Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK, R.I. -- Rescue crews are searching the waters of Upper Narragansett Bay Monday afternoon for a missing clammer.

Warwick fire officials said searchers are concentrating their efforts north of Prudence Island.

Crews from Warwick, Cranston and North Kingstown marine safety units were participating in the search along with personnel from the state Department of Environmental Management. The Coast Guard said they had been notified about the search.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state will increase the number of beds for the homeless this winter by 88, officials said Monday.

Shelters, churches and other nonprofit agencies helped fund the beds, said Noreen Shawcross, chief of the state Office of Housing and Community Development. The state department had earlier agreed to spend money on 58 winter beds, in churches and shelters from Woonsocket to Westerly.

Bishop Thomas Tobin, the Diocese of Providence and United Way of Rhode Island worked with the state to add 30 more beds for men "when it became apparent that there was a shortfall as the cold weather approached," Shawcross said.

Amos House will run the program, and the Red Cross and the Rhode Island Donation Exchange Program will provide mats and blankets.

Winter shelters typically open in November and close in March.

Advocates say the state's shelters are full now, and the situation will only worsen this winter. More people are losing jobs -- and homes and apartments, they say.

Shawcross urged all Rhode Islanders, including faith-based organizations, businesses and the public, to help. Many agencies need food, winter clothing and other basic items, she said.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Rachin A. McCoy, the 21-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his six-week old daughter, was ordered held without bail after a lengthy bail hearing in Newport Superior Court.

In the decision, Associate Justice Melanie Wilk Thunberg said that McCoy's explainations as to how his daughter, Naiomi, was injured were both "factually and scientifically implausible."

McCoy offered a few variations of what happened to his daughter, but in a taped statement to police the night Naiomi was rushed to the hospital, he said he was standing on a couch in his Newport living room, throwing the infant int he air playfully and catching her, when he missed and dropped the child on the floor.

He then said that he threw the child into her crib, and that her head clipped the side of the crib, making her flip and fall into the crib.

Said Thunberg: "The court believes the state has established that the hands of the defendent, in which Naiomi was left that day, operated as a weapon of murder that extingushed the brief, yet tormented life of baby Naiomi."

Hospital examinations, and later, the autopsy, showed that Naiomi had 17 broken ribs, two large skull fractures and detached retinas. She was taken to the hospital the afternoon of Jan. 27 and died Jan. 30 from her injuries.

Rachin McCoy has been held without bail since his arrest in January. A pretrial date has been set for Jan. 12.

The original version of this story was posted at 1:53 p.m.

>> Continue reading: Update: Dad accused of killing daughter held without bail

By Kate Bramson
Journal Staff Writer

REHOBOTH, Mass. -- Lyndsey Medeiros knows she's asking a lot with her craigslist posting seeking money to help pay for cataract surgery for Jerry the Turkey -- particularly this week, as most people are preparing to eat a pretty large turkey meal on Thursday.

Rehoboth animal lover Lyndsey Medeiros is raising money for Jerry the turkey, whose cataracts prevent him from flying and eating independently. Photo courtesy of Lyndsey Medeiros

But she's persevering because she's an animal lover.

"There's a story you see every once in a while that pulls at your heartstrings," she explains. "I just wanted to see what could be done to help him -- if nothing more, to give him a good home so he can live out his days in a comfortable environment, not having to worry about being eaten."

Medeiros and her husband, Jason, run a hobby farm out of their Rehoboth home, with 10 Nigerian dwarf goats whose milk makes cheese for their family. And as a veterinary technician for eight years, Lyndsey spends a lot of time around animals. She's had a menagerie of animals with problems, including a three-legged cat.

Jason enjoys scanning craigslist's farm and garden section, and it was there he came across a post from a woman in Foster with health problems who could no longer care for an ailing turkey. A week ago, the Medeiroses drove to Foster and came home with two turkeys -- 3-year-old Jerry and Penelope, the companion who has been with him since they were small.

A Narragansett turkey, Jerry is a cross between a wild and domestic turkey and could live to be 15, Lyndsey said. The docile animal has quickly become one of the family's pets, even allowing the couple's 17-month-old son, Aidan, to pet him and hug him. He can't fly up to roost in high places as Penelope does because he can't see -- and he needs help eating, Lyndsey says.

