Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman

FOSTER -- Amanda Sabitoni, 20, of Alpine, led the way after the qualifying round of
the Ocean State Women's Golf Amateur tournament today. Her
5-over-par 77 was one shot better than second-place Samantha Morrell, a
15-year-old from North Kingstown.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:45 PM | Comment

Photo: Godspeed arrives in Newport for week-long stay

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Godspeed, a re-creation of one of three ships that in 1607 transported America's first permanent English colonists to Virginia, arrived in Newport today for a week-long stay at the Newport Yachting Center. In the background is the sloop Providence, which greeted the Godspeed when it entered Narragansett Bay. Newport is the sixth and final port of call on an 80-day tour of six East Coast cities this summer that aims to bring the story of the "journey that changed the world" and the nation's birthplace, Jamestown, Va., to millions of Americans. Godspeed will be open to the public daily.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:25 PM | Comment

Providence port fire finally out

PROVIDENCE -- The smoldering fire at the Motiva petroleum terminal pier on the Providence River is out -- five days after the fire ignited.

Officials at the terminal made the announcement at about 3:30 p.m.

As a Danish tanker was off-loading gasoline late Tuesday when an explosion and fireball erupted – ignited, it is thought, by either a lightning strike or static electricity.

The pier was heavily damaged, according to its owner, Motiva Enterprises LLC. The tanker, which was able to back away from the pier, apparently escaped major damage, according to a preliminary assessment by the Coast Guard.

Although the fire was declared under control at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, city firefighters had been obliged to remain at the pier through yesterday afternoon to attend to minor fires caused by fuel leaking from damaged pipes on the pier. The pier’s wooden underpinnings also continued to smolder.

Officials said today that the pipes had been completely drained of fuel. Crews were working to flush them with water.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:52 PM | Comment

Update: 18-year-old woman stung by man-of-war

An 18-year-old woman was stung this afternoon by a Portuguese man-of-war while swimming in the crowded waters of Misquamicut State Beach.

The woman has been taken to the hospital and lifeguards have closed the section of the beach where the incident took place, according to the Department of Environmental Management spokeswoman Gail Mastrati.

Lifeguards pulled the man-of-war into shore and are expected to bury it, Mastrati said.

Today's stinging is the fourth in the last two days at Rhode Island beaches.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Peter B. Lord

A waist-deep swimming restriction remains in effect in all state-operated beaches throughout South County, following a rash of weekend sightings and at least three apparent stingings in Charlestown yesterday.

The swimming restrictions may be lifted on a case-by-case basis later today if no sightings of man-of-war are confirmed, State Parks Supt. Steven Wright said.

A complete swimming ban is being enforced today in Charlestown’s Town Beach and Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown, said Lisa DiBello, town parks and recreation director.

Westerly town officials lifted their swimming ban this morning after seeing no evidence of men-of-war in the area this morning, said John Moratta, a beach attendant.

“We did a thorough check of the beach” this morning, Moratta said. “Until further notice, we are allowing swimming.”

Area beaches remain vigilant of possible sightings. Swimming restrictions may be imposed later in the day if any men-of-war are seen.

“We will reassess the situation this afternoon,” DiBello said. “The surf was subsided, so hopefully that will help to alleviate the problem.”

Three people – two children and a lifeguard who was in the middle of a rescue– were stung in Charlestown Sunday.

A woman was stung in a privately-owned beach in Westerly on Saturday.

Portuguese men-of-war, jellyfish-like creatures with long tentacles that can reach more than 100 feet in length and contain powerful toxins that can kill or paralyze its prey, are common of warmer waters but likely drifted into the area by eddies broken off from the Gulf Stream.

For more background, read today's Journal story.

-- Journal staff writer Maria Armental

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:00 PM | Comment

West Nile found in Mass., none in RI so far

PROVIDENCE -- West Nile virus has been detected in a Massachusetts crow, but no cases have been reported so far in the Ocean State.

Officials at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management say mosquitos collected from 27 traps all tested negative for West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

Both viruses are transmitted to humans through mosquito bites and can be deadly.

Rhode Island officials say a surplus of rain has increased mosquito breeding. More mosquitos means there's a greater chance of the diseases being transmitted.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:40 PM | Comment

Reed joins Senate effort to block tobacco sales

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has joined his Democratic colleague Sen. Frank Lautenberg, of New Jersey, in asking federal officials to ban the sale of all tobacco products at sundry shops in the Senate complex.

Lautenberg, who wrote the law banning smoking on commercial airlines, sent a letter today to the Senate's food service management office, saying selling tobacco products is inconsistent with the Senate's commitment to protecting the public's health.

Tobacco products are currently sold at various Senate sundry shops at a discount because no state excise or sales taxes are applied.

"Selling cigarettes free of state taxes encourages tourists and local residents to shop for cigarettes in the Senate where they can buy them at a discount," Lautenberg said. "The United States Senate must stop operating as a discount cigarette outlet."

The District of Columbia and the state of Maryland impose excise taxes of $1 per pack on cigarettes in addition to the sales tax, Lautenberg noted.

Lautenberg's letter was also signed by Democrats Reed, of Rhode Island, Richard Durbin, of Illinois, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:30 PM | Comment

Man, 22, jailed for having sex with 13-year-old girl

WOONSOCKET -- A 22-year-old man is being held without bail for allegedly assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a parking of a local church this weekend.

Police say Jesus A. Baez, who has no permanent address, met his victim at the Kennedy Plaza bus depot in Providence last month. The pair met up again in Woonsocket’s River Island Park Saturday afternoon and decided to go swimming outside of the city.

Baez brought the girl home later that afternoon, but around 9:30 p.m. she snuck out of her apartment and met Baez “near Woonsocket Middle School” where she is a student. She got into the car and the two began talking and driving around, according to Public Information Officer Lt. Timothy S. Paul.

Eventually, they made their way to the parking lot of St. James Church on nearby Hamlet Avenue where police patrolling the area found them having sex in the back seat of the car at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

Baez was arrested and charged with first-degree child molestation. He told police he believed the girl was much older.

The girl, who has not been identified because she is a minor, was treated at Woonsocket’s Landmark Medical Center and released.

-- Journal staff writer Cynthia Needham

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:03 PM | Comment

Police: Man passed out before crash

BURRILLVILLE -- A Pascoag man died after passing out just before his truck hit a stone wall near Church Street early Saturday morning, according to the Burrillville Police Department.

Charles C. Spink, 61, of 363 Church Street was driving his 2006 Dodge pickup truck on Church Street around noon Saturday when he passed out, according to the police. The car left the road, ran onto the sidewalk and struck a stone wall before becoming wedged between the wall and a utility pole, according to the police statement.

Two 12-year-old Burrillville boys were in the car with Spink during the accident. They were taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence and later released.

Officials from the Burrillville Police Department were unavailable to comment on the boy's relationship to Spink.

-- Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:39 PM | Comment

Prosecutor: Dishwasher killed boss over reprimands

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- A dishwasher at a Dartmouth restaurant fatally stabbed his boss after she repeatedly reprimanded him for putting pans through the dishwasher, prosecutors said today.

Ryan Jones, 28, was ordered held without bail on a charge of murder. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in New Bedford District Court.

He allegedly stabbed Valerie Oranski 20 times Saturday morning as the Old Country Buffet was about to open. She was pronounced dead a short time later.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:31 PM | Comment

Man charged with murder in fatal house fire

The man the police believe sparked a house fire that led to the death of an elderly man in February was arraigned on murder and arson charges this morning in District Court, according to a press release from the Pawtucket Police Department.

Cody Zab, 21, of 98 Vinton St., Providence, was arraigned on first-degree murder and first-degree arson charges in connection with the Pawtucket fire that took the life of Nocenzo Vanti, 95, on Feb. 2.

At the time, the police said someone threw a bottle of flammable liquid into the front bay window of Vanti's Meadow Street home around 11:30 p.m. The room was engulfed in fire, trapping Vanti in his bedroom, where he suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation. He died five days later.

Pawtucket detectives traveled to Garfield Heights, Ohio, where Zab was interviewed and arrested.

-- Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:25 PM | Comment

N. Smithfield council's VP can run for school board

NORTH SMITHFIELD -- Town Council Vice President Melissa Flaherty will be allowed to run for a seat on the town school committee, after the state Board of Elections dismissed an objection to her candidacy this morning.

Flaherty was one of five candidates across the state last month who filed declarations of candidacy for more than one local office, which is prohibited by state law. She filed for both the town council and school committee during the declaration period. She later withdrew her declaration for the town council seat and turned in nomination papers for the school committee race.

Robert Paul Boucher, a member of the town board of canvassers, filed an objection to Flaherty's candidacy Thursday afternoon after the board voted 2-1 to certify her nomination papers, despite concerns Boucher raised in the meeting.

Flaherty is one of two candidates for two vacant seats on the North Smithfield School Committee. Incumbent Paul Vadenais is seeking re-election. A third candidate, George Hemond, who also submitted dual declarations, failed to turn in his nomination papers by the July 14 deadline.

-- Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:17 PM | Comment

Police identify victim in North Main Street accident

PROVIDENCE -- James Grundy, 62, had just gotten a cup of coffee at McDonald's and was walking to his Charlesgate Apartments home when he was struck by a car going the wrong way in reverse down North Main Street at about 5:45 a.m. last Friday.

The car, driven by Chaeo-Chun Cheng, a 24-year-old Johnston and Wales University student, dragged Grundy more than 300 feet before stopping.

Cheng, of Taiwan, has an international driver's license and a Rhode Island learner's permit, according to a police report. The car he was driving was unregistered.

Cheng passed a Breathalyzer test on the scene, but the police are considering other charges.

Read the full story on the incident.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:00 PM | Comment

Board: Cumberland council candidate can't campaign

PROVIDENCE -- The State Board of Elections this morning unanimously upheld the Cumberland Board of Canvassers ruling to disqualify town council candidate Keith E. Fayan from the coming election.

The board ruled that Fayan did not change his address early enough to be an eligible candidate for the September primaries.

Antonio J. Albuquerque, Fayan’s opponent for the District 1 town council seat, had filed a complaint with the board of canvassers July 14 stating that Fayan had not been a valid voter in District 1 for at least 30 days before he declared his candidacy for a council seat in that district.

Fayan argued that a lease agreement signed May 26 established his intent to live at 438 High Street in District 1, and maintained that he had begun moving his possessions to the address prior to June.

The board of elections noted that Fayan made no attempt to legally change his address until June 14.

The ruling leaves Albuquerque unopposed. Incumbent District 1 councilor Anthony M. Nobrega is not seeking re-election.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:48 PM | Comment

Warwick bank robbed this morning

WARWICK -- A Citizens Bank branch in the Warwick Mall was robbed this morning of an undisclosed amount of cash.

A man came into the branch, listed at 400 Bald Hill Road, just after 11:30 a.m. and handed the teller a note demanding money. No weapon was shown or threatened, according to Warwick Police Lt. Mark Brandreth.

No other information was available.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:28 PM | Comment

W. Warwick police charge teen in bombing

WEST WARWICK -- The police have arrested an 18-year-old man for allegedly throwing a homemade explosive device into a downtown sub shop on July 5. No one was injured in the incident, the police say.

The man, Daniel Paswell, left similar bombs in front of a West Warwick residence on July 19 and July 20. They did not explode, the police say.

Paswell is charged with three counts of first degree arson, according to a police statement released today.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:25 PM | Comment

R.I. man nabbed at Mohegan Sun after Cranston bank robbery

A Cranston man wanted in connection with the Saturday robbery of a Cranston bank is expected to appear in a Connecticut court today and faces extradition to Rhode Island.

Vincent J. Rampone Jr., 52, of Sylvan Drive in Cranston, was arrested at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., around 7:45 p.m. Saturday by the Connecticut State Police Casino Unit.

After the Pawtucket Credit Union was robbed Saturday around 10:26 a.m., Cranston police say they contacted both Mohegan Sun and the Lincoln Park greyhound track because they believed the suspect might go to either place. They provided officials with a photo of the suspect taken with the bank’s surveillance camera, according to a release issued today.

Rampone was playing at a blackjack table when members of the casino’s surveillance department spotted him, according to a release issued by the Connecticut State Police.

Rampone, who is alleged to have been carrying narcotics, was held in Connecticut on $200,000 cash bond, pending today’s court appearance, according to the Connecticut State Police.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Benjamin Gedan

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:33 AM | Comment

Providence 7-Eleven store robbed at knifepoint

PROVIDENCE – Police have responded to the report of an armed robbery at the 7-Eleven store located at 775 Cranston St.

The 10:24 a.m. call to police reported someone wielding a knife had robbed the store, Lt. Gerald Delomba said.

More details are not yet available, as police are at the scene right now.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:48 AM | Comment

R.I. gas prices up one cent this week

Gasoline prices in Rhode Island have risen for the fourth consecutive week, this time by an average of one penny.

Unleaded gasoline averages $3.08 per gallon today, up 13 cents from a month ago and one cent from last week, according to AAA Southern New England’s weekly survey of prices, conducted today.

Regular unleaded gasoline at area stations ranges 18 cents, from a low of $3.01 to a high of $3.19, according to AAA Southern New England.

Those are the self-serve prices. As is typical, customers opting for full-serve gasoline service pay more, an average of $3.13, with a range from $3.09 to $3.16.

The average costs for mid-grade unleaded gasoline are $3.20 at the self-serve pump and $3.25 at the full-serve pump; for premium unleaded, $3.31 and $3.39; and for diesel fuel, $3.05 and $3.08, according to AAA Southern New England.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:36 AM | Comment

W. Warwick Democrat cleared to run for state rep.

The state Board of Elections today rejected a challenge, lodged by the state GOP, to West Warwick Democrat Patricia A. Serpa's candidacy for state representative.

The Republicans had asked that Serpa be removed from the race because she had also declared her candidacy for the West Warwick School Committee, running afoul of a 2005 state law that limits candidates to one race.

The decision clears the way for Serpa to run against Republican Mark R. Fleury for the District 27 House seat.

Serpa withdrew from the School Committee race during the period when candidates needed to gather signatures on their nomination papers, and she only turned in signatures for the state representative position.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin Gedan

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:21 AM | Comment

3 teens to be arraigned today for Pawtucket robbery

PAWTUCKET – Three local teenagers are expected to be arraigned today on robbery charges after they were arrested last night for robbing Joe’s Cedar Street Shell station at 71 Cedar St.

The eldest teen, 19-year-old Darron Butler of Pawtucket, showed the gas station clerk a 9-millimeter handgun when he and a juvenile entered the store last night, Detective Lt. Daniel Mullen said this morning. The other teen waited outside the store.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured, Mullen said. The cash drawer was emptied, but Mullen could not say how much money was taken.

