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April 4, 2006

Latest forecast: April (snow) showers likely

Just when you thought winter was over...

Snow showers are expected overnight and may persist until about 10 a.m. tomorrow, according to the National Weather Service.

And it will be cold. Temperatures will fall to around freezing tonight, and a stiff breeze may bring the wind chill to much colder. Wind gusts may reach 28 mph.

Snow showers may change to rain later tomorrow as temperatures climb to the high 40s.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com ...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:54 PM | Comment

Election board to appeal ruling on GOP probe

PROVIDENCE -- The state Board of Elections will ask the state Supreme Court to overturn a recent ruling that barred the board from investigating an allegation that the Republican Party and Governor Carcieri's campaign violated election law in 2002.

The board voted unanimously this afternoon to appeal Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato's decision to the Supreme Court.

Fortunato last week said that the board's years-long failure to make it clear to candidates and political organizations what they can and can't do and how the board would handle violations meant that the investigation trampled on the First Amendment and due process rights of the Republicans.

The underlying question of the case is whether the Republicans did anything wrong in 2002, when the state party got $250,000 from the Republican National Committee and used part of it to finance a pro-Carcieri TV commercial.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:30 PM | Comment

Alternative rock band LIVE to play Lupo's

LIVE, whose new album, "Songs from Black Mountain," is to released April 18, will appear at Lupo's in Providence at 7:30 p.m. April 22.

Advance tickets are $30 (with limited reserved seats at $38.50); they go on sale tomorrow at noon at the box office, at ticketmaster.com or by calling (401) 331-2211.

LIVE is an alternative-rock band that peaked in the 1990s with top 10 singles such as "I Alone," "Lightning Crashes," and "All Over You."

Posted by at 5:04 PM | Comment

Rally against minimum drug sentences postponed

PROVIDENCE -- A rally planned for today to criticize the state's mandatory minimum drug sentences has been postponed.

The organizers, of the Providence nonprofit group Direct Action for Rights and Equity, rescheduled the event for Thursday at 3:30 p.m. outside the State House.

The group had hoped to hold the event today, on the anniversary of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, to highlight the ways mandatory minimum sentencing fuels racial disparities in the state's prison population.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:34 PM | Comment

Administrator welcomes review of Yashar pension

PROVIDENCE -- The administrator of the Rhode Island judiciary said this afternoon that he welcomes a Superior Court review of the decision to grant former Traffic Tribunal Associate Judge Marjorie R. Yashar a full pension.

The move was sharply criticized by the governor and lawmakers who argued that Yashar's eight months of unpaid leave should not have counted toward the pension. In following the standard protocol for determining court pensions, Court Administrator J. Joseph Baxter included the eight months, boosting Yashar's pension from $81,650 to $120,310.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch plans to ask a Superior Court judge tomorrow to interpret the law as it pertains to Yashar’s pension.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:14 PM | Comment

Police seek man in bank-surveillance photo

CRANSTON -- The police today released a photo of a man they are trying to identify in connection with the robbery of a Sovereign Bank branch on March 8.

The 555 Reservoir Ave. branch was robbed that day by a man who passed a note demanding money to a teller, the police said.

Two days later, the man in the photo walked into the same branch, wearing a glove on one hand and carrying a slip of paper, said Maj. Ronald T. Blackmar. The image was taken from a bank surveillance camera.

The same teller who was robbed two days’ previously recognized the man, who wore a parka with a fur-trimmed hood, Blackmar said. The two made eye contact, and the man fled the office, Blackmar said.

So far, the police have been unable to identify the man. Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 942-2211.

-- Journal staff writer Zachary Mider

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:01 PM | Comment

Group criticizes mandatory minimum drug sentences

PROVIDENCE -- Community leaders and legislators were to meet at the State House this afternoon to criticize mandatory minimum drug sentences.

Since the sentencing policy was enacted in the 1980s, Rhode Island's minority populations have been disproportionately penalized, contends Direct Action for Rights and Equality, a Providence nonprofit organization hosting today's press conference.

The group decided to hold an event, on the anniversary of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, to highlight the ways mandatory minimum sentencing fuels racial disparities in the state's prison population, according to a statement.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:55 PM | Comment

Sovereign to open call center in New Bedford

Sovereign Bancorp said today it will open a new call center in New Bedford, Mass., this summer to handle increased call volume expected following the purchase of a New York City bank.

The call center will employ more than 100 people and is expected to open in June, said the parent company of Sovereign Bank.

Sovereign will locate the new facility in the former headquarters of Seacoast Financial Services Corp., the holding company of the former CompassBank acquired by Sovereign in 2004.

Posted by at 3:15 PM | Comment

Victim's father to push tougher sexual-predator penalties in R.I.

PROVIDENCE -- Mark Lunsford's daughter was raped and killed in Florida by a sexual predator last year.

This afternoon, Lunsford will testify before two legislative committees at the State House, urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would strengthen penalties for sexual predators and provide more safeguards for the community.