Instantly, Lyndsey began seeking care for Jerry.

Her workplace didn't have an avian specialist, so she turned to Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in East Greenwich, where the veterinary ophthalmologist examined Jerry and said his cataracts look operable. The bird will now see the practice's exotic animals specialist, who will help determine if he can undergo surgery, according to Linda Adams, the client liaison at Ocean State.

It could cost between $2,000 and $2,600, Lyndsey said.

Since Lyndsey posted Jerry's story on craigslist sites around the country, angry naysayers have e-mailed to say she's wrong to have taken up the turkey's cause.

"I'm not trying to take food off the tables of people who can't afford it," she replies. "Obviously, feeding your children takes precedence over surgery for a turkey, but there are people out there looking for a place to donate."

And if Jerry's story pulls at their heartstrings, too, Lyndsey has set up a PayPal account and a bank account where people can donate money. In less than a week, she has gotten about $250.

Checks can be made out to Medeiros Farm, c/o Bank of America, 1021 Fall River Ave., Seekonk, MA 02771. More information is at www.medeirosfarmkidsatplay.com.

Lyndsey asks people to respect the fact that she's trying to save an animal.

"And if this had been a dog or a cat or a horse," she says, "maybe people would think differently."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Narragansett father who burned to death in his pickup truck two weeks ago had caused the fire that killed him, the state fire marshal's office determined on Monday.

Terence W. Ashworth, 37, died in a fire that erupted in his Ford truck at the park-and-ride off Boston Neck Road in North Kingstown just before dawn on Nov. 11.

Passers-by had seen the fire and pulled Ashworth out of the truck in an attempt to save his life. But he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The fire's cause was incendiary, said state Fire Marshal Jack Chartier. Ashworth's body, his clothing, and the inside compartment of the truck were "substantially" covered in gasoline, Chartier said.

"We believe the fire was caused by the victim," he said.

The investigators had ruled out any suspicious causes early on. As the state fire marshal's office worked with the North Kingstown police and fire investigators, they also excluded accidental causes, Chartier said.

There were no mechanical problems that could have ignited the fire. They also found no mechanical problems with the truck, Chartier said. Although the cruise-control component had been recalled on this truck model, Chartier said the investigators removed the component and examined it for problems, and found nothing. Samples returned from the Rhode Island crime laboratory showed that gasoline had caused the fire.

The state fire marshal's determination came a week after Ashworth's funeral. "Our condolences go out to the family," Chartier said.

Ashworth had been married 11 years and had two sons, Charles, 6, and Daniel, 4. In an interview two days after his day, Ashworth's wife, Meredith, had remembered his kindness and love for children, his dancing abilities, and his desire to serve his community.

Ashworth was elected to the Narragansett School Committee last year and belonged to its subcommittees on parks and recreation, and health and wellness. Before becoming a private contractor, he'd worked as a director at Ocean Tides, a residential school for at-risk boys in Narragansett.

He was buried at St. Francis Cemetery, in South Kingstown's Peace Dale section, last week.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Gas prices in Rhode Island have dropped for the third straight week.

AAA Southern New England says in its weekly survey Monday that self-serve regular unleaded is averaging $2.669 a gallon, or a one-cent decrease from last week.

The price is also two cents above the national average and 74 cents higher than it was a year ago at this time.

Prices have now dropped four cents overall in the last three weeks.

Check AAA's Web site for the lowest prices.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- Governor Carcieri together with the state Department of Education and the Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance announced a $100,000 grant to help four urban schools expand the school day and rethink the way it is is organized.

Funded by the General Assembly, the money will go to Calcutt Middle School in Central Falls, Veazie Street Elementary School and Gilbert Stuart Middle School in Providence and Citizens Memorial Elementary School in Woonsocket. Each school will use the planning grants to figure out how to expand the school day.

The possibilities include lengthening the school day, expanding the school year or developing an after-school component like the Providence After-School Alliance has done in Providence. Each school's planning team will include teachers, community organizations, after-school programs, parents, the teachers' unions and higher education.