Butler will be arraigned today in Sixth District Court, Providence, on charges of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a firearm while committing a crime of violence, Mullen said. The two teenage boys will be arraigned in Family Court today on charges of first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, Mullen said.

The robbery was reported at 9:44 p.m. The three were arrested around 11:15 p.m., Mullen said.

All were held overnight – the juveniles at the state Training School in Cranston and Butler in Pawtucket, Mullen said.

The police were able to catch the three after a witness who lives in the area saw them flee the store on foot and enter a nearby residence, Mullen said. The police guarded the home and got consent from the owner to search. The suspects were found inside and then positively identified by store employees, Mullen said. The police also recovered the handgun.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:12 AM | Comment

Look for clouds with a high in the low 80s / Photo

Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Maureen Morris picks snapdragons at Four Town Farm in Seekonk, Mass., this morning.

Blue skies and sun today – and a nice cool breeze first thing this morning.

Later this morning, it should be partly cloudy and then clear again. Expect highs in the lower 80s.

Enjoy the partly cloudy weather predicted for today and tomorrow because thunderstorms are in the forecast for Wednesday through Friday.

Check back here for the latest conditions and forecasts throughout the day.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:42 AM | Comment

Hasbro earnings: Blame it on Star Wars

PAWTUCKET -- Hasbro Inc., the nation's second-largest toymaker, today said that earnings and revenue declined in the second quarter, due in part to a drop in Star Wars product sales.

Net income decreased to $27.1 million, or 7 cents per share, for the three months ended July 2 from $29.5 million, or 13 cents per share, for the same period last year.

Net revenue slipped nearly 8 percent to $527.8 million from $572.4 million a year ago, due in part to an $84.8 million decline in Star Wars product sales.

``Given the anticipated decline in Star Wars of $84.8 million, our top-line results are better than we expected and the remaining business is performing well, up $40.2 million or 9.4 percent for the quarter and $102.8 million or 13.2 percent for the year, which bodes well for our full-year results,'' said Alfred J. Verrecchia, president and CEO.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Peter Phipps at 8:41 AM | Comment

July 21, 2006

More Rhode Islanders escape war-torn Lebanon

Georgette Wehbe of Smithfield, with her physician husband and three children arrived at the Baltimore airport early this morning after evacuating from Lebanon.

They were traveling with two other families and planned to return to Providence on a 7 a.m. flight.

Wehbe said her family left Providence on June 17 for a vacation and to attend a wedding last week in Batroun in northern Lebanon.

Five minutes before the wedding started, a nearby port was bombed. The bombing was captured by the wedding photographer. And the wedding continued.

"They had to cancel the dinner," Wehbe said.

The evacuation was "very long, very hard, very difficult" because of the hours of waiting, she said.

"They tell you you're leaving at 1, you leave at 3. But they're doing their best," she said.
"They did their best. They did a lot. They really helped us a lot."

From Lebanon, they traveled by ship to Cypress, where they waited at a fair grounds and then boarded a bus to the airport. The trip, including a stop in Ireland, was 48 hours.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s office learned today from relatives here in Rhode Island that four family members were evacuated safely from war-torn Lebanon within the last day or two. Reed spokesman Chip Unruh said he does not know ages of the people who got out and is not able to share their names.

VIDEO: Watch an interview with Wehbe, by Jared Kawalsky and Sudeep Reddy/Belo DC Bureau

“The Rhode Island grapevine is more effective than the bureaucracy,” Unruh said about the ways in which the Rhode Island Democrat’s office is receiving information about local families trapped in Lebanon.

From what they’re hearing here, the evacuations are not going as “smoothly as they should,” Unruh said.

The administration has announced a change in evacuation policy, which calls for anyone wanting to get out of the country to go to the Dbayeh Bridge in Beirut and wait in a long line, Unruh said.

Earlier, people seeking help evacuating were given an estimated time to arrive at that meeting point, Unruh said.

The senator’s office is urging any Rhode Islanders in touch with loved ones who are trapped in Lebanon to share the advice that they should bring plenty of food and water when they head to the evacuation site – “and be prepared for a wait,” Unruh said.

U.S. rescue crews have evacuated 3,850 American citizens, and 400 Americans have escaped on their own since the bloody battle between Israel and the Hezbollah guerrilla movement began 10 days ago, according to the latest reports to Reed’s office.

They expect to evacuate another 2,300 Americans today, Unruh said.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson and Sudeep Reddy/Belo DC Bureau

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:29 PM | Comment

Paramount Cards closes in Pawtucket, 126 workers laid off

Nearly 130 management employees of Paramount Cards in Pawtucket lost their jobs without notice today when the workers were told the company was shutting its doors, state labor officials said.

The 126 workers had no idea their jobs with the greeting card company were in peril when they showed up for work today, according to Adelita S. Orefice, director of the state Department of Labor and Training.

“It’s just a horrible way for this kind of stuff to happen,” Orefice said in an interview.

The shutdown follows last year’s announcement by that company that it was moving production from Pawtucket to Canada, but would keep the Paramount headquarters in Pawtucket. About 270 production workers were laid off as a result of that move, Orefice said.

Posted by at 5:33 PM | Comment

R.I. health officials: 3 die from drug overdoses in 2 days

PROVIDENCE -- The state Department of Health issued a warning this afternoon that three people and possibly a fourth in Rhode Island have died from drug overdoses in the past two days.

Initial toxicology profiles suggest that the drugs ingested -- including heroin and other street drugs -- contained a foreign substance that led to the deaths, according to Department of Health spokeswoman Maria Wah-Fitta.

"The individuals died a very, very sudden death," Wah-Fitta said. "This is definitely something that’s quite unusual."

Officials would not provide information on where the people died, or any other details.

The state medical examiner issued a statement warning people of the recent deaths as well as condemning illegal drug use.

"This situation underscores why it is not ever safe to use illegal drugs, and this is a particular source of concern that we want to make the public aware of," said Thomas P. Gilson, chief medical examiner. "Hopefully, this terrible situation will be a motivation for people who use illegal drugs to quit."

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:57 PM | Comment

Update: Johnston, Trump join in suit to block casino vote

PROVIDENCE -- The town of Johnston and a partner of Trump Entertainment Resort Holdings filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court today, seeking to block efforts of the Narragansetts and Harrah's Entertainment to build a casino in West Warwick.

Specifically, the lawsuit seeks to remove from this November's ballot a question asking Rhode Island citizens if they want to amend the state constitution to allow a Narragansett-run casino in West Warwick.

Secretary of State Matthew Brown, whose office is in charge of ballots, is named in the suit.

Trump and Johnston put forward a separate casino proposal earlier in the year, but state legislators ignored their plan, proposing a constitutional amendment that would only apply to the Narragansetts and the West Warwick site.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

The lawsuit argues that the ballot question amounts to a violation of the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteees citizens equal protection under the law.

"The proposed West Warwick Resolution pre-selects the location for the casino, to the exclusion of all other municipalities in Rhode Island that may be interested in hosting a resort casino, without any regard for whether there may be other, more suitable locations capable of producing greater revenues for the taxpayers of the state," the lawsuit reads.

"Such discriminatory treatment denies equal protection in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal constitution, in that it treats one person differently than it treats other, similarly-situated persons. Because such proposed West Warwick Resolution is plainly unconstitutional, this court should restrain and enjoin the secretary of state from causing the proposed ballot question to appear on the ballot at the November 2006 general election."

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:49 PM | Comment

Ex-Pats linebacker Johnson, wife accused of assault

WESTON, Mass. -- Former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson and his wife were both charged with assault and battery following a domestic dispute at their Weston home, authorities said.

Police responding to a report of a domestic disturbance at about 8 p.m. on Sunday found Jacqueline Johnson, 40, in the driveway of the couple's home, according to Melissa Sherman, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney's office.

Jacqueline Johnson said that she and her husband got into an argument and he assaulted her, Sherman said. Sherman did not know the manner of the alleged assault.

Ted Johnson, 33, was taken to the police station for booking. His wife was later arrested and charged with assault and battery.

The Johnsons called the incident a "misunderstanding" in a statement released through a public relations firm.

-- Associated Press

"While we understand that private matters may sometimes be deemed newsworthy, we would appreciate the opportunity to address the matter privately," the statement said.

Both pleaded not guilty and were released on personal recognizance at their arraignment on Tuesday in Waltham District Court. The couple, who have four children, is due back in court on Sept. 7.

Johnson retired prior to last season citing the effects of numerous concussions.

The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Johnson was drafted by the Patriots in 1995 out of Colorado and helped the team win three Super Bowls. He finished with 865 tackles and 11 1/2 sacks in 125 regular-season games, including 106 starts.

He worked as a football analyst for a Boston television station last season, but resigned to pursue other opportunities.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:25 PM | Comment

Utility worker still in serious condition after bad burn

PROVIDENCE -- A telephone worker who was shocked and badly burned Tuesday afternoon while working on a utility line remains in serious condition, according to officials at Rhode Island Hospital.

Joseph Allard, 32, an employee of Verizon, was injured while working in an aerial bucket in front of 78 Oxford St., on the city's South Side.

Allard, of 32 Clear View Dr., Cranston, sustained serious burns over 80 percent of his body and was taken to Rhode Island Hospital.

-- Journal staff writer Karen A. Davis

A representative from the U.S. Department of Occupational Health and Safety Administration came to the scene, as did members of Allard's family, police said.
Police were unable to get further information from officials from Verizon or National Grid, according to the report.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:02 PM | Comment

Update: Michaud withdraws from race for governor

Dennis W. Michaud, a consultant and part-time Brown University professor who was challenging Governor Carcieri in the Republican primary, has officially withdrawn from the race less than two months after declaring his candidacy.

Michaud failed to gather the necessary signatures to be on the Sept. 12 ballot, according to Peter Kerwin, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office.

"I have made a decision not to ask the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s office for a review or recount of the signatures contained in these nomination papers and will thus end my candidacy for governor of Rhode Island," Michaud said in a statement released this afternoon.

Carcieri and Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty, a Democrat, are the only two candidates to qualify, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. They will face off in the Nov. 7 general election.

Candidates have until 4 p.m. today to challenge certifications with the Secretary of State’s Office, Kerwin said. Challenges would go to the state Board of Elections for review.

-- Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Candidates for governor are required to gather 1,000 signatures.

Michaud’s campaign manager, Scott MacPherson, said about 1,500 signatures were collected.

While the Secretary of State’s office says 933 signatures were valid, MacPherson said 960 were deemed valid.

-- Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:53 PM | Comment

Police seek resident of Cumberland nursing home

CUMBERLAND -- The police are asking for help locating an elderly woman who left a local nursing home yesterday afternoon without notifying staff.

Annie Kellie, 68, described as a black female, 5’2" and 145 lbs., was last seen wearing white shorts, a black shirt and a purple bandana over her black hair, which was in a ponytail.

Kellie is a resident at the Autumn Villa nursing home, located at 3579 Diamond Hill Road.

The police do not believe she suffers from Alzheimer's or dementia. The police said she has relatives in the California Avenue section of Providence, and believe she may be headed in that direction.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

She was last seen yesterday at Autumn Villa at 4 p.m. and did not report to dinner at 8:30 p.m., prompting nursing home staff to notify the police.

Cumberland police, North Cumberland firefighters and the state police K-9 unit searched the town early this morning, and now believe Kellie is beyond the town limits.

Any information regarding her whereabouts may be relayed to the Cumberland Police department at (401) 333-2500 or any law enforcement agency.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:33 PM | Comment

Survivor Hatch moved to Oklahoma prison

The lawyer for Richard Hatch confirmed today that the reality television star has been transferred from Massachusetts to a federal prison in Oklahoma.

Michael Minns, Hatch's Texas lawyer, said that it was unclear whether Hatch will serve out his sentence for tax evasion at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City.

The facility is a hub for transferring prisoners throughout the federal system, but it also houses a permanent population of inmates, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Hatch's projected release date is Oct. 7, 2009.

"He'd like to either be near family in Rhode Island or family in Florida. His mother goes there frequently,'' Minns said. "I would think that if that is where he is staying they would tell us.'' But, he added, "They wouldn't even tell us when he was en route to Oaklahoma.''

Hatch, 45, of Newport, was sentenced to 51 months in prison in May for evading taxes on his $1 million Survivor jackpot and other income. He had been at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Mass., since being convicted in January.

-- Journal staff writer Richard Salit

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:04 PM | Comment

Providence chamber opposes casino plan

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce said today it is opposed to a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would allow a casino to be built in West Warwick.

The chamber, which has been silent on the casino proposal by Harrah's in partnership with the Narragansett Indians, released the statement this afternoon after a chamber board meeting.

The board is concerned about the impact a casino would have on state revenue and the possibility the casino would be "detrimental" to economic development across the state.

"The chamber has historically been opposed to casino gambling...," said Laurie White, president of the chamber, in the statement.

Extra: More coverage of the casino proposal and a survey seeking your stance.

-- Journal staff writer Andrea Stape

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 2:33 PM | Comment

AG's new civil rights office pursues first case

PROVIDENCE -- The attorney general’s newly formed Office of Civil Rights Advocate pursued its first complaint in court today, charging that a Warren woman repeatedly made anti-gay slurs to a fellow tenant who has AIDS.

The complaint accuses Theresa R. Deschenes of violating Kenneth W. Potts’ rights under the Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act by harassing and threatening Potts because of his sexual orientation. It is a civil complaint, as opposed to a criminal charge.

Potts lives on the first floor at 234 Child St., and Deschenes lives on the second floor. The complaint alleges Deschenes has repeatedly used epithets such as “faggot” and made threats such as “(expletive) faggot you’re dead.”

Deschenes and the civil rights advocate, Assistant Attorney General Thomas A. Palombo, appeared before Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel this morning and agreed to postpone a preliminary injunction hearing because Deschenes’ lawyer was on vacation. Vogel has already issued a temporary restraining order that bars Deschenes from threatening or harassing Potts.

When asked to comment after today’s court appearance, Deschenes said, “It was purely anger. It was not intended as what they said it was intended as. I said what I said out of anger.”

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

In 2005, the General Assembly passed a bill proposed by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch to establish the Office of Civil Rights Advocate, and this case marks the office’s first legal action. Besides filing suits, Palombo educates police officers and students about hate crimes and civil rights.

At the courthouse today, Lynch said state prosecutors have taken steps to protect civil rights in the past, but he wanted to formalize the function. He noted state prosecutors are already assigned to be advocates in areas such as health care and the environment.

