Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

The forecast is calling for a fine, fall weekend, just the right kind of weather to be traipsing around outdoors.

Tomorrow, there's a Great Barns of Glocester Tour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It starts at Glocester Manton Library in the Chepachet section. It's a self-guided tour from there. There are 12 barns on the tour -- one dates before 1800.

Also tomorrow, there is an India Point Park Bridge Fest from 1 to 4 p.m. in Providence.(Rain date is Sunday). The parade begins on the at Fox Point side and will cross newly opened pedestrian bridge to the park. Halloween costumes, music, food, and more.

The 11th Annual March to End the Silence is also tomorrow -- a candlelight vigil and march in memory of women, men and children who die each year from acts of domestic violence. It is at 2 p.m. and starts at Beneficent Chruch, 300 Weybosset St., Providence.

On Sunday, the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk -- with as many as 10,000 walkers taking part -- is from 7 a.m. to noon in the Roger Williams Park area of Providence.

Sunday night, a distinguished UCLA professor will discuss at Brown University the topic "Repatriation and Healing the Trauma of Native American History." It begins at 6:30 p.m.

To plan your weekend and next week, check out projothebeat.com, our new online database of events around our region.

By Steve Peoples
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE -- Thousands of rank-and-file union members will vote next week on a four-year contract that will increase their health care costs, delay pay increases in the first year, and boost co-pays for emergency room care and specialists.

The tentative agreement reached this week with Council 94, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, is aimed at resolving a three-month standoff that jeopardized roughly $10 million in savings needed to balance the state budget.

But the governor's office has refused to say whether the new agreement produces the necessary savings. And the "memorandum of settlement" obtained by The Journal today suggests that the deal contains concessions that could further endanger the state's already-precarious fiscal situation.

"We're not going to talk about [the agreement] until they have a chance to vote," Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said today, adding that discussing financial impacts may "compromise the integrity of the process."

The 22 local unions that make up Council 94 will begin voting on the deal as early as Tuesday, according to Council 94 executive director Dennis Grilli. His members soundly rejected a similar deal in July.

"It's tweaked a little bit," Grilli said of the latest proposal. "Although it's not the greatest package, we think it's a package that will secure the future for our members."

Indeed, the governor and organized labor agreed to the tentative agreement just before court-ordered arbitration began. Given the state's weakening economic situation, the arbitrator could have decided to force a new contract on Council 94 that was worse than the deal its members already rejected, according to Council 94 president Michael Downey.

"I'd rather have a contract by us deciding it," said Downey, who was a vocal opponent of the previous agreement. "I'll be voting for it."

By Steve Peoples
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE -- The governor's office has confirmed that a private consulting firm is working with state officials on plans to transform Rhode Island's Medicaid system.

The Lucas Group, which has offices in Boston and Toronto, is working on the state's "Global Medicaid Waiver" negotiations with federal officials on a "voluntary basis," according to Governor Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe.

"We are not engaged with Lucas. There's no contract," she said. "It's strictly voluntarily offering advice and guidance."

She could not say how Lucas became involved in Rhode Island's negotiation, which the governor says will save taxpayers $67 million this year by giving the state flexibility to restructure health care programs for the poor, elderly and disabled in exchange for a cap on spending.

But Kempe did confirm that Lucas employs John Stephen, a former New Hampshire health and human services commissioner, and recently failed Republican candidate for Congress in the Granite State's First District.

Stephen is a longtime friend of Rhode Island's director of human services, Gary Alexander. The two spent a day campaigning together in New Hampshire in July.

Alexander was recently shifted from managing day-to-day operations at DHS to focusing on Medicaid issues, which include obtaining the global waiver.

>> Continue reading: Consultant giving R.I. help on bid to reform Medicaid

PROVIDENCE -- A former hospital president found guilty of buying the influence of a state senator has asked a judge to throw out the convictions.

Robert Urciuoli says in court papers filed Wednesday that federal prosecutors didn't present enough evidence to support his convictions earlier this month of one count of conspiracy and 35 counts of mail fraud.