Lunsford serves as president of the Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation. He has led efforts nationwide to pass laws that would give police better tools to capture sexual predators, imprison them for 25 years or more, and protect the community through notification and electronic monitoring.

Lunsford will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at around 4:30 p.m. and later testify at the House Health, Education, Welfare Committee.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:14 PM | Comment

Senate panel to debate governor's education budget

The Senate Finance Committee expects today to discuss Governor Carcieri’s proposal to increase state aid to local school districts by $41 million next year.

The 3 p.m. committee hearing will be held in the Senate Lounge.

The governor's budget proposal represents the highest increase in local education aid in six years, according to the governor’s office.

The committee will also hear testimony on the governor’s proposal to increase the state share of pension costs for local teachers, from the current 40 percent to 50 percent in the 2008 fiscal year.

Read earlier Journal articles about Carcieri’s education priorities for next year:
March 15, March 10 and Feb. 8.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:55 PM | Comment

W. Warwick Marine had just started 2nd tour in Iraq

Marine Cpl. Brian St. Germain had been back in Iraq for about two months when he was killed, according to his family.

St. Germain, a former track star for West Warwick High School, worked as a mechanic for the Marines, according to his uncle, Terrence Adamo, who spoke to The Journal this afternoon at St. Germain's mother's home in West Warwick, where family members were gathered.

He initially joined in 2002, after a brief stint at the University of Rhode Island, and began his second tour of duty in February. St. Germain liked the Marines and planned to re-enlist for another four years, Adamo said.

The 22-year-old Marine died Sunday when the vehicle in which he was riding rolled over in Al Anbar Province during a flash flood.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault

Read the full story ...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:38 PM | Comment

Reading celebration at State House today

Books Are Wings, a program whose goal is to put a book in the hands of every Rhode Island child, will celebrate reading at the State House this afternoon.

One hundred children from Cranston plan to join program founder Rep. Elizabeth M. Dennigan, D-East Providence and Pawtucket, in the State House Rotunda.

The program has distributed more than 200,000 books throughout the state.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:27 PM | Comment

Free health-care career fair today

WARWICK -- More than a dozen health-care companies are at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick today looking for employees in the nursing and allied health fields.

The career fair, free to job seekers, is open noon to 5 p.m. and is sponsored by The Providence Journal.

Job hunters should bring a hard copy of their resumes for free distribution to all participating companies and for immediate posting on projo.com’s resume center.

For a full list of exhibitors, go online to www.projo.com/jobcenter.

Posted by Jack Perry at 1:57 PM | Comment

Debate over traffic judge's pension heading to court

PROVIDENCE -- The debate over former Traffic Tribunal Judge Marjorie R. Yashar’s pension now heads to the courts.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch plans to ask a Superior Court judge tomorrow to interpret the law as it pertains to Yashar’s pension.

Lynch’s staff has determined that the eight months Yashar spent on unpaid leave do not make her eligible to receive a pension equal to 100 percent of her final salary. State Court Administrator J. Joseph Baxter has a different interpretation. He says that judges’ pensions are based solely on their hire and retirement dates.

To clarify the situation, Lynch will seek a declaratory ruling from a judge tomorrow, according to his spokesman, Michael J. Healey. A hearing is expected to be scheduled at a later date.

The Providence Journal reported last week that by getting credit for eight months of unpaid leave, Yashar’s annual pension was boosted from $81,650 to $120,310. The pension comes with a 3-percent annual cost-of-living increase.

-- Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:45 PM | Comment

URI postpones today's softball, baseball games

The University of Rhode Island has announced that a softball double header, scheduled for 2 p.m. against Boston University; and a baseball game, scheduled for 3 p.m. against Central Connecticut, have been postponed due to the weather. Both games were to have been played in Kingston. The make-up dates have not been annouced.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 1:06 PM | Comment

Brown senior dies in Peru rafting accident

A Brown University senior, who was poised to graduate next month, has drowned in a rafting accident while traveling in Peru, according to university officials.

Alison Michener, whose parents live in Pasadena, Calif., died Friday, according to a letter e-mailed to the university community by Dean of the College Paul Armstrong and David A. Greene, vice president for campus life and student services.

Another passenger on the raft also reportedly drowned when the raft capsized, but university spokeswoman Molly de Ramel said the university has no information about that person.

Armstrong and Greene have said they will share information with the university community as it becomes available about any memorial services for Michener. Nothing is planned yet. Counseling is available for Michener's friends on campus, de Ramel said.

A close friend of Michener's from Brown was also in the raft and survived the accident, officials said. De Ramel has not released that student’s name.

Armstrong and Greene described Michener as “an exceptionally talented student,” who was scheduled to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology next month.

Michener was writing a senior thesis on bacteria populations in marine waters. She had hoped to earn a Ph.D. in biology and direct research projects that would improve the lives of others, officials reported.

Born in Colorado, Michener later moved to Pasadena with her parents, Stuart and Nancy Michener, who still live there.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:37 PM | Comment

W. Warwick Marine died in flash flood in Iraq

Cpl. Brian St. Germain, a 22-year-old Marine from West Warwick, died in Iraq on Sunday, the victim of a single-vehicle accident in Al Anbar Province.