The two sides are to return to Superior Court on July 28.

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:13 PM | Comment

Update: Public Safety Complex occupied again / Photo

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Unable to meet indoors, Lt. Richard Silva of the Fire Prevention Bureau reviews house construction plans for Jeff Bardell of Barrington outside the Providence Public Safety Complex after the building was evacuated today.

PROVIDENCE – Providence fire and police crews who work in the Public Safety Complex are back in the building after the smell of gas sent two inside the complex to area hospitals and led to the evacuation of much of the building.

A female firefighter who was dizzy was taken to Roger Williams Medical Center, and another person in the building was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, said James Taylor, chief of fire communications. The names of those two were not available.

Shortly before 11 a.m., crews evacuated the third floor and part of the second floor of the 325 Washington St. complex after employees detected the smell of gas, Taylor said.

Firefighters were ventilating the area of the odor and examining an air-conditioning unit, which may have pulled something into the building.

Providence fire crews discovered no major gas from tests conducted in the building that houses the city's police and fire departments, Taylor said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:00 PM | Comment

Photo: Riptide danger closes Horseneck Beach

Journal photo / Bob Thayer

Horseneck State Beach in Westport was closed today because of riptides after Tropical Storm Beryl drove high seas along the south coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Workers in the background were shoveling excess sand from the roadside. As of noon, the beach was still closed.

Posted by Jack Perry at 1:47 PM | Comment

Decision looms for suspended Seekonk administrator

SEEKONK, Mass. -- After nearly five and a half hours of testimony, the town's Board of Selectmen closed a hearing early this morning on whether to fire suspended Town Administrator Thorn Mead.

Board members scheduled a vote for Wednesday at 6 p.m. to reaffirm their decision to terminate him.

If the board turns thumbs down on the administrator that night, a third vote must be held within 10 to 45 days to finalize the decision.

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Mead, whose three-year contract was due to end on April 3, 2008, is accused of, among other things, showing a pattern of lying to the board and failing to follow through on its directives.

The administrator has responded that he's being targeted by board members who failed to comply with their contract with him by neglecting to set and prioritize goals. He has also denied acting unprofessionally and alleged that the selectmen were judging him with unrealistic criteria.

It wasn't until close to 11 p.m. last night that Mead was sworn in for the chance to rebut or explain the allegations against him. The hearing closed at 12:34 a.m.

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:21 PM | Comment

Update: Providence pedestrian killed by car going in reverse

PROVIDENCE – A pedestrian was killed this morning after he was struck and dragged several hundred feet by a car traveling in reverse on North Main Street.

The victim was described as a man in his 60s who had been crossing the street when he was hit, police said at a midday press conference. His name was not released.

The driver of the car was identified as Chao Chung Cheng, 24, a Taiwanese national and student at Johnson & Wales University.

Police Maj. Paul Fitzgerald said Cheng's car, a 2000 Mitsubishi Gallant, had gotten a flat tire at about 5:45 a.m. on North Main Street, not far from Dean Auto Collision Center at the corner of North Main and Pettis Street..

Cheng put his car in reverse, drove backward on North Main, and apparently struck the pedestrian in front of the Charlesgate Apartments at 670 North Main St. without realizing it.

He then continued in reverse about 200 feet, dragging the pedestrian with the car, before turning, still in reverse, down Pettis Street for another 113 feet before stopping.

When Cheng, who was traveling with two male friends, got out of the car, he realized that the victim under the car.

Police said the motorists then called police, who came to the scene. The victim was brought to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Perry, with reports from projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Fitzgerald said Cheng took and passed a Breathalyzer test.

While police were still questioning the driver at midday, Fitzgerald said, "We believe it was an accident, a tragic accident. There was no intent."

When asked how fast the driver may have been going, Fitzgerald replied, "He was going in reverse with a flat tire, he couldn't go very fast."

Near the intersection of North Main and Pettis streets, the Charlesgate Apartments are located at a busy intersection that includes the Whole Foods Market across the street, a McDonald’s, a bus stop, traffic lights and the Moshassuck Medical Center.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Perry, with reports from projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:54 PM | Comment

Cox to raise standard cable TV rate 7 percent

PROVIDENCE -- Cox Communications announced today that it will raise rates for its standard cable television service by 7 percent in September.

The company said it will increase its price for standard service by $3 per month to $45.95 on Sept. 19. This is the second increase in two years. Cox raised the price for standard service by $1.96 last year, spokeswoman Leigh Ann Woisard said.

The company did not raise rates during the two previous years, she said.

A Cox statement said the company is raising rates because it is paying more for power, fuel and the television programs it carries. It said programming costs have increased by 15 percent in the past two years. Fuel and power costs have increased more.

The company's prices for limited basic service and other cable packages will not increase.

Cox has 300,000 cable television subscribers in Rhode Island, Woisard said. The company also provides digital telephone and Internet service.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:20 PM | Comment

Eastbound Ted Williams Tunnel opens after bolts fixed

BOSTON -- The eastbound Ted Williams tunnel was reopened to buses this morning after workers toiled throughout the night to reinforce two bolts holding up a ceiling panel.

Gov. Mitt Romney shut down the tunnel yesterday after seeing pictures of the two bolts that appeared to have slipped 1/2 inch and 1 inch.

Faulty bolt-and-epoxy assemblies are being investigated as a possible cause of last week's deadly collapse of ceiling panels in a nearby stretch of the city's Big Dig highway system.

Read the full AP story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:00 AM | Comment

Pizza delivery man carjacked in Providence

PROVIDENCE – The police this morning are investigating the late-night carjacking of a Domino’s pizza delivery man.

He was allegedly sprayed in the face with Mace by an assailant or assailants before the car was stolen just before midnight, Det. Kenneth Court said this morning. The man was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment.

The police recovered the car in Providence early this morning, Court said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:04 AM | Comment

Beryl is gone, thunderstorms on the way

The surf will continue to pound Rhode Island beaches today, although Tropical Storm Beryl is far out to sea, but thunderstorms this afternoon should pose more of a concern for southern New Englanders, according to the National Weather Service.

Beryl, now 150 miles east-northeast of Cape Cod, brought heavy wind and rain to Nantucket early this morning, but little impact other than high surf to Rhode Island and beaches along the Massachusetts South Coast.

Nantucket had a peak wind of 44 mph at 2:19 a.m., said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. About one-quarter inch of rain also fell on the island and Chatham, on the east side of Cape Cod, Simpson said.

The storm passed about 50 miles east of Nantucket, Simpson said.

For more weather information and updates, check projo.com/weather.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment

July 20, 2006

Update: A weakening Beryl to pass over Nantucket / Photo

PROVIDENCE -- Tropical storm Beryl has weakened slightly as it moves into cooler northeast waters, the National Weather Service said late this afternoon.

The storm is expected to pass over Nantucket -- but no closer to Rhode Island -- early tomorrow morning, with sustained winds of 45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.

The weather service says there is a low probability that tropical storm force winds will affect south coastal Rhode Island, but the Ocean State may experience a three-to-six hour period of wind gusts near 40 mph late tonight and early tomorrow morning.

Beryl is expected to produce 1 to 3 inches of rain over the area, and as much as 4 inches in some spots, spurring a flood watch central and northern Rhode Island through tomorrow morning. Scattered showers are moving into the area now.

A tropical storm watch was issued at midday for south coastal Rhode Island. A tropical storm warning was issued this morning for southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

Track Beryl's projected path here.

This morning, NWS meteorologist Bill Simpson said the biggest local concern will be rip currents, in the Newport area and places that are typically vulnerable to rip currents.

Body surfers fascinated by the hype of the storm should curb their enthusiasm and stay out of the waters later this afternoon and early tomorrow, Simpson cautioned. Swells and rip currents are expected.

Check here for the latest weather reports.

Posted by Jack Perry at 6:45 PM | Comment

Update: Accidents on I-95, Rt. 4 cleared

A six-car accident on Interstate 95 at Exit 20 has been cleared and all lanes are open to traffic, according to the Department of Transportation.

View a live DOT Webcam of Route 95, at Exit 19 (Eddy Street), for current traffic.

Lane closures on Route 4 North at Division Street have also been opened after an accident there.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:48 PM | Comment

Red Sox win afternoon game against Texas

BOSTON -- Mark Loretta broke a 4-4 tie in the 6th inning with a two-out single, and the Red Sox bullpen didn't allow the Texas Rangers to score again, as the Sox won again this afternoon in Fenway, 6-4.

Curt Schilling picked up his 12th win today, pitching seven innings, giving up four earned runs, while striking out six.

Manny Delcarmen pitched a strong 8th inning, giving up an infield hit and striking out one. And Mike Timlin pitched a perfect 9th for his second save of the season.

Regular closer Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable because he had pitched the three previous days.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:20 PM | Comment

CVS to eliminate 140 jobs in Woonsocket

BOSTON -- CVS Corp. announced today that it will eliminate 140 positions at its Woonsocket offices in an overhaul of its human-resources department. The company says there will be layoffs, but some of the employees will be shifted to other positions.

Under a 10-year contract, IBM Corp. will take over payroll processing, benefit administration, employee intranet portals and other human-resources functions for CVS, which through acquisitions has seen its work force swell over the past two years by 55,000 people, to 170,000.

"This rapid growth has stretched our current systems supporting human resources transactions," said V. Michael Ferdinandi, CVS's senior vice president for human resources.

CVS said about 140 positions would be lost at headquarters in Woonsocket, R.I., as IBM takes over HR operations. CVS said it expects most of its affected employees to find other positions in the company. One reason is that with store growth and acquisitions, CVS has added 500 positions in Rhode Island in the past few years, spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said.

"Business transformation outsourcing" deals like this -- generally more lucrative than typical contracts to provide information technology -- are a huge part of IBM's efforts to recharge its services division, which is struggling to grow amid intensifying competition.

IBM said the CVS contract is one of its biggest such outsourcing contracts in recent years, and its largest in the retail industry.

Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT research, said he believed the agreement was worth several hundred million dollars, adding that it was unusual for an outsourcing contract to stretch more than seven years.

"For two companies to agree to walk hand in hand for a decade is notable," he said.

IBM shares fell 59 cents to close at $75.48 on the New York Stock Exchange. CVS shares lost 2 cents to $32.05.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:18 PM | Comment

Photo: Salt-marsh restoration taking root

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
Jennifer Cragan of North Kingstown, who works for the Narragansett Bay Commission, plants marsh grass while volunteering with Save The Bay this morning. Save The Bay's habitat restoration staff and other volunteers were planting some 2,000 marsh grass plants at the organization's salt marsh restoration site at Fields Point in Providence. .

Save The Bay began planting the salt marsh in 2004 at its new headquarters, which is the site of the former Fields Point city dump. Each year, the environmental organization continues planting, to establish a fringe marsh at the site.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:27 PM | Comment

Walk-off homer caps PawSox comeback thriller

PAWTUCKET -- Ron Calloway's walk-off, two-run home run led the Pawtucket Red Sox to a pulsating 9-8 win this afternoon over the Toledo Mud Hens. The PawSox battled all the way back from a 7-0 deficit to send the McCoy Stadium fans home happy.

Starting pitcher David Pauley had a rough outing, giving up seven runs, all earned, in just five innings pitched. In a through-the-looking-glass moment for Red Sox fans, Pauley gave up a home run to Dustan Mohr (both were on the big-league Sox this spring), one of three bombs surrendered by Pauley.

Trailing 7-0 after four innings, the PawSox tied it with 3 runs in the fifth, 1 in the sixth and 3 more in the seventh. Toledo took back the lead with a run in the eighth, setting the stage for Calloway's heroics.

The victory evened the PawSox' record at 48-48.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 4:02 PM | Comment

Update: West Bay family trying to escape Lebanon

An elderly Warwick couple and a Cranston couple with an 8-month-old baby are among 18 Rhode Islanders still trying to escape Lebanon.

There are four Rhode Island families waiting to be evacuated, according to a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, who has been helping to coordinate the evacuations. The spokesman, Chip Unruh, could not release the individuals' names.

But a Warwick man reported that several of his family members are desperately waiting to be removed from the war-torn country.

"It's been nine days without sleep, for us and for them," Jack Kayrouz, of Warwick, said today of his stranded relatives and the ongoing Israeli assault in Lebanon.

"They never know where that bomb is going to fall – the way they describe it, it feels like it’s coming right over their building," he said.

Kayrouz said his family -- a niece, her husband, their infant and Kayrouz's sister and her husband -- went to Beirut for vacation about a week before the Israeli offensive began. They've been in touch with the American embassy and Reed's office, which put them on a priority list to be evacuated, Kayrouz said.

The American military has been using boats to move Americans out of the country. The first wave of evacuees were flown to the United States today.

Kayrouz said he hopes his family will be placed on a boat very soon. "We want them out," he said.

A Brown University professor fled with her family over the weekend.

Reporter's query: Do you know of any other Rhode Islanders trying to leave Lebanon? Please contact The Journal and projo.com via our newstips e-mail here.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:47 PM | Comment

Texas investigators accuse GTECH of lying

GTECH Holding Corp.'s stock plummeted 14 percent this morning, as investors reacted to a story in today's Dallas Morning News.

The paper reported that the Texas Department of Public Safety accused GTECH of lying during an investigation by the state. The investigation was part of a background check the state was conducting as GTECH, based in West Greenwich, prepares to be purchased by Italian lottery company, Lottomatica.

GTECH holds the contract to operate the Texas lottery. The Texas Lottery Commission has taken no action against GTECH. The company's stock has rebounded slightly from the morning's drop - it's now down 5.3 percent to $32.95 a share.

In January, Lottomatica offered to buy GTECH for $35 a share. The merger is expected to close this summer.

-- Journal staff writer Andrea Stape

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:19 PM | Comment

Sox' Wakefield has broken rib, on DL

BOSTON -- Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield has a broken rib and is expected to spend at least three weeks on the disabled list, manager Terry Francona said today.

Francona said Wakefield doesn't remember how he injured himself. It might have been from sleeping on it wrong.

"He's actually been pitching with pain in his ribs for about a month or six weeks," Francona said the Red Sox played Texas. "The DL is a definite."

The AL East-leading Red Sox did not announce a starter to take Wakefield's place for Saturday's game at Seattle.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 2:10 PM | Comment

Ted Williams Tunnel eastbound lanes shut down

BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney ordered an immediate shutdown of the Ted Williams Tunnel's eastbound lanes today as the investigation continued into a deadly collapse of ceiling panels in a connecting tunnel.

