The construction in Logan Canyon will start back up tomorrow (April 7). Their goal is to have this completed before the end of the summer, but will go no later than Labor Day. Please prepare for delays and be patient.
In 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island in 1636, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, depicting Roger Williams
Dissident Samuel Gorton purchased Indian lands at Shawomet in 1642, precipitating a dispute with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1644, Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport united for their common independence as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, governed by an elected council and president. The King of England granted Gorton a separate charter for his settlement in 1648, and Gorton named the settlement Warwick in honor of the Earl of Warwick who had helped him obtain it.[4] These four settlements were finally united into one colony by the Royal Charter of 1663. Critics at the time sometimes referred to it as "Rogue's Island",[5] and Cotton Mather called it "the sewer of New England" because of the colony's willingness to accept people who had been banished from Massachusetts Bay.[6]
In 1686, King James II ordered Rhode Island to submit to the Dominion of New England and its appointed governor Edmund Andros. This suspended the Colony's charter, but Rhode Island managed to retain possession of it throughout the brief duration of the Dominion—until Andros was deposed and the Dominion was dissolved.[7]William of Orange became King after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and Rhode Island's independent government resumed under the 1663 charter—and that charter was used as the state constitution until 1842.[8]
In 1693, William III and Mary II issued a patent extending Rhode Island's territory to three miles "east and northeast" of Narragansett Bay, conflicting with the claims of Plymouth Colony.[9] This resulted in several later transfers of territory between Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Richard Ward was made a freeman of Newport in 1710, then entered public service as Attorney General, later became Deputy and Clerk of the Assembly, and then served as the General Recorder for the colony from 1714 to 1730.[1][citation needed] In 1723, he was paid six pounds for attending the trial of a group of pirates who were taken prisoner by Captain Solgar, commander of the British ship Greyhound. Of the 36 pirates taken into captivity, 26 were sentenced to hang, and the execution took place at Newport on July 19, 1723, at a place called Gravelly Point.[citation needed]
In 1726, Ward was one of the four Rhode Island commissioners appointed to meet a group of Connecticut commissioners to settle the boundary line between the two colonies.[1][citation needed] Ward was the Secretary of State from 1730 to 1733, and in 1740 became the Deputy Governor of the colony. In this capacity he and Samuel Perry were appointed trustees to the Indian sachem Ninigret. In 1741 he was selected as Governor for a single term.[citation needed]
Colonial relations with Natives
Roger Williams meeting with the Narragansetts
Early relations were mostly peaceful between New Englanders and the Indian tribes. The largest tribes that lived near Rhode Island were the Wampanoags, Pequots, Narragansetts, and Nipmucks. Squanto was a member of the Wampanoag tribe who stayed with the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony and taught them many valuable skills needed to survive in the area.
Roger Williams won the respect of his Colonial neighbors for his skill in keeping the powerful Narragansetts on friendly terms with the Colonists. In 1637, the Narragansetts formed an alliance with Rhode Island during the Pequot War. However, this peace did not last long, as the most traumatic event in 17th century Rhode Island was King Philip's War (1675–76). Metacomet became the chief of the Wampanoags; he was known as King Philip by the settlers of Portsmouth who had purchased their land from his father Massasoit. He led attacks around Narragansett Bay, despite Rhode Island's continued neutrality, and later these spread throughout New England. A force of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth militia under General Josiah Winslow invaded and destroyed the fortified Narragansett Indian village in the Great Swamp in southern Rhode Island on December 19, 1675.[10] The Narragansetts also invaded and burned down several of the Rhode Island settlements, including Providence, although they allowed the population to leave first. In one of the final actions of the war, troops from Connecticut led by Captain Benjamin Church hunted down and killed King Philip at Mount Hope (Rhode Island).
Rhode Island was the first colony in America to declare independence on May 4, 1776, a full two months before the United States Declaration of Independence.[11] Rhode Islanders had attacked the British warship HMS Gaspee in 1772 as one of the first acts of war leading to the American Revolution. British naval forces under Captain James Wallace controlled Narragansett Bay for much of the Revolutionary War, periodically raiding the islands and the mainland. The British raided Prudence Island for livestock and engaged in a skirmish with American forces, losing approximately a dozen soldiers. Newport remained a hotbed for Loyalist sympathizers who assisted the British forces, so the state appointed General William West of Scituate to root them out in the winter of 1775–76. British forces occupied Newport from 1777 to 1778, pushing the Colonial forces to Bristol.
