With the winter set in and COVID preventing some travel plans to warmer climates, many find themselves craving a tropical getaway. Now, thanks to a new cookbook by Narragansett resident Pamela Child, locals can take their taste buds to the Florida Keys without ever leaving South County.

“Keys Eats” features over 60 recipes from some of the top restaurants of the Keys featuring some of the best of “Floribbean” cuisine, including seafood staples such as conch, tuna and shrimp, as well as the classic Key Lime Pie and rum cakes to make everything from the traditional to the experimental.

“You have a lot of things that have jalepeños, mangos and tropical fruits,” Childs said. “It’s just kind of a little twist on some regular dishes.”

A group of Narragansett High School students will exercise their green thumbs this spring in order to help the environment.

The dozen members of the school’s Eco-Club, along with outside volunteers, plan to plant 100 trees in town on May 1.

It’s part of a nationwide program started by Tree-Plenish, a nonprofit organization that has partnered with more than 85 schools to help build sustainable communities through youth engagement.

In the memory of the late civil rights icon Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Towards An Anti-Racist North Kingstown (TANK), put on their first public event via Zoom, “Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy: Our Community in Action,” Monday night, featuring a candle light vigil, music, art and talks from members and activists.

The group was first started in October, with founder Jen Lima saying she was inspired by a similar group in South Kingstown.

The national debate over getting the COVID-19 vaccine has some South County emergency responders waiting to roll up their sleeves to get inoculated.

A survey by The Independent this week showed that both South Kingstown and North Kingstown police departments had about 50% of sworn personnel take up the offer to be vaccinated, while about 75% of eligible Narragansett officers got the shot.

Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, cited a short supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the state while arguing that despite those limitations the state is still doing well in doses per capita administered.

Farmers have the chance to put in an offer to buy a 10-acre parcel of agricultural land in South Kingstown from the state as part of a new program designed to preserve farmland.

The Department of Environmental Management last week issued a request for proposals from qualified farmers to submit offers for the “10 acres of prime agricultural land” off Liberty Lane by April 14.