At Monday's press conference in Woonsocket, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said that the extended school day initiative is a key part of the state's application for federal Race to the Top grants, which could bring anywhere from $20 to $75 million to small states like Rhode Island.

>> Continue reading: 4 RI schools get grants to study expanding school day

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, an umbrella organization that launched a charter school in Cumberland this fall, has received three grants that will help the organization to grow.

The Hassenfeld Foundation donated a $200,000 matching grant earlier this year, requiring the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies to seek a donation of the same size by the end of the year. The Rhode Island Foundation has pledged $100,000 and the organization is still looking for another $100,000 donation.

In addition, the Walton Family Foundation has given the organization $1 million over the next two years.

Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee, chairman of the board of RIMA, said the organization will use the money to develop new charter schools throughout Rhode Island.

The first mayoral academy, Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley, opened in September, serving 76 kindergarteners from Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln and Pawtucket.

Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung recently expressed interest in opening a mayoral academy in his city.

Charter schools -- including mayoral academies -- are taxpayer-financed public schools that are free from many of the rules and restrictions that govern regular public schools. Ten of Rhode Island's 13 charter schools employ non-union teachers and many of the schools have longer school days and require students to wear uniforms.

Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley differs from the state's 12 other charter schools in three ways: it is run by a charter school operator, in this case, New York-based Democracy Prep; its board includes mayors and town administrators; and it is not required to pay its teachers union salaries, contribute to the state teacher pension system or offer teacher tenure.

WESTERLY, R.I. -- With the holidays approaching, a group of volunteers at 4 p.m. Monday will paste stickers on cartons of beer, wine coolers and other items stocked by the town's four liquor stores.

The alarm-red stickers, however, aren't price tags or markdowns.

They're warnings.

"Think buying alcohol for someone under 21 is not a big deal? Think again," say the four-inch-wide stickers, which list state penalties for providing alcohol to minors, starting with a $1,000 fine for a first offense and jail time and stiffer fines for subsequent offenses.

"The stickers are designed to make people think," said Mary Loy Serra, coordinator of the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force. The group recently spent $1,500 for 5,000 stickers, which will appear on boxes and packages at Ocean State Liquors, E-Z Midway Liquors, The Wine Store and Dick's World of Wine.

"The holidays are upon us. It's a great time of the year," Serra said. "But it's also a frightening time since statistics show that the holidays provide a perfect excuse for minors to drink." Often, she added, "adults provide the kids with the alcohol. We want that practice to stop."

The Rhode Island State Police say they will be cracking down on seatbelt and child restraint violations this Thanksgiving holiday as part of a national ``zero tolerance'' enforcement strategy.

It is expected that 377 million people will be traveling on the nation's highways this weekend.

The Rhode Island State Police, along with state police agencies around the country, will be out in force with patrols that will target impaired or intoxicated drivers, seat belt and child restraint violations, aggressive drivers, speeding violations and everyday traffic violations.

Motorists are reminded that they can immediately report dangerous drivers or hazardous roadway conditions to the State Police by dialing *77 on their cellular phones. This is a free call and greatly assists the State Police in its effort to protect the citizens and visitors traveling on Rhode Island's roadways.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A speeding van struck and injured a woman early Saturday during a large brawl involving about 60 people outside of El Tiburon, a bar and restaurant in the city's Valley neighborhood.

The police said that moments after officers used pepper spray to disperse two groups of women who were "yelling and screaming" at each other, several of the women piled into a red van and the driver struck Kimcom Ledo, 37, who was on the sidewalk outside the bar at the corner of Valley and Harold streets.

The impact of the crash caused Ledo to "fly through the air," and land on the ground, the police said.

She was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, the police said, where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The driver of the van, Ciara Barrett, 30, drove off at a high rate of speed and she refused to stop, the police said. Sgt. Kurt Desautels chased after her in his marked police cruiser and spotted her jumping out of the van in a driveway on Harold Street, according to the police. He grabbed her, and after a brief struggle, she was placed under arrest.

Desautels reported that, in an attempt to free Barrett, several of the women from the van attacked him.