Urciuoli, the former president and chief executive of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, was convicted of hiring former state Sen. John Celona to do the hospital's bidding at the State House. A co-defendant, former hospital vice president, Frances Driscoll, was acquitted of the one corruption count she faced.

Urciuoli is scheduled to be sentenced March 6.

-- The Associated Press

By Gregory Smith
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- It is the police equivalent of "Uncle Sam wants you."

City officials today announced the Police Department's annual recruiting drive, as the police are looking for candidates for their next four-month training academy, which is scheduled for March. Each academy includes 20 to 30 recruits.

The department currently has 484 officers, which is about 5 fewer than budgeted, and by the time the next academy graduates, more vacancies are expected.

In an effort to make the largely white police force more reflective of a city composed mostly of racial and ethnic minorities, the department is trying to attract minorities. For example, it will place advertisements in newspapers that circulate in minority neighborhoods and spread the word through organizations that cater to minorities.

Charles Wilson, chairman of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, was one of several minority group leaders who participated in the announcement of the drive at the Public Safety Complex.

He said that if someone has an issue with law enforcement, then this is the perfect opportunity to become involved in the process and improve it.

A job as a police officer is "almost recession-proof," to boot, Wilson added.

Employment applications will be received from Oct. 17 through Nov. 14. Application forms are available at City Hall, at the police station and through community organizations, as well as online, at www.providencepolice.comcq.

The minimum eligibility requirements are: to be at least 21 years of age upon academy graduation, a graduate of a high school or a holder of a GED, a U.S. citizen, and to possess a valid Rhode Island driver's license. All candidates must submit to a criminal background check.

PORTSMOUTH -- The stretch of East Main Road between Turnpike Avenue and Boyds Lane will be striped as a three-lane road, with work starting Monday, the Department of Transportation said.

When done, the road will have one lane in each direction plus a wide turning lane for drivers waiting to make left turns.

The project is slated to begin Monday night when the old striping will be removed. New striping will be applied Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

By Barbara Polichetti
Journal staff writer

CRANSTON -- Philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein today announced that he is increasing the reward for any information that will help police solve the August hit-and-run accident in Warwick that killed 23-year-old Michael R. Russo.

On Thursday, Russo's family said they are saddened that no one has come forward since the Aug. 2 accident and that they are offering $1,000 for information that helps close the case. Saying he was touched by the family's loss, Feinstein yesterday said he was boosting the reward to $10,000.

"I'm shocked, I just can't believe it, " Michael H. Russo said today upon hearing of Feinstein's pledge. "I never met Mr. Feinstein. Someday I'd like to shake his hand."

The younger Russo was killed in the early-morning hours of Saturday, Aug. 2, when he was struck in the eastbound lane of Toll Gate Road near the West Warwick line. Police have said he spent the hours before partying with friends and may have been standing or lying in the middle of the road at the time of the accident.

Anyone with information, can call the Warwick police at 468-4200.

By C. Eugene Emery Jr.
Journal staff writer

SOMERSET, Mass. -- It's not exactly what Jesus would do, but a man driving a car with a "Jesus is Lord" bumper sticker ransacked and robbed a house on Riverside Avenue this morning.

Then he found out what police would do if they trapped him in the house: the cops broke in and arrested him.

A neighbor spotted 39-year-old Michael D. Vandenburgh kicking in a basement window at the unoccupied house around 9:30 a.m., police said. The neighbor called the cops. Ptlm. Scott Comfrey showed up, peeked in a window and spotted Vandenburgh at work. In no time, nine officers, including the police chief, had converged on the building.

When Vandenburgh finally spotted police, "he kept running around the house trying to escape, but he was surrounded," said Capt. John Solomito. When officers couldn't talk him into coming out, they kicked down a door and nabbed him in the kitchen.

"The entire house had been ransacked. He had pulled out every drawer," said Chief Joseph Ferreira.

Vandenburgh's car, sporting the bumper sticker, was parked next to the house, police said.

Vandenburgh, of 119 Niagara St., in Westport, Mass., was charged in Fall River District Court with two counts: breaking and entering in the daytime and attempting to commit a larceny. He was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail until his return on Nov. 14.

