Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Grampall Jookabox, American Hornets and Annikki Dawn perform at AS220 in Providence tonight at 10.

Check out a far-out description here of what to expect. Annikki Dawn offers "hard-hitting lullabies for the nocturnal" on a classical guitar while American Hornets is ... well, read the description.

And here's AS220's online calendar.

Map out your plans for tonight, tomorrow and the week and weekend by checking out projothebeat.com, the Journal's online calendar of things to do in Rhode Island and beyond.

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- An 18-year-old woman Monday night fought off an attacker who emerged from the woods on Yorktown Road.

According to Capt. Charles Brennan, the North Kingstown woman was walking home from work when a man in a black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and white sneakers grabbed her from behind. The man started to choke her.

The woman then reached around and punched him in the face several times. She also drove her elbow into his ribs, Brennan said. The attacker is about 6 feet tall, he said.

The police would not release the woman's name today because the crime is under investigation.

The woman said she believes she left marks on the attacker's face because she wore rings on her hand.

The woman's father called the police after the attack, Brennan said. She "appeared visibly upset ... and had red marks on her chest near her neck," he said.

Police officers spent more than an hour searching for the attacker around Yorktown Park in the Davisville area near Post Road.

The police are asking anyone with information to call the department at 294-3316.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Davis

Anthony Capraro was sworn in as a District Court judge today by Governor Carcieri.

Capraro's wife, Terese, his daughter Camille and family, friends, lawyers and judiciary members looked on, the governor's office said in a statement. Carcieri spoke of the record Capraro achieved as a lawyer in 21 years with the Public Defender's office.

"Tony is known for his incisive legal acumen, for his keen intellect and for his ability to be both fair-minded and compassionate," Carcieri said in the statement. "Without question, Tony Capraro's wealth of experience will benefit the court in years to come."

Capraro has served since 1987 as a lawyer in the Public Defender's office, where he was named trial division chief in 2001, the governor's office said. He has represented indigent clients at arraignment, pretrial conferences and trial.

Capraro graduated from Providence College and, in 1986, from the Bridgeport School of Law. After law school, he interned at the Rhode Island Public Defender's office in the Kent County District.

Judge Capraro replaces Judge Patricia D. Moore, who retired.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Two human rights commissions have found probable cause that the owner of a Providence business discriminated against a customer last March by demanding to see the man's Social Security card after hearing the man and his friend speaking Spanish.

To settle the cases, the storeowner signed a written public apology for his behavior and gave one of the men $500 to be donated to five charitable groups.

Jose Genao, the customer who brought the discrimination claims, said storeowner David C. Richardson threatened to call immigration authorities and said he could "make a citizen's arrest" because he suspected that Genao and his friend might be illegal immigrants.

The Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights found probable cause that Richardson broke state law by discriminating against Genao on the basis of ethnic origin. Similarly, the Providence Human Relations Commission found probable cause that Richardson violated a city anti-discrimination ordinance during that incident.

The encounter made national headlines, and Genao, a state worker and U.S. citizen, subsequently brought his claims. Genao said his friend is also a U.S. citizen, but chose to let the incident drop.

Richardson, who previously owned the now-closed Rhode Island Refrigeration Supply Co. Inc. insists that he only asked to see the Social Security card of Genao's friend, whom he has referred to as "the one who wasn't speaking English."

Richardson has signed a written public apology for his behavior, and given Genao five $100 checks to be donated to five charitable organizations of Genao's choice, and agreed to educate himself about public accommodations law. The men reached a resolution through mediation by the Providence Human Relations Commission.

Richardson's statement offers "a public apology to anyone who I have asked for a Social Security number in the past. My lack of knowledge about public accommodation laws caused me to use the wrong method to raise the dialogue about illegal immigration in our nation."

"I now know that it is not legal to ask anyone for a Social Security number. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage any business owners not to make the same mistake I did."

The statement adds, "Immigration is an important issue to me and I had no intentions of violating anyone's rights. My sincere goal was to begin a dialogue about illegal immigration and its cost and consequences to the state of Rhode Island. I apologize for any misunderstandings I may have caused."

Genao said he was pleased with Richardson's public apology.

"I'm pleased with it. My message got where it wanted to go, to make him (Richardson) knowledgeable that that he did was wrong, and (so is) anyone out there who is trying to use the same method as he did ... by intimidating people the way he tried to."

Richardson yesterday acknowledged signing the apology and donating $500 to causes of Genao's choice, but said he did so "because I wanted to get it over and done with."

