6:05 AM Fri, Oct 30, 2009 | Permalink
Thomas J. Morgan  Email
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On the local front:
A year ago today:
The Providence Journal newsroom becomes one of more than three dozen media outlets around the country that received hoax letters containing packets of sugar that were labeled anthrax. Members of the Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Team, along with local and state police, descended on the Journal newsroom after the Journal's interim executive editor, Thomas Heslin, notified the FBI that a letter similar to one that had been received by other news organizations had been mailed to the newsroom. The letters are believed to have been sent by Marc M. Keyser, a 66-year-old California man who was arrested yesterday by the FBI on three counts of sending a hoax letter. Officials said Keyser has a record of sending hoax letters, and is believed to have sent out as many as 120 letters this time. Journal city editor Timothy Murphy said a manila envelope contained a CD decorated with what appeared to be a photo of former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaking at the United Nations, along with the words "Anthrax: Shock & Awe Terror." On the outside of the disc container was a small packet of sugar labeled "Anthrax Sample."
5 years ago today:
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader makes a 10-minute visit to the city to rally support for his campaign. He was greeted by a handful of protesters, including members of the Green Party, who believe Nader may help President Bush win reelection. Nader is on the ballot in 35 states, including Rhode Island. He's a certified write-in candidate in 13 states. He is not on the ballot in Oklahoma and is protesting being thrown off the ballot in Ohio and Hawaii. "We are the underdog candidacy in this campaign," Nader said, "but what we represent are the voices and hopes and rights of tens of millions of underdogs in America, who are pushed around, defrauded, denied health care, underpaid, harmed, ignored and disrespected as they go about doing the daily work of the country."
25 years ago today:
Anxiety has increased in the Laurel Ridge Road area in Burrillville with each of the six suspicious fires that have occurred within a half-mile radius in the past year. The fires have involved only barns and storage sheds, the most recent last week when three horses escaped serious injury when their barn was destroyed by fire. "But who knows what'll happen next?" wonders Ted Desjarlais, whose family lives a couple of houses away from the family of Wilfred Carter, who almost lost their three horses. "If there's a loose nut running around out here, maybe it'll be a house next, with kids getting hurt." Desjarlais is among several residents who are concerned that an unknown firebug may be responsible for the rash of fires that began Oct. 2, 1983, when a barn, owned by Harold Carter Sr. of Warner Lane, was destroyed. A month later, on Nov. 14, a 10-by-12-foot storage shed, situated a short distance from the former barn site, was also leveled in a blaze. Both structures were used to store hay, and both fires were termed suspicious by Pascoag Volunteer Fire Department officials. Last Nov. 27, Desjarlais lost his storage shed which contained tools, fishing and garden equipment, all of which was salvaged with minor damage.
On the national front:
On this day in 1938, the U.S. radio play, "The War of the Worlds," starring Orson Welles, airs on CBS. The live drama, which employed fake news reports, panicked listeners who thought its portrayal of a Martian invasion was true.
Read more highlights from Today in History.
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