral — A new Rhode Island House study commission looking into the hotly contested subject of shoreline rights will meet for the first time Aug. 26 at the State House, according to the office of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi.
The Public’s Radio — Members named to new state commission on shoreline access in Rhode Island
By Alex Nunes — State lawmakers are taking another step forward in their plans to examine shoreline access in Rhode Island with appointments to a new House commission.
Boston Globe — A Brown researcher helped write the stunning UN climate change report…
By Brian Amaral — A Providence resident and Brown University professor was one of the key authors in a landmark United Nations report warning of the catastrophic consequences of climate change.