The Local News section of our web site is one of the most dynamic areas. Here the content will change every week as news develops, as documents are created and as letters are written. We have six sub groups here, but we may add more categories as time allows. Check these pages often as new content will be added regularly. We intend to keep you up to date on local politics, the casino proposal, threats to our tax rate, Charter changes and possible Zoning Ordinance changes too.
If you are new to Charlestown or new to the story of the past government crisis in our Town, then a good place to start would be the Chronology page. This page gives a very brief summary of the first year of the 2006-2008 Town Council's term. This is all in the past now, but it an important story that should not be forgotten.
From there you might want to read some of the many letters to the editor that have been written about the turmoil our Town was struggling with. The letters page will let you connect with the opinions of your neighbors.
Our Newspaper Stories page provides links to articles from the local papers that we think will be of interest to you. On the newspaper page we will also provide links to some of the documents discussed in the stories when those documents are available. This page also provides an archive of older stories, so it's a good place to learn more of the recent history of our Town.
The What's Hot page is a combination of news, announcements, opinion, documents and also links to other sites on the biggest recent stories.
The Community Bulletin Board is a place for members of the community to place meeting dates, event announcements and other notices. The notices on the Bulletin Board in general will not be sent to the e-mail list, so you may want to check this page from time to time to keep up to date on its contents.
In January 2006 a CCA volunteer set up to videotape a Town Council meeting. The Town Administrator Ed Barrett and former Town Councilor James Mageau tried to force him to leave. Peter Ruggiero, our town solicitor at that time, knew the law allowed the filming of public meetings and made sure the videographer's rights were protected. Until the end of Mr. Mageau's term, there was a continued effort by Mageau and Barrett to interfere with filming. As a result, public access TV is not currently filming the Charlestown meetings. To fill in that gap, CCA is providing the video of Town Council meetings at our web site.
If there are news stories that you think we have missed, please let us know. Also if you have ideas for types of information that we should be providing please advise us. Write us at mail@CharlestownCitizens.org and tell us what you think of our site and how we can improve it.
