Town to Consider closing Oakland Court

Warwick-Kids will have to be off the streets of Warwick on Saturday and Sunday nights over the Halloween weekend by 8 p.m. This has been the case in the past several years, as town and village officials try to keep the peace on the nights that traditionally bring out teenagers looking for mischief and trouble. One village resident, Anita DeVille, also requested that the village consider closing Oakland Court, a narrow side street where many children go trick-or-treating, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. "I can understand her concerns," said Mayor Michael Newhard, who noticed the hazard last year while trick-or-treating with his son, Henry. "Closing it may be necessary because of the narrow street. It has cars parked on both sides and there are so many kids." The village has requested that DeVille go to her neighbors and get a consensus on the street closing before they act on it. The Veterans of Foreign Wars in Warwick will hold the annual Halloween parade on Sunday, Oct. 31, at 5:30 p.m. The Halloween marchers will begin at the Railroad Green, go up to the corner where Jackie's Deli is located and head down to the community center. Afterward, many children go trick-or-treating in the surrounding neighborhood. Police presence has had much to do with the lack of incidence last year. They stepped up their patrols of areas usually hit hard by kids on Halloween eve and night, namely Homestead Village and Cascade Creek. Trustee Roger Metzger disagrees with imposing a curfew and feels that the police make the difference, not a curfew. "I've always been opposed to a curfew in the past," said Metzger. "I don't see anything better now than before we imposed the curfew. I believe the police presence made it better, not the curfew. I have faith in our youth. The good ones won't do anything wrong and those who aren't good, will ignore the curfew anyway. I'm just not a curfew fan." The town passed its curfew, stating that groups of people must be off the streets from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., both Saturday and Sunday nights. The village is expected to pass the same resolution.