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Hideko Tamura, one of the last survivors of Hiroshima, spoke to students at Shea High School this afternoon about her personal experiences.

PAWTUCKET -- Through the memories of Hideko Tamura, the students of Shea High School traveled back in time today to a sunny August day in 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan, when a great "boulder of radiation came down like a waterfall."

Tamura was 12 years old at the time, several years younger than her Shea listeners. American involvement in World War II was in its fourth year, and the United States had just dropped the first atomic bomb on her city, known then as the Venice of the Orient.

Now 75, Tamura still remembers the swishing sound the bomb made, the way it threw her off her feet, like an earthquake, and the tremendous heat of the explosion, which incinerated everything and everyone at its epicenter, including her mother.

Tamura spoke to about 400 students to help raise awareness about impact of nuclear weapons on behalf of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which says the human race is nearing a turning point in deciding its long-term survival on earth.

With the spread of nuclear technology in a volatile political landscape worldwide, a decision will be made in the next two to three years whether to ban these weapons or allow all nations to have them, according to Steven L. Leeper, the executive director of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation.

Today's presentation was one of about 140 events that the foundation has undertaken throughout the United States during the last 18 months in a campaign calling for worldwide nuclear disarmament.

CHARLESTOWN -- In an effort to forestall the potential for a casino here, the Town Council said it decided today in closed session to enter into a purchase and sale agreement for 81 acres next to the Narragansett Indians' tribal land, pending town voters' approval.

The council came out into open session to announce that it will ask voters to support $5.5 million at referendum for purchase of the land off Route 1 owned by Charlestown developer Larry LeBlanc.

The referendum should take place within 90 days, according to Town Solicitor Robert E. Craven.

The decision was driven by concerns that the property would be bought by the Narragansett Indian Tribe or a partner -- allowing it to be placed into federal trust, outside of state and local control. Behind the concern is worry the land could become home to a casino.

The 81-acre parcel neighbors the tribe's 31 acres that are the subject of a pending U.S. Supreme Court appeal over whether the land can be put into federal trust. Town officials have speculated that if the tribe or a partner bought the land, the Narragansetts could add it to the rest of the federal trust property, providing enough land land for a large development such as a casino.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney and projo.com staff writers Michael P. McKinney and Maria Armental

>> Continue reading: Charlestown council to ask voters to OK $5.5M land deal

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers

Douglas Young, 4, is delighted to try out the driver's seat of a fire truck under the supervision of Matthew DelBonis, from Rescue 2.

Firefighters from Warwick's Ladder 1, Engine 9 and Rescue 2 were at Drum Rock Early Childhood Center in Warwick this morning, teaching the 107 students, ages 3 to 5, about fire safety. They showed the kids the fire trucks and gear during the hour-long session supervised by principal Kathryn Keenan.

See the video by Kathy Borchers

Lawyers met in Kent County Superior Court this morning to sign the stipulation dismissing the $1.1 million lawsuit filed against the Town of West Warwick by the School Department.

"The agreement was enacted as of last night when it was accepted," said Town Solicitor Timothy A. Williamson.

Under the deal, the so-called Caruolo lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, and the town agreed to pay three oustanding debts the School Department owes totaling $1,162,343.

in addition, the agreement encourages open dialogue between the School Committee and Town Council, and requires the School Committee to hire a labor attorney to negotiate contracts.

The Town Council has placed an item on its agenda for Tuesday to withdraw the necessary money from the town rainy day fund.

PROVIDENCE -- Want a home? Got $10? Brown University may have a deal for you, but there's a catch.

The Ivy League school is selling three 19th-century houses on Providence's historic East Side for $10. Here's the fine print: Each buyer must relocate their new abode somewhere else.

The sales come as Brown clears space on its campus for the planned Mind Brain Behavior Building. The three homes are in the way.

According to an ad from the university, the houses are at 127, 129 and 135 Angell St.

"The sale will be contingent upon the ability of the applicant to remove the structure(s) before July 31, 2009, preserve the historic fabric of the building exterior, and enhance the destination street and neighborhood," the ad says.

