John McDaid

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Globe and Mail picks up privacy issue in #PeterWatts arrest (update)

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 14, 2009, 6:46 am
In a story in this morning's Globe and Mail, the paper picks up the privacy thread, noting that Peter Watts's laptop had been held by US officials after his arrest at a border crossing last we...
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Big media pick up #PeterWatts border arrest (update 2)

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 13, 2009, 8:25 am
With over 200 news articles now appearing in Google search results, it appears that there was broad pickup of last night's AP story, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune,...
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Canadian sf writer roughed up and arrested at border [updates]

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 11, 2009, 8:55 pm
Dr. Peter Watts, marine biologist and science fiction writer, was arrested in Michigan on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting DHS border guards on his way home to Canada, according to published reports. ...
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New dreidel game spins a gimel

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 11, 2009, 8:50 am
If you're looking for a way to liven up your Hanukkah games of dreidel — and, let's face it, who isn't — you'll want to check out Staccabees™, a new twist on the clas...
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Portsmouth Dems host holiday party, raffle

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 10, 2009, 10:23 am
Valley Inn host Joe Occhi draws winning ticket as Len Katzman and Rich Gottlieb look on. The Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee hosted their annual holiday party — and their first-ever 50/50 ...
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Save The Bay LNG petition

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 8, 2009, 1:40 pm
Save The Bay has a section on their site about the LNG facility, with info and a petition drive. You might want to stop by and sign up. Seriously, this project is like something from the zombie apoca...
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BIA withdraws bid for Navy Land on Aquidneck Island

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 7, 2009, 8:01 pm
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has withdrawn its application on behalf of the Narragansett Indian Tribe seeking acquisition of the 260 acres of surplus property as identified at Naval Station Newp...
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Award-winning story now a podcast

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 6, 2009, 3:31 pm
"Beam Me Up," a radio show on WRFR-FM in Maine, debuted a version of my Sturgeon-award winning 1995 short story "Jigoku no Mokushiroku" on their episode yesterday. The show (with the first half of the...
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When exactly did DOT promise to fix the Escape Bridge?

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 4, 2009, 5:58 pm
Video from Channel 12. In a Channel 12 story tonight prompted by coverage on this site, RIDOT claimed that work on Portsmouth's ailing Escape Bridge would begin next summer, contradicting an off...
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RIDE sets teacher eval standard

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 4, 2009, 3:27 pm
At last night's meeting, the Rhode Island Board of Regents approved the first-ever state standards for educator evaluation systems, according to a statement from the Rhode Island Department of Edu...
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Cove Bridge work delayed to late 2010

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 3, 2009, 1:57 pm
After an eagle-eyed reader queried about Portsmouth's Cove (Escape) Bridge following today's washout on Park Avenue, I asked RIDOT about the schedule for repairs to the ailing structure and ju...
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Park Avenue floods out again

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 3, 2009, 9:01 am
Usual flooding on Park Avenue in Island Park this morning. More pix up on Flickr
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Portsmouth hammers wastewater plan

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 3, 2009, 7:00 am
Citizens carry signs at wastewater hearing More than 250 residents packed the Portsmouth Middle School auditorium this evening for a public hearing on the draft wastewater facilities plan prepared by...
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RI Future launches revamp

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 7:30 am
RIFuture, the leading voice in the state's progressive blogosphere, launched a major redesign this morning, and it is absolutely stunning. The new site, based on a leading Web 2.0 platform cal...
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Hey IP, Santa is coming tonight

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 6:27 am
Yes, the yearly visit by the jolly old elf for those in Island Park should be this evening. Thanks to OnAquidneck.com for posting the schedule. If you live here and haven't bookmarked OnAquidneck...
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Kennedy seeks more Afghan detail

John McDaid posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 5:16 am
Congressman Patrick Kennedy released a statement last night responding to President Obama's speech on Afghanistan, and urging the President to provide more specifics. Said Kennedy: "A clearly def...
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NaNoWriMo WIN

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 29, 2009, 12:33 am
With a day to spare, and just 50 words of headroom, I crossed the finish line of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) at 12:05 this morning, certifying my scrambled manuscript for the alternat...
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Anti-sewer vandals are back

