Norfolk- Christopher James Kunz is the salutatorian for the Norfolk County Agricultural High School's Class of 2008. Christopher, the eldest son of James Kunz and Donna Giguere of Blackstone, graduated with high honors in Marine Science and received the Class of 1931 Gabriel Digiantommaso Scholarship that is given to a graduate "with a demonstrated record of interest, enthusiasm, positive work habits, and cooperation with staff and fellow students." During his high school career, Christopher was a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Senior High Jazz Band where he played trumpet and also, a member of the YMCA Woonsocket Whalers where he received their coveted "Jen Bibeault Mind, Body & Spirit Award" and qualified for the New England finals for the last three years, swimming at Harvard, MIT, and Brown University. Kunz has been employed as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Woonsocket YMCA for three years. Additionally, he participated in the Marine Science Club and the National Honor Society at the Aggie and was the only sophomore in 2006 to be chosen as the MassStar leadership delegate to represent his school at the Boston University conference.

Christopher is an active member of Harvest Community Church in Woonsocket where he participates in youth group as an apprentice leader. He attends Bible study there and will be graduating from HCC's catechism class this spring. Last year, as part of the church's homeless ministry program, Christopher was a weekly volunteer at the shelter.

This fall, Christopher plans to attend the University of Connecticut at Storrs where he has been awarded their Presidential Scholarship. He will continue with his interest in marine science by majoring in Coastal Studies. Christopher has been accepted into the Global Studies Learning Community and has been offered the opportunity to play music with the Husky Marching Band.

Construction has begun on the Route 122 ( Main Street ) Bridge. One-lane alternating traffic is now in place and residents are urged to be patient and observe the temporary traffic signals. Reconstruction of the bridge will take two years to complete. The following streets are scheduled for improvements: St. Paul Street , Farm Street , Blackstone Street , Elm Street and Federal Street. Crack Sealing to enhance the life of pavement will be completed on numerous streets. All streets in town have been re-striped and we are awaiting the painting of crosswalks. Water & Sewer bills have been mailed to residents, if any resident has not received their bill please contact the Blackstone DPW @ 508-883-9331.

A voluntary water ban is now in place for the Town of Blackstone, residents are urged to conserve water.

Everyone thinks it's fabulous for a community to have an animal shelter. However, the citizens of that community must help support the shelter in order to keep it successful. The Blackstone Animal Shelter is our town's shelter. All lost and stray cats are given food, shelter, veterinary care, and cuddling! But we need you to help the shelter continue to provide a safe, temporary home to all the displaced pets. Even saving and donating your loose change for a week could make a difference in their medical treatment!

Every cat residing at the shelter has a very different personality. They cannot tell you how they feel in words, but they certainly communicate with their actions. Harriet, a pretty smoky gray striped cat, is a timid recluse. Not all cats want to be held and petted. But they do love attention and affection. With patient caring and quiet understanding, Harriet will, over time give her trust to the right family. Spider, a nonchalant, big black and white cat, was abandoned in the middle of Blackstone. He escaped from the shelter and went all the way back to his old home. Spider scaled the side of the building, winning him the nickname Spiderman. He is a feisty, rebellious character with a sense of humor. Sassy, Heidi, and their brother were found in a barn. They are quiet, but friendly and ready for a new, loving home! In addition to these cats, there are many older ones, each with a good personality and unique character. They are all house trained and Mrs. Inger can tell you the history behind every one. If you sit and talk to her, she will try to match the right one to your family. You can take as much time as you need to get acquainted with the cats before you decide to adopt any.

Donations of money are especially needed at this time. Much of the veterinary care like shots, injury treatment, and neutering are paid for with donated money. The shelters budget has to cover a lot of living expenses. Mrs. Inger says please, please neuter your animals. Try to monitor your outdoor pets. Wild animals, especially at this time of the year are hungry and protective of their young. They will attack your pet!

Please come visit the Blackstone Animal Shelter. There are many cats of all ages, from three newborn kittens to Alpi, who is currently 17 years old (but not up for adoption). I am sure you will find the one that suits YOU exactly right!!!

The File of Life program helps members of the Police and Fire Department provide services at times when you or a family member may not be able to communicate effectively due to medical reasons or personal injury.

