Beware of the dreaded legislative creep

• For those who don’t believe there is such a thing as “legislative creep,” I offer this from a press yelease of the R.I. General Assembly. “Measure 2018-S2530 is sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth A. Crowley (D-Dist. 16, Central Falls, Pawtucket). This bill would expand the current law so that adult residents of Rhode Island would be “included” in the Department of Health immunization registry presently maintained for children.”

Remember when it was no big thing that the Department of Health wanted to keep records of what immunizations your kids had? Guess what? Now they want to keep tabs on you, too. Of course, it’s for your own good, you know.

I say it takes no imagination to figure where they’re going with this. Can’t you just see some self-righteous do-gooder in the General Assembly proposing a law sometime in the future mandating we all get immunizations for whatever they think we should get them for whether we want them or not? I can imagine that. And it begins with legislation such as this. Legislation which is not even honest enough to tell you where they are hoping to end up.

Oh, and just so I cannot be accused of withholding facts, this year’s bill does allow adults to “opt out” of the registry if they go to the Department of Health and fill out a form. This year they’ll let you opt out, that is. Next year?

• Before we meet again on these pages, our nation will have observed Memorial Day 2018. For weeks, Veterans groups and volunteers have been “flagging” the graves of deceased Veterans at area cemeteries with American flags. A true labor of love and dedication. Area communities will observe in their own ways. For example, Blackstone has a celebration including fireworks. North Smithfield has an absolutely charming parade. Woonsocket will gather at the monument in the Veterans Park on Davison Avenue to honor our dead. The Woonsocket event will be broadcast and streamed live for those who cannot attend.

Almost everyone will do something this coming weekend to mark the holiday and the customary start of summertime. I feel I wouldn’t be doing my part without reminding everyone to consider personal and group safety when enjoying the great summertime weather. Enjoy it. Treasure it. Make good memories. But live to do it again next year.

• For those of you who travel the North Smithfield Expressway………wait. Stop. You don’t know what stretch of road that is? Well, it’s the part of Route 146 between the exit with 146A just north of Branch River Village and running south to the West Acres Interchange, where 146A once again joins 146. They were going to call it the “Woonsocket, Union Village, and Branch Village By-Pass” when it was built in the early 60s, but they couldn’t fit all those words on a sign. So they just called it the “North Smithfield Expressway.” Then the sign fell down.

But I digress……

For those of you who do travel along the North Smithfield Expressway, you have no doubt observed the construction work to rebuild the overpass bridge for Woonsocket Hill Road. You probably also noted some construction work a little further north at the Pound Hill Road exit. That work, I am told, is to construct the toll facilities for Governor Raimondo’s famous “Truck-Only Tolls.” (Well, “Truck-Only” at first, that is.) I think it’s a shame they are building them there, when just a bit south of there are the truck inspection turn-offs. They’re not used much today for inspecting trucks, but if they used them for the tolls they’d save us a lot of construction costs, I think. Why weren’t they used? Simple. Gotta get tolls from those CVS trucks turning off at Pound Hill Road to get to their warehouse.

But even that answer doesn’t make me feel right. You and I both know a lot of people who work for CVS. This company, started in Woonsocket by the Goldstein boys, has grown to the point that they could make the decision to move their headquarters and operations to another part of the country in five minutes over a bowl of soup. It would be that simple. So why would we want to give them any reasons to do that?

I’m not afraid to tell you that I am more than just a little uncomfortable that the fate of our entire Northern Rhode Island region seems to be taken so lightly by a governor who clearly has high personal ambitions outside our state. I personally feel that she just doesn’t care enough about the possible consequences because they won’t be her consequences……she’ll just leave……and leave us to deal with the calamity which would follow.

If it did happen, it will be beyond any governor’s ability to reverse once it started. It is for this reason that I think carelessly giving CVS another reason to move out of Northern Rhode Island is bad public policy for our entire region.