Barrett, of 23 Herschel St., Providence, was charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon, the van; driving under the influence; failing to stop after being involved in an accident resulting in personal injury, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Two other passengers in the van also were arrested. Shajuan Harmon, 32, of 14 Derry St., Providence, was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Onika L. Lucas, 32, of 86 Florence St., Providence, was charged with disorderly conduct.

By Michael McKinney
Journal staff writer

CRANSTON, R.I -- Rebecca Bowman, who was 13 when she lost her mother and her best friend, said a drunk driver "took away what I was."

She and the police on Monday hailed a new law that the governor is expected to sign on Wednesday.

Bowman, of Bristol, whose mother and friend were killed on Route 4 in 1999 as they headed from Narragansett to the Warwick Mall, joined representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the police in urging people to tie a MADD red ribbon on their cars as a reminder not to drink and drive during the holidays.

"It takes a community to change behavior," said Steven M. Pare, former colonel of the Rhode Island State Police, who emceed the Holiday Highway Safety Awareness event in a courtroom of the state traffic tribunal in Cranston.

Speakers praised the General Assembly's passage this year of a bill allowing the police to seek a warrant to take a blood sample to measure the blood alcohol level of a suspected impaired driver who has refused to submit to a breath test after an incident involving serious injuries.

Participants also included police officials from Warwick, Cranston, Coventry, Barrington, West Warwick and Pawtucket,

By Curt Anderson
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI, Fla. -- A sports car worth nearly $2 million, an 87-foot (26.5-meter) yacht and a guitar collection worth as much as $20,000 were among the assets seized from a U.S. lawyer suspected of operating a massive fraud scheme, according to a court filing Monday.

Proceeds from the seizures will eventually go to benefit investors who said they were fleeced by attorney Scott Rothstein, some of whom filed a $100-million lawsuit on Friday against Rothstein and a Canadian bank that handled many transactions. In all, authorities took 20 luxury cars, 15 pieces of property and three boats, as well as Moroccan bank accounts and political and charitable contributions.

Rothstein, 47, also owned two houses in Narragansett, R.I., until he transferred them -- without payment -- in October to a limited-liability Delaware corporation. He has not been charged with a crime, but the FBI has accused him of fraud that could top $1 billion through investments in legal settlements that were largely fabricated.

Rothtsein's lawyer did not immediately respond Monday to an e-mail seeking comment.

The forfeiture filing from the Miami U.S. attorney's office provides new details on where Rothstein stashed some of the alleged fraud proceeds and how he spent what prosecutors say were his ill-gotten gains.

The assets include:

-Twenty luxury cars, including three Ferraris; two Rolls-Royces; a Maserati; a Bentley; a Lamborghini; and three Corvettes. Also on the list is a 2009 Bugatti Veyron, touted as the most expensive street car available in the U.S. at about $1.7 million.

-Rothstein's 50,000 shares of stock in Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust and his business interests in several restaurants, the Renato watch company and the South Beach mansion formerly owned by fashion designer Gianni Versace.

-Water vessels including 87-foot (26.5-meter) Warren yacht, a 33-foot Aquariva and a 55-foot Sea Ray.

-Valuables including 304 pieces of jewelry, a guitar collection worth up to $20,000 and 16 DuPont lighters than can retail for between $500 and $1,000.

>> Continue reading: U.S. details assets seized from lawyer Rothstein

John M. Cicilline

BOSTON, MASS. -- A federal magistrate judge recommended Monday that disgraced lawyer John M. Cicilline's bid to win early prison release be dismissed.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings issued a report and recommendations calling for the dismissal of Cicilline's request that he be released immediately to a halfway house. It will now be up to U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro to make a final decision.

His father and former law partner, John F. "Jack" Cicilline, told Collings Thursday that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons violated his son's due-process rights by failing to consider his personal struggles in deciding when he would be released to a halfway house.

"What we're talking about is current conditions. It's about saving his residence, saving his kids," the elder Cicilline said in U.S. District Court in Boston.

But Collings accepted the government's arguments that the bureau had considered Cicilline's case individually based on the factors set forth by federal law and therefore maintained "virtually unlimited discretion" to place Cicilline as it saw fit.