Residents with severe medical problems, seniors, and other interested citizens are provided a FREE File of Life packet. The packet consists of a program door decal, a File of Life Information Card and a vinyl card holder for placement on your refrigerator door.

The File of Life information card has areas to record personal information concerning medical conditions, drug allergies, emergency contact numbers for family members and friends, doctor's information, prescription information and any special circumstances Rescue personnel should know.

In an emergency, rescue workers responding to your home will look for the File of Life card on your refrigerator door. Your File of Life information will help guide on-scene treatment, notification of your doctor and your family members. Immediate access to this information greatly helps rescue personnel provide the best in quality care.

This program is made possible by a generous grant from Wal Mart of Woonsocket which was submitted by Blackstone Firefighter/Paramedic Tony Iannetti. We would also like to thank Sheriff Guy Glodis for his support and the TRIAD Council for their everyday strive towards the safety of our senior citizens. You may obtain a File of Life Packet from the Town of Blackstone Fire Department or the Town Hall Lobby. If you would like additional information on this program, or to request a File of Life Packet, please call Karen Albright, Senior Director at 508-876-5153. You may also email: kalbright@townofblackstone.org or tiannetti@townofblackstone.org.

The Blackstone-Millville Education Foundation (BMEF) is pleased to announce that the 8th Annual Golf Tournament is scheduled for Friday, August 1st at Crystal Lake Golf Course in Harrisville, RI. It includes 18 holes of golf, followed by dinner and a raffle. Crystal Lake was named "One of New England's top 100 must play courses" for the fourth year in a row by Golf Styles Magazine. The par-71 layout measures just short of 6400 yards from the tips and is a challenge for golfers of all levels. This beautiful course is described in detail at: http://www.crystallakegolfclub.com/golfcourse.htm. If you would like to play in the golf tournament or be a sponsor, please check the District's website, www.bmrsd.net, for all the information or contact Keith Ducharme at kducharme@bmrsd.net or Ann Lesperance at 508-883-6873.

The Blackstone-Millville Education Foundation (BMEF) is a non-profit organization which supports educational programs in the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District. Each year grants are awarded to staff members for programs that will enhance the curriculum by implementing exciting and well-executed programs. Some of these have included: "Technology 1/Manufacturing", "Robotics", "Book Talks", "Exploring the Meaning of Food", "The Make It Real Game", "Achieving Literacy", "Accessibility of Instruments", "Study Island: Reading", "Electromagnetism" and "Big Math for Little Kids".

Founded in 1996, BMEF has awarded approximately $70,000.00 in grants to fund projects from all schools in the District. Each project is chosen because it adds to the quality of education for the children the BMR School District. The main source of revenue has been through the annual golf tournament.

The average family of four uses between 30,000 to 45,000 gallons of water every six months. Some billings may be a little higher or lower depending on the season. If you look at your last water bill you can see the number of gallons that you consumed in the last six months. The two biggest wastes of water are leaking toilets/faucets and improper lawn and garden watering. If all the leaking faucets or toilets in your home only leak the equivalent of a glass of water in a minute you will waste in excess of 24,000 gallons that billing period. A toilet running at ½ gallon per minute (which is not unusual) will waste over 17,000 gallons in a month.

Conservation measures that you can use inside your home include:

Fix leaking faucets, pipes, toilets, etc. Install water saving devices in faucets, toilets and appliances. Wash only full loads of laundry. Do not use the toilet for trash disposal. Do not let the water run while brushing teeth or shaving.

Lawn sprinklers are very popular and many people have installed underground automatic systems. While this can be positive, it can also create serious problems if not installed properly. Any landscaping company will tell you that the best time to water is the early morning or in the evening. Watering during the day, wastes water due to the evaporation that occurs. Some experts say that as much as 50% of the water will evaporate before it soaks into the ground on a hot sunny day. Also, please be advised that our regulations require both a backflow prevention device and an automatic rain shut-off device on all lawn sprinkler systems.

Conservation measures to conserve outside as well:

Water the lawn and garden in the early morning or evening. Use mulch around plants and shrubs. Repair leaks in faucets and hoses. Use water - saving nozzles.