No reasons for the closure were immediately released. The governor has been overseeing the inspections of the Big Dig tunnels since shortly after the fatal accident July 10 that killed Milena Del Valle, 38, as she and her husband drove to the airport.

The Ted Williams Tunnel was a key part of the city's massive Big Dig project and leads from Boston to Logan International Airport. The Interstate 90 tunnel where a woman was crushed by 12 tons of falling cement ceiling panels leads to the Ted Williams Tunnel.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:31 PM | Comment

Prince Albert of Monaco to attend jazz fest's opening

NEWPORT - Prince Albert II of Monaco will attend opening night of the legendary jazz festival here next month, a festival spokeswoman said.

Albert's visit also will be celebrated with a private cocktail party and a gala event at two of the city's Gilded Age mansions.

His trip coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1956 film High Society, which was partially filmed in Newport. It starred the prince's mother, the late Grace Kelly, along with Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong, and incorporated the jazz fest into its plot line. Albert is the only son of Kelly and the late Prince Rainier.

The current ruler of Monaco was invited to Newport by Brian O'Neill, the owner of the Carnegie Abbey Club, a private sporting estate in nearby Portsmouth that has recently hosted former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as well as former Soviet leader Mikhail Gobachev.

Albert will attend the festival's kickoff concert Aug. 11 by John Pizzarelli, a singer and guitarist who will perform a Sinatra tribute, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, said festival spokeswoman Sue Auclair.

Before the show, he is expected to attend a private cocktail party at the Elms, a famed Newport mansion, and will also attend a dinner-dance gala at Marble House the following day, said Linda Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Carnegie Abbey Club.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 12:42 PM | Comment

Lynch asks if Blue Cross change will hurt subscribers

PROVIDENCE -- Attorney General Patrick Lynch sent a letter today to the head of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, posing several pointed questions to the health care provider about its relationship with a Texas technology company.

Lynch's office met with Blue Cross officials last year to discuss its contract with Perot Systems Corp. because of concerns that the company was causing delays in health care reimbursements to medical providers. Following the meeting Blue Cross provided Lynch's office regular updates about the situation, indicating improvements.

But the Journal reported last month that Blue Cross suspended its work with Perot.

"Frankly, it concerns me that Blue Cross failed to keep me apprised of this situation, which has led to a dramatic change in a relationship worth more than $450 million in payments to Perot over the life of the existing agreement," Lynch wrote.

He posed 10 questions to Blue Cross CEO James E. Purcell, including asking, "Will Blue Cross now have to seek, and pay, yet another company to process claims for its providers and subscribers?" He added: "Would the retention of a new company to process claims result in additional increases in premiums for health care insurance?"

Lynch said in a statement that the situation needs to be probed further.

"It's incumbent on Blue Cross to provide information enabling us to assess if it can, currently and going forward, process claims on behalf of its providers and subscribers in a seamless fashion, so that claims for reimbursements are not held up, harming
providers and subscribers again," he said.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:36 PM | Comment

Textron shares rise on earnings report

Shares of Textron Inc., the Providence-based conglomerate that makes Cessna jets and Bell helicopters, rose $1.08, to $90.68, in mid-day trading.

The diversified manufacturer this morning reported higher-second quarter earnings from continuing operations. Profits at Textron rose 50 percent in the quarter. The company also raised its full-year earnings forecast.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:30 PM | Comment

Port fire still burns, salvage work to start

PROVIDENCE – Fire continues to burn this morning underneath the Port of Providence dock that erupted in an explosion and fireball during the severe thunderstorm Tuesday night.

Eight to 10 firefighters remain on scene as ethanol continues to drip out of transmission lines at the dock, Assistant Fire Chief Mark S. Pare said this morning.
The lines run under Allens Avenue to holding tanks across the street from the Providence River terminal operated by Motiva Enterprises LLC.

The leaking ethanol is under control and poses “no real danger,” Pare said. The fire crews cannot get close enough to the leak to measure how much is still dripping because the dock is unsafe, Pare said. There’s no way to stop the leak – and besides, the crew wants to get it out of the pipe to eliminate the hazard, he said.

The fire department’s focus remains the flames underneath the dock, Pare said. But they’re also beginning to pick up the thousands of feet of hose still at the scene, he said.

Salvage will probably begin early this afternoon when a barge arrives from Boston, Pare said.

Questions remain and the U.S. Coast Guard investigation continues into how the fire began, Pare said. He does not know exactly what was happening at the terminal in the moments leading up to the fire.

Pare does not know when the Motiva terminal will re-open. With a storage capacity for 1.5 million barrels of fuel, the facility processes the fuel that goes to more than a quarter of the 375 gas dealers in the state.

Read more about the fire in today's Journal.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:36 AM | Comment

Textron profits increase 50 percent

Providence-based Textron Inc., the world's biggest maker of business jets through its Cessna unit, said second-quarter profit rose 50 percent, led by increased aircraft deliveries. The company raised its full-year forecast.

Profit from continuing operations rose to $177 million, or $1.34 a share, from $118 million, or 86 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Sales rose 5.7 percent to $2.82 billion.

Textron benefited as companies bought more business jets. Cessna revenue rose 10 percent to $1 billion. The company also got a boost from rising shipments of its armored security vehicles being used in Iraq.

-- Bloomberg

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:57 AM | Comment

July 19, 2006

Update: Langevin to keep up stem-cell fight

WARWICK -- Congressman Jim Langevin said President Bush's decision today to strike down the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act "flies in the face of what the majority of Americans want."

In responding to the president's first veto, the Rhode Island Democrat said Americans "want this groundbreaking research to continue and to start producing solid, safe results ... results that might improve, lengthen and even save the lives of friends and loved ones."

The legislation -- H.R. 810 -- passed the U.S. House of Representatives in May 2005 in a 238-to-194 vote, and the Senate yesterday, by a 63-to-37 vote.

Early this evening, the House failed to override the president's veto, effectively killing the measure.

A disappointed Langevin issued a statement shortly after, vowing to continue to fight for the research.

"Sustaining this veto further delays the full potential of embryonic stem cells," Langevin said. "People will continue to suffer and the United States will continue to fall behind and lose scientists to other nations in this cutting edge arena."

Langevin, who uses a wheelchair since an accidental shooting damaged his spinal cord when he was a teenager, has made a personal cause of stem-cell research.

Posted by maria caporizzo at 7:10 PM | Comment

Chariho teachers' contract ratified

RICHMOND - The Chariho School Committee and the teachers' union today ratified a 3-year contract that calls for extended instructional time and salary increases of just over 3 percent.

School Committee member Andrew Polouski voted against the pact while Gregory Platt abstained.

Under the contract, the instructional day would be extended 20 minutes in all grade levels with teachers working an additional 30 minutes per day and devoting 50 minutes once a week - rather than the current 40 - for extra help after school. An additional parent-teacher conference day was added.

The contract also redefines unassigned time so that "it must be used for professional responsibilities," Superintendent Barry J. Ricci said.

-- Journal staff writer Maria Armental

The National Education Association of Chariho, which represents 352 teachers in the regional K-12 school district, also agreed for all teachers, regardless of their teaching grade level, to assist in the grading of graduation presentations, which are required for all graduating seniors starting in 2008.

Two key issues in the new contract is that teachers are to be evaluated based on the state's teachers' standards, and salary increases are no longer calculated based on a state average, Ricci said.

-- Journal staff writer Maria Armental

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:52 PM | Comment

Providence library board votes to keep branches open

PROVIDENCE -- The Providence Public Library Board of Trustees voted today to keep open all of its branches.

The move allows library services at all branches to continue for a year, while a long-term solution is crafted to address major budget problems. The plan had been recommended by the library board's finance committee.

To close this year's $800,000 budget gap, the library will hold open several staff positions to save $140,000, reduce the annual library pension contribution by $240,000, and reduce capital repair expenditures by $140,000. The city and the library also need to commit up to $250,000 each in additional funds.

"Clearly by its action tonight, this board is showing that it wants to work with the city of Providence to resolve the recurring fiscal issues that have affected provision of municipal library services,” said board chairwoman Mary B. Olenn in a statement released this evening. “We want to keep important library services going for the residents of Providence while we work together on solutions for the future.”

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:19 PM | Comment

Update: Press conference on port fire reveals little /Photo

Journal photo / John Freidah
Hours after a fire at its docking site in Providence, the oil tanker Nordeuropa sits today sits just north of the Pell Bridge in Narragansett Bay.

PROVIDENCE -- Little new information emerged at a news conference this afternoon about last night's fire at the Port of Providence.

Coast Guard Capt. Roy Nash said there could be fines assessed if the investigation of the fire determines that any regulations were violated.

But virtually everyone at the news conference -- held in the parking lot of the Motiva Enterprises' facility at 500 Allens Ave. -- avoided questions about whether it was wise to unload gasoline as a powerful thunderstorm bore down on the area.

Robert Schaefer, a Motiva spokesman, would not speculate on the thinking of the crew that unloaded the fuel last night. "I was not here during that storm," Shaefer said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined although Nash said this morning it may be connected to the severe weather.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Schaefer was joined at the news conference by Nash, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline and Assistant Fire Chief Mark Pare.

Pare said firefighters conducted a drill earlier this year at the Motiva fuel-storage facility to practice their response to an accident at the site.

Smoke was still rising from the scene of the fire, which has been contained but not extinguished. Crews have had a hard time getting to the fire because it is now burning under the dock.

Officials said the tanker Nordeuropa had transferred 75,000 barrels of fuel before the fire began. The tanker arrived in Providence from Boston; its next destination was New Haven, Conn.

It was cut away from the dock during the fire and has since been moved to waters off Jamestown.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:00 PM | Comment

Portuguese men-of-war spotted again

PROVIDENCE -- The state Department of Environmental Management issued a warning this afternoon that several Portuguese men-of-war were spotted at beaches in Jamestown and Middletown yesterday.

While none of the sea creatures were detected during checks this morning at Mackerel Cove Beach in Jamestown and Second Beach in Middletown, the DEM is warning swimmers and area lifeguards to be on the lookout.

There were also widespread sightings of the men-of-war last month.

The men-of-war generally stick to warmer waters, but recent weather conditions and ocean currents have pushed the creatures into southeastern New England.

The Portuguese man-of-war, also known as a bluebottle, is actually a floating colony of polyps with a balloon-like sail. Because they cannot propel themselves, they are victims of ocean currents, winds and the tides.

The creatures trails tentacles as long as 30 to 40 feet, which produce a powerful toxin that can be extremely painful and potentially deadly for people who may be allergic.

People are advised not to go near the creatures or touch them, even if they appear to be dead.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:54 PM | Comment

Judge refuses to dismiss Urcioli corruption case

PROVIDENCE -- A federal judge refused today to dismiss charges against a former hospital chief executive and two others accused of hiring a former state senator and paying him to advance the hospital's interests at the State House.

A lawyer for Robert Urciuoli, a former president of Roger Williams Medical Center, argued in court that the charges should be thrown out because the defendants did nothing illegal.

But U.S. District Chief Judge Ernest C. Torres rejected the request and agreed to let the case move forward to trial, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 20.

Urciuoli is charged with conspiracy and honest services mail fraud along with Frances Driscoll, a former senior vice president at the medical center, and Peter Sangermano Jr., who managed an assisted-living home affiliated with the hospital.

-- Associated Press

The defendants are accused of paying former state Sen. John Celona to use his power in the General Assembly to influence legislation on the medical center's behalf, including working to kill bills that the hospital opposed.

Celona worked for Roger Williams at the same time he chaired the Senate Corporations Committee and earned more than $260,000 between 1998 and 2004.

Celona, who pleaded guilty last year to three counts of mail fraud, has cooperated with the government and is awaiting sentencing.

Prosecutors say Celona and the defendants told the state Ethics Commission that he was working as a consultant for The Village at Elmhurst, affiliated at the time with the medical center, when he was actually being paid by Roger Williams to promote its legislative interests.

Michael J. Connolly, a lawyer for Urciuoli, argued that Celona had been honest about his relationship with the medical center and said the allegations in the indictment could not support the fraud and conspiracy charges.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:38 PM | Comment

Sox sign Beckett to three-year extension

Moments after he had pitched eight shutout innings in a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals this afternoon, the Red Sox announced that they had reached agreement with Josh Beckett on a three-year contract extension through 2009, with a club/vesting option for 2010.

''We think Josh is going to be a very, very good pitcher,'' general manager Theo Epstein said of the 26-year-old Beckett, who improved his record to 12-5 with today's victory and lowered his earned-run average to 4.78.

''This is where I want to play,'' said Beckett.

Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

- Sports Editor Art Martone

Posted by at 4:20 PM | Comment

Update: Some could be without power until tomorrow

More than 2,000 National Grid customers in Rhode Island are still without power after last night's storm, and some may not get it back until tomorrow morning, a company spokesman said.

A violent thunderstorm tore through the state last night, knocking out power to some 30,000 customers at the worst point, according to National Grid.

About 2:45 p.m. today, 2,289 customers were without power, most of them in Cranston, where 848 customers still had no electricity, according to David Graves, a spokesman.

Other hard-hit communities include Johnston, 253 without power; East Providence, 207; Scituate, 159; Providence, 151; and Barrington, 172.

Strong winds knocked down trees, branches, wires and poles in many cities and towns.

National Grid has 100 crews repairing equipment and replacing poles and wires, but the outages are so widespread, some isolated individual customers might not have power back until tomorrow morning, Graves said.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Public Health is warning residents to discard any perishable food -- including meat, poultry, fish and eggs -- that has been above 40 degrees for two hours or more.

For more information on food safety, check out the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:50 PM | Comment

Beryl to kick up high seas off southern N.E. coast

The coast of southern New England should begin feeling the impact of Tropical Storm Beryl tomorrow in the form of high seas, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters in the weather service's Taunton office are monitoring official forecasts from the National Hurricane Center to determine the track of the storm, which was about 105 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., late this morning and moving north at about 9 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 45 mph.

Seven- to 11-foot seas are likely to develop tomorrow night, and there's also the potential for rip tides, the weather service says in a hazardous weather outlook on its Web site.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:33 PM | Comment

Judge rules against administrator in Seekonk dispute

SEEKONK -- A Superior Court judge today rejected a request by suspended town administrator Thorn Mead to force the Board of Selectmen to name an independent hearing officer when they hold a hearing to fire him tomorrow night.

Judge Frances A. McIntyre said she would not issue any order ``that interferes in any way with the town's action against him,'' saying that to interfere would ``undercut the authority vested [in the Selectmen] by the town's Home Rule Charter.