John M. Cicilline and Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr., a former state Supreme Court chief justice's son and also a disbarred lawyer, pleaded guilty in June 2008 to engaging in an illegal shakedown scheme to gain money from people accused of drug crimes.

That October, Cicilline, the brother of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, began serving an 18-month sentence at Fort Devens for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal authorities.

Cicilline, 52, is due to be put on supervised release in Rhode Island on Feb. 8, 2010, after he serves 41 days in a halfway house in Massachusetts. He is being held at a federal medical center in Fort Devens, Mass., north of Worcester.

Cicilline has 10 days to file a written objection to the report.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Three masked gunmen forced their way into a woman's apartment on Central Avenue on Sunday evening and stole valuables and several thousand dollars.

The police believe the home invasion at 239 Central Ave. wasn't random. The men were targeting another resident, who wasn't home at the time, said Detective Donti Rosciti.

Ashley Williams, 25, told the police that at around 9:30 p.m. she heard a knock on the door, but as she went to answer it, the men shoved their way inside, Rosciti said.

Williams told the police that the men shouted, "Where's everything?" as they ransacked the apartment, Rosciti said. Using gloves, the men grabbed several thousand dollars, a small amount of marijuana, and then they stuffed jewelry, a computer and Playstation into duffle bags, Rosciti said.

Williams was frightened but not injured.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- An East Providence man is in Providence police custody following a chase that made its way through four communities early Monday.

John Darosa, 20, of 40 Wannissett Ave. in Riverside, is charged with eluding the police, driving on a suspended license and refusal to take a chemical breath test, according to Providence Police Capt. James Desmarais.

The chase began on Wood Street around 12:20 a.m., when an officer in the area heard the wheels of a Toyota pickup truck squealing, Desmarais said. The 2004 pickup took off when the police tried to stop it, Desmarais said.

WPRI-TV reported that the pickup truck had crashed into a home on Wood Street and then drove away.

Damage to the house on 29 Wood Street included a ruptured gas line, but no one was hurt.

Early Monday, Desmarais did not have details about what happened on Wood Street before the officer saw the truck spinning its tires in the vicinity of Wood and Parade streets. However, the Providence Fire Department responded to the report of a truck into a house at 29 Wood Street around 12:26 a.m.

>> Continue reading: Update: E. Providence man charged after police chase

Brad and Rosemarie Randall
Photo courtesy of Freddy Komiega

Troopers say Lisa Ramos of Canterbury turned herself in at the Danielson barracks Sunday afternoon and was charged with two counts of misconduct with a motor vehicle. She posted $25,000 bail and is due in Danielson Superior Court on Dec. 3.

State police say Ramos was driving on Route 169 when her car crossed the center line and struck a motorcycle head-on.

Fifty-two-year-old Brad Randall and his 44-year-old wife, Rosemarie, of North Kingstown, R.I., died from their injuries.

Ramos could not be reached for comment. Her home phone number is unlisted, and it's not clear if she has a lawyer.

---

Information from: Norwich Bulletin.

Monday's Providence Journal front page reports that Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin is disputing U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy's statement contention that he ordered him to stop taking Communion.

Rhode Island emergency food programs are seeing an increase in need.

Rhode Island House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox and three lobbyists watched the Red Sox play the Baltimore Orioles from seats near home plate in September. Fox says he reimbursed one of the lobbyists for the ticket.

Download a copy of Monday's Providence Journal front page in .pdf format.

Live local radar

More weather...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Monday, and the holiday week, should start out OK, but it will turn worse later today and the unsettled weather is likely to stay with us for much of the week.

Expect a cloudy day with a high near 53, relatively warm for this time of year, but there's a chance of rain, mainly after 2 p.m. and a northeast wind between 8 and 11 mph., according to the National Weather Service.

Rain is likely Tuesday, and Wednesday, the big Thanksgiving travel day, should start out OK, but there's a chance of showers Wednesday night.

As of now, there's a 50 percent chance of showers for Thanksgiving Day. Showers are likely Friday.

For more weather and regular updates, see projo.com/weather.

