©2014 Breeze PuBlications inc.
By SANDY SEOANE
Valley Breeze staff Writer
sandy@valleybreeze.com
NORTH SMITHFIELD – For
46 years Jay Freitas has won-
dered if, somehow, things could
have ended differently.
Freitas, a North Smithfield
resident and the son of a for-
mer police chief in town who
shared his name, was drafted
in the U.S. Army in 1967 at the
age of 21, and sent to Infantry
Officer Candidate School in Fort
Benning, Ga.
Freitas was assigned a cube
mate, a young man from
Louisiana named William
Thomas Damron, and the pair
bonded.
"We became best friends,"
Freitas explained.
After training, the soldiers said
their good-byes and headed off
to separate assignments in the
states, not knowing if their paths
would cross again.
But a year later, they did.
Freitas spotted Damron while
walking down the street by
Long Binh, a U.S. Army base in
Vietnam. Freitas was on his way
to meet up with his assigned unit
in the 25th Infantry Division.
Veteran with
PTSD seeks
healing in
charity ride
see FREITAS, Page 16
Valley Breeze Photo By tom Ward
Cumberland's Director of Planning KEllEY MORRIS reacts in hor-
ror as she watches the results of Town Council balloting at a gath-
ering of local Democrats Tuesday night. Four new members were
elected to the council with Democrats unhappy to see the defeat of
at-large contender Bob Thibodeau, District 4 challenge Joyce Hindle
Koutsogiane and District 3 incumbent Jeff Kearns. Standing with
Morris is JIM HIggINS, outgoing president of the Town Council.
By MARCIA gREEN
Valley Breeze editor
mgreen@valleybreeze.com
CUMBERLAND – Jim
Scullin pulled it off – captur-
ing both Jeff Kearns' District
3 seat on the Town Council
and an at-large spot on the
new Fire Committee.
Now he's one of what
appears to be a coalition of
councilors – also including at-
large member Art Lambi and
District 4's Scott Schmitt –
with enough sway to impede
the initiatives of the next
mayor, Bill Murray.
It's an upset that Murray
has worried about since pri-
mary election voters took Jim
Higgins off the council.
Apparently in the fresh-
man mayor's corner are the
unopposed Craig Dwyer and
Bob Shaw, of Districts 2 and
5, and Josh Call-Fregeau, the
college student who prevailed
against Amica Insurance
data manager Jim Metivier in
District 1.
Widely seen as the swing
Cumberland
Town Council shift
gives Murray team
a slim majority
ElECTION 2014
see CUMBERlAND, Page 8
By JESSICA BOISClAIR
Valley Breeze staff Writer
jessica@valleybreeze.com
LINCOLN – Both the
Lincoln Town Council and
School Committee will see
two new faces in its midst
after voters chose to replace
long-time
incumbents
John Flynn
and Mary Varr
Tuesday.
Bruce Ogni,
who said he is
eager to start
helping his
constituents in
District 2, defeated Flynn 782
to 548.
On Tuesday night, Ogni was
shocked, yet excited, about
beating Flynn, who has been
on the council since 2007.
"I ran against a very well
respected person who worked
hard for the community, but
I worked hard and did every-
thing I could," he said. "I'm
surprised because he did a lot
of good things, but I'm not
surprised because I did a lot of
work to win."
The retired Central Falls
police officer said the cam-
paign was a "great" campaign
In Lincoln, Flynn, Varr voted out in Tuesday's election
see lINCOlN, Page 4
OgNI
by the wayside
Take a road trip to visit America's
oldest inn.
lIVINg
thank you, VeteRans
Ceremonies, events around the
area listed on
PAgES 16, 18, 20.
Serving Cumberland and Lincoln
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NOVEMBER 6-12, 2014
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