NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket

It is Not a Minor Problem Liquor-Education matters

Dec 31, 2008

Pawtucket Substance Abuse Task Force has a new theme in 2008-9 for underage druinking problems. It is NOT a MINOR Problem-
Also the task force changes its name to the Pawtucket Policy Prevention Board to share its new mission.


06/16/2005
City may up liquor licenses
Douglas Hadden

PAWTUCKET -- All dressed up with no place to go.
That?’s been the complaint among some of the city?’s newer and more upscale residents moving into the likes of Riverfront Lofts or Bayley Lofts at the opposite edges of downtown or getting set to populate the housing units to be carved out of the former Hope Webbing Mill on upper Main Street.



As City Councilor David Clemente related, citing a comment to him by a Riverfront Lofts resident, downtown Pawtucket -- where for years the nighttime dining choice has been confined to the China Inn -- is "great for food, but you gotta love Chinese food."

But several restaurants are knocking on the door: Mad House Caf?© is now planning to open in August in the former Newport Creamery space next to Apex, and others are making noises, City Planner Michael Cassidy said.

The problem, Clemente told a meeting Wednesday of the City Council License Committee, has been that the number of liquor licenses is capped in the city and none are vacant and available, particularly the BV licenses needed by restaurants to serve both food and alcohol.

"There?’s been interest from restaurateurs, whether it be downtown or other areas, looking to open restaurants in Pawtucket," Clemente said. "But one of the themes that keeps coming back is liquor licenses. With all the BV (licenses) tapped out at this point there?’s really nothing to offer."

A solution, emerging from the advisory-only Economic Development Committee assembled last winter by Council President Donald Grebien, and chaired by Clemente, is something being called a restaurants-only or BR license -- the R standing for "restricted."

The chief restrictions would be prohibiting entertainment (though such a license could be sought separately before the council) and making the license expire with the holders and their location.

That?’s unlike BV licenses, which are typically sold with a business even though it takes the form publicly of a license transfer. The law notwithstanding, "we know how it works," Clemente said.

A related issue is the number of BV licenses already held by establishments that are really just bars, or as Clemente evaluated their status, "I have a microwave with frozen dinners, now I?’m a restaurant."

Police Chief George Kelley said his department did a city survey the last year or so that found many BV license holders did not really serve food as they should, and offered to do an update.

The goal there would be to scale such places back to bar licenses, opening up BV licenses for restaurants without adding to the number (64) already out there.

Police Major Stephen Ormerod noted that an Exchange Street restaurant and club, Tropical Vibes, was recently closed down after it transformed its kitchen into a DJ booth, leaving it without hot water as required by health regulations even though food was being brought in from outside.

Councilor Thomas Hodge said the BR category (as a subset of the state-allowed BV class) raised fairness issues that should be addressed.

"We have a lot of legitimate restaurants in the city now that pay $1,500 (annually) for a BV license," Hodge said.

He said if the new BR licenses, even with their restrictions, cost less it would "give them an unfair competitive advantage" over existing establishments, an argument with which other panel members agreed.

Milos said he had discussed the restricted-type license with Jeffrey Greer, the state liquor control administrator, who said, "You can do this. He believes it?’s the more prudent policy," and an improvement over license transfers, "because even though you?’re not supposed to sell a license, that?’s what everybody does."

Milos said "the applicant would clearly know, coming in," what the restrictions were, which he thought should also be put "on the face of the license."

While there is no direct case law to point to, Milos said Providence had created a new species of ED (economic development) license toward the same purpose.

"I just don?’t want the belief that there?’s (going to be) all these new liquor licenses that are not going to go away," Clemente said. "The whole intention of this thing was to create an opportunity for restaurants to come into the city of Pawtucket."

Councilor Albert Vitali agreed with Hodge that the inducement should not be targeted just for downtown but allowed wherever appropriate.

Milos said the city, if it wants, could scale back the current number of BV licenses as they became vacant and, by ordinance, decree the new ones be BR licenses that "automatically have these restrictions."

"So we can limit the number then?" asked Vitali.

"You can," said Milos of the new BR licenses, adding that, "you can change the cap."

Hodge?’s motion to start with a cap of six BRs failed for a second, and the matter was continued to a panel meeting at 5 p.m. next Wednesday before any recommendations are sent to the full council.

"At some point, this will have a full public hearing," Hodge said.


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06/16/2005
College costs hurting the poor?
Nicole Dionne

PAWTUCKET -- For Tolman High School senior Cheick Mbengue, college was always part of the plan.
Following in the footsteps of his mother, who is currently in college, and his brother, who recently graduated from Rhode Island College, Mbengue will be attending Eastern Connecticut State University in the fall and double-majoring in public relations and journalism.




Mbengue?’s story, though, is not the norm in local schools.

Throughout Rhode Island, lower-income students are substantially less likely to go on to higher education than their wealthier counterparts, despite the fact that their SAT scores are barely below those of higher-income students.

State-compiled figures show that at Lincoln High School, where few students live near or below the poverty line, the amount of possible graduates (which includes dropouts) who went on to higher education in 2004 was nearly 90 percent.

This pattern holds in schools with similarly low poverty levels like Smithfield, East Greenwich and Barrington high schools. By contrast, schools with high poverty levs like Central Falls, Tolman and Shea high schools send less than half of their possible graduates on to post-secondary education.

And that gap keeps widening.

Twenty-five years ago, students from wealthy families outnumbered lower-income students in higher education enrollment by 4-to-1, but today that number has risen to 11-to-1, according toU.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

STUDENTS NEED

GUIDANCE

Hitesh Mistry, a Shea senior, knew since he was a child that he wanted to go to college, and decided in 10th grade that Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. was the right one for him.