On the local front:

A year ago today:
An accidental alarm draws Providence firefighters to a Manton Avenue apartment building and leads to a wholesale evacuation because of a host of code problems. Social service agencies scrambled to find temporary shelter for 10 people, half of them children. Firefighters went to the building at 422 Manton Ave. at about 10 a.m. in response to an alarm that was triggered by steam from a basement water heater, said Battalion Chief Joe Desmarais. While going through the building, which has businesses on the first floor and apartments on the second and third floors, the firefighters discovered apparent wiring, plumbing and structural problems, he said. They were joined by city code enforcement officials, who deemed the building uninhabitable, and the state fire marshal's office, Desmarais said. Officials were still working with the Red Cross and Crossroads Rhode Island social service agency to find lodging for the tenants.

5 years ago today:
U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee hikes through overgrown vegetation in Cranston's Curran State Park for a first-hand look at two dams that the Department of Environmental Management says need about $5 million in repairs. Chafee was joined by several DEM officials including acting Director Frederick J. Vincent and senior sanitary engineer Paul W. Guglielmino, who inspects dams statewide. Chafee said he hopes to secure funds for the repair work under the Water Resource Development Act. Vincent said there are about 500 public and private dams in Rhode Island, including 50 owned by the DEM. A few years ago, the department issued a list of six dams that it said were of the highest risk. If they were to be breached, there could be a significant loss of life, Vincent said. Two of those dams have been repaired: at Olney Pond, in Lincoln Woods State Park, and on the Bowdish Reservoir, in the George Washington Management Area, Glocester.

25 years ago today:
While the family of Jerri Ann Richard make arrangements to bury her body in Indiana, Pawtucket police issue another appeal for help in solving the abduction and slaying of the 4-month-old infant. Police Chief Theodore S. King, admitting "we're not greatly encouraged" with progress being made in the case, said police would like to receive more information from anyone who noticed anything unusual near the Richard family's apartment the night of Nov. 10 or the morning of Nov. 11. Ralph G. Richard and his wife, Donna, reported their baby missing from their 450 Main St. home about 8 a.m. on the 11th. They said Richard had put her to bed about 11 p.m. the previous night and she disappeared sometime during the night. Although police treated the case as a kidnapping, no ransom demand or other explanation of the disappearance was received. Four days later, the baby's partially clad body was found in the alleyway of a nearby mill yard. She had been killed by repeated blows to the head, an autopsy revealed.

On the national front:

On this day in 1980, 4,800 die in series of earthquakes that devastated southern Italy

Read more highlights from Today in History.

Watch video highlights from Today in History.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- One of Channel 10's original newscasters passed away early Sunday morning.

Arthur E. Lake, known as Art Lake to just about everyone, died surrounded by his family. The legendary WJAR Channel 10 anchor and weatherman was 85. He lived in Greenville.

"Like Del's Lemonade, coffee milk and the Big Blue Bug, he has become a state institution," Providence Journal reporter Andy Smith wrote in 2004, which was Lake's 60th year on Rhode Island's airwaves.

"Art's been a part of the fabric of local broadcasting for generations of Southern New Englanders," said longtime friend and colleague Frank Coletta in a news release Sunday from NBC. "Growing up in West Warwick, I watched Art on the air in the '50s and '60s, and his work was a significant part of my inspiration for my chosen career. His expertise and guidance helped all of us here at Channel 10. I raise my coffee cup in salute to him and thank him for all he has done for me."

For his decades-long career in the broadcast industry, Lake was inducted into the New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Gold and Silver Circles.

>> Continue reading: NBC 10's Art Lake, a broadcast pioneer in RI, dies at 85

CRANSTON, R.I. -- A family of seven is being helped by the Red Cross after their Potter Street home was badly damaged from a fire early Sunday morning.

Crews arrived at 163 Potter St. about 4:45 a.m. and the house was fully involved. Fire officials say only one man was home at the time of the blaze and he was outside before the first responders arrived.

There were no injuries, but the single-family house had significant damage. Officials say the Red Cross is helping the four adults and three children with alternate housing and other necessities.

The cause of the fire is unknown and being investigated.