Governor Carcieri released a statement just after noon today offering the first details of the circumstances surrounding the West Warwick High School graduate's death.

According to the statement, the Marine Corps said St. Germain was a passenger in a "Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement" that was caught in a flash flood and rolled over.

This was his second tour in Iraq.

St. Germain was meritoriously promoted to corporal during his first tour, according to the governor's statement.

He was an active-duty Marine attached to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force .

School Supt. David Raiche said earlier today that St. Germain was the first West Warwick graduate to die in Iraq.

Carcieri has ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff in St. Germain's honor.

More to come on projo.com ...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:37 PM | Comment

Photo: Security vehicle breaks through garage barrier at Providence mall

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers

A Providence Place security vehicle hangs over the side of the 4th floor parking garage on the promenade side of the mall at about 11:15 this morning. The accident happened at 10:45 a.m. while a mall security officer was on mobile patrol in the garage, according to a statement from the mall. The driver, Ramon LaBoy, 22, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital when he complained of neck pain. He will probably be held overnight for observation, said Rubin Lawrence, a spokesman for Allied-Barton Security Services. Lawrence said the security company is investigating whether a mechanical malfunction caused the accident.

-- With reports from the Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:16 PM | Comment

West Warwick Marine killed in Iraq

A 22-year-old Marine from West Warwick has been killed in Iraq.

Brian St. Germain was a 2001 West Warwick High School graduate, according to school Supt. David Raiche. He was the first from the school to die in Iraq, Raiche said.

The school has also released a statement regarding St. Germain's death.

More to come on projo.com ...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:26 AM | Comment

Providence teen jumps out window to escape fire

Journal photo / Bill Murphy

Providence firefighters douse a blaze this morning at 104 Robinson Street. Nineteen-year-old Michael Allen, who was asleep when the fire started, jumped from his second-floor bedroom window to escape injury. His mother and brother were also home and were not injured. Fire officials said the fire was started by a candle left burning

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:22 AM | Comment

Photo: Walking dogs in the fog

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Joaquim Fonseca walks his employer's dogs at Prospect Park in Providence this morning in the fog. For dogs Phoebe, left, and Simon and Mac, walking is part of their daily routine no matter what the weather. They could be walking through snow tomorrow. The National Weather Service is predicting a chance of snow showers tonight and tomorrow morning. Where did last week's spring weather go?

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:28 AM | Comment

Brown has record number of applicants

Brown University had a record number of applications this year, partly because it has spent the past two years recruiting low- and moderate-income students in about 100 U.S. cities, Dean of Admission James Miller said.

The university accepted 13.8 percent (or 2,523) of the record 18,313 applicants for admission to the Class of 2010, spokeswoman Deborah Goldstein said.

-- Bloomberg News

Brown switched to a need-blind admission policy four years ago, Miller said. About 41 percent of the university’s 5,750 undergraduates receive an average aid package of $24,000, he said.

“Now that we have a need-blind policy, everybody comes through the front door,” Miller said. “The family’s ability to pay doesn’t influence admissions decisions.”

Brown is not alone. Ivy League schools are receiving a record number of applications this year.

The number of U.S. high school graduates may rise 10 percent to 3.2 million in the 2013-2014 school year, up from 2.9 million in 2001-2002, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:20 AM | Comment

Mascot urges kids to play nice

There’s an elephant in town today, and he’s talking to kids about playing nice on the ball field and being a good sport.

Packy PlayFair is a new mascot for good sportsmanship, and he plans to meet more than 300 students this morning at Providence’s George J. West Elementary School. At noon, he’ll visit patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and then at 4 p.m. he’ll put on an assembly at the YMCA located at 164 Broad St. in Providence.

Packy began a national educational tour last week in Washington, D.C.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:40 AM | Comment

Experts to discuss tourism trends

The Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association is holding its 3rd annual Economic Outlook Breakfast this morning, from 8 to 10 at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Industry leaders are expected to provide an update on the economic status of the hospitality and tourism industry locally and nationally. A panel of experts will offer an in-depth look at trends and growth opportunities.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:28 AM | Comment

Car burns on Route 195

EAST PROVIDENCE -- A car involved in an accident on Route 195, East Providence, caught fire early this morning.

Police officers were nearby, and a fire engine and an ambulance were rushing toward the car on Route 195 East shortly before 6:30 a.m.

The front of the car was heavily damaged, and fire was leaping from its engine compartment. The car appeared to be empty.

A dispatcher for fire and rescue in East Providence said police officers and firefighters were still on Route 195 at about 6:45 a.m. She said several cars were involved, and the accident was affecting traffic.

No more information was available.

Posted by Jack Perry at 6:58 AM | Comment

Weather service: Go slow on roads today

Rain. That’s what today has in store for us.

The rain should continue through most of the morning commute and will be heavy at times, accumulating on roads and in poor drainage areas, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service is urging drivers to keep driving speeds down to avoid hydroplaning with the morning’s rain.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:56 AM | Comment