Rodent Problem + Storm Wreaks Havoc

Welcome to the Pawtucket Patch Daily — your quickest way to get caught up on the city's top news stories. I'm your host, Mary Serreze. I can be reached at mary.serreze@patch.com. Feel free to send me your news tips, thoughts, and ideas.

First, today's weather: Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High: 77 Low: 66.

Here are the top five stories from around Pawtucket:

1. Around 8,000 Rhode Island households lost power as heavy storms rolled through the region. Saturday’s weather dropped heavy rain and caused street flooding. A lightning strike on the Lincoln Police Department's radio tower injured a dispatcher. A retaining wall collapsed in Central Falls.

2. Rats! City Councilor Mark Wildenhain says the city has a rat problem, and that residents who pay for rodent control on their own should get some sort of tax break. At last week's meeting, councilor Tim Rudd asked why there was a delay in refilling city-owned bait boxes. Code enforcement director William Vieira wrote that two former pest control contractors have been brought back in. He said his department has been short-staffed. (The Valley Breeze)

3. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, the North Providence Democrat, tells WPRI’s Ted Nesi that he is “absolutely, positively going to run again.” Ruggerio has been a state lawmaker for four decades now, and he’ll be 73 years old when voters go to the polls next fall. (He also told Nesi it was easier to negotiate with Dan McKee and Joe Shekarchi than with Gina Raimondo and Nick Mattiello...)

4. “The company that is now called Tracey Gear & Precision Shaft was born on April 12, 1945, the same day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died.” Vice President Doug Tracey still runs the company founded by his grandfather, a scrappy entrepreneur with a 9th-grade education. The Pawtucket company has grown and changed and weathered its ups and downs, but it still manufactures custom machine parts. The company made it through the pandemic and is now looking for a new home, writes Paul Edward Parker for the Providence Journal.

5. A man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run that seriously injured GoLocalProv news editor Kate Nagle. Last Wednesday Nagle was hit by a speeding motorcycle outside her Providence home. On Friday, police arrested Brown University employee Brian Amadon. Nagle underwent surgery at Rhode Island Hospital. “She could have easily been killed,” said Josh Fenton, Nagle’s husband.

Monday, July 19 in and around Pawtucket:

• The Pawtucket Riverfront Commission meets at 5:30. The Riverfront Commission plans to craft an advisory opinion concerning the mega-development known as Tidewater Landing. (Fortuitous Partners will be before the Planning Commission on Tuesday.)
• The Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation meets at 5:30. On the agenda: a financial update for Wyatt and a possible vote on awarding a public relations firm contract.

That's it. You're all caught up. If you like this newsletter, sign up and tell your friends. It's simple, but it keeps us rolling. Let me know about your community events. Have a good day out there. -Mary

About me: Maine native, UMass Amherst Regional Planning alum. Stick-shift driver, explorer. I believe in good government and the public's right to know. Interested in just about everything. I still like paper maps. I can be reached at mary.serreze@patch.com.