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 28, 2009, 1:07 pm
The lawbreaking vandals who put up their propaganda dispenser on state property have returned to Boyd's Lane, with another round of rabid anti-sewer rhetoric. The flyer — once again, no grou...
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E-dubba Google (The schoolhouse of Google)

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 25, 2009, 7:50 am
My Sumerian is not what it used to be, so forgive what is probably a shaky translation in the title, but the news that Google has partnered with the Iraq National Museum to digitize their entire colle...
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Portsmouth attendance stays flat

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 24, 2009, 7:57 am
Source: RIDE. click image to embiggen. The attendance data for all Portsmouth's schools continued to show absences below state averages last week, with the exception of a minor spike at Melville ...
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Alpacas at the Council Monday Night

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 22, 2009, 4:50 pm
Would this picture look better with a road cutting across the middle? I'm sure this is an oversimplification, but when Jack and I visited the Glen Ridge Farm on Frank Coelho Drive this afternoon,...
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Save The Alpacas: visit Glen Ridge on Sunday

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 21, 2009, 8:06 am
Preserve Portsmouth sent an e-mail to supporters this morning announcing that the Glen Ridge Farm (290 Frank Coelho Drive; map) will be hosting an open house tomorrow to give the community a look at t...
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See "Twelve Angry Jurors" at PHS

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 20, 2009, 2:51 pm
photo courtesy PHS The Portsmouth High School production of "Twelve Angry Jurors" (né "Twelve Angry Men") ends its run this weekend with performances at 7pm tonight and tomorrow at the PHS auditoriu...
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Island Park skate update and meta-commentary

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 19, 2009, 9:14 pm
There was a meeting last night of about 30 Portsmouth citizens to form an organization called the Island Park Crime Watch Committee, and according to multiple sources who were present, a slate of offi...
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New business on East Main Road

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 19, 2009, 11:46 am
If you've been on the northern part of East Main Road in Portsmouth, you've probably noticed new construction going on at the old gas station next to Pizza Hollywood, and according to Director...
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Sen. Reed hosts college aid workshop

John McDaid posted an article on - Nov 19, 2009, 9:01 am
Sen. Jack Reed will be hosting his 19th annual college financial aid workshop this coming Monday, Nov 23, at the Lincoln campus of Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), according to an e-mail from...
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Marine Trades Day in Portsmouth Saturday

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 13, 2009, 2:12 pm
Click to embiggen. Portsmouth's Melville marine trades area (map) is hosting an open house this Saturday, Oct, 17 from 9am to noon with a dozen local firms and organizations providing tours and i...
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Stewart woodsheds CNN fact-checking

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 13, 2009, 7:09 am
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c CNN Leaves It There www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview It's sad that one of the few people ...
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Newport Now video of PHS at parade

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 12, 2009, 5:34 pm
Newport Now has coverage of today's Columbus Day Parade in Newport, and shot the video above, which is up on their YouTube channel (pix are up on their Flickr page.) Aren't our PHS kids just ...
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Support school strategic plan Tuesday

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 11, 2009, 12:10 pm
At Tuesday night's meeting of the Portsmouth School Committee, the recently developed Strategic Plan will be voted on, and everyone with an interest in the Portsmouth schools — especially th...
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Winery and Alpaca info meet next Thurs

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 9, 2009, 7:59 am
Just got word from Conni Harding of Preserve Portsmouth that they will be hosting an informational meeting at the Green Valley Country Club next Thursday, October 15 at 7pm covering a couple of hot de...
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Happy Birthday, Jack

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 8, 2009, 10:04 am
"No flash photography..." It is hard to believe that it was ten years ago today. As any parent will tell you, it is a blur, where every moment seems like yesterday. I still cannot thank enough the m...
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Vote for a friend's t-shirt design

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 7, 2009, 8:35 pm
Click to go vote. One of my sf writer buddies, Lis Mitchell, is also an artist, and has a design up on Threadless.com. If you like it, you can vote it up and maybe it'll end up on a t-shirt. Mak...
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Potter League gets LEED Gold