The Battle of Rhode Island was fought during the summer of 1778 and was an unsuccessful attempt to expel the British from Narragansett Bay, although few Colonial casualties occurred. The Marquis de Lafayette called the action the "best fought" of the war. The British were forced to concentrate their forces in New York and consequently left Newport. The French under Rochambeau landed in Newport in 1780, and it became the base of the French forces in the United States for the remainder of the war. The French soldiers behaved themselves so well that, in gratitude, the Rhode Island General Assembly repealed an old law banning Catholics from living in Rhode Island. The first Catholic mass in Rhode Island was said in Newport during this time.
Rural resistance to the Constitution was strong in Rhode Island, and the Anti-FederalistCountry Party controlled the General Assembly from 1786 to 1790. In 1788, Anti-Federalist politician and Revolutionary War General William West led an armed force of 1,000 troops to Providence to oppose a July 4 celebration of nine states having ratified the Constitution.[12] Civil war was narrowly averted by a compromise limiting the Fourth of July celebration. The State of Rhode Island was the last of the 13 states to ratify the United States Constitution (May 29, 1790), only doing so after being threatened with having its exports taxed as a foreign nation.
Slavery in Rhode Island
In 1652, the first statute in the Thirteen Colonies banning slavery was passed,[13] but the law was not enforced by the end of the 17th century. In 1703, a law passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly effectively overturned this municipal statute.[14]
According to the 1680 Colonial census, there were 175 enslaved people in Rhode Island, including both native and Black persons.[15]
By 1774, the slave population of Rhode Island was 6.3 percent, nearly twice as high as any other New England colony. In the late 18th century, several Rhode Island merchant families began actively engaging in the triangle trade. James and John DeWolf of Bristol were the largest slave traders in Rhode Island.[16] In the years after the Revolution, Rhode Island merchants controlled between 60 and 90 percent of the American trade of enslaved African people.[17] In the 18th century, Rhode Island's economy depended largely upon the triangle trade; Rhode Islanders distilled rum from molasses, sent the rum to Africa to trade for slaves, and then traded the slaves in the West Indies for more molasses.
At its peak, Rhode Island had the highest percentage of enslaved people in New England, due to the many farms in Washington County.[15] Somewhere between 15% and 25% of the population of Washington County was enslaved.[15][18]
Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and slave owner, introduced a bill while serving in the Rhode Island Assembly in 1774 that prohibited the importation of slaves into the colony, and this became one of the first anti-slavery laws in the United States. In February 1784, the Rhode Island Legislature passed a compromise measure for gradual emancipation of slaves within the state. All children of slaves born after March 1 were to become apprentices, the girls to become free at 18, the boys at 21. By 1840, the census reported only five former Africans enslaved in Rhode Island.[17] However, the international slave trade continued despite the antislavery laws of 1774, 1784, and 1787. In 1789, an Abolition Society was organized to secure enforcement of existing laws against the trade. Leading merchants continued to engage in the trade even after it became illegal, especially John Brown, for whose family Brown University is named, and George DeWolf, but slaving was no more than a minor aspect of Rhode Island's overall maritime trade after 1770.[19] By the mid-19th century, many Rhode Islanders were active in the abolitionist movement, particularly Quakers in Newport and Providence such as Moses Brown (brother of John).[20]
Notice is hereby given that the Laketown Town Council will hold a Work Meeting on
Thursday April 16, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
The meeting will be held at the Laketown City Office located at 10 North 200 East Laketown, Utah
1. Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes
a. Approval of minutes of the regular Town Council Meeting, March 12th, 2026, and the March 12th Public Hearing
3. Public Comments - 2-minute limit
4. Bear Lake Outreach