But Bentley costs more than $40,000 per year and financing it was no easy feat. Because he was the first in his family to go to college, he had to navigate the murky aid waters alone.

"I had to fight for the financial aid; it was difficult," he said. "It?’s really tough because your parents can?’t help you."

Although Mistry said the guidance counselors at Shea did help him, some students feel that the guidance counselors aren?’t so forthcoming with their assistance.

"Guidance has their favorites - the ones that they think have futures," Luis Hernandez, a Shea senior hoping to go to New England Tech, said. "They look at us as an excuse and say ?‘They?’re always messing up.?’"

Mark Hackney, a Shea senior planning to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, was sometimes frustrated with the help he received from his guidance counselor.

"I mostly did this on my own," Hackney said. "I don?’t think they really care because you can go there (to the guidance office), but they aren?’t going to look for you or check in with how you?’re doing."

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY

Hernandez said many students perceived as "lazy" are actually holding jobs and trying to help their families.

Local counselors cited students?’ long work hours as one of the reasons for low-enrollment in higher education.

"Pawtucket is inner-city and the socioeconomics are not what you would get in the suburbs," Patricia Murray, the head of Shea?’s guidance department, said. "A lot of our students not only attend school, but work full-time to help out their families."

Carol Silver, the head of guidance at Central Falls, said that because students are "under pressure to earn money to help their families," the cost of post-secondary education becomes even higher due to the loss of income.

The counselors said students can have trouble seeing the benefit of accruing debt while working towards a degree instead of earning money right out of high school.

"They see the part-time wage and don?’t see the global view," Charleen Christy, the head of guidance at Tolman said.

That can be a hard sell when the overall debt students accumulate while in college is ballooning by the year, while the aid dwindles.

LACK OF FEDERAL AID

This year, a formula change in eligibility for the Pell Grant -- considered a foundation of federal financial aid -- will drastically reduce the awards that students receive.

The reductions will cause 1.3 million students nationwide to have their Pell Grants reduced and 90,000 more to lose them entirely.

The Perkins Loan, with two-thirds of its recipients coming from families with incomes of less than $40,000, will also be eliminated nationally in the coming year.

"Money is an issue today more than it used to be," Silver said . "(The University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College) are giving less. URI used to cover almost everything but now students are billed $2,000 to $4,000."

Chris Lord, Shea?’s principal, believes the reason for low enrollment in higher education is "money all the way."

"The students just don?’t have family resources to draw on for college," Lord said.

Kennedy said believes that because of the greater need to borrow, the federal government needs to facilitate the ability for students to pay off their student loans.

(Loans nowadays typically make up half of federal financial aid packages.)

When Mistry, the Shea senior,struggles to piece together his tuition, finishes his first year at Bentley, he will already have more than $20,000 in loans.

Kennedy offers his solution -- make all college debt tax-deductible.

"They are saddled with unbearable debts. Subsidized tuition can allow them to deduct from their taxes not only the interest, but also the loan repayments," Kennedy said.

IMMIGRANTS?’ STRUGGLE

In addition to the government?’s reduction of aid and students?’ long work hours, many local students are faced with an additional roadblock.

The combination of language barriers and the inability to apply for financial aid prevent some from continuing their education.

"We have a big (English as a Second Language) population," Murray, the head of Shea guidance, said. "Our students are bright enough, but they don?’t have the language skills."

Eighteen percent of Shea students and 25 percent of Central Falls students are in ESL classes. In addition to high ESL rates, several top seniors each year at CFHS are illegal immigrants who cannot receive any state or federal financial aid for higher education.

"Students who aren?’t here legally cannot apply for financial aid at all," Carol Silver, the head of guidance at CFHS, said. "Most of our top 10 percent of students are stuck because they are illegal."

She said that financial limitations, language barriers and not being a legal U.S. resident are CFHS students?’ primary obstacles to higher education.

But, Silver thinks that while the illegal immigrants may have the toughest hurdles to post-secondary education, many are quite determined to overcome them.

"They understand why they are here, to have a more successful future than their parents had in their home country," Silver said. "They are willing to contribute to a better life."

One such student is a 2005 CFHS graduate who came to the U.S. from Cape Verde when she was 11 years old.

(She chose not to disclose her name because of her illegal status.)

The student?’s family was already here legally and she attended a bi-lingual middle school and graduated from high school with honors.

She said that she wanted to attend her "dream college," Boston College, but couldn?’t because she is prohibited from applying for financial aid through the state or federal government.

She will now be attending Community College of Rhode Island and hoping to receive a student visa to transfer to Boston College.

"If I think about it, I get upset, but then I think that there are a lot of people who are in worse situations than I am," said the student,"Everything happens for a reason and not having money is not a reason to give up school."

She is hoping to finish college "as soon as possible" so that she can "get a job and help her family."

WHAT CAN BE DONE

Although the lack of low-income students going on to higher education is a complex national problem, many organizations are trying to diversify the pool of college applicants .

Programs such as the Rhode Island Children?’s Crusade, Gear Up, Upward Bound, the Mentorship Program and Talent Bound provide support often focused on first-generation college goers and minority students.

But as beneficial as these and other resources are, the problem is a huge one, experts say.

And according to Kennedy, the Bush administration ranks finding a solution to the problem very low on its list of priorities.

"If you look at the president?’s budget, it ranks very low," Kennedy said. "When you consider all of the tax cuts ($400 billion worth), if you cut out any one of them, you could have had accessible, affordable education for every student in this country."