Arsenic at Island Park Portsmouth: Residents in Portsmouth's Island Park neighborhood this week expressed their frustrations and fears about the future of the town's landfill. During a meeting with the state Department of Environmental Management, residents raised concerns about a proposal to increase the amount of arsenic allowed on the site, and questioned why a notice about the public meeting had only been put in the Providence Journal and not any local publications. The meeting was tense, with the police called in at one point. Read more about it in this Portsmouth Patch story. Teacher of…

Battling Bats and Rabid Raccoons Bristol: Last week wasn't a good one for wild animals in Bristol. On Tuesday, Jan. 4, police received a report that a woman was attacked by a bat inside a home, getting it entangled in her hair. Police found the bat clinging to a curtain. Also last week, police responded to several reports of rabid raccoons running rampant all around the town. Read more about officers' response in this Bristol-Warren Patch story. Pizza and Pot, All in One Order Newport: Police here arrested the owner of Ronzio Pizza on Thursday after concluding an investigation that involved …

Wind Turbine Troubles Portsmouth: Officials in this town are working to get a wind turbine located at the high school spinning again, after nearly a month of it being standstill. According to Portsmouth's assistant town planner, one piece of equipment that needed to be replaced was the "up tower duplicate control panel's LED screen." It was inoperable and could not be read. The LED screen was installed on Dec. 7, but on that same day, the turbine's slip ring failed. A storm in Europe delayed the delivery of one of those. Once it arrived and got installed, the Logic Controller failed. Read …