a. A new non-profit 501(c)(3) organization focused on serving Seniors and at-risk youth in the Bear Lake valley would like to share its mission and vision with the council and the community. Dana Hudrlik
5. Business License Discussion/Approval
a. Bear Lake Outreach, 1705 S Bear Lake Blvd, Unit 2. Dana Hudrlik
b. Heal Retreats, 563 Blue Lake St. Bethany Larsen Forest
c. GLOHO Photography 563 Blue Lake St. Bethany Larsen Forest
d. Center Street Pizza, 82 N Bear Lake Blvd. Mark Huntsman
e. Cloud Dream Homes, PLLC. 1347 Sir Barton Dr., Randall Cloud
f. Ace Handyman Services Logan Bear Lake, 157 W 350 N, Ste D. Scott Livingston & Perry Wakefield
g. C&N Lawn Care & Sprinkler Maintenance, 609 South Cedar Drive. Samuel & Jennifer Casillas
h. J&A Clean Services, 567 Blue Lake St., Jaxon Seamons
6. PUD Discussion/Approval
a. Requests Preliminary approval for Water's Edge Phase 9. This would add six residential lots and two commercial lots at 45 E 150 S. Teri Eynon & Norm Mecham
7. Rezone Discussion/Approval
a. Requests approval to rezone the frontage of parcel #36-04-000-0065 from RE to C3. Applicant is proposing the first 300 ft be C3 and the remainder of the lot stay RE. This parcel is south of Pickleville Parkway. Teri Eynon and Nate Parry
b. Requests approval to rezone a 5-acre parcel , #36-04-000-0077 from RE to C3. This parcel is south of Pickleville Parkway. Nick Wilcox.
8. Hotel Maximum Height Discussion/Approval
a. Holiday Inn Express, located at approximately 35 E 50 S, requests approval from Town Council to exceed maximum height restrictions per Garden City Code 11C-1654. Donald Mendenhall.
9. Public Hearing at, or after, 6:00 p.m.
a. Ordinance #26-08 An Ordinance Granting an Electric Utility Franchise and General Utility Easement to Rocky Mountain Power.
10. Ordinance Discussion/Approval
a. Ordinance # 26-08, An Ordinance Granting an Electric Utility Franchise and General Utility Easement to Rocky Mountain Power. Represented by Mr. Steve Liechty
b. Ordinance #26-03, An Ordinance Updated STR Violations and Penalties
c. Ordinance #26-05, An Ordinance Adding Storage Facility to Definitions
d. Ordinance #26-06, An Ordinance Amending Quiet Hours
e. Ordinance #26-07, An Ordinance Amending the Sign Ordinance
11. Council Member Reports
12. Miscellaneous Discussion/Approval
a. Planning Commission Member Appointment
b. Variance Board Member Appointment
Alisha Marie Mills was born August
1984 in Ogden, Utah. She loved surprises and entered this world as an
unexpected surprise twin sister. From the very beginning, she was a gift and
she spent her life blessing everyone around her.
She
was raised in Laketown, Utah, the youngest with twelve siblings. Alisha
graduated from Rich High School and began her collegiate education at Weber
State, then graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Utah State. She
culminated her education with a Master of Social Work from the University of
Oklahoma.
As a licensed clinical social worker, she devoted her life to helping others
heal, grow, and feel seen.
Alisha passed away unexpectedly on March 30, 2026, from a pulmonary embolism.
Alisha had a deeply kind and loving heart. She carried light with her, often in
her favorite color—yellow—and brought warmth, hope, and happiness wherever she
went. She had a gift for sitting with others in their pain, helping them feel
understood, and gently guiding them toward peace. People felt safe with her.
They felt seen.
Her life reflected Christlike love as she lifted the weary and cared for those
in need.
She found joy in simple acts of kindness, sending surprise packages, sharing
small gifts, and remembering the details that mattered. She never forgot a
birthday, often reaching out with a thoughtful message or a cheerful picture to
make someone feel special. She loved Zeppe’s Italian custard and believed that
“strangers aren’t strange if you choose to see them.” She lived that belief
every day, welcoming others with openness and compassion.
She was a safe place, a steady presence, and a source of light to so many.
She is survived by her loving parents and all of her siblings.
Though her absence leaves a deep space in our hearts, we find comfort in the
Savior and in His promise: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows”. We trust that Alisha’s light continues and we look forward with faith
to the day we will see her again.
A viewing will be held at 10:00 a.m., followed by funeral services at 12:00
p.m. on April 11, 2026, at the Laketown LDS Church, 115 S 100 E, Laketown,
Utah.