Preference will go to locations on the East Side that are "in keeping with the architectural scale and character of the buildings." And the route that would be used to move the buildings will be "carefully evaluated," the university says, to see what impact it might have on trees, residents and businesses.

Mike McCormick, Brown's assistant vice president for planning, design and construction, said tearing down the homes would be cheaper, but Brown wants to preserve them.

The school is offering up to $1 million to assist with relocation expenses, depending on the buyer's aims and finances. But the total cost of moving the three houses may exceed that.

-- The Associated Press and projo.com staff reports

GLOCESTER -- An 86-year-old man was killed this morning when he was struck by a pickup truck while crossing Snake Hill Road, according to the Glocester Police Department.

It was the third fatal car accident in the region involving Rhode Islanders within 24 hours.

Robert Mueller, 86, of Scituate, was crossing Snake Hill Road from Elmdale Road at about 8:53 a.m. when he was hit by a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven east by Judith Sollecito, 43, of Camelot Way, Glocester, police said.

The Harmony Fire Department Rescue Squad pronounced Mueller dead at the scene. He was about a mile from his home, the police said, and was on his normal walking route for that time of day.

The Rhode Island State Police are helping the Glocester police and the state Medical Examiner's Office investigate.

Early this morning, an 18-year-old Lowell, Mass., woman was killed and a Providence woman was injured in a one-car crash on Route 195 East in Somerset, Mass.

A 67-year-old Massachusetts man died in a Smithfield crash yesterday evening after he apparently lost control of his car.

With the state reaching its highest unemployment rate in 16 years, the state Department of Labor and Training is offering extra help for the unemployed.

The department's call center will be open from 8 a.m. until noon tomorrow for regular and extended unemployment insurance claims, according to the department's Web site. The call center can be reached at 401-243-9100.

And another round of unemployment insurance, up to seven more weeks, is available to qualified job seekers because the state's unemployment rate has hit such a consistently high rate.

The state's unemployment rate increased to 8.8 percent last month, its highest level in 16 years. The number of unemployed swelled to 50,200 -- the highest on record, according to the state Department of Labor and Training.

State unemployment benefits normally last up to 26 weeks. The state already has granted one extension for up to 13 weeks for jobless residents who run out of their regular benefits and have also exhausted the extended benefits offered under a federal program approved by Congress.

The latest state extension provides up to seven additional weeks -- for a maximum of 20 weeks -- of extended benefits for jobless residents, according to the state Department of Labor and Training.

State labor officials will notify eligible residents by mail if they qualify for the extended benefits.

-- With reports from Journal Business writer Lynn Arditi

By Kate Bramson
projo.com staff writer

A couple willow trees grace Providence's Willow Street.

The city has intentionally planted Elms on Elmgrove Avenue.

And by now, five Sargent cherry trees should be reaching for the blue sky from their newly dug holes on the little one-block Sargent Avenue.

More than a dozen Sargent residents took a couple hours off from work today, played hooky from school or otherwise cleared their schedules to help the city plant about 15 trees in all on the residential street. They're part of the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program, which is planting some 30 trees today and which plants between 400 and 500 trees each year, according to Thomas Morra, the city's tree resource manager.

Planting started around 10 a.m. today.

Neighborhoods must organize and promise to help plant the trees and take care of them for the city to select them as planting locations. Residents aren't charged for the trees, which are planted on public land.

The city is particularly encouraging residents in certain neighborhoods to apply for trees because they have the most need for trees, according to program director Liz Downing. Those neighborhoods are Elmwood, Federal Hill, Olneyville, Reservoir, Smith Hill, Upper and Lower South Providence, Valley, Washington Park and the West End.

The Charlestown Town Council is meeting in a special session today to discuss the possible purchase of 81 acres off Route 1 that abut Narragansett Indian tribal land.

The council will also consider who will argue the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on whether federal or state and local laws are to apply to 31 acres owned by the Narragansetts.

Both issues have come to the forefront this week as a Nov. 3 Supreme Court hearing date approaches.

The case could set a precedent for Indian land disputes across the country.