Mead, who has been on paid suspension since June 19, when the board began termination proceedings, had gone to court insisting that the board find ``just cause'' for his removal. He has also tried to bar the selectmen from sitting in judgment of him because many of the complaints against him stem directly from the selectmen.

``The composition of this Board of Selectmen as hearing officers in Mr. Mead's case is well within constitutional limits,'' McIntyre ruled.

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:27 PM | Comment

GOP appeals W. Warwick canvassers decision

The state GOP has filed an appeal to the Board of Elections, asking it to reverse Monday's decision by the West Warwick Board of Canvassers allowing Democrat Patricia A. Serpa to run for state representative.

The Republicans argue that Serpa should be disqualified because she violated a state law prohibiting candidates from running for two offices. Serpa, a member of the school board, also filed for reelection last month.

If the GOP prevails, the seat would apparently go to Republican Mark R. Fleury, a former Town Council member.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:14 PM | Comment

URI offers live Civil War shipwreck video broadcast

NARRAGANSETT -- The University of Rhode Island will offer the public a live video feed this afternoon of scientists studying a Civil War shipwreck off the North Carolina coast.

Historians and archaeologists will discuss their expedition on live television at URI's Coastal Institute auditorium at 2 p.m. in Narragansett.

The scientists will also discuss the history of the shipwreck, the USS Monitor, its crew, and the technology being used to collect images and recover artifacts from the wreckage.

Today's broadcast is free and open to the public.

More information and a Web broadcast is also available at the OceansLive Web site.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:11 PM | Comment

Candidate ruled ineligible for Pawtucket mayor's race

PAWTUCKET -- A candidate for mayor was declared ineligible this morning after 97 of the 221 signatures he submitted were ruled invalid.

The ruling, which effectively took Democrat John J. Madden III out of the mayor's race, came after a hearing before the board of canvassers.

Madden, who has run unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate, the Pawtucket School Committee and mayor, said during the hearing that the 97 invalid signatures were collected by a friend as he raced to meet last Friday's deadline to submit nominating petitions. He declined to name the friend.

As a result of this morning's ruling, there are now just three candidates for mayor: incumbent James E. Doyle and challenger Thomas Magill, who are running as Democrats, and Douglas Tunstall, who is running as a Republican.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

Madden, 40, of 301 Main Street, had filed nominating petitions containing 124 valid signatures at 8:49 a.m. July 11 -- four days before the Friday cut off date. But he was 76 signatures short of the number needed to run for mayor.

Just minutes before the Friday deadline, Madden showed up at the board of canvassers office with two sheets containing 97 signatures.

City registrar Kenneth R. McGill said the board of canvassers staff had immediate questions about the signatures, which were similar in handwriting and appeard to track the precint-by-precint voter registration lists that are sometimes requested by candidates.

On Monday, the board challenged the signatures, scheduling the hearing this morning at which Madden appeared.

Madden gave a somewhat rambling statement during the hearing, saying, in part, that he had relied on a friend to collect the signatures while he was out raising money for his campaign.

City solicitor Margaret M. Lynch-Gadaleta said information would be forwarded to the state police to determine if any election laws were violated.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:55 AM | Comment

Update: Coast Guard probing fire at Providence port / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Firefighters and officials look over the still-smoldering remains of a loading dock area at the Motiva gasoline facility at the Port of Providence this morning, several hours after a blazing fire at the site was brought under control. In the background, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter arrives.

PROVIDENCE -- The Coast Guard has not determined whether any safety procedures were broken last night and contributed to the spectacular fire that erupted on a dock at a Port of Providence fuel-storage facility as a ship offloaded fuel during a violent thunderstorm.

The cause of the fire could have been the severe weather, which included lightning, but the investigation continues, said Roy A. Nash, the Coast Guard's captain of the port for southeastern New England.

Michael J. Sullivan, a manager for oil-distribution company Motiva Enterprises, said the storm came up quickly and suddenly when he was questioned during a morning press conference about why the company was unloading fuel during the lightning storm.

But the National Weather Service had issued advisories for much of yesterday about the possibility of severe thunderstorms for the afternoon and evening. Sullivan said Motiva began unloading the fuel yesterday afternoon.

Motiva was able to activate shutoff valves that helped prevent the fire in the fuel pipelines from spreading underground, underneath Allens Avenue and into storage tanks across the street, Providence Assistant Fire Chief Michael J. Dillon said this morning.

Nash said this morning that it is still not possible to say whether lightning caused the fire. Last night, a fire official said it was unclear if lightning had struck a tanker that was offloading fuel or if it hit the wooden dock or both.

The tanker was able to pull away from the dock, but the fire burned fuel that had been pumped into underground lines running to storage tanks, sending fire balls, flames and smoke into the night sky.

Read more on the fire from projo.com's overnight report.

-- Kate Bramson, projo.com staff writer

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:55 AM | Comment

Water problem in Boston hinders Fenway traffic

The Boston Red Sox have released a statement urging fans to take public transportation to this afternoon's home game against the Kansas City Royals, due to major northbound traffic congestion that stems from a water main break in the city's South End.

Today's game starts at 1:05 p.m. Check the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Web site for info about getting to the game.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 10:34 AM | Comment

Providence park cleans up after storm downs trees / Photo

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
Jose Bernando of Cranston examines the damage from last night's storm during a visit to Roger Williams Park this morning.

PROVIDENCE – Providence crews this morning are clearing perhaps dozens of trees downed or snapped off at the top by strong winds in Roger Williams Park during last night’s storm.

The Providence area and other locations south of the Massachusetts Turnpike were hit hard with strong straight-line winds of 60 to 75 miles per hour last night, National Weather Service meteorologist Hayden Frank said this morning.

Although there were some storms north of the turnpike, it was the regions south, including Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, that had real ferocious storms, Frank said. Providence was one of the worst-hit areas, he said.

The worst hail in the area – golf-ball sized pellets – hit Johnston, Frank said.

In Roger Williams Park last night, at least four or five big trees blocked or partially blocked the roadways that meander through the park. Some crews were called in around 2 a.m. to start moving the trees, but others may have been there even earlier. They’ve worked through the night to clear the area.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:38 AM | Comment

Former R.I. radio host suspended for using slur

Listeners who adjusted their radio dials to follow former Rhode Island talk show host John DePetro to Boston will have to get by without the self-proclaimed Independent Man for a few days.

DePetro, who left Rhode Island's WHJJ-AM for Boston's WRKO-AM in 2004, was suspended by WRKO for using a slur normally aimed at homosexuals in reference to the embattled chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

Station management suspended DePetro for three days yesterday and ordered him to apologize for the remark made on Monday morning during a discussion about Matt Amorello, who has come under intense criticism since ceiling panels in a Big Dig tunnel collapsed, killing a woman. The turnpike authority oversees the highway system that includes Big Dig.

DePetro said on air that he didn't mean that Amorello - who has a wife - is gay, but that he's a "sissy boy."

"This corporation has zero tolerance for racial intolerance. Mr. DePetro has 72 hours to think about it," Jason Wolfe, vice president of programming at WRKO, told The Boston Globe and Boston Herald. Wolfe told the Globe he chose the word "racial" because "people will lump everything in together."

Amorello refused comment to the newspapers. Neither Amorello nor Wolfe immediately returned calls from The Associated Press late Tuesday night.

-- The Associated Press with local reports

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:32 AM | Comment

Cooler today

PROVIDENCE – It’s much cooler today than it has been in recent days, thanks to the thunderstorms from last night.

After a couple days of 90-degree temps, it should be just in the upper 70s today. We’ll still have some humidity. It should be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers – and isolated thunderstorms – this morning.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:00 AM | Comment

July 18, 2006

Update: Man ID'd who died trying to save girl off Narragansett

Journal photo / John Freidah
Gabe Imondi of Lincoln cools off today in the tidal pools at the Newton Avenue rocks in Narragansett, where a Virginia man fell, and later died, after trying to rescue a young girl swept out by waves. The popular spot has been the scene of several accidents.

NARRAGANSETT -- Local authorities have released the identity of a man who died yesterday afternoon while trying to save a girl who fell into the ocean along a scenic but treacherous stretch of cliffs and rocks near Newton Avenue.

Kenneth D. Gurnon, 48, of Newport News, Va., slipped and hit his head on the rocks at about 3 p.m. yesterday while preparing to go after the 11-year-old girl, identified as Corey A. Tewalt, of Virginia Beach, Va.

Tewalt, the granddaughter of Gurnon's girlfriend, was rescued. Though bruised and scared, she was not seriously injured. Gurnon was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Randal Edgar

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:15 PM | Comment

Update: Thunderstorms still possible for R.I. / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
"The corn is less than half the height it should be for this time of year," said Vincent Confreda today, as he walked through a field of stunted plants at his Confreda Greenhouses and Farms in Cranston. Find out more in tomorrow's Journal and on projo.com about how this summer's heavy rains and lack of sun have hurt some local farmers.

Parts of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts are now the most likely to be hit by thunderstorms this evening, the National Weather Service says in its latest advisory.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been on since noon, but unstable atmospheric conditions have shifted predictions for where the storms may actually strike.

As of 6:30 p.m., they were expected to develop along the line of a cold front coming in from Connecticut into northern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The main threat is still wind gusts and possibly hail, the weather service said, and will continue into late evening.

By tomorrow, skies should turn partly cloudy, with patchy fog in the morning. While the air will stay humid, high temperatures will drop into the lower 80s, with northeast winds from 5 to 10 mph.

Check back for weather updates throughout the day, and view regional radar to see the storm approach

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 7:00 PM | Comment

Chafee, Reed help approve Senate stem cell bill

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted today after two days of emotional debate to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, sending the measure to President Bush for a promised veto, the first of his presidency.

The bill passed 63-37, four votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override Bush's veto.

Rhode Island's senators, Republican Lincoln Chafee and Democrat Jack Reed, voted to support the bill.

U.S. Rep. James Langevin, D-.R.I., who was paralyzed in a gun accident as a teenager and has supported research as a possible way to remedy spinal cord injuries and other diseases, applauded the Senate vote.

"The Senate vote is an historic bipartisan achievement," Langevin said in a statement.
"Sadly, it is rumored that H.R. 810 could be the President's first veto, despite the continued suffering of millions from devastating illnesses, and despite the severe limitations on scientific progress in the U.S."

The president left little doubt he would reject the bill despite late appeals on its behalf from several Senate Republicans and prominent supporters like Nancy Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:45 PM | Comment

1,611 customers lose power in Johnston

JOHNSTON -- A power outage turned off the electricity at more than 1,600 houses and businesses in the Greenville Avenue this afternoon for about an hour and 20 minutes, according to a spokesman for National Grid.

The outage was due to the failure of a piece of equipment -- a kind of circuit-breaker -- on a utility pole, said the spokesman, David D. Graves.

The problem was fixed and power was restored to the 1,611 customers at 4:19 p.m., Graves said.

The outage followed a series of smaller-scale problems yesterday.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:58 PM | Comment

Update: Utility worker badly burned in Providence / Photo

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
The Oxford Street area where the incident occurred was taped off this afternoon.

PROVIDENCE -- A 35-year-old utility worker was badly burned this afternoon after he caught fire when his work bucket apparently struck a high-power line on Oxford Street.

The man, whose name has not been released, suffered burns over 80 percent of his body, according to James Taylor, the Fire Department’s chief of communications.

The victim was working in the bucket of a Verizon truck at about 3 p.m. when the incident occurred. (An earlier report incorrectly identified the truck).

He was shocked by the contact, which "blew his shirt off and caught his pants on fire," according to Fire Department Deputy Assistant Chief Henry Cochrane.

Cochrane said firefighters who arrived on the scene were forced to hold off dousing the fire until another utility worker gingerly approached the truck, which they feared was electrified, and brought the bucket down.

The victim, who was still conscious, was brought to Rhode Island Hospital.

A safety investigator is on the scene, where the scorched underside of a yellow sun umbrella that had been shading the worker could be seen.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Greg Smith

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:46 PM | Comment

Cicilline advises seniors to escape heat in public buildings

PROVIDENCE -- Mayor David N. Cicilline this afternoon called on senior citizens without access to air conditioning to seek shelter in one of the city's 8 library branches or 13 senior centers.

“It’s critical that seniors take special precautions to avoid serious health threats associated with prolonged exposure to excessive heat,” Cicilline said in a statement released this afternoon.

And should the extremely hot weather conditions persist, the Providence Emergency Management Agency may open a shelter at the Springfield Middle School, Cicilline said.

Residents can call (401) 421-7768 or check the city's Web site to obtain a list of senior centers and library branches. The city's emergency management agency can be reached at (401) 228-8000 for those who need assistance with transportation.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:15 PM | Comment

State ups insurance payments for Guard members

The state now pays an additional $10 a month in life insurance premiums for mobilized Rhode Island National Guard members who are buying larger insurance policies.

The change became law when Governor Carcieri signed legislation earlier this month, but the governor held a signing ceremony this afternoon at the Guard’s Command Readiness Center in Cranston.

The event was set to coincide with an announcement that Cardi’s Furniture has been selected as one of 15 businesses around the country out of 1,500 nominated for exemplary support of their Guard and Reserve employees.

The state has budgeted $146,770 for this fiscal year to cover the insurance-premium increases for Guard members, according to Michael Maynard, a spokesman in the governor’s office.

The legislation was introduced after the federal government increased the amount of life insurance that Guard members can purchase, from $250,000 to $400,000, Maynard said. The state was already paying the $16 premiums for mobilized troops who had the smaller policy, and the new payment covers the new $26 monthly premiums, he said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:07 PM | Comment

State temporarily closes stump dump in Richmond

RICHMOND -- The state Attorney General's Office this afternoon announced the temporary closure of the Skunk Hill dump, which state officials and abutters say is a a major fire hazard and a breeding ground for disease-ridden cockroaches.

Last week, Attorney General Patrick Lynch and the Department of Environmental Management filed a three-count lawsuit against Richard Romanoff, the principal owner of the realty company that owns the land where the dump is located, 2 Skunk Hill Road.

Yesterday, Superior Court Judge Allen P. Rubine granted a temporary restraining order closing the dump, pending the results of a July 26 hearing.

Lynch said in a statement that the stump dump is dangerous.

"The Skunk Hill Dump has already caught fire once, in 2003, threatening the shutdown of Interstate 95 to both northbound and southbound traffic," Lynch said. "Despite the application of nearly two million gallons of water, fire officials believe that the fire continues to smolder and could re-erupt."

Lynch also blamed the stump dump for an area cockroach infestation.