"They found probable cause," said Richardson. "Again I feel my reason for signing it was because I was tired of being on defense. I couldn't take it to a jury trial all the way it needed to be taken. It would be much too expensive." Richardson added, "I was shocked and dismayed by the rules by these two commissions."

Members of a student group that opposes possible cuts to transit service got to have their say at the end of today's board meeting at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

A week ago, a protest by members of Students for a Democratic Society led the RIPTA board of directors chairman to cancel that day's meeting. Watch the video

But today, the RIPTA board allowed the students to speak at the close of the meeting, which went on as scheduled. RIPTA board members said they were working hard to avoid cutting bus service -- RIPTA has proposed service cuts, which are the subject of public hearings around the state, because of a budget deficit.

About two-dozen members of the student group were present today. RIPTA board members listened politely as members of the group said that the board does not support transit enough and has not run meetings in enough of a democratic fashion.

But today, Evan Owens-Stively, one of the group's representatives at the meeting, said to the board that "I feel you guys really are moving in the right direction."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Bruce Landis

WARWICK -- A meeting this afternoon of the state's Public Utilities Commission deteriorated into a one-way shouting match, with some members of the audience yelling at the three commissioners not to delay a decision on a proposal that would make it easier for thousands of customers without heat or electricity to get their service restored.

The prosposal would allow all utility customers to reconnect their gas and electricity service by paying 10 percent of their balance, and agree to a schedule to pay the remaining balance. Current rules require a payment of 25 percent to 50 percent.

"This 10-percent down is the least of what you should do," said Jann Campbell, a Cranston resident, her voice rising to a shout.

"On top of that, it should be done today! Not Thursday, not 10 years from now. People have waited long enough!"

Campbell, one of several speakers who appeared before the commissioners, then peppered PUC Chairman Elia Germani about why the panel couldn't make a decision immediately.

Many in the packed room hearing room joined in, chanting "Now! Now! Now!"

Germani tried to respond, only to be cut off by Campbell and other audience members.

At that point, the chairman and the two other commissioners, Mary Bray and Robert Holbrook, called for a recess, got up from their table and left the hearing room. They were followed by more shouts from the audience: "Greed! Greed!"

The scene reflected the growing anxiety about how people will afford to heat and power their homes this coming winter at a time of record-high utility costs.

>> Continue reading: Shouting utility customers overwhelm PUC meeting

By Linda Borg
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- A student at Gilbert Stuart Middle School has contracted a drug-resistant staph infection called MRSA, according to a spokeswoman for the School Department.

The department notified parents on Friday by letter and by phone. This isn't the first time that MRSA has been found in the public schools and a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the skin infection is no longer rare. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

"Please know that it is safe to send your child to school as normal," the letter from the School Department stated. "The school is being cleaned today according to guidelines issued by the R.I. Department of Health. We will continue to follow all procedures and guidelines to minimize the risk of the skin infection spreading to other students."

Get more information on MRSA at the Centers for Disease Control web site

>> Continue reading: Parents notified, Providence middle schooler has MRSA

PROVIDENCE -- The jury in the Roger Williams Medical Center corruption case has finished its first day of deliberations on the fate of former hospital executives Robert Urciuoli and Frances Driscoll.

After listening to instructions this morning on the law from Chief U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi, the jury of nine women and three men retired to the jury room at 10:15 a.m. and worked in seclusion until 4:30 p.m. A catered lunch was sent in. There was no verdict, and no questions for the judge.

Lisi indicated at the end of the day, when she sent the jurors home, that they had spent the day looking through some of the hundreds of exhibits in the case.

The jury will return to court at 9 a.m. tomorrow to resume its work.

-- Journal staff writer Mike Stanton

Read about yesterday's closing arguments.

By Amanda Milkovits
Journal staff writer

Just two months married, the newlyweds drove out from Providence down to Narragansett's Black Point on Sunday, where the waves crashed up against the slippery, sheer rocks and surf churned from the passing tropical storm.

Tammie Oliveira loved to take pictures, and some in her family believe that she and her new husband, Michael, wanted to watch the high surf roll in, photograph the waves at sunset, and then head to Iggy's Clam Shack for dinner. Michael had just gotten a new tackle box, and the shoreline is considered one of the best fishing spots in Rhode Island. It's also known to be treacherous.

