Woonsocket Radio News Room

September 5, 2018

MAYOR LISA BALDELLI-HUNT CONTINUES
BLIGHT AND DENSITY REDUCTION MISSION

WOONSOCKET, RI: A city-owned vacant structure that previously housed six residential units and commercial space located at 44-52 Blackstone Street is set for demolition tomorrow morning which will restore another 0.064 acres or 2,787 sq. feet of open space to Woonsocket.
"In continuing to eradicate housing blight and unhealthy density citywide, the removal of 44-52 Blackstone Street will help improve both the quality of daily life as well as the City's physical appearance," said Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt who envisions a blight-free cityscape for her native Woonsocket. "Nobody deserves to live on the side of blight."
The demolition of the 6,125 sq. ft. building will mark the twenty-fifth that the City has completed under its goal of blight remediation which began in the Spring of 2014.
To date, the twenty-four buildings that have been demolished contain a total of 63,598 sq. feet or 1.46 acres of land.
"It is essential for the City to stay on the continued path of eradicating blight which has accumulated over two decades," noted Mayor Baldelli-Hunt. "Vacant, blighted properties attract unhealthy, negative and nuisance behavior. Blight has a negative affect on the quality of life and is very time consuming for our public safety officials."
 

FBI Director Christopher Wray is disputing Donald Trump's promise to investigate his political rivals. The former President has vowed to order the Department of Justice to investigate his opponents if he wins the 2024 election. On Tuesday, NBC News spoke with Wray, who said he wouldn't allow his agents to conduct any investigation that doesn't comply with the FBI's rules, procedures, best practices, or core values.        House Speaker Mike Johnson will visit Columbia University in New York today to meet with Jewish students as the school faces massive protests against Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories. Hundreds of students have been protesting for days against the Biden administration's response to the Israel-Hamas war, calling for an end to support for Israel.        The United Nations is calling for a formal investigation after mass graves were found at hospitals in Gaza. U.N. leaders demanded the "clear, transparent and credible" investigation on Tuesday after hundreds of bodies were discovered on the grounds of two major hospitals in Gaza, which had been under attack by the Israeli military.        A bill allowing Tennessee teachers to carry guns is heading to the governor's desk. The bill allows for specially-trained teachers to carry handguns in their classrooms, and parents would not know if their kids' teacher was armed or not.        U.S. prosecutors are charging four Iranians for a hacking campaign that targeted American federal agencies as well as sensitive data from defense contractors. They allegedly targeted the U.S. State and Treasury departments along with more than a dozen companies.        A Belgian man with a rare condition that causes his body to produce alcohol is being acquitted of drunk driving. The condition is called auto-brewery syndrome. Experts say only around 20 people in the world have been diagnosed with the condition.        

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