Disappearing quahogs; Washington Bridge rebuild; favorite zeppole: Top stories this week
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Here are some of The Providence Journal's most-read stories for the week of March 10, supported by your subscriptions.
The verdict is in, and it's not good: The beleaguered Washington Bridge must be torn down and rebuilt, a multiyear process that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. How did we get in this predicament? Spoiler alert: It boils down to politics, as reporter Patrick Anderson explains in his fascinating 1960s origin story of Rhode Island's weird hybrid bridge.
Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Don something green and hit a parade, and then enjoy some corned beef, a pint and a wide variety of other holiday fare.
Tomorrow is also Selection Sunday, when the bracket is set for the NCAA basketball tournament and the Providence Friars learn their March Madness fate. After Friday's loss to No. 3 Marquette ended Providence's magical run in the Big East Tournament, have they done enough to gain entry to the Big Dance? Follow the action Sunday night at providencejournal.com/sports, along with other news from college and high school sports.
Here are the week's top reads on providencejournal.com:
The quahog holds a dear place in RI’s culture. Could its days be numbered?
The hard-shell clam known in Rhode Island as the quahog is at the very heart of Ocean State culture. But the beloved bivalve is in crisis in Narragansett Bay, with plummeting harvests and a parallel decline in the number of shellfishermen who make their living from quahogging.
Environmental reporter Alex Kuffner explores the problem from several angles in his three-part series, from a look back at the ebb and flow of the industry over the years, to the 2003 Greenwich Bay fish kill that marked a turning point for the quahog, to the competing theories about what's to blame for the drop-off – and whether there's anything humans can do to turn things around. The industry has rebounded from setbacks before, but with the wildcard of climate change, the future is anything but certain.
Put on a pot of clam chowder (while you still can), and read Alex's reporting, which looks at both the science of the issue and its human impact. Says David Ghigliotty, a 40-year veteran quahogger: "My life is the Bay."
Environment: The quahog holds a dear place in RI’s culture. Could its days be numbered?
Medal mystery: Cranston soldier's WWII heroism earned military's highest honor – twice
On March 24, 1945, paratrooper George J. Peters of Cranston and his “stick” of 10 other soldiers from the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment were among the first to jump into Nazi Germany as part of Operation Varsity, the largest airborne operation in history.
Peters, 21, sacrificed his life that day while single-handedly charging a German machine gun nest, saving his comrades and their mission. He was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest military recognition – the Medal of Honor – which was presented to his parents and later donated for display in the Cranston elementary school that bears his name.
The plot thickened in the 1970s, when a retired Army officer stumbled across a Medal of Honor for sale at a Cumberland flea market. A piece of paper inside the box identified the medal recipient as none other than George J. Peters.
Where did the second medal come from? Therein lies a tale, shared by Veterans Voice columnist Frank Lennon.
Veterans Voice: Medal mystery: Cranston soldier's WWII heroism earned military's highest honor – twice
RI's first pallet shelters are going up in Providence. Here's what they're like.
Alongside Route 146 and its on-ramp from Douglas Avenue in Providence, a collection of squat white buildings has appeared, with a new road leading down to the 4-acre clearing on state land where Echo Village is rising.
These "pallet shelters" should, in the spring, become 45 temporary homes to Providence's, and the state's, ever-swelling unhoused and unsheltered population.
House of Hope, the nonprofit hired by the state to run the project, says Echo Village will offer bathrooms, showers, a laundry facility and a community room in addition to the shelters themselves.
"At the end of the day," says executive director Laura Jaworski, "we're building a dignified space that supports giving humanity back to people who've had it stripped away."
Housing crisis: RI's first pallet shelters are going up in Providence. Here's what they're like.
Zeppole are a huge deal in RI. Here are the best bakeries to get one, according to readers
One of the first signs of spring in Rhode Island is the return of zeppole to bakery shelves.
While the main day to eat zeppole is St. Joseph's Day, March 19, the cream-filled pastries started taking center stage in the display cases of Italian bakeries as soon as late February. While the zeppole is an Italian delicacy, it's also become a Rhode Island obsession since a surge in popularity in the 1960s and '70s that never waned.
The Journal polled readers to find out their favorite spots to buy this seasonal delight. Read on to discover the places voters consider the cream of the crop.
St. Joseph's Day: Zeppole are a huge deal in RI. Here are the best bakeries to get one, according to readers
Leave the cold cuts in the fridge and take this tour of RI's great sandwiches
Food editor Gail Ciampa does not mince words when it comes to her favorite lunch choice: It has to be a sandwich. Nothing satisfies in the middle of the day like a sandwich freshly made on crusty bread and wrapped just for you, she says. Done right, it's a work of art.
Gail shares a winning lineup of sandwiches, both classics and local favorites, ranging from pastrami to dynamites, lobster rolls to chow mein sandwiches. Dig in.
Food: Leave the cold cuts in the fridge and take this tour of RI's great sandwiches
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Journal top stories: Disappearing quahogs; Washington Bridge rebuild
