©2014 Breeze PuBlications inc.
Serving North Smithfield, Blackstone and Woonsocket
Breeze
The valley
FREE
valleybreeze.com
@
NOVEMBER 6-12, 2014
By SaNDy SeOaNe
Valley Breeze staff Writer
sandy@valleybreeze.com
NORTH SMITHFIELD –
For 46 years Jay Freitas has
wondered if, somehow, things
could have
ended differ-
ently.
Freitas,
a North
Smithfield
resident and the
son of a former
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.
No. Smithfield
veteran seeks
healing with
1,915-mile
bike ride
freiTaS
see riDe, Page 18
Salute to VeteranS
A variety of events honor our
U.S. armed forces.
PaGe 2
Come on 'Inn'
Take a weekend road trip to
America's oldest inn.
liviNG
Valley Breeze Photo By Bill MurPhy
North Smithfield Town Administrator PauleTTe hamilTON, center, looks over
the vote totals with supporters CarOl NaSuTi of Woonsocket, left, and North
Smithfield Town Council member KimBerly alveS, at the home of Town Council
President John Flaherty Tuesday night.
By SaNDy SeOaNe
Valley Breeze staff Writer
sandy@valleybreeze.com
NORTH SMITHFIELD – It was with cautious
optimism, and even a hint of post-election let-
down that Town Administrator Paulette Hamilton
acknowledged Tuesday night that she will likely
lead the town for another two years.
The results were close, to say the least. Early
tallies showed the three-term administrator win-
ning by just 134 votes.
And more than 250 absentee ballots remained
to be counted.
As Hamilton digested the news at a small elec-
tion party thrown at the home of outgoing Town
Council President John Flaherty, she vowed that
if the results stayed in her favor as they became
official, she would find out if there's anything
Early election results
show administrator will
serve two more years
see hamilTON, Page 9
By SaNDy SeOaNe
Valley Breeze staff Writer
sandy@valleybreeze.com
NORTH SMITHFIELD
– Two candidates who cam-
paigned on the premise of
bringing transparency and
accountability to the North
Smithfield School Committee
won by a landslide in the gen-
eral election on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, an effort to
overcome the odds and beat
the declared candidates for the
Town Council with write-in
campaigns fell well short of
the needed steam.
One of the most clear-cut
winners of the night was
School Committee newcomer
Merredythe Nadeau, a previ-
ous member of the town's
Budget Committee. Nadeau
was an outspoken critic of the
school department throughout
a contentious budget process
over the past two years, when
disputes over funding and
data requests created an ongo-
ing divide between town and
school officials.
If her win over previous
Nadeau, Bassett win by a landslide for School Committee
see SChOOl, Page 23
like us on follow us on
Are
you
looking
Are
you
looking
for
a
for
a
Check out the back Check out the back
of
our of our
Classified
section where Classified section where
you'll
find our advertisers' you'll find our advertisers'
most
current job offerings! most current job offerings!
It's Hamilton by a hair