Grass plants grow in the soil; specifically the grass roots grow in the pore space within the soil. In an ideal situation, the pore space would be 50% of the volume of the soil and would be half filled with air and half filled with water, both of which the roots need to live and grow. Under conditions of excess moisture, such as after heavy rain or irrigation cycle, most of the pore space is filled with water and air for the roots to respire is lacking. After time, the excess moisture drains out of the root zone and the proper balance of air to water in the pore space is again achieved. During extended wet periods or because of over watering, roots do not have the oxygen they need and the grass plant is weakened. This makes the plant more susceptible to wear and abrasion damage, fungus disease, weed encroachment, and general turf decline. Excess water or irrigation also leaches nutrients and fertilizer beyond the root zone where it is of no use to the grass plant and can degrade the groundwater.

One of the major problems associated with over watering is an increase in fungal diseases on the turf grass. Fungus disease needs three components to be a problem: the fungus organism, the host plant and the proper environmental conditions. The fungus is always present in the soil and the grass plant is a given. The environmental conditions of proper temperature and moisture are needed for healthy lawns. We cannot control the temperature or the rainfall, but we can control the irrigation of the lawn. Watering every day supplies the moisture needed for the fungus disease to actively grow and damage the turf plant. Damage can also occur from continual, light applications of water. This scenario will not only cause excess soil moisture and the above stated problems, but it will also weaken the grass plant in another way. Roots of lawn grasses grow 6 to 12 inches deep and are capable of removing nutrients and water from the soil to this depth. Frequent, light applications of water give the roots no incentive to grow deep. Shallow rooted grass has less root zone area for nutrient and water uptake, and is more susceptible to drought damage than a healthy, deep-rooted lawn. A mature, healthy lawn needs between 0.7" and 1.0" of water per week during the summer, less in the spring and fall. This moisture can occur naturally from rainfall or it may come from irrigation. During cool, cloudy weather, 0.7" of water per week should be sufficient. During hot, sunny, windy periods, 1.0" of water per week may be needed. Generally, a home lawn will not need to be irrigated in the spring or fall as rainfall is usually adequate. Use a rain gauge to monitor what Mother Nature gives us for free, and use your irrigation system to add enough water to achieve the totals per week listed above.

Please keep in mind that our current regulations require all lawn sprinkler systems to have an automatic rain shutoff installed and also that we currently still have a voluntary water use restriction in effect.

Cross Connection Control

potable water supply, this constitutes a serious public health hazard. The Blackstone Department of Public Works shall be responsible for the protection of the public potable water distribution system from contamination or pollution due to the backflow or back siphonage of contaminants. If, as a result of a survey of the premises, the BDPW determines that an approved backflow prevention device is required at the town's water service connection or as in-plant protection of any customer's premises shall issue a cross connection violation form. Said customer shall be required to install an approved device or devices within a time frame determined by the BDPW at his/their own expense. Failure or refusal or inability on the part of the customer to install said device or devices within the specified time frame shall constitute a ground for discontinuing water service to the premises until such device or devices have been properly installed and inspected.

6 Things you can do to save water in the kitchen and laundry

1)Use your automatic dishwasher only for full loads.
2) Use your automatic washing machine only for full loads.
3) If you wash dishes by hand, don't leave the water running for rinsing. If you have two sinks, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have only one sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a spray device or a pan full of hot water.
4) Don't let the faucet run while you clean vegetables. Just rinse them in a stopped sink or a pan of clean water.
5) Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. Running tap water to cool it off for drinking water is wasteful.
6) Check the faucets and pipes for leaks. Leaks waste water 24 hours a day, seven days a week and often can be repaired with just an inexpensive washer.

