Local police have issued a warning after four child abductions were reported in neighboring communities this year, The Jamestown Press reported Nov. 10, 1999.
Aside from those cases, a local woman on a dead-end street in Jamestown reported a car slowly passing her home twice as her young daughter was outside.
100 years ago — Nov. 11, 1922
(Newport Mercury)
For general treasurer of Rhode Island, Jamestown resident Adolphus Knowles, a Democrat, won his election by the narrow margin of 10 votes versus Republican Richard Jennings.
75 years ago — Nov. 14, 1947
(The Newport Mercury and Weekly News)
Communities in Newport County are adding up a rapidly growing tally of damage caused by the winds that hammered the coast with a velocity better than a hurricane.
A 34-foot cabin cruiser, torn from its mooring in Jamestown, pounded itself to a pulp on the rocks off Fort Adams, and was a total loss. The ferry Hammonton was limited to three trips between Newport and Jamestown after an extremely low tide kept the boat at its slip. Two trips were made by the torpedo station’s ferry, clearing all employees from the island.
Although a total of 478 telephones were out of service in the county during the worst of the storm, the office handled more calls than on any previous day on record as friends and relatives jammed switchboards inquiring as to each other’s safety.
Falling branches cut electrical service in Jamestown south of Narragansett Avenue, and that section still is without power. For a two-hour period, the whole island was without electricity. Conanicus Avenue, south of Shoreby Hill, was under water during high tide, and traffic was rerouted to North Road via Weeden Lane.
50 years ago — Nov. 11, 1972
(Newport Mercury)
U.S. Coast Guard officials said it may be months before the cause of an explosion that killed a crewman on a barge is known.
The barge, Interstate 71, exploded as it was being towed up Narragansett Bay. The explosion happened off the southern end of Prudence Island, an area proposed as a site for a liquefied natural gas terminal.
Clouds of billowing smoke could be seen as far away as Castle Hill Inn. The 380-foot barge from Philadelphia was carrying 67,000 barrels of hot liquid asphalt. The 29-year-old crewman died from burns and multiple fractures he suffered in the blast. Two other men jumped into the water following the explosion and were rescued minutes later. The marine unit of the fire department in Jamestown assisted at the scene. Residents said they felt the tremor in their homes.
25 years ago — Nov. 13, 1997
(The Jamestown Press)
A group of 20 volunteers have decided to take history into their own hands by forming the Friends of the Conanicut Battery, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to restore the 1776 Revolutionary War fortification.
Primary organizer Edwin Connelly, who also was in charge of raising money to renovate Veterans Memorial Square at East Ferry, addressed a crowd during a public forum.
“It is hard for me to describe the feeling you get when you are at the battery,” he said. “It is one of the most preserved earthworks on the East Coast.”
10 years ago — Nov. 15, 2012
(The Jamestown Press)
Town officials want to hear advice from the conservation commission before starting work on restoring the barrier beach at Mackerel Cove, which was decimated by Hurricane Sandy.
When the newly elected town council meets in December, the conservation panel will present a five-point plan it formulated before the hurricane, according to its chairwoman, Carol Trocki. Meanwhile, a bulldozer will be used to flatten the pile of sand left by the storm so it keeps from blowing into Sheffield Cove.