Pension COLA compromise; beach parking

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Here’s a look at some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of June 4, supported by your subscriptions.

Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island pensioners – still fuming at the Raimondo-era suspension of their annual “COLAs” – did not get everything they wanted in the proposed new $14-billion budget, but they got something.

What they wanted was the full reinstatement of the cost of living adjustments — aka COLAs — that they’d received annually before 2011’s massive pension overhaul. What they are slated to get instead is a much-reduced but annual COLA. We break down the math.

Government: It’s not a full COLA, but new RI budget has something for pensioners.

COVENTRY – A longtime town resident has filed a six-count ethics complaint against the chief of the Hopkins Hill Fire District, Frank M. Brown Jr., asserting that he failed to recuse himself multiple times on decisions that resulted in “direct financial gain.”

The complaint by Douglas Soscia, which includes a nine-page summary and more than 200 pages of exhibits, was delivered Monday to the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. The agency will now determine whether to go forward with a full investigation of the allegations.

Soscia filed a companion complaint against Brown’s wife, Denise, who is on the board of directors of the fire district and also serves as its paid tax collector.

The Hummel Report: Solar panels, paint jobs and board appointments: Why a Coventry resident filed an ethics complaint against Hopkins Hill chief

NARRAGANSETT – The community’s worst kept-secret – free parking near the town beach – could soon be subject to restrictions.

An ordinance that would do away with unlimited free parking along the seawall on Ocean Road passed on a first reading at a meeting of the Narragansett Town Council.

Under the ordinance, parking on Ocean Road between the Beach Street traffic light and South Pier Road would be limited to three hours. The same restriction would also be placed on eight other streets near the beach.

If passed after a second reading at a future council meeting, the ordinance would be in force from May 15 to Sept. 15, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Shoreline access:Looking for free parking near Narragansett Town Beach? A popular spot could be restricted

Sherry Pocknett has made some culinary history. Pocknett, who cooks Indigenous cuisine from her Wampanoag culture at her Sly Fox Den Too restaurant in Charlestown, took home this year’s James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Northeast.

Pocknett was a first-time nominee for the Beard award, considered the Oscars of the food world. She joins Al Forno’s Johanne Killeen and the late George Germon as the only Rhode Islanders to win the prestigious, regional best chef award. They won in 1993.

She accepted the award with graciousness and tears, saying she never expected the honor. Dressed in Native American clothing, she told the audience she has cancer, but added that she is almost through it.