Tammie fell into the water. Michael went in after her, said Jeanne DiGiovanni, Tammie's former mother-in-law. The family learned later that a witness saw a man waving frantically for help. They believe it was Michael, trying to save his wife's life.

Tammie's body was found Sunday night, but her new groom is still missing.

After searching 200 square miles of the shoreline, using a helicopter and boats, the Coast Guard called off the search Monday at 8 p.m. The state police and state Department of Environmental Management continued this morning, until the environmental police decided that they would reduce the search to routine patrols. A helicopter from the Rhode Island Airport Corporation wll fly over the area and search for Michael's body tomorrow and Thursday, said Gail Mastrati, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Management.

This sudden end to a loving couple, whose romance blossomed in the aisles of a Dollar Tree where Tammie worked as an assistant manager, stunned their friends and family. When asked about funeral arrangements, Tammie's former mother-in-law said she believed that Tammie's brothers wanted to wait until Michael was found. So the couple could be buried together.

The two had found each other after divorces and after their children had grown up. They'd waited to marry until Tammie's youngest turned 18. Michael and Tammie were 43 years old, and like people in love for the first time, riding his motorcycle, spending time with their grown children, and planning a move out of the Wanskuck neighborhood where Tammie had spent her life. They'd already started packing for their new place in Warren, a new start for the new couple.

"He was really in love with Tammie," DiGiovanni said, "and Tammie was really in love with him."

Traffic appears backed up on Route 95 north in the Exit 18 area -- Thurbers Avenue -- where the state Transportation Management Center says an accident is blocking two lanes.

Highway cameras show traffic beginning to bunch up south of there, around Route 95 at Route 10.

PROVIDENCE -- A Coventry man serving state prison time has been sentenced to federal prison for bank fraud after admitting to a scheme in which he "kited" fake checks and transfers among seven accounts at three banks. He tried to get $92,000 from two of the banks -- the banks denied all but about $23,000.

Michael R. Robitaille, 25, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office. Judge Lisi also ordered Robitaille to repay Domestic Bank and Bank RI a total of about $23,000.

Robitaille has more than a dozen state convictions since 2003 for bad checks and other fraud offenses, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

He is currently serving a three-year state prison sentence for receiving stolen goods. When Coventry police arrested Robitaille in June 2006, he was driving a Mercedes Benz he had bought with $43,000 of bad checks.

Prosecutor Peter F. Neronha said at the April plea hearing the government could show that, in May 2006, Robitaille opened a checking account at a Massachusetts branch of Commerce Bank Trust with a $25 cash deposit. Over the next several weeks, he opened two checking accounts and a savings account at different Rhode Island branches of Domestic Bank, and a checking account and two savings accounts at Bank RI.

The U.S. Attorney's office said Robitaille inflated the accounts' value by depositing worthless checks drawn against previous accounts or by making fraudulent transfers between checking and savings accounts.

Robitaille then made cash withdrawals or wrote checks to third parties against the various accounts at Domestic Bank and Bank RI.

The Secret Service carried out the federal investigation.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn., will cut 700 jobs during the next few weeks.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the tribe that owns the casino, made the announcement today to employees of Foxwoods and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, according to a news release this afternoon.

The new round of reductions come after Foxwoods said in June that it had laid off nearly 200 employees, believed to be the first layoffs in the casino's 16-year history and part of a move to reduce $40 million from the tribal budget, the Journal reported in late June.

"As is happening to so many organizations, the economic issues facing our nation and regional consumer economy have negatively impacted our revenue growth," Tribal Council chairman Michael Thomas said in the statement. "Although it has taken a few months, the recession's impact can now clearly be seen in our industry."

Thomas goes on to state that "unfortunately, the time has arrived when we must face the difficult decision and align our payroll costs with current revenue levels."

According to the statement, nearly 11,000 people work at Foxwoods and MGM Grand. The Tribal Council approved cuts submitted by senior management.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

If you want to vote in this year's general election and you haven't registered yet, you're cutting it kind of close.

Saturday is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election.

To register, you must be 18 by Nov. 4, be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Rhode Island, and have a valid Social Security number or Rhode Island driver's license.

There is no charge to register.

Rhode Island law does not permit voters to register online. For more information, contact your community's Board of Canvassers or visit the R.I. Board of Elections voter registration page.

Journal photo/ Sandor Bodo
Clown Thomas LeMoine, of Orlando, Fla., performs with Circus Vidbel this week in downtown Providence. The circus, which includes aerialists, jugglers, horses and unicyclists, offers shows at 5 and 7:30 p.m. tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at the Bank of America Skating Center. Tickets, $10, can be purchased at the skating center or by calling (401) 331-5544. Donations to the R.I. Community Food Bank are welcome.