Governor Carcieri asked the four council members Tuesday to back former U.S. Soliticitor General Theodore B. Olson, his pick, to argue the case. The town is backing Town Solicitor for Indian Affairs Joseph S. Larisa.

Larisa also attended the meeting, but was asked to leave the room when Carcieri made his case.

Carcieri's appearance, during the council's closed-session portion, was not advertised.

The council's posted agenda only includes land acquisition and collective bargaining discussion.

Council members will also be discussing today whether to sign a land and purchase agreement with Charlestown developer Larry LeBlanc, the owner of the 81 acres. LeBlanc has said he's been offered about $22 million from three interested buyers, including the Narragansett Indian tribe and two casino promoters that purportedly would buy the land for the tribe.

Tribal leaders have denied it.

Several council members and tribal leaders have accused LeBlanc of using "scare tactics" to "artifically inflate" the value of the property.

LeBlanc has declined to comment.

The meeting will be held today at 1 p.m. at the Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail (Route 2).

(NOTE: An earlier version of this posting incorrectly reported the meeting was held Monday, Columbus Day.)

An 18-year-old Lowell, Mass., woman was killed and a Providence woman was injured in a one-car crash on Route 195 East in Somerset early this morning, according to the Massachusetts State Police.

The crash, near the Lee River Road overpass, happened around 2 a.m. and closed the left and center travel lanes of Route 195 there for about four hours, according to the state police.

The woman who died, Anita Ruom, 18, of Lowell, Mass., was a passenger in a 2001 Chevrolet Impala driven by Rosin So, 21, of Providence. Ruom was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car.

The driver, who was wearing a seatbelt, was trapped in the car, extricated by emergency workers and taken to Charlton Memorial Hospital in New Bedford and then Rhode Island Hospital in Providence with minor injuries, according to the state police.

The car had been heading east when the driver lost control and struck the median guardrail, then crossed all lanes and struck the guardrail on the right side of the road before crossing the highway again and coming to rest on top of the median guardrail, facing west in the eastbound lanes, the state police said.

A Rehoboth, Mass., man died yesterday after he apparently lost control of his car, hitting the center guardrail, the Smithfield police said.

The police are withholding the 67-year-old's name and address pending family notification.

The police said the man, who was driving a pickup truck towing a landscape trailer, appears to have suffered a "medical emergency" prior to the crash.

He was driving west on Putnam Pike, near Route 295, when he crashed around 5:10 p.m.

No other vehicles were involved. He was riding alone.

The man was unconscious when emergency personnel arrived. He was taken to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, where he was pronounced dead.

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Maple leaves land in a graceful pattern on Washington Street in Providence. Share your autumn views by uploading photos to our slideshow, and see what others have snapped.

NEWPORT -- Expect traffic (more than usual!) in downtown Newport Saturday.

That's because the city is hosting the Amica Insurance Breakers Marathon, that's 26 miles.

The race is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. on America's Cup Avenue, next to the Newport Harbor Motel, and will end on Memorial Boulevard in front of the east lot of Easton's Beach. A kid's race will start at 9 a.m. The entire race is expected to end by 2 p.m.

Traffic will be restricted on America's Cup Avenue starting at 7 a.m., but all points will be accessible throughout the race, the police said.

The event will temporarily coincide with the Bowen's Wharf Seafood Festival, already in its 19th year.

The festival, which will feature "Harvest of the Sea" specialties from 15 local restaurants, will kick off at 11 a.m and run through 5 p.m.

On this day in 1989, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck northern California, killing 67 people and causing $7 billion worth of damage.

Read more from today in history.

PROVIDENCE -- If you enjoy commuting in the moonlight, we hope you're working the early shift today. The sky was crisp and clear with a waning gibbous moon amid the stars shortly after 6.

We can expect a sunny day with a high near 63 today. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a high near 54, according to the National Weather Service. This weekend looks like it will be chilly -- in the mid-50s -- but sunny, or at least partly sunny. Sunday might be a good day for a hike.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Today's front page features news of the Red Sox' dramatic win, a report on the state jobless rate hitting a 16-year high and interviews with some of Rhode Island's Joe the Plumbers.

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