Prevent Water Waste

Things you can do to save water in the bathroom
1. Check your toilets for leaks. Put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If without flushing, the color begins to appear in the bowl, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately.
2. Stop using the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket. Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue, or other small bits of trash, you waste five to seven gallons of water.
3. Put plastic bottles in your toilet tank. To cut down on water waste, put an inch or two of sand or pebbles inside each of two plastic bottles to weigh them down. Fill them with water and put them in your toilet tank, safely away from operating mechanisms. In an average home, the bottles may displace and save ten or more gallons of water a day.
4. Take shorter showers. Long, hot showers, can waste five to ten gallons every unneeded minute. Limit your showers to the times it takes to soap up, wash down, and rinse off.
5. Install water-saving showerheads or flow restrictors. Your local hardware or plumbing supply store stocks inexpensive water-saving showerheads or restrictors that are easy to install.
6. Take baths. A bath in a partially filled tub uses less water than all but the shortest showers.
7. Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush. There is no need to keep water pouring down the drain. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing.
8. Rinse your razor in the sink. Fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of warm water. This rinses your blade just as well as running water- and far less wastefully.
9. Check faucets and pipes for leaks. Even the smallest drip from a worn washer can waste 20 or more gallons a day. Larger leaks waste hundreds of gallons. Take the time to inspect.

Knitting Class for Beginners Have you always wanted to learn how to knit? Now's your chance! Scarves, hats, mittens, socks - you can create these wonderful projects with just a pair of needles, a ball of yarn, and some basic skills. Knitting is currently a very popular hobby, and many kids have expressed an interest in learning. The Blackstone Library is offering a knitting class for beginners ages 10 through adult. Classes are held on Monday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. If you are interested in learning how to knit, please call Tressy Collier at 508-883-1931. Interested participants are asked to bring a shoebox.

Hot Summer Beach Reads

For many of us, the approach of summer signifies more than just wet bathing suits, painful sunburns and trips to the Cape - it means three glorious months of "summer reading". To an adult, "summer reading" represents the guilty indulgence of reading purely (gasp!) for the fun of it. You won't find thought-provoking literature here; instead, tucked into beach bags all across the nation will be trashy romances, cheesy thrillers, and gruesome horror; in essence, pure fluff. And, as always, our favorite authors have delivered, right on schedule.

June will bring Fearless Fourteen, the latest by Janet Evanovich in the bestselling Stephanie Plum series. For fans of the extremely popular "Odd Thomas" series, you'll definitely want to check out Dean Koontz' Odd Hours. This latest story finds our hero, Odd, inexplicably drawn to the foggy California coastline. Within minutes, he meets a mysterious woman, sees a terrible vision, and is once again on the run for his life.

Master of horror Stephen King brings us The Gingerbread Girl, the sad story of Em, a woman who, after the death of her baby, starts running, finally ending up in Vermillion Key, Florida. Em relishes the quiet solitude of Vermillion Key. Unfortunately, so does Pickering, her neighbor, a single man seeking privacy for much different - and darker - reasons. Similar to his last novel, Duma Key, King again pairs the sun-drenched paradise of coastal Florida with a disturbingly creepy story. But there's a catch, folks - this one's only available on audio.

For the nautical fan, what summer would be complete without a new Clive Cussler novel? Plague Ship, book number five in the Oregon Files series, follows the exploits of the Oregon, a seemingly derelict ship which is really a sophisticated network of technology, expensive weaponry and top-notch surveillance equipment, available to any government agency that can afford it. When the Oregon stumbles across a deserted cruise ship littered with bodies, its up to Captain Juan Cabrillo to unravel the mystery. With a story like that, how can you NOT read it?

Play Guitar Hero 3 Dance Dance Revolution

Looking for a cool place to beat the heat? Come get your game on at the Blackstone Library! For two exclusive weeks during the summer, the library will have the PlayStation 2 available for play all day in the meeting room! At the end of June, show off your mad dance skills with Dance Dance Revolution! Two dance pads are available, so bring a friend and engage in a friendly little dance competition! The schedule for Dance Dance Revolution is as follows: Monday, June 30 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 1 from 12 noon to 7 p.m., Thursday, July 3 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. If Dance Dance Revolution isn't your thing, how about trying your hand at Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock? That's right! During the first full week of August, you can rock out with the greatest bands of all time, including Black Sabbath, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more. If that's not good enough, two guitars are available, so you can play against a friend. The schedule for Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock is as follows: Friday, August 1 from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday, August 4 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, August 5 from 12 noon to 7 p.m., Thursday, August 7 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, August 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 508-883-1931 to reserve your 30-minute time slot.