PODCAST By Colleen Cronin, Joanna Detz, and Rob Smith — Beach season may have ended, but conflicts over shoreline access have not. ecoRI News reporters Colleen Cronin and Rob Smith break down pending and settled lawsuits, and explain recent legislation that determines where the public beach begins and where private property ends.

By Rob Smith — The calls for reforming the state’s coastal management agency are growing stronger in the General Assembly. Last week, members of the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee heard a package of five bills to overhaul the Coastal Resources Management Council, the regulatory agency responsible for permitting offshore wind, aquaculture, and development along Rhode Island’s more than 400 miles of coastline.

By Rob Smith — A prominent resident and shoreline activist is charging the Buttonwoods Beach Association with violating the state’s open records law over documents related to a traffic stop in 2019.

By Rob Smith — The long-running quarrel between a private company and Coventry, R.I., residents over the water levels in Johnson’s Pond is going to court.

By Rob Smith — With summer approaching, the state’s activists are gearing up for battle over that most Rhode Island of issues: beach parking.

By Rob Smith — Next step: Panel will send a final report to the General Assembly with its recommendations

By Rob Smith — State officials should be investing more in coastal protection and management, according to the legislature’s study commission on reorganizing the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).

By Rob Smith — Rhode Island beachgoers could find themselves with extra room to enjoy the Ocean State’s shoreline next summer. The House special commission studying lateral shoreline access is winding down its work, and most of its members agree the boundary between public shore and private property needs to change.

By Rob Smith — Rhode Island residents believe reform is needed for the beleaguered Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), according to public comment solicited by the House study commission on the agency. Members of the public recently submitted more than a dozen oral comments and an avalanche of some 100 correspondences to the study commission, all in support of doing something to reorganize CRMC.

By Rob Smith — Rhode Islanders got their first crack at public comment at a recent meeting of the House commission to study shoreline access…