Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read storiesfor the week of June 30,supported by your subscriptions.
- The Ocean State is naturally proud of the 21 lighthouses that dot its rocky shores, from its first – the 1749 Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown – to the sparkplug-style Plum Beach Lighthouse that graces one of Rhode Island’s specialty license plates. Here’s our guide to all 21, and how you can visit them – including one where you can stay overnight.
- Film fans have been keeping tabs on Rhode Island’s latest brush with Hollywood: the shoots that have been popping up for M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural romantic thriller “Remain,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Ashley Walters. Here’s a rundown of where it’s filmed so far, and what we know about the plot.
- Terry Francona’s return to Fenway Park this week has been a wistful reminder of a better Red Sox era, says Journal sportswriter Bill Koch, who looks back at the heady time of curse-busting World Series wins and a fearless front office and asks: Is there hope to regain that winning culture? For that and more sports news, go to providencejournal.com/sports.
Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:
One man’s quiet war to save New England’s oldest landmarks
New England once had 240,000 miles of stone walls, enough to wrap around the Earth 10 times. But these iconic structures, woven into the region’s history, environment and identity, are endangered, according to stone walls expert Robert Thorson, who spoke about them at a special program in Little Compton on July 2.
Thorson, an Earth Science professor at the University of Connecticut, said that stone walls reveal geology, provide habitat for plants and animals, and even have military significance, as New England Colonists used them for cover when fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. Yet they lack legal protections from those who would “strip mine” them for profit.
Read on to find out how Thorson is spreading the word as a “stump evangelist for stone wall conservation” and advising communities on what they can do to protect these threatened landmarks…