Valley Breeze

©2015 Breeze PuBlications inc. bring on the band North Smithfield Middle School presents its Winter Concert. PAGE 11 Serving North Smithfield, Blackstone and Woonsocket Breeze ThE vAllEy FREE valleybreeze.com @ JANUARY 22-28, 2015 Struggling to walk, yet determined to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. Day memorial service in Woonsocket on Monday, is 81-year-old EThEl DowDy, above, of Woonsocket, who came to Rhode Island as a young girl from South Carolina. She says, "Things are not as bad as they used to be. We have come a long way, but we have a long way to go." She is being helped by her 11-year-old granddaughter GEnEsis DowDy. JosEPhinE ByrD, left, one of the best-known figures in Woonsocket's Civil Rights movement, remembers coming to Woonsocket at the age of 17. She went to an all-black school in South Carolina, but in Woonsocket she found herself the only black per- son in an otherwise all-white school. She remem- bers, after her first day of class, a girl named Claire coming up to her and asking, "Can I be your friend?" See more photos on page 2. Valley Breeze Photos By charles lawrence Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. By sAnDy sEoAnE Valley Breeze staff writer sandy@valleybreeze.com NORTH SMITHFIELD – Administrator Paulette Hamilton has appointed new leadership for three key town departments that have been mired in some controversy over the past year, and said this week that the changes to her team represent a fresh start for North Smithfield with a renewed focus on team- work. James Cambio of Attleboro, Mass., will replace Building and Zoning official Bob Benoit, who will retire at the end of this month after 31 years of service to the town. Cambio specializes in commercial and residential construction and building education. For the past 13 years, he has worked as president of Massachusetts- based Cambio Residential and Commercial Building and Renovation. He has a degree in business from Providence College and in building construction technology from Wentworth Institute in Boston. He previously worked as a field superintendent for Pezzuco Construction in Cranston. Cambio is ICC certified as a residential and commercial building inspector and has been working on a part-time basis with Benoit since the start of January. see nEw, Page 15 Life of a Legend See 'The Buddy Holly Story' at the Stadium this weekend. livinG By sAnDy sEoAnE Valley Breeze staff writer sandy@valleybreeze.com NORTH SMITHFIELD – Just two members of the North Smithfield School Committee voted in favor of forwarding the $25,347,533 schools bud- get plan recommended by Supt. Stephen Lindberg to Town Administrator Paulette Hamilton, but that was enough to confirm the deci- sion, at least for now. With committee members Christine Bonas and Robert Lafleur absent, Chairman William Connell and Vice Chairman Art Bassett voted in favor of a budget plan that would see the district receive $745,680 more from the town than it did this year, the max- imum increase allowed under state law. They admitted they're not likely to get the complete funding. "This is our starting point so we make our deadline," said Connell. "We're not tying our hands at this point." The proposed budget main- tains athletic programs includ- ing middle school sports, a source of conflict when cuts were proposed during past No. Smithfield school budget seeks $745,000 funding increase see BUDGET, Page 15 like us on Follow us on I N P AIN ? 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