By Rob Smith — The state’s coastal regulating agency is already starting the new year on the wrong foot. The Coastal Resources Management Council quietly announced last month that longtime council member and Little Compton resident Donald Gomez was resigning. Gomez, who prior to his professional retirement worked as an electric engineer for the Navy in Newport, had been serving in some capacity on CRMC’s executive panel since 2007.

By Frank Carini — For years the board that oversees the Ocean State’s coastal regulations has been operating with vacancies, and last month it lost a long-serving member.

Interceding in a case raising significant issues involving government transparency in environmental disputes, four organizations recently filed a “friend of the court” brief in Rhode Island Supreme Court in a long-standing controversy involving the proposed expansion of Champlin’s Marina & Resort on Block Island.

By Sofie Rudin — Rhode Island’s coastal agency followed the law when it went into mediation with a Block Island marina owner. That’s the decision released Thursday by Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear.

By Jim Hummel — The mediated settlement of a controversial marina expansion on Block Island was a common-sense solution to nearly two decades of litigation. Or, it was a secret backroom deal that violated state law and excluded opponents who had fought the proposal every step of the way.