"The tree waste provides an abundant habitat for cockroaches, supplying protection, moisture, and warmth to support propagation of an immense and overwhelming insect community," he said. "These cockroaches present a direct threat to the health and welfare of area residents, in particular children with asthma or other respiratory
ailments

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:03 PM | Comment

Four R.I. families trapped in Lebanon

Four Rhode Island families are trapped in Lebanon and are trying to get out as the battle between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas continues.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said four large families who have contacted his office were apparently in Lebanon to visit family. There could easily be more Rhode Islanders who are trying to get out, given the large number of Lebanese Americans in this state, Reed said.

In recent days, two Rhode Islanders called Reed's office to report that they had gotten out of the country.

One of those is Melani Cammett, a Brown University faculty member who was conducting research in Lebanon, said Brown University spokeswoman Molly de Ramel.

Reed said his office has told the families seeking help that they must contact the U.S. embassy in Beirut to ensure that the government has their vital information, including passport numbers. The senator’s office has then called the U.S. State Department and the embassy in Beirut to relay any information it has about the families, he said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:02 PM | Comment

Multiple wigs; multiple IDs

PROVIDENCE -- Three California women are scheduled to appear in U.S. District court today to answer multiple charges related to an identity theft scam in Rhode Island.

North Providence Police last week arrested: Debbie Jolene Tucker, 44, Renea Johnson, 54, and Zelpha Colleen Conyers, 53, all of the Los Angeles area.

According to the police, last Tuesday Tucker used a credit card and driver's license in another woman's name to try to withdraw $3,000 from a Bank of America branch in Cranston. The manager denied the woman's request and put out an alert to other branches.

But later that day, Tucker, using another identity, withdrew $1,500 from a Bank of America branch on Mineral Spring Avenue in North Providence. And later, using still another identity, Tucker withdrew $4,800 from a branch on Smithfield Road in North Providence.

--- Steve Peoples, projo.com writer

One of the branch managers, having been alerted to suspicious activity, watched Tucker leave the bank and enter a car with another woman. The bank manager told police that she saw the women exchange wigs before driving away. The bank manager noted the license plate number and called the police.

A short time later the police found the car and apprehended the women.

When searching their luggage, police found California drivers’ licenses, credit cards and social security cards in the names of 10 women. They also found Bank of America customer profiles for seven of those women and maps of Bank of America branches in Florida. And they found nine wigs.

The women face felony counts of bank fraud and identity theft.

And the Secret Service is investigating similar suspicious withdrawals at other Bank of America branches.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:21 PM | Comment

Soaring temps may boost electrical use to record high

New England is expected to set a new record for electricity use today as the temperature climbs into the 90s, boosting the use of air conditioning throughout the region.

Demand is expected to reach 27,750 megawatts at 5 p.m., which would beat the record of 26,885 set on July 27, 2005, according to ISO New England, which manages the region's electricity supply.

On a typical summer day, demand peaks at 22,000 to 23,000 megawatts, according to Kenneth McDonnell, a spokesman for ISO New England.

The region should have enough supply to meet demand, McDonnell says, but he added, "We will be very tight."

Home and business owners can take several steps to reduce electricity use, said David Graves, a spokesman for National Grid. For example, he said, people could run their air conditioners at a warmer setting, such as 72 to 75 degrees, rather than 68 or 70.

For more energy-saving tips, visit the National Grid Web site.

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:00 PM | Comment

Lanes reopened after fuel leak on 95, Providence

All lanes have reopened on Route 95 in Providence after a fuel spill near exit 18, the state Department of Transportation said.

The right shoulder was closed this morning because of a leaking auto fuel tank, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The Providence Fire Department and Rhode Island State Police responded, and the Department of Environmental Management was notified.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:57 AM | Comment

Heavy rain hurt some R.I. farmers

Some Rhode Island farmers may turn to the federal government for help this year because record rain in May and June prevented some from planting their crops and also washed away fertilizer, according to the Rhode Island Farm Bureau.

The bureau is coordinating a meeting at 12:30 p.m. today with United States Department of Agriculture officials and lawmakers to discuss help available to the farmers.

The region set a record with more than 16 inches of rain for the combined months of May and June. The heavy rain benefited some nursery operators and farmers working with sandy soil, according to the bureau.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:52 AM | Comment

Navratilova to loan trophies to Tennis Hall of Fame

NEWPORT -- Tennis star Martina Navratilova is loaning some of her Wimbledon trophies and medals to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport.

Navratilova was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000 and is scheduled to appear there this afternoon for her medal presentation.

Navratilova plans to loan to the Hall of Fame Museum the trophies that she received from winning the Wimbledon ladies' doubles championships in 1976 and 1979.

She will also loan two medals earned by finishing as a semifinalist at the 1976 Wimbledon ladies' singles tournament and at the doubles tournament in 1980.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:16 AM | Comment

Save on gasoline and take free public transportation

If you can do without it, leave your car at home and take public transportation today.

Regular-route buses and trolleys operated by the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority are free today because it’s an ozone-alert day. So you can save yourself the $1.50 bus fare and probably far more than that on gasoline, depending on how far you commute.

The state Department of Environmental Management yesterday afternoon declared that today would be the second ozone alert day of the year. Yesterday was the first.

A major component of smog, ozone is formed by the photochemical reaction of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles, industry and other sources in the presence of elevated temperatures and sunlight, according to the DEM.

On ozone-alert days, state departments urge residents to help reduce air-pollutant emissions by limiting the use of cars, small engines, lawn mowers and charcoal lighter fuels.

Find more tips here.

With the cold front moving in this afternoon or evening, ozone levels are expected to drop back to good levels by tomorrow, according to the DEM.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:19 AM | Comment

Carcieri to address conference for returning troops

EAST GREENWICH -- Governor Carcieri plans to speak at a summit this morning on the mental health and substance abuse challenges facing soldiers returning from active duty and their families.

Carcieri is scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m. at the Varnum Memorial Armory on Main Street in East Greenwich.

The summit is being hosted by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England, located at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.

The center also plans to use the event to unveil “The Rhode Island Blueprint,” a report outlining steps to create an easily accessible system of care for veterans.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:15 AM | Comment

Newport shellfish beds open today

NEWPORT -- Tonight may be a good night for eating quahogs.

The state Department of Environmental Management opened the southern portion of Easton's Bay in Middletown and Newport to shellfishing at sunrise this morning, nearly a week after raw sewage contaminated the area.

DEM water testing found that levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the bay are safe, according to a statement released yesterday.

The northern two-thirds of Easton Bay, closest to where the Wave Avenue pump station failed last week, remain closed to shellfishing.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:02 AM | Comment

July 17, 2006

Update: State may call 257 witnesses in Derderian trial

PROVIDENCE -- State prosecutors may call as many as 257 witnesses in its case against Station nightclub co-owner Michael A. Derderian, according to a list of witness subpoenas released by the Superior Court this afternoon.

The majority of the subpoenas went to survivors of the Feb. 20, 2003, fire, which killed 100 people at the West Warwick nightclub. The potential witnesses include Eric Powers and David Filice, who were members of Great White, the band whose fireworks touched off the blaze.

Others on the list include police and fire department officials, victims' family members, expert witnesses and the wife of Michael Derderian.

In all, there are 26 out-of-state witnesses and 231 from Rhode Island.

Jury selection in the trial is expected to begin Sept. 5. He faces 200 counts of misdemeanor manslaughter. His brother, Jeffrey Derderian, faces the same charges; he is being tried separately.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

The out-of-state witnesses include: Brendan Sheehan, Eric J. Powers, Robert Rocha Jr., Jennifer Payton, William O’Neil, David McCulsky, Alana Joseph, Stephen Lewis, David Vaccaro, Michael Marion, Barry Ferreira, David Filice, John Gibbs, Peter Hoogerzeil, Todd King, Glenn Therriault, Larry Zeringue, David Fanale, David Corey, Edward C. Ellard, Salvatore Esposito, Luis Bolarinho, Donna Comier, John Curtin, Deborah M. Peduzzi, and Dennis Dunham.

The Rhode Island witnesses are: John Albanese, Joseph Amato, Joseph Andrade, Richard Antonelli, Sgt. Gary Appolonia, Timothy J. Arnold, John Arpin, Elizabeth Arruda, James Ayotte, Sgt. Keith Azverde, Anthony Baldino, Ron Barak, Kathy Barber, Kevin Barber, Douglas Bardsley, Ray Beauchaine, Kevin Beese, Gary Beineke, Gregory Best, Christopher Blacklock, Marc Blevins, Paul Derderian, Paul Braga, David Brayman, David Brennan, John Brennan, Peter Brousseau, Aaron Brown, Kristen Brown, James Burns, Brian Butler, Albert Cambio, Kenneth Campagnone, Frankie J. Canillas, Michael Cardillo, Mario Cardillo Jr., Cathrine Cariganan, Mary Jo Carolan, Walter Carpenter, B. Richard Carr, Susan Chamberlin, Jennifer Choquette, Peter Christensen, David Ciccone, David Clayton, Gennaro Companatico, Raymond Conca, Thomas Conte, Nathan R.K. Conti, Robert Conti, Lewis Cook, Richard Cook, Jason Cooley, Christopher Cote, Robert Cripe, Joseph Cristina, Neil Cronin, Timothy Cummings, Robert Cushman, Chad Custodio, Daniel Davidson, Jeff Davis, Paul Dean, Richard Delsanto, Cara Delsesto, Joseph Delsignore, Jose Demos, Aram Dermanouelian, Dennis Diamonte, Joseph DiBona, Scott E. Dillon, Michael DiMascolo, John DiMeo, Gilbert DiOrio, Karen Dipietro, Carlton Doyle, Mark Duane, Edward Ducharme, Richard Dufour, Amy Duhaime, Scott Dunbar, Matthew J. Dussault, Stephen Eldridge, Robert Ellis, John Fairbairn, Robert Feeney, Joseph Ferreira, Linda Fisher, Adam Florio, Melanie Fontaine, Barbara Frazier, Jeannette Garcia, Jeremy Gately, Jay Gates, Rodney Gaumitz, Scott Gaumond, Gina Gauvin, Mario G. Giamei Jr., Eugene J. Gouen Jr., Alfred Gomes, Ronald Goodinson, Donald P. Gordon, Karen Gorden, Stephen Goulet, Laura Greene, Steven Greene, Julie Hagan, Grant Hall, Lynne Hall, Sgt. Thomas Hannon, Anne Hardee, Kevin P. Herchen, Dorothy Hodge, Shamus Horan, Michael Iannone, Richard James, Glenn Johnson, Gregory Johnson, Capt. Joseph Jones, Andon Joseph, Howard Julian, Michael Kaczmarczyk, John Killian, Lt. Mark Knott, Theresia Labree, Dennis Larocque, Steven Lefebvre, Deborah Lemay, Raymond Lemoi, Arnold Leveille, Kristina Link Derderian, Joseph Lobianco, William Long, Marc Lucier, Joseph Lusardi, Robert Luxton, Sandra Lyons, David Macdonald, Armando Machado, Steven Mahoney, David Malagrino, Kenneth Mariorenzi, Stephen Mattoes, Brian McCrudden, Steven McLaughlin, Paul McNamara, Michael Medeiros, John Mellini, Julie Mellini, Samuel Miller, Carolyn Moore, Ryan Moran, Scott Moresco, Robert Mowry Jr., John Muto, Timothy Myers, Jason Nadeau, Robert Nichols, Cynthia Nobles, Christopher Nowicki, Michael P. O’Connor, Brian O’Donnell, Corey Olerio, Linda Ormerod, Harold Panciera, Steven Pate, Michael Payne, John Peiczarek, Paul Pellitier, James Pereira, Steve Perry, Paul Pezzelli, Leon Piasczyk, Hollie A. Pomfret, Victoria L. Potvin-Eagan, Scott Preuit, Albert Prudhomme, Charlene Prudhomme, Erin Pucino, William Rancourt, Geoffrey Read, Donna Reis, Michael Ricardi, Claude Richard, Robert Riffe, James Russell, Gina Russo, Bryan Ryone, Sean Sands, Richard T. Sanetti, W. Timothy Santoro, Christopher R. Scott, Lisa M. Shea, Stephanie Simpson, Joanne Smith, Roger St. Jean, Emily Stanley, Michael Stefani, Melissa Stephenson, Charles Stepinski, Jennifer Stocks, David Stone, Jessica Studley, Adam Tanzi, Robin L. Tanzi, Steven Tavares, Nancy Tarautz, Christopher Travis, Gary Tremblay, Donald Trudeau, Gerald Tucker, Frederick Vallente, Robert A. Valley, Paul M. Vanner, Raul Vargas, Jennifer Vieira, Scott Jude Veira, Shawn Vierra, Sandran Vitale, Peter J. Vocatura, Barry Warner, Erin Whalen, Richard Wiggs, Brian Wilk, Donovan Williams, Eric Williams, George Winman, Jessica Wood, Peter Xenopoulos Jr., Arthur Zanfagna, and Stephanie Zannella.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:40 PM | Comment

Update: Pell receives high Taiwanese honor / Photo

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Pell is greeted by David Tawei Lee, ambassador of Taiwan, today at the Pell Center -- named after the former senator -- at Salve Regina University in Newport.

NEWPORT -- Former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell received one of Taiwan’s highest honors this afternoon at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center for International Relations & Public Policy.

Taiwanese Ambassador David Tawei Lee of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office will present Pell with Taiwan’s Order of Propitious Cloud with Grand Cordon on behalf of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, said P.H. Liotta, the director of the university’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy.

Liotta said Pell was being honored for his efforts to promote democracy in Taiwan and improve its relationship with the United States.

Pell, who lives in Newport, represented Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate from 1961 to 1997.

The Democrat was a top member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1979, when Congress agreed to form economic and cultural ties with Taiwan after recognizing the People's Republic of China.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 when Communist forces took over mainland China. Chinese authorities call Taiwan a renegade province.

-- With Associated Press reports

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:15 PM | Comment

Update: Man, girl pulled from waters off Narragansett

NARRAGANSETT -- Local authorities pulled an 11-year-old girl and an older man from ocean waters off Newton Avenue this afternoon in an incident that attracted a horde of rescue personnel and the Coast Guard.

The man -- who apparently jumped into the water to help the girl -- was unresponsive when a team of Narragansett police and fire department officials got him out of the water just after 3 p.m.

The girl was "banged up," but conscious and alert, according to police chief J. David Smith. The man, however, continued to be unresponsive even after reaching the hospital, said Smith, who would not release either person's name.

The Coast Guard confirmed that it sent two boats to the scene around 3 p.m., but that local authorities were conducting a rescue operation by the time the boats arrived, according to Petty Officer Dan Coats.

