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June 9, 2006

Lynch files arguments to reduce Yashar pension

PROVIDENCE -- Attorney General Patrick Lynch today followed through on a pledge to reduce the pension of Traffic Tribunal Judge Marjorie R. Yashar, filing a motion for summary judgment in Superior Court.

Lynch went to court on April 5, asking a judge to reduce the pension from $120,310 to $86,650. Today, Lynch elaborated on arguments he made earlier in court.

The court administration included eight months of time that Yashar was on unpaid leave to push her years of service to 20 years. Those extra months qualified Yashar for a 25 percent increase in her pension.

The court will schedule a hearing after reviewing the motion.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:40 PM | Comment

Photo: The Blackstone

The Blackstone rushes through Woonsocket today. Although a flood watch continues for northern Rhode Island, the Blackstone has been falling.

According to the National Weather Service, the river peaked at 9.78 feet at 2 a.m. yesterday -- about a foot over flood stage. At 2 p.m. today, the Blackstone was measured at 7.18 feet.

Posted by Jack Perry at 4:54 PM | Comment

Johnston man accused of dumping paint wastes

EAST PROVIDENCE -- A Johnston man was arrested today on charges of dumping hundreds of cans of paint waste at the city’s Department of Public Works complex on Commercial Way.

Richard A. Rebello, 35, of South Williams St., was charged with illegal disposal of hazardous waste and illegal transport of hazardous materials without a manifest by the state Department of Environmental Management. The charge carries a penalty of up to $10,000 and up to five years imprisonment.

Kurt Schatz, DEM's chief of criminal investigation, alleged today that the dumping isn't Rebello’s first.

-- Journal staff writer Alisha A. Pina

“They were certainly upset when they found another load of cans [this] morning,” Schatz said. “And then he came back with another pickup truck full of cans.”

The public works workers held him and called the police.

“He wouldn’t tell us where he got it from,” Schatz said. “All he said was he was doing a job for someone else.”

-- Journal staff writer Alisha A. Pina

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:49 PM | Comment

Seniors around R.I. marching to graduation beat today

If you think you hear the sound of "Pomp and Circumstance" in your neighborhood today -- you could be right.

Thousands of area high school seniors will partake in commencement exercises today, among the busiest days for high school graduations of the year.

Students from the Wheeler School, in Providence, received diplomas this morning. Students from 19 other high schools in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts will join them later today.

The Woonsocket High School commencement is scheduled for 4 p.m., while the rest are set for 6, 6:30 or 7 p.m.

They include Providence's Hope High School, Burrillville High School, Lincoln High School, West Warwick High School, Ponaganset High School, Tolman High School, E-Cubed Academy, Providence's School One, the New England Christian Academy, Portsmouth High School, the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, Somerset High School, Tiverton High School, Scituate High School, Fall River's Durfee High School, Johnston High School, Bishop Keough High School, and Bishop Hendricken High School.

For more graduation coverage this year, click here.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:04 PM | Comment

Pawtucket bash takes aim at gun violence

PAWTUCKET -- The Attorney General's Office is hosting the 8th annual Toy Gun Bash tomorrow afternoon at Payne Park on West Avenue.

The yearly event aims to discourage gun violence by allowing children to destroy their toy guns in a machine dubbed the "Bash-O-Matic" that "crushes, smushes, smashes, and otherwise bashes toy guns like nobody's business," according to an announcement today by the attorney general's office.

In addition to "gun bashing," there will be free food, games, raffles, and a 3-point basketball shooting contest featuring Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:58 PM | Comment

Old Jamestown bridge demolition moving to new phase

JAMESTOWN -- Beginning next week, construction crews will use a jackhammer-like device called a hoe ram to destroy the old Jamestown Bridge's remaining concrete piers, as the massive demolition project moves into a new phase.

The state Department of Transportation revealed details today regarding next week's efforts, which will not include explosives or require any road closures.

The top 50 feet of the bridge's center piers were demolished with explosives last month, along with 2,200 feet of deck trusses.

The hoe ramming will begin next week and continue through August, according to today's announcement. Crews are limited to using the machine from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. because of the noise level, which the state says will be lower than another construction method known as pile driving.

Later in the summer, the demolition will include a round of underwater explosions that will require a brief closure of the new bridge.

