| R 171 |
| 2018 -- H 8062 Enacted 04/05/2018 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WESTERLY SUN |
| Introduced By: Representatives Kennedy, Azzinaro, Shekarchi, Morgan, and Price |
| Date Introduced: April 05, 2018 |
| WHEREAS, The Westerly Sun is a distinguished and award-winning newspaper |
| covering the communities of Charlestown, Hopkinton, Richmond, South Kingstown, and |
| Westerly, Rhode Island, and Groton, North Stonington, and Stonington, Connecticut; and |
| WHEREAS, The Westerly Sun was founded on August 7, 1893 and was guided by its |
| first publisher, the Honorable George H. Utter, who went on to serve as the Secretary of State, |
| Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Rhode Island. He was also elected to the Rhode Island |
| Senate and the Rhode Island House of Representatives and served as Speaker in 1889. Mr. Utter |
| was a Seventh-Day Baptist who observed the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunrise Sunday, and |
| that was why The Westerly Sun, at that time, was the only newspaper in the nation that printed its |
| Sunday newspaper in the afternoon; and |
| WHEREAS, On the fateful morning of December 7, 1941, World War II came to the |
| United States when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On the East Coast, it was in the |
| afternoon, and that's how The Westerly Sun became the first newspaper in the United States to |
| print and report the attack on Pearl Harbor; and |
| WHEREAS, Word of the attack had reached President Francis Delano Roosevelt at 1:40 |
| p.m. Eastern Standard Time and the news was announced from the White House at 2:22 p.m. |
| Word of the attack came to The Westerly Sun newsroom when Katherine Utter, the wife of then- |
| editor and publisher Ben Utter, heard about the event on the radio and immediately called the |
| newsroom. City Editor C. Starr Baker then called the Associated Press to gather as much |
| information as he could and composed the headline that announced the attack, the first such |
| newspaper headline in the United States, thereby making history for The Westerly Sun and the |
| State of Rhode Island; and |
| WHEREAS, Throughout its distinguished 125 year history, The Westerly Sun has |
| enlightened and educated the local community while always adhering to the strictest journalistic |
| principles. Hopefully the communities of Southern Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut will |
| continue to be informed and enriched by The Westerly Sun for another 125 years; now, therefore |
| be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and |
| Providence Plantations hereby joyously celebrates the 125th Anniversary of The Westerly Sun and |
| thanks them for the high-quality journalism they provide to the Southern Rhode Island |
| community on a daily basis; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. David Pare, Senior Vice President and |
| Chief Operating Officer of The Westerly Sun. |
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| LC005432 |
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