Newport This Week

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BLUE GARDEN Pg. 26

thursday, August 15, 2013

Vol. 41, No. 33

BORN FREE

Making the Case for The Breakers

What’s Inside

By Tom Shevlin

CHEF Q& A Pg. 11

Table of Contents CALENDAR COMMUNITY BRIEFS CROSSWORD PUZZLE DINING OUT DINING OUT MAP DINNER & A MOVIE EDITORIAL FAITH COMMUNITY FIRE/POLICE LOG MAINSHEET NATURE NAVY COMMUNITY REALTY TRANSACTIONS RECENT DEATHS SENIOR SAVVY SUDOKU

13 4- 5 22 10 17 18 6 21 5 12 24 9 27 20 20 22

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Welcome or Unwelcome?

The debate over the Preservation Society’s proposal to construct a welcome center at The Breakers was brought to City Hall this week. If approved, proponents say that the building would provide a more attractive welcoming point for visitors and restore a lost "secret garden" that once lined a serpentine path through the grounds of the property. Opponents fear that the structure would tear at the historic fabric of the Gilded Age estate and would be located in an area historically used to house greenhouses and other utility buildings where no such structures have existed since the current building was erected. (Rendering courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County and Joplin-Epstein Architects.

Broadcast radio has changed a lot over the last two decades, says Bonnie Gomes, the new owner of two local radio stations. When she first started in advertising sales at Providence’s WHJJ and HJY in 1986, local deejays and journalists brought music and news to local listeners. Now, most radio stations offer only syndicated music, with a token amount of local news, information and new music. Gomes wants to have a more local flavor on her two Newport radio stations, WADK (AM 1540) and WMNP (FM 99.3). Since April, when she purchased the two stations from Astro Telecommunications, Gomes has been working to return them to local programming–local talk show hosts, local news, and live, local deejays. She sold two radio stations and a newspaper in Florida in order to make the move to Newport. “I want to take these stations back to what radio used to be, when a radio station used to be a resource for the community, but with new technology,” said Gomes. At AM station WADK, she has added new local programming, real-time streaming, and a new slogan more reflective of her mission, “Your hometown station, no matter where your hometown is.” Locals can listen to a live report about a Little League match in Newport, and through live online streaming, so can an interested grandparent from anywhere else

in the country. “If something is happening locally, and the message needs to get out there, even if it’s something as simple as road construction, we’re the ones who will tell you about it,” said Gomes. Gomes recently hired Bruce Newbury to host “Talk Of The Town,” from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday on WADK. Newbury invites people to come in and chat with him about what’s happening around town. The studio is still located at 15 Dr. Marcus Wheatland Blvd. Some familiar names–Art Berluti, Dave Rogers, and Bobb Angel– remain part of the new format, said Gomes. The FM station Gomes bought formerly had the call letters WJZS, and it was an all-syndicated variety station. Gomes changed the lineup to an all live and local Top 40 station with the slogan, “Playing

WADK owner Bonnie Gomes.

See BREAKERS on page 8

Complaints of Flooding at Pell

Radio Stations Return to Local Focus By Esther Trneny

After 10 years of on-and-off discussions, a plan to construct a permanent welcome center at The Breakers had its first public hearing during a special meeting of the city’s Historic District Commission on Tuesday evening, Aug. 13. In front of a packed city council chamber, representatives from the Preservation Society of Newport County provided a detailed plan, including a history of the changes that have been made at the site in the past, and how they view the final design as fitting within the broader mission of their organization. Describing the proposed building as “entirely appropriate” for the site, Preservation Society executive director Trudy Coxe said that the welcome center would not adversely affect the historic property and that it would play a key role in the future of the organization. “We are very proud of what we’re proposing to you, and we want all of you to be proud of the project as well,” she said.

By Meg O'Neil

Matt Girard is one of the DJs at Mixx 99.3. The station broadcasts music 24/7, with live programming 7 a.m. – midnight, Monday through Friday. today’s hottest music.” Popularly known as "Mixx," 99.3 is unique among Top 40 stations with its local deejays not only playing music but also inviting listeners to comment or to request songs via a free mobile app. Gomes' son, Matt Girard, heads up the programming. “All day long, there is someone in that studio playing music,” said Gomes proudly. Although Gomes studied accounting, she discovered her affinity for broadcasting after a friend suggested she give radio advertising sales a try. Soon she was managing radio stations, and by 2009, she was working as a general manager for seven stations. Laid off in the ’08 recession, she still wanted to work in radio. Her husband suggested that she

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buy her own radio station. For the next three years she commuted between Florida and their home in East Greenwich, R.I. (Her husband is employed on Aquidneck Island.) But the arrival of her first grandson made Gomes realize she wanted to spend more time at home. When she heard that the two Newport stations were for sale, she was interested. Accomplishing the sale took 18 months. Gomes now sits on the board of the Newport Chamber of Commerce, and she and her husband are considering moving to the island from East Greenwich. “I’m finally doing what I want to in my own backyard, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Gomes.

The ongoing issue of flooding and erosion problems at the construction site of the new Pell Elementary School was discussed by the Newport School Committee during their monthly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13. For months, owners of abutting properties to the Pell site on Dudley and Hillside avenues have complained to members of the Newport School Committee and City Council that the amount of stormwater runoff from the site has caused major damage to their yards, pools, gardens, and garages. At the meeting, Dudley Ave. resident Jennifer Jackson and her husband displayed two poster boards of photographs showing the damage to their yard. They also presented a report by an independent engineer assessing the drainage issue on the property. "We want someone to say, 'Yes, problems occurred due to the construction of Pell School, and we take responsibility and are willing to fix it,'" Jackson said. "Something needs to be done. I pay a lot for my house and taxes. We work hard for what we have, and for it to be taken away by erosion and flooding is not fair to the citizens of Newport."

See COMPLAINTS on page 3

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