At least three police officers and some firefighters entered the water using ropes and a floating ring to retrieve the vicitms, according to Smith, aided by a team of officials on the shore.

The rocky end of Newton Road -- off Ocean Road south of the Narragansett Pier -- is an area familiar to rescue personnel.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Randal Edgar

According to Journal archives, several serious incidents have occurred there over the years:

- In 1999 a 21-year-old Woonsocket man slid off moss-covered rock and drowned.

- In 1996 a fisherman was swept into water, but pulled back by other fishermen. Later that year another fisherman was swept into water; he was rescued by a Coast Guard boat.

- In 1993 a diver unable to get back on shore, and was picked up by Coast Guard.

- In 1989 a 15-year-old girl was knocked into the water by a wave and was then rescued by friends.

- In 1986 a man suffered minor hypothermia after being swept from a rock.

- In 1985 a 6-year-old boy fell in, and was picked up by rescue boat.

- In 1984 a scuba diver was tossed against a rock, unable to swim to shore. He was picked up by rescue boat. Fifteen minutes later, a couple became stranded in the water near rocks on Hazard Avenue. The same rescue workers responded. The couple had been sitting on rocks when one fell into the water. The other jumped in to help, but neither could swim to shore.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Randal Edgar

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:59 PM | Comment

Update: Another ozone-alert day tomorrow

The state Department of Environmental Management has just issued the second ozone alert day of the year for tomorrow.

Today was the first, according to DEM air quality specialist Leonard Giuliano.
A major component of smog, ozone is formed by the photochemical reaction of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles, industry and other sources in the presence of elevated temperatures and sunlight, according to the DEM.

On ozone-alert days, state departments urge residents to help reduce air-pollutant emissions by limiting the use of cars, small engines, lawn mowers and charcoal lighter fuels. Find more tips here.

Additionally, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority offers free rides on buses and trolleys – a $1.50 value per bus trip and a $2 value per trolley ride -- on regular routes, but not special routes.

RIPTA is reimbursed with federal dollars on ozone-alert days through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality improvement program. RIPTA requests its reimbursements periodically throughout the year, said Karen Mensel, RIPTA’s director of marketing and communications.

Because RIPTA only has automatic passenger counters on about 10 of its 245 buses, it’s difficult to say how ridership changes on ozone-alert days, Mensel said.

The state has issued between 2 and 15 ozone-alert days over the past five years, according to Giuliano: 9 in 2005, 2 in 2004, 9 in 2003, 15 in 2002 and 14 in 2001.

The DEM determines ozone alert days by examining data from three ozone-monitoring sites across the state – in East Providence, Narragansett and West Greenwich, Giuliano said.

The department issues an ozone alert when it predicts that the air quality for the next day will approach unhealthy levels because of elevated ground-level ozone concentrations. Ozone levels build throughout the day and tend to peak in the late afternoon or early evening, Giuliano said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:54 PM | Comment

Suspicious fires in Central Falls under investigation

Two separate morning fires in a three-story building that houses 10 people were deemed suspicious by the state fire marshal’s office, according to Central Falls Fire Chief Rene Coutu.

No one was hurt during the fires in a kitchen and a hallway on the first floor, which left moderate damage, according to Battalion Chief Donald Cardin. The fires began around 9 a.m.

Central Falls police and the state fire marshal’s office are interviewing people about the fires, which occurred at 4 Parker St., Coutu said.

Coutu said the fire department and fire marshal's office quickly deemed the fires suspicious because there were fires on different ends of the house with no apparent start-up cause. He said no accelerants were found.

-- Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Coutu said the kitchen fire began when curtains were set ablaze. Men working with cement outside the house saw the flames in the kitchen and knocked on the door. A woman who lives on the first floor woke up and opened the door. She ran to alert her nieces on the second floor, Coutu said. That fire was extinguished.

The second fire began on the other side of the house in a first-floor hallway where Christmas lights, cards, old suitcases and other items had been stored.

The cement workers tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher but were unable to, Coutu said. The fire department then doused the blaze, which caused moderate damage to the hallway and some water and smoke damage.

The residents were allowed to return to the house, Coutu said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:31 PM | Comment

Photo: Spraying for relief

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
La-Brina Almeada, left, and Jayda Strother cool off at the waterplay area at Harriet and Sayles Park in Providence today as temperatures reached into the 90s.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:08 PM | Comment

W. Warwick canvassers to decide on 'dual' candidacy

WEST WARWICK -- The Board of Canvassers is expected to decide tonight whether Democratic School Committee member Patricia A. Serpa can run for state representative in the November election.

Serpa violated a new state law last month when she declared her candidacy for her school board seat and for the House District 27 House seat being vacated by Democrat Norman L. Landroche. A new state law limits candidates to one race, and the state GOP has called for Serpa to be prohibited from running for state representative.

The Board of Canvassers meets today at 5:30 p.m. in Town Hall.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 12:52 PM | Comment

Hearing this afternoon on welfare law changes

Warwick – The Department of Human Services wants to hear from the public today about how proposed changes to the state’s welfare laws may affect them.

The hearing at the Community College of Rhode Island campus in Warwick, 400 East Ave., begins at 1 p.m. and will end by either 7 p.m. or when the last person finishes testifying – whichever comes first. It is in Room 2510.

People are invited to comment on changes to the Family Independence Program, Child Care Assistance Program, and RIte Care and Medical Assistance programs. People are urged to arrive near the beginning of the hearing because it’s impossible to know how many speakers will be there and when the hearing will end.

For more details on the proposed changes, head to the Department of Human Services' Web site or the Rhode Island College's Poverty Institute Web site or read a Journal story on the proposed cuts.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:48 PM | Comment

R.I. dad-daughter team to compete in Amazing Race

WARWICK -- A father and daughter from Warwick are set to appear on the CBS reality show, The Amazing Race.

Duke Marcoccio, 52, and his daughter, Lauren Marcoccio, 26, will comprise one of 12 teams that will travel more than 40,000 miles on the show's new season, which will air Sunday nights at 8 p.m.

Duke owns a tour company, while Lauren is a speech and language pathologist.

According to a CBS press release, when Lauren told her family she was gay, her father didn’t react well.

"They’re currently rebuilding their relationship and hope the race will help them recapture the closeness they once shared," reads the release.

-- With reports from Journal TV writer Andy Smith

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:46 PM | Comment

Gas prices increase for 3rd straight week

Gasoline prices in Rhode Island have increased for the third straight week, climbing two cents to $3.08 per gallon for regular unleaded at the self-service pump, according to AAA Southern New England.

The price has increased 12 cents over the past three weeks, AAA said.

A similar survey by the state Energy Office found the average at $3.06.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:10 AM | Comment

Residents escape fire in three-story Veazie St. home

PROVIDENCE – An attic fire this morning chased residents from a three-story home near Providence College.

Firefighters extinquished the fire early this morning at 74 Veazie St.

One firefighter went to Rhode Island Hospital with minor injuries, according to James Taylor, the fire department’s chief of communications.

Firefighters were called to the attic fire at 5:26 a.m., and the fire was out by 6:21 a.m., Taylor said.

Everyone in the occupied home escaped without injuries, Taylor said. The Red Cross was not called to assist the residents, he said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:24 AM | Comment

Groundbreaking today for train station at Green

WARWICK -- State, local and federal officials are scheduled to break ground at 1 p.m. today on a new intermodal train station next to T.F. Green Airport.

The $222.5-million facility, including a parking garage and car rental businesses, will take up 1.5 million square feet and rise six stories. It will connect travelers to the airport through a 1,250-foot elevated skywalk over Post Road.

The station will extend Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter service with its scheduled opening in 2009, but Amtrak trains providing service to the Northeast corridor will bypass the station because the state cannot afford to provide the additional tracks Amtrak requires.

For more information, read Sunday's Journal story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:40 AM | Comment

Oppressive heat and humidity today and tomorrow

PROVIDENCE – You can’t escape it today. It is hot, hot, hot.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather statement for today. The predicted hazy sunshine is already upon us, and temps are creeping toward a high of 94.

There should be some relief tonight, with a low around 72, but tomorrow it should be back up to 95 degrees, with a heat index value as high as 100.

The heat wave may come to an end with thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Do your best to stay cool today and remember that such hot temps can be very dangerous. Infants and young children, people 65 or older, those who are overweight and people who are ill or on certain medications are at greatest risk for heat-related illness.

Check out the health department’s tips for staying safe in this weather.

And check our website for weather updates throughout the day.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:08 AM | Comment

July 14, 2006

Update: EMC 2Q profit dips, CEO 'deeply disappointed'

BOSTON -- EMC Corp.'s second-quarter profit dipped nearly 5 percent, a result that the data storage provider warned about four days earlier when it announced it would fail to meet its financial goals due to inventory troubles.

EMC today also cut its earnings and revenue targets for the year.

“I am deeply disappointed with our performance this past quarter – our overall execution was clearly not up to EMC standards,” said Joe Tucci, president and CEO, during a conference call.

As the company foreshadowed on Monday, it did miss earnings expectations for the quarter. It reported $279 million in income, or 12 cents a share, down 4.8 percent from the prior year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, were expecting the company to earn 13 cents a share.

The company’s stock dropped 15 cents today to close at $9.83 a share, a new low for the year. The stock closed at $11.18 a week ago.

Revenue for the quarter was $2.57 billion, up 9.8 percent from the second quarter of 2005. The company was expecting to record $2.66 billion in revenue for the quarter.

EMC’s quarterly revenue and earnings were off because the company didn’t have enough inventory to fill a rush of customer orders at the end of the quarter, said Tucci. It’s not the type of mistake EMC, one of the world’s largest providers of hardware and software for storing digital data, typically makes.

“The senior executive team, especially me, takes full responsibility,” Tucci said. “I give you my personal commitment that we can and will do better.”

-- Journal staff writer Andrea L. Stape

Posted by Jack Perry at 4:50 PM | Comment

Part of Easton's Beach reopens

NEWPORT _ A large section of Easton's Beach reopened today after tests indicated that the water was again safe for swimming.

The beach closed after a 30-year-old pipe along Memorial Boulevard ruptured on Tuesday, closing Middletown's Wave Avenue pump station. That caused a million gallons of raw sewage to be dumped into Easton Bay.

Repairs to the pipe were completed on Thursday and by 1:30 p.m. yesterday, the state Department of Health informed Newport that it could reopen a section of beach from the pavilion to Cliff Walk, said Susan Cooper, the city’s director of parks and recreation.

But high counts of fecal coliform kept the beach closed from the pavilion to the Atlantic Beach Club. Cooper expected that most of the rest of the beach would reopen today Saturday, except for an area near a stream that has been carrying the raw sewage to the beach.

--Richard Salit, Journal staff writer

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:25 PM | Comment

A race to the vintage

Adam Lester, right, and Aletha Taber compete in the 20th Annual Bastille Day Race on Custom House Street in Providence. The waiter's race is sponsored by Pot au Feu, a French restaurant.

-- Journal photo Bob Thayer

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:09 PM | Comment

PC names Big East opponents

Providence College today announced its Big East opponents for the coming men's basketball season.

PC will play conference home games against: Cincinnati, Marquette, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova and West Virginia.

The Friars will travel to: Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, St. John's, Seton Hall and the University of Southern Florida.

PC will not play DePaul or Georgetown during the regular reason.

PC did not announce its non-conference opponents, or the times and dates of its conference games.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 3:53 PM | Comment

DVD pirate to be deported to Ghana

A New York man convicted for selling pirated DVDs and CDs on two occasions at a Providence flea market was sentenced this week to a 5-year suspended jail term and probation, the Rhode Island Attorney General announced today.

State police first raided a flea market at 500 Valley St. in September and arrested Sidikiba Magassouba, 47, of 2041 Fifth Ave., New York City. They raided that flea market again two weeks ago.

Magassouba pleaded no contest this week to one count of pirating DVDs and CDs and one count of selling or offering to sell forged or counterfeit DVDs and CDs, according to the office of Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

He is in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and face deportation to Ghana, according to the Attorney General’s office.

In the first raid, on Sept. 18, state police, working with investigators from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America, seized 1,216 pirated DVD movies and 185 pirated music CDs, according to the Attorney General’s office.

Then in the second raid, on July 3, the state police seized nearly 1,900 more pirated DVDs and 200 more pirated CDs from Magassouba, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The Recording Industry Association of America recently identified Providence as one of 12 domestic “hot spots” of music theft.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:04 PM | Comment

Channel 12 settles suit over Station video

The owner of Channel 12 has settled a lawsuit with Discovery Times Channel and a documentary producer over the rights to a video of The Station nightclub fire taped by a Channel 12 camera operator, the parties have announced.

TVL Broadcasting, owner of Channel 12, filed the lawsuit in March in U.S. District Court, alleging that Discovery Times Channel and Granada America, the documentary production company, had used copyrighted video footage without permission in a program about the fire.

A Channel 12 camera operator was inside the West Warwick club when the fire started Feb. 20, 2003, killing 100 people and injuring another 200.

Granada America maintained that it used only limited portions of the material for its documetary, called Decoding Disaster, and that it was fair use under copyright law, according to a statement from Channel 12.

The case will be dismissed and TVL will license portions of the video to Granada America, Channel 12 said. TVL will not receive money for the license, but has required that one scene not be shown and that faces of the fire victims be blurred, the station said.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:08 PM | Comment

Whitehouse edges ahead of Chafee in poll

A new poll by the independent pollster Rasmussen Reports finds Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, edging ahead of incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, 46 percentage points to 41.

The margin of error in the poll of 500 likely voters was 4.5 percent, according to Rasmussen Reports.

If Republicans nominate Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey, Whitehouse would have a larger lead: 57 percent to 29 percent, according to Rasmussen.

The independent pollster has run surveys in Rhode Island for several months. The polls show a positive trend for Whitehouse.

In early June, Rasmussen reported that Whitehouse trailed Chafee by two points. An earlier poll in April showed Whitehouse trailing Chafee by three points.

None of the Rasmussen polls have tested Chafee against Laffey.

The governor's race remains neck-and-neck, with Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, a Democrat, one point ahead of incumbent Republican Governor Carcieri, 43 percent to 42 percent. The two have been within a point of each other in the last three Rasmussen polls.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:52 AM | Comment

Feds give R.I. $212K to monitor beach pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Rhode Island a $212,640 federal grant this morning as part of the agency’s “It’s a Shore Thing” campaign.

The EPA initiative is an effort to ensure healthy water quality at New England beaches. Over five years, the EPA has awarded Rhode Island $1.1 million to support and expand the state’s beach monitoring programs.