Watch the video

BOSTON -- The nation's governors will meet in Massachusetts in 2010.

The National Governors Association announced today that its member governors will gather in Boston from July 9-12, 2010. That would be a re-election year for Gov. Deval Patrick.

The bipartisan, twice-yearly meeting allows governors to discuss mutual issues and share solutions to common problems. Overall, about 1,200 people are expected to attend.

The NGA says it chose Boston for its summer session "for its first-class hotel and meeting facilities, as well as the city's overall appeal." The association's annual winter meetings are held in Washington.

The 2010 meeting will be the fifth held in Boston, with the last in 1994.

-- The Associated Press

The latest in a series of hearings on proposed cuts to Rhode Island Public Transit Authority service is scheduled in Barrington today.

There are two chances to sound off. Both hearings will be held at Barrington Public Library, second-floor auditorium, 281 County Rd., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Two public hearings that had been scheduled for today in Newport have been rescheduled because of Rosh Hashanah. The hearings will be held Oct. 7, a Tuesday, in the program room of the Newport Public Library, 300 Spring St., Newport. One hearing will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the other from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Here are the other hearings this week:

• Smithfield: Tomorrow, Smithfield Senior Center, cafeteria room, 1 William J. Hawkins Jr. Trail, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

• Providence: Thursday, DaVinci Community Center, central room, 470 Charles St., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri will swear in a new judge appointed to Rhode Island's District Court.

Anthony Capraro was nominated in June and confirmed by the state Senate. He will replace retired Judge Patricia Moore.

Carcieri will administer the oath of office to Capraro during a State House ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

Capraro served as an attorney in the state public defender's office since 1987. He became the chief of its Trial Division in 2001.

An apple dipped in honey to signify a sweet year; the sounding of a ram's horn; prayers on the water -- these are some of the ways Rosh Hashanah is celebrated.

The holiday, which is a celebration of the New Year in the Jewish religion, began yesterday at sundown and is celebrated for two days.

One of the central rituals of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the Shofar; a ram's horn. Over the course of the holiday, the horn is sounded 100 times.

Services also involve blessing others and Taschlich, saying a special prayer near a body of water.

The holiday ends at sunset tomorrow.

The right shoulder has been closed on Route 95 North at Exit 15, Warwick, because of a disabled vehicle.

Music seems to run in this family. It's Jerry Butler's brother, Billy.

Billy Butler sings "Right Track"

PROVIDENCE -- The jury in the federal corruption trial of Robert A. Urciuoli and Frances P. Driscoll, two former executives at Roger Williams Medical Center, will receive final instructions this morning in U.S. District Court.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi ordered the jurors to return to court at 9 a.m. for the instructions on the criminal charges that is expected to take about an hour. Afteward, the jury will begin its deliberations on the guilt or innocence of Urciuoli and Driscoll.

Read about yesterday's closing arguments.

-- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski

Temperatures are set to reach about 69 degrees today with the National Weather Service forecasting cloudy skies and a mild north wind, becoming south.

There's a 40 percent chance of rain tonight with otherwise cloudy skies and temperatures dropping to about 55 degrees and mild winds from the south.

Tomorrow there's another chance of rain and maybe a thunderstorm later in the morning. Otherwise, we can expect fog and mild south winds with temperatures again reaching about 69 degrees.

To keep an eye on the weather, see projo.com's weather page.

On this day in 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders agreed at a meeting in Munich that Nazi Germany would be allowed to annex Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

Read the original AP story.

Read more about today in history.

Today's front page features a report on the failure of the bailout package and local reaction.

Download a copy of today's front page in .pdf format.

Alanis Morissette performs at 7:30 tonight at the Providence Performing Arts Center in support of a new album, 'Flavors of Entanglement.'

Tickets are $75.50, $52.50, $42.50

For more to do tonight, tomorrow and into the weekend, check out projothebeat.com, the Journal's online calendar of goings-on throughout the state and beyond.

EXETER -- Participants in an interfaith Pilgrimage of Peace who plan to travel around New England on foot over the next 15 days to promote understanding and dialogue have invited the public to join with them in a conversation on peace on the grounds of the American Baptists' Canonicus Camp and Conference Center at 54 Exeter Rd. Tuesday night at 6 p.m.