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 7, 2009, 6:50 am
On Monday, the Potter League animal shelter in Middletown became the first building in the state, and the first animal shelter in the country, to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ...
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A shoutout from the Sunlight Foundation

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 6, 2009, 6:31 pm
Just heard that the Sunlight Foundation did a blurb about hard deadlines in their "Local Sunlight" newsletter this week. They wrote up last week's Ethics Commission post and were very complimentar...
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Call Reed and Whitehouse today for the public option

John McDaid posted an article on - Oct 6, 2009, 11:36 am
If you've been following the news, you know that key votes are coming up, and if you want to have health care reform with a public option, now is the time to make a couple of quick phone calls. ...
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Welcome (and build) our new robot overlords

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 18, 2009, 1:14 pm
Tomorrow afternoon, the Aquidneck Island Robotics (AIR) club, a local 4H group that teaches competitive robotics, is hosting an open house in building 80 of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) fr...
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Kennedy slams Baucus bill

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 16, 2009, 5:16 pm
Rep. Patrick Kennedy issued a statement this afternoon critical of the health care reform proposal from Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus. “A fundamental feature of meaningful health care r...
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AIPC traffic study data collection underway

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 15, 2009, 7:59 pm
Reps from VHB hand out surveys across from CVS, with one of Portsmouth's Finest keeping an eye on traffic. If you drove through the intersection of East Main and Turnpike at rush hour this evenin...
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Portsmouth Dems host fun clambake

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 13, 2009, 7:30 pm
The weather cooperated (finally!) and the Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee held their annual clambake today under sunny skies outside the Portuguese-American Citizens Club. Over one hundred folks ...
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Eight years

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 11, 2009, 8:04 am
New York City, Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street, looking South, about 11 am, September 11, 2001. I was in New York City on 9/11, working in an office just off Times Square. For a while, our whole departm...
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Newport Now in PBN

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 9, 2009, 12:12 pm
Newport Now, the recently launched hyperlocal news site, got a nice writeup in the Providence Business News today. Yay!
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Committee "conceptually" supports new school plan [update]

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 8, 2009, 10:13 pm
Supt. Susan Lusi presents strategic plan. By the narrowest of margins — a 3-2 vote with two members absent — the Portsmouth School Committee this evening voted to support the recommendati...
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New CEO at Newport Hospital

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 7, 2009, 8:37 am
Incoming Neport Hospital CEO August Cordeiro. (photo courtesy Lifespan) Starting tomorrow, Newport Hospital will have a new CEO as August Cordeiro takes over for departing president Arthur Sampson, L...
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Nickle's smart, creepy "Monstrous Affections"

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 5, 2009, 6:32 pm
Canadian science fiction/horror writer David Nickle's collection of short stories, Monstrous Affections just went up for pre-order (see links below) and if you have a taste for vivid, dark, intell...
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An oily deal for terrorism

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 5, 2009, 9:13 am
According to a report in the The Daily Telegraph, UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw admitted that "trade and oil" were involved in the government's negotiations as far back as 2007 around a Prisoner...
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Dem clambake Sunday, Sept. 13 with great auction goodies

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 5, 2009, 7:51 am
Next Sunday, September 13, the Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee will hold their annual clambake at the Portuguese American Citizens Club on Power St. This traditional fundraising event (see here, ...
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Portsmouth approves mostly flat teacher contract

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 3, 2009, 10:29 pm
NEA President Cynthia Perry talks with School Committee Chair Dick Carpender In a brief session with only 13 community members in attendance, the Portsmouth School Commmittee approved a new one-year ...
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Newport Daily News struts, blinks [update]

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 3, 2009, 9:55 am
The Newport Daily News got a lot of press earlier this year with their plan to charge much more for their online version (story on Nieman Journalism Lab, my earlier coverage here) and this week, while...
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Portsmouth Foundation announces grant winners

John McDaid posted an article on - Sep 2, 2009, 9:59 pm
The Portsmouth Public Education Foundation announced their yearly grant awards and teacher of the year prize at school district orientation day on Monday, according to their web site. This year, the P...
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