Woonsocket Radio News Room

September 5, 2018

MAYOR LISA BALDELLI-HUNT CONTINUES
BLIGHT AND DENSITY REDUCTION MISSION

WOONSOCKET, RI: A city-owned vacant structure that previously housed six residential units and commercial space located at 44-52 Blackstone Street is set for demolition tomorrow morning which will restore another 0.064 acres or 2,787 sq. feet of open space to Woonsocket.
"In continuing to eradicate housing blight and unhealthy density citywide, the removal of 44-52 Blackstone Street will help improve both the quality of daily life as well as the City's physical appearance," said Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt who envisions a blight-free cityscape for her native Woonsocket. "Nobody deserves to live on the side of blight."
The demolition of the 6,125 sq. ft. building will mark the twenty-fifth that the City has completed under its goal of blight remediation which began in the Spring of 2014.
To date, the twenty-four buildings that have been demolished contain a total of 63,598 sq. feet or 1.46 acres of land.
"It is essential for the City to stay on the continued path of eradicating blight which has accumulated over two decades," noted Mayor Baldelli-Hunt. "Vacant, blighted properties attract unhealthy, negative and nuisance behavior. Blight has a negative affect on the quality of life and is very time consuming for our public safety officials."
 

Details of David Pecker's Involvement in Donald Trump's alleged hush money trial came to light in court Thursday. Pecker took the stand for his third day of testimony, and revealed conversations between himself, the former President, and Associate Michael Cohen. Pecker says he arranged to buy the story surrounding Trump's alleged affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal for $150,000, but backed out of the deal after consulting with election lawyers, believing the payment may break the law.        Students at Columbia University are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school. They filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights on Thursday, demanding an investigation into the school's actions against pro-Palestinian students. The lawsuit alleges Columbia has mistreated students utilizing their first amendment rights.        The Food and Drug Administration says remnants of the bird flu were found in one in five pasteurized milk samples. Earlier this week, the FDA found fragments of the bird flu in commercially sold milk but said it's still safe to drink, as the pasteurization process kills the virus and only leaves small traces behind. On Thursday officials revealed about 20-percent of their milk samples contained remnants of the virus.        Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is having his conviction for sex crimes in New York overturned. The New York Court of Appeals ruled Weinstein did not receive a fair trial. The court found the judge in his trial made an error allowing women to testify about alleged sexual assaults committed by Weinstein that were not part of the charges against him. Weinstein was also sentenced in Los Angeles in February of last year to 16 years in prison after he was convicted of rape and that conviction still stands.        Buying a home is now more expensive than ever. A new report from Redfin found the median home price in the United States is now over 383-thousand-dollars, a record high. The economic research lead with Redfin says prices may drop slightly in the coming months, but buyers should accept that "housing costs are likely to remain elevated for the foreseeable future." The median down payment is also up 24-percent compared to last year, at around 56-thousand-dollars.        Soulja Boy says he wants to help save TikTok. Congress passed a bill on Wednesday that requires TikTok's Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance to sell the app or else it will be banned in the United States. Soulja Boy has offered up a solution, posting "How much yall want for TikTok? I'll buy it." The rapper tagged the social media company in the post.       

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