Hoping to thwart a developer’s plans to put a large parking lot on leased state land in Galilee, Narragansett is turning to an architect to provide alternatives to replace the former Dutch Inn hotel.

The Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to put out a request for an architect to produce renderings of potential uses for the southern end of Galilee.

When Conor Schmidt was searching recently for office space for his new physical therapy practice, he found just the right spot at the Salt Pond Shopping Center.

He first had to hunt around and look at various other locations, and all were price competitive. He didn’t see a glut of bargain listings, as some areas of New England have reported in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Before construction work can begin on a new library in Narragansett, town officials have spent the summer taking care of the administrative and planning process by hiring an architect and outlining how the funds voters approved in 2016 will be spent.  

In July the Town Council approved a memorandum of agreement between the town and the Library Board.

Students can look forward to sports, field trips, activities and clubs this fall in Narragansett, which starts its school year Sept. 8.

Superintendent of Schools Peter Cummings said the goal is to make this year’s school experience as close to normal as possible for students.

But Cummings and the administrators in North and South Kingstown also are putting in place measures to protect against COVID-19, particularly with the spread of the Delta variant in recent weeks.

The town of Narragansett’s controversial ordinance from last year that limits rental homes to three college students won approval — again — from the Town Council following a marathon seven-hour hearing Aug. 18.

The 3-2 vote, which was a first reading of the ordinance, is essentially a “do-over” of a council vote that took place last fall.

Even though some losses occurred with COVID-19 more than a year ago, an important step in the grieving process for those some friends and families is just starting.

Local funeral directors are reporting that they are holding small numbers, but far more than pre-pandemic, of delayed funeral, memorial and committal services for those who died while the pandemic raged. Restrictions barred any traditional large gatherings, so much a part of the first stages of grieving.

Town leaders in Narragansett are moving froward with plans to host a workshop for ideas about what should replace the Lighthouse Inn.

The Town Council voted Monday to hold a visioning workshop for the property, which is state land that’s leased to the Procaccianti Group through its PRI X limited liability corporation.

Several local firefighters and EMS personnel received honors from the town this week for saving a man who had collapsed with a cardiac arrest during the annual Blessing of the Fleet Road Race in July.

“As a result of their swift and heroic efforts, that man, Philip Gingras, and his family are with us this evening,” Town Manager James Tierney said at Monday night’s Town Council meeting. “We’re so happy that he could be with us and so happy that his family still has him.”

The road race typically brings thousands of participants to Narragansett, and this year was especially well-attended after a two-year absence. Gingras, a 33-year-old from Plainville, Massachusetts, was taking part in the 10-mile in-person run.

The small but savory clam remains a popular item in many menu selections. There’s no “clamming up” on demand for it.

There are steamed and raw clams, bread-filled clam cakes, clam dip, “clam liquor” often called clam broth, clam chowder in its many forms including clear Rhode Island and creamy New England.

There’s also linguine and clams, Jaecheop-guk, a clear Korean soup, fabes con almejas, a clam and bean stew and, of course, fried clams, the old timer among seafood menu selections.

The Narragansett Town Council is hitting the brakes on efforts to re-zone a plot of land occupied by the Twin Willows restaurant, after some residents raised concerns that it would open the door too wide for different types of businesses to locate there in the future.

The request to re-zone the parcel came not from Twin Willows, but from the town itself. Community Development Director Michael DeLuca said the move was proposed to bring the parcel in line with the town’s re-written 2017 comprehensive plan. One of the key elements of the plan is to ensure that properties are zoned appropriately for the uses designated in the plan’s Future Land Use Map.

The first in-person meeting of Narragansett’s Town Council in more than a year was also the first for its new solicitor, former council president James M. Callaghan.

Town Council President Jesse Pugh swore in Callaghan after a unanimous vote by the council to appoint him. Callaghan’s wife Linsey and their two children, as well as his mother Judy and his father and law partner, former town solicitor Matthew Callaghan Jr., were in council chambers to watch. 

Val Williams and her family are on the verge of having nowhere to live.

The 56-year-old breadwinner for her family, which includes two kidney transplant recipients and a disabled mother-in-law, is scared. She has to be out of her Stone Bridge Drive rental house at least by the middle of August, if not beforehand.

This year’s summer season touted as an escape from COVID is bringing a boomerang effect as concerns arise about a potential resurgence of the virus.

The Delta variant is more than a prediction, it now a statistic.

For instance, New York Times tracking data shows Rhode Island having an overall 289% increase in reported COVID-19 cases when comparing the past two weeks to early July. Narragansett, South Kingstown and North Kingstown so far have been spared the brunt of it.

Restaurant owners like Meldgie’s Diner proprietor Mark Eldridge got a boost from the state this week, when Gov. Dan McKee signed a bill that extends outdoor dining until next spring.

“This outdoor dining means everything right now, because with COVID coming back, it’s even more important than ever” Eldridge said during a ceremonial signing by the governor Monday at Meldgie’s on Boston Neck Road.  

“This outdoor dining has revitalized this restaurant in particular,” Eldridge said. “This restaurant was in trouble three months ago.”

Fishing trawlers, pleasure yachts, Coast Guard vessels and even the Block Island ferries all received a benediction as they passed through the Galilee breachway Saturday afternoon for the annual Blessing of the Fleet.

Attendees, many who come every year and have friends and family in the fishing fleet, set up chairs along the walkway between the Salty Brine State Beach parking lot and the breachway rocks. Many others simply sat on the rocks to get a view of the activity.