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As soon as I saw Pete Fontaine open the office door, a smile spread across his face, I knew he was up to something.
It was the day before Thanksgiving and everyone was pressing to meet deadline …
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4/3/24
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came to a stop across from Crossroads, the former Providence YMCA building, and waited for the light to turn green to get onto the on ramp to Route 95 south.
It was Sunday, the scene …
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5/3/22
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Joy Fox, one of the seven Democrats vying for the Second Congressional District seat was running for another reason Saturday morning at a cleanup hosted by the Edgewood Waterfront Preservation …
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4/26/22
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Never did I imagine I would burst out laughing at a candlelight vigil for Ukraine.
Nothing is funny about what is happening there or to the estimated 3.8 million refuges forced to leave their …
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3/29/22
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Sometimes when things just don’t to go right, you actually end up with an unexpected dividend. In this case, it was meeting Robert Bedrick who lives with his cat Cooper in Cranston.
I …
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3/22/22
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Some years ago, the date buried in the sands of my memory, I got one of those calls that made me wonder if there was some truth to the tale I was being told. The caller said “you would …
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3/16/22
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The lawn was frosted early Sunday morning and mist rose mystically from the bay, like a steaming pot. Only it was chilly. The sky was brightening and the southern horizon glowed orange. I had remembered to set the clocks back an hour the night before,
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11/11/21
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I knew from the steps on the stairs it was Ollie.
He bounded into the room.
Surely he had something important to say. He nudged my arm. I looked down from the computer screen into his brown …
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10/28/21
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"I need a doctor, immediately . immediately," came the woman's commanding voice. She didn't wait for a reply from the emergency room nurse. "Did you hear me, immediately. My son has appendicitis." The boy started crying hysterically. "Mommy, mommy, I
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9/30/21
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I knew something was on his mind when I heard my name uttered from the front counter. He could see me, so he knew I was there, but Gene Nadeau never just walked into the newsroom without being invited. I'd wave him to come over from my chair and Gene
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9/29/21
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Animals make for some of the best of stories. I wasn't thinking of that Sunday morning. I checked the kitchen clock. It was after 6 and not too early to visit Bill and Irene Donahay, who live in Cole Farm. Usually I arrive via the bay once or twice a
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9/16/21
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Thank God for chatter. I'm not referring to the faulty brakes of a car or the mother-in-law who won't get off the phone. This chatter, as I can attest, is a lifesaver. It's the grooved strips that are now common on the sides of interstate highway lanes.
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By JOHN HOWELL
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8/11/21
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It's a Sunday routine in preparation for the week ahead. First, turn on WCRB, the Boston classical station and hope for some Hayden, Mozart or the occasional Scott Joplin. Then, turn on the computer for an avalanche of emails. After weeding through
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6/24/21
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I should have listened to Jack Clegg. "You need to get your notebook, you have enough stories here to fill a couple of columns." But I hadn't come armed with notebook to record the surprise 90th birthday party for Bill Riggs and the 60th party for his
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By JOHN HOWELL
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6/10/21
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It takes a dog to understand the beauty of routine. I wish I had understood this sooner, but I'm a slow learner. Fortunately, Ollie is a patient teacher. A month didn't go by a couple of years ago without this column being devoted to the antics of our
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4/22/21
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There was no counting of the rings when she came down, but my guess is that the maple was more than 100 years old. The core to the tree was gone. We were left with a stump, a ring of wood 6 to 8 inches around a hole that dropped 2 feet below the surface
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4/15/21
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I headed to Warwick Mall Saturday morning. It's not what you think, although having not received gifts I'd ordered online during Black Friday sales, I was getting concerned. I wanted to see what Gina termed during her Friday COVID press conference as
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By JOHN HOWELL
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12/23/20
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