Miss the two earlier bridge explosions? See photos and video here: http://projo.com/extra/2006/jamestownbridge/

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:58 PM | Comment

First round of play postponed at Champions Tour

CONCORD, Mass. -- The first round of the Bank of America Championship scheduled for today was postponed for a day because of rain that made the Nashawtuc Country Club course saturated and unplayable.

Play will instead start at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow, with the goal of finishing at least 18 holes and possibly 36 holes on Sunday, Champions Tour tournament director Ben Nelson told reporters.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:16 PM | Comment

Cat spay and neuter bill to become law soon

PROVIDENCE – Although his office had considered holding a public ceremony today for Governor Carcieri to sign the mandatory spay and neuter bill that was overwhelmingly passed by the House and Senate, there will be no ceremony, spokesman Jeff Neal said today.

That’s in contrast to what the animal advocacy group Defenders of Animals has publicized. The group issued a news release saying the governor would be signing the bill today at a 1:30 p.m. State House ceremony.

Not so, Neal said. And because he had gotten so many calls about the ceremony, Neal even issued a media advisory via e-mail, labeled “No Cat Bill Ceremony.”
It was purely a scheduling issue, Neal said. Carcieri supports the bill and expects to sign it before it would automatically become law, which would happen either this weekend or Monday, Neal said.

“Ultimately, we simply could not find a way to fit it into the governor’s calendar for today,” Neal said.

Ninety-eight percent of the bills the governor signs are done so without a ceremony, Neal said.

Sponsors of the bill have said it would make Rhode Island the first state in the country to prohibit people from harboring fertile cats.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:11 PM | Comment

Supreme Court upholds redistricting plan

PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island Supreme Court today upheld a lower court's ruling that the General Assembly's 2002 redistricting plan is legal.

Rhode Island voters approved amendments to the state constitution more than a decade ago that eliminated 37 lawmakers from the General Assembly. Afterward, lawmakers established a commission that created new legislative districts.

Bristol voters and town officials filed a lawsuit, saying their town was carved into parts of three separate Senate districts. Bristol voters weren't in the majority in any of those districts.

The Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiffs didn't prove that lawmakers created the districts without reason or for pure political gain. The judges say lawmakers should have broad discretion in redistricting.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:24 AM | Comment

The View says farewell to R.I.'s Vieira today

Fans of Rhode Island native Meredith Vieira will have their last chance to see her on The View today, as she bids farewell to the show after nine years.

A celebrity roast and surprise guests are planned, the show says. The broadcast will be aired live at 11 a.m. today, on local ABC channels 5 and 6.

But it won't be the last TV network appearance for View moderator Vieira, who is replacing Katie Couric as co-hose of NBC's Today show this fall. She's scheduled to start sometime in September.

Read what Vieira has to say about her leave-taking and new job in a recent interview with Journal TV writer Andy Smith.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 9:06 AM | Comment

Cumberland house fire under investigation

CUMBERLAND – Fire and police officials and the state fire marshal’s office are investigating an early morning fire in a house that was still under construction, according to police Sgt. Mark England.

After a woman driving along Route 295 reported a house on fire to the police at 1:47 a.m., the police located the home at 1:50 a.m., and firefighters were on scene at 1:53 a.m., England said.

At that point, the fire at the two-story home at 2 Jenna Way was “pretty significant,” he said. Crews from four of the five fire stations in town – 1, 2, 4 and 5 – responded to the blaze.

The home is one of about three or four structures in a new development off Abbott Run Valley Road, England said. None of the homes is inhabited, he said.

It took a “couple hours” to extinguish the blaze, England said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:44 AM | Comment

Sewage spurs closure of some shellfish beds

PROVIDENCE -- Shellfish beds are being closed in some Rhode Island waters because of sewage that's leaked into the ocean due to heavy rain.

The Department of Environmental Management is closing beds in Bristol Harbor and around Hog Island until at least June 17.

The DEM says sewage from Bristol's wastewater treatment facility has overflowed. It has to check the levels of fecal coliform bacteria next week and make sure the amount is safe.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:08 AM | Comment

Flood warnings continue as more rain falls

PROVIDENCE – It’s drizzling now, but there’s more to come. As flood watches and warnings continue throughout the region today, expect possible showers this morning and afternoon.

Brief heavy rains this afternoon in parts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire should cause renewed risings of already swollen rivers and streams.

Expect a high of around 70 degrees.

Until further notice, the flood warning continues for the Pawtuxet River in Cranston, which was already at 12 feet – three feet higher than flood stage – at 5 a.m. today.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:00 AM | Comment