The group, which has held similar walks in 2006 and 2007, embarked on their trek from New London on Sunday and plan to stay overnight at a variety of churches, mosques and synagogues in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. The Rhode Island leg of their trip will include stops at Westminster Unitarian Church in East Greenwich on Wednesday; the Hillel Center at the University of Rhode Island on Thursday; and St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Newport on Friday.

Also on the itinerary: Union Methodist Church in Fall River on Saturday; the Open Table of Christ United Methodist Church in Providence at 9:30 a.m. Sunday and the church's Warwick location at 4:30 p.m. later that day, followed by the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence at 8 p.m.

For directions to Canonicus, call 294-6318.

-- Journal staff writer Richard C. Dujardin

PROVIDENCE -- Reversing its earlier decision, the attorney general's office has now ruled that the School Board does not have to confirm Supt. Tom's Brady's appointment in open session.

On Sept. 11, the attorney general's office ruled that the board violated the Open Meetings Law when it hired Brady during a closed session in March. The attorney general's office ordered the board to appoint Brady again in open session.

However, in a letter dated Sept. 23, Adam Sholes, special assistant attorney general, wrote that the School Board had already voted in a properly publicized public session on July 28.

"Had this information been provided to the department during our investigation," Sholes wrote, "we would have concluded that injunctive relief was no longer appropriate. Nonetheless, this department is now satisfied that the appointment of Mr. Brady to (be) superintendent of schools has occurred at a properly posted meeting and in open session."

However, Shole's Sept. 11 finding actually mentioned the July 28 vote, quoting the city's deputy solicitor, Adrienne Southgate, as saying that the School Board "believes that the July 28 public notice and opportunity to comment coupled with the vote in open session have addressed any Open Meetings Act defects in the earlier executive session."

Moreover, in her July 27 complaint to the attorney general, Judith Reilly, a local resident, warned Sholes that the School Board was planning to reappoint Brady on July 28.

"I think it's pretty clear to everyone but the attorney general's office that the board deliberately broke and bent the law," Reilly said Friday. Reilly filed the Open Meetings Law complaint with the attorney general. "I can't afford to take this matter to court on my own so I'm turning it over to the parent committee of Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE). They'll make sure parents get some kind of justice."

But Michael Healey, a spokesman for the attorney general, said that his office needed documentation before it could accept the School Board's assertion that the July 28 vote was handled properly.

"The law requires that we find a willful and knowing violation of the Open Meetings Law," he said. "We litigate as a last resort."

Meanwhile, Osiris Harrell, an activist parent and co-leader of Parent Voices, said that his group is calling for the resignation of School Board President Mary McClure. Harrell said he is mobilizing a large group of parents to demand her resignation at the next regular board meeting on Oct. 14.

According to Harrell, the way in which Brady was hired confirms that the School Board in general and McClure in particular exist largely to do Mayor David N. Cicilline's bidding.

"Mary McClure is the number-one culprit," Harrell said Friday. "She and the mayor are in cahoots. This is about the board's unwillingness to engage the public."

Harrell stressed that DARE is not out to get Brady: "This is in no way an attack on... Col. Brady," he said. "The consensus is that (Brady) is O.K."

The attorney general's original finding seemed to confirm what Harrell and others said from the beginning: that Brady's appointment was orchestrated by Cicilline with little or no input from the School Board, much less the public.

Around March 17, Cicilline told members of the School Board that he was trying to find a replacement for then-Supt. Donnie Evans, who had come under heavy criticism for the way he handled the Dec. 13 snowstorm. The mayor said that he had asked both the Broad Foundation and the Council on Great City Schools to come up with candidates and they both suggested Brady.

Over the following week, members of the School Board met in pairs to interview Brady, according to Southgate. By meeting in pairs, the board avoided a "rolling quorum," which would have violated the Open Meetings Law.

On March 24, the board held a regular School Board meeting that began with a closed session. Later, after the open portion of the meeting was over, the board went back into closed session. It was then, without any public notice, that the board voted 9-0 to appoint Brady, according to Southgate.

The School Board never announced why it was going into executive session, nor did it announce its vote in open session afterward. The minutes of the closed session "shed almost no light on what transpired during the course of either closed session," Southgate wrote in her letter to the attorney general.

Cicilline has refused to comment on the way in which the Brady appointment was handled.

McClure said last week that she regrets breaking the Open Meetings Law but said that she would not change the process that led to Brady's appointment.

-- Journal staff writer Linda Borg