Government agencies in Rhode Island have stepped up efforts in the last decade to ensure that people are swimming at clean, healthy beaches, according to the EPA..

Back in 1994, just 165 water samples were analyzed from 16 freshwater and 28 saltwater beaches. Between 2001 and 2002, aided by the Federal Beach Act, an additional 800 water samples tested 67 saltwater beach locations, according to the EPA. In 2004, a total of 2,700 samples were analyzed from 118 locations.

Check the state health department’s website for information on beach closures and advisories in Rhode Island.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:48 AM | Comment

Providence-Boston commuter rail service to increase

PROVIDENCE -- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced this morning that commuter service to Boston will expand by the end of the month, increasing the number of weekday trips into the evening and starting weekend service.

Planned for some time, the increase in service is part of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s effort to find alternatives to the often-jammed interstate highways from South County north through the Providence area.

The expanded service is the result of a partnership between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which obtained federal money for the additional service and a new train layover facility in Pawtucket, according to the MBTA.

In Rhode Island, the DOT is also planning to extend commuter service to the transportation center planned near the airport in Warwick, and to a second new station at Wickford Junction, in North Kingstown, by late 2008.

The present 11 weekday trips on the MBTA’s commuter rail line from Boston's South Station to Providence will increase to 15 beginning July 24. Where the last weekday train now leaves South Station at 8:15 p.m., the new service will add three trips, departing each hour from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Where there is no service on weekends, the new schedule will include nine round trips on Saturdays and seven on Sundays, starting July 29.

-- Journal staff writer Bruce Landis, with reports from projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Extending service down the west side of Narragansett Bay will be the first increase in commuter rail service in Rhode Island since 1988, when service from Providence to Boston was restored after a seven-year break.

Rail expansion is one of the only options for the DOT to decrease congestion in the area. DOT officials have said there are no prospects of making major reductions in the congestion on Route 95 through Providence by building new roads or widening the existing ones.

In the longer term, the DOT is talking about extending commuter service as far as Westerly, and eventually linking it with the Connecticut DOT's Shore Line East commuter service, which now connects New London with New Haven. There are also proposals for opening stations in Pawtucket, Cranston and East Greenwich.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:47 AM | Comment

E. Greenwich man critical after crash in Cranston

A 44-year-old East Greenwich man is in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital this morning after the Nissan he was driving last night crashed into a barrier on Route 95 South in Cranston, according to the state police.

Roy Anthony, of 4430 Post Rd. was ejected from the vehicle in the 9:30 p.m. accident when he veered across from the high-speed lane into the right-hand lane about one mile north of Exit 15, state police Sgt. Frank Rohan said.

Anthony was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with head injuries, Rohan said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:36 AM | Comment

Pawtucket man killed in early morning crash on 95

PAWTUCKET – A 28-year-old Pawtucket man died early this morning when the Lexus he was driving on Interstate 95 north drove into the breakdown lane and crashed into a tractor trailer that had stopped there.

Alex Pires, of 32 Williams St., crashed into the tractor trailer at 2:25 a.m. near Exit 26, the Lonsdale Ave. exit, state police Sgt. Frank Rohan said. The 1992 Lexus ended up wedged underneath the trailer and needed to be extricated, Rohan said.

Pires died at the scene of the crash, Pawtucket fire and rescue crews told the state police.

State troopers notified Pires’ family about the accident, which is still under investigation. The police do not know why he pulled into the breakdown lane, Rohan said.

The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured, Rohan said.

Piotr Mrugaoski, 50, of 16845 Palm St. in Hesperia, Calif., told state troopers he had pulled over to check a road map. It is not unusual for drivers of large rigs to do so because they cannot take just any exit since they might get stuck or lost, Rohan said.

Mrugaoski was not cited for any violations, Rohan said. He was driving a 2006 Freightliner truck owned by New Prime Inc. of 2740 North Mayfair in Springfield, Missouri. The standard 40-plus foot box trailer he was pulling sustained more than $1,000 in damage, Rohan said.

The Lexus was destroyed. The roadway is now clear.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:19 AM | Comment

Bastille Day celebration spills into Providence

Happy Bastille Day, all you Francophiles out there!

And in the annual local tradition for France’s national holiday of independence, French restaurant Pot au Feu hosts its 20th annual Bastille Day celebration.

The 44 Custom House St. restaurant hosts waiters and waitresses from some of Rhode Island’s finest restaurants each year for the Bastille Day Race. In the noontime competition of skill and speed, the wait staff race from Custom Street to Benefit Street carrying trays of full glasses.

Read about more ways to celebrate the holiday that marks the end of France's monarchy.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:20 AM | Comment

2 men shot, critically injured in South Providence

PROVIDENCE – Two men in their 20s were both shot in the chest in South Providence early this morning, and the police are combing the neighborhood for a suspect or suspects.

The names and ages of the men have not been released because their families may not yet have been contacted, said Detective Kenneth Court, who responded to the shooting, which happened around 1:43 a.m. at 222 Pavilion Ave.

The men were both in critical condition and in surgery the last time the police checked with Rhode Island Hospital, which was about an hour ago, Court said.

Friends took the men to the hospital, Court said.

The motive in the shooting is not clear, and the police do not even know yet whether the two men knew each other, Court said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:06 AM | Comment

Heat wave to hit southern New England

The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for an extended heat wave expected over much of interior southern New England through Tuesday.

The temperature should reach the upper 80s to lower 90s today and tomorrow before climbing into the mid 90s through Tuesday, the weather service says.

High humidity will make it feel even hotter, according to the weather service, which is advising people to avoid strenuous activity, especially during the hottest part of the day, and to keep an eye on the elderly and children.

Onshore winds should keep coastal areas cooler. Isolated thunderstorms could also bring some, the weather service says.

For more weather and updates, see projo.com/weather.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment

July 13, 2006

Financial details of CVS clinic deal reported

MinuteClinic, a fast-growing Minneapolis company that delivers basic health care out of retail outlets, is expected to gain even more steam now that it has been purchased by national drugstore chain CVS Corp. of Woonsocket.

CVS Corp. announced the purchase today of the Minnesota company with 83 walk-in clinics in 10 states, including 66 in CVS stores. CVS didn't disclose terms, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune has reported that the deal was expected to be for $170 million in cash.

Minneapolis-based MinuteClinic still plans to triple its number of locations to 250 by the end of the year and said its earlier forecast of 450 to 500 locations by the end of 2007 would be revised upward.

CVS Corp.'s purchase of MinuteClinic comes a little more than a month after the company closed on the purchase of 700 Albertson's drugstores, giving the chain 6,100 stores in 42 states.

None of the Minneapolis company's clinics will close or move as a result of the deal.

Read more in today's Journal.

-- The Associated Press and Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:03 PM | Comment

Update: Some lane closures tonight for repaving on Route 146 south / Photo

LINCOLN – Although Route 146 south remains open after today's accident, the state Department of Transportation will be closing some lanes beginning at 8 p.m. when crews start repaving the roadway, according to a DOT statement.

Taller vehicles must follow height restrictions because of damage to an overpass in the vicinity of the accident, just south of Route 116. Southbound vehicles taller than 13 feet, 6 inches, must travel in the left lane, the DOT reports.

Throughout the afternoon, the roadway alternated between full and partial closures as cleanup crews moved a load of steel girders that spilled on the highway in a vehicle accident. The DOT now reports that the accident is fully cleared.

The state Department of Transportation announced the road was closed at Interstate 295 around 2:15 p.m. and that there could be short closures of Route 146 south as crews worked to position heavy equipment. One lane re-opened, but just after 4 p.m., all southbound lanes were closed again.

During the cleanup, the DOT recommended that motorists detour around the accident to help relieve traffic pressures. Traffic appears to be flowing well on traffic cameras on the DOT web site.

-- With reports from Journal staff writers Cynthia Needham and John Hill

Earlier today, a state trooper directs traffic around a pile of steel trusses on Route 146 in Lincoln.

-- Journal photo Bill Murphy

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:55 PM | Comment

"Trading Spaces" TV crew in Johnston today

JOHNSTON – The popular TV show “Trading Spaces” today wrapped up two days of filming in Johnston and moves on to Warwick Saturday in a three-community swing through New England.

The Learning Channel show has neighbors trade spaces with each other to renovate a portion of their homes. In Johnston, one family redid their neighbors' kitchen and the other family created a playroom for their neighbors’ children.

Earlier this week, the TV crew was in Dartmouth, Mass.

The local episodes are supposed to air this fall.

Read more about the Johnston swap in tomorrow’s Journal.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Cynthia Needham

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:45 PM | Comment

Federal grant to help ensure clean RI beaches

The federal government wants to help ensure that Rhode Island’s beaches are clean and healthy.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this afternoon that it will give a grant to the state health department tomorrow morning to pay for coastal beach monitoring. The agency has not disclosed the grant amount.

Governor Carcieri will be joined at the Narragansett Beach ceremony by local environmental leaders and a regional EPA administrator.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:56 PM | Comment

Photo / 15 year old pleads innocent to murder

Phearin Rot in Superior Court today.

--- Journal photo Andrew Dickerman

PROVIDENCE – The second-youngest murder defendant in Rhode Island in more than a century pled not guilty today to three charges when he was arraigned in Superior Court.

Phearin Rot, 15, the former Nathanael Greene Middle School student charged with the June 2005 slaying of Jamont Richardson over a $10-debt for hair braiding, appeared before Judge Jeffrey A. Lanphear, according to Michael J. Healey, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office.

The Providence County Grand Jury indicted Rot last week on charges of murder, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, death resulting, and carrying a pistol without a license. He had also been charged with murder conspiracy, but the grand jury did not return an indictment on that count, Healey said.

Rot’s private defense lawyer, Steve DiLibero, requested a status conference in two weeks, possibly to argue for bail to be set for Rot. That court date was set for July 27.

Rot is now held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions, Healey said.

Additionally, a pre-trial conference has been set for Aug. 15 before Judge Robert D. Krause.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:28 PM | Comment

Cranston designer on QVC tonight

Jennifer Kirk, of Cranston, is scheduled to appear on a live broadcast on the shopping network QVC tonight.

QVC set up a remote studio for the three-hour broadcast at Kirk's waterfront Victorian in Edgewood.

The broadcast will feature new jewelry designs and home decor items. QVC's Patti Reilly, a native Rhode Islander, was scheduled to host the show.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:08 PM | Comment

John Brown House concert canceled

Due to bad weather and wet grounds, tonight's concert by the Preservation Hall Rhythm and Blues Band on the grounds of the John Brown House has been canceled and rescheduled to Thursday, Aug. 17.
The announcement came from Ed Coates, president of the Rhode Island Rhythm and Blues Preservation Society. The band is an arm of the society.

Posted by at 2:58 PM | Comment

Carcieri, Lynch disappointed by casino decision

PROVIDENCE – Governor Carcieri and Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said today that they are disappointed that the Rhode Island Supreme Court declined to provide an advisory opinion on the casino refendum.

Meanwhile, the Narragansetts’ Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas cautiously hailed the court’s decision as a victory for the tribe.

"There's people who don't want to see this on the ballot,” Thomas said. “We're sure they're going to try other tactics.”

Passage of the constitutional amendment Nov. 7 would help clear the way for Harrah's to build a casino in West Warwick, a proposal that the governor opposes.

In a July 10 letter to the court, Carcieri asked, among other questions, whether the proposed constitutional amendment to allow a Harrah's-Narragansetts casino would "inappropriately give the town of West Warwick and the potential casino operators a Constitutional right -- the right to own and operate a casino -- that it denies to all other communities and citizens."

Carcieri, a Republican, and Lynch, a Democrat, stood together last week in announcing Carcieri’s request for an opinion from the court. This afternoon, they said the court’s decision will leave “a huge constitutional cloud over the casino referendum.”

“As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, Rhode Islanders will vote on this tremendously important question with no way to know whether it will withstand constitutional scrutiny,” Carcieri and Lynch said in their written statement. “Even worse, their vote may be overturned by the courts after-the-fact.”

Read more in our full story at projo.com.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Elizabeth Gudrais, projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson and the Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:50 PM | Comment

Narragansett chief puts casino opponents "on notice"

Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas says he's confident voters will approve a change to the state’s constitution that would allow the Harrah’s-Narragansett Indian casino to be built in West Warwick.

At a press conference today, Thomas said the casino deal will bring the tribe “benefits and opportunities we have only dreamed of,” millions of dollars that will help the Narragansetts relieve poverty and improve healthcare.

Thomas also said he would not allow casino detractors to attack the credibility or integrity of the tribe.

“I want to put our opponents on notice,” he said. “Attacks on this project, attacks on our effort to establish a tribal casino, attacks on our supporters or our partner will be considered a direct attack on the Narragansett Indian tribe.”

Thomas said the casino would reduce property taxes for Rhode Islanders by a projected $144 million a year.

The tribe on Tuesday released a summary of its contract with the Las Vegas financial backer, Harrah's, which would run the casino in West Warwick if it is approved by voters in November.

The tribe has declined to release the full contract.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:43 PM | Comment

Easton's Bay closed to shellfish harvesting

Easton’s Bay in Newport and Middletown is closed to shellfish harvesting until further notice because of the raw sewage overflow from a leaking sewer main in Middletown.

The sewer main has been replaced, but the Department of Environmental Management announced its decision to ban shellfish harvesting beginning at noon today because the agency must now collect water samples to test for fecal coliform bacteria levels.

The areas will reopen when conditions are acceptable, the DEM said in a statement.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:00 PM | Comment

Cranston police identify man run over by fire truck

A New Hampshire man is in serious condition today after he was run over by a ladder truck inside a fire station in Cranston yesterday afternoon, the police said today.

The police identified the man as David Norton, 34, and said his last known address was in Manchester, N.H.

The man was apparently lying underneath the truck when it left Station 3, on 1384 Cranston St., at 4:34 p.m. to respond to an emergency call at the Adult Correctional Institutions' minimum-security building, the police said.

The driver of the ladder truck drove away without realizing the man was there, the police said. Norton was found lying on the floor minutes later by firefighters from Engine 3, the police said.

Norton is being treated at Rhode Island Hospital.

The police have not said what the man was doing at the station. They said the state police Commercial Enforcement Unit is assisting them with their investigation.

-- Journal staff writer Zachary R. Mider

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:50 PM | Comment

Judge assigned to Yashar case

PROVIDENCE -- A lawsuit seeking to reduce former Traffic Tribunal Judge Marjorie R. Yashar's pension was assigned today to Superior Court Judge Judith Colenback Savage.

Lawyers for Yashar and the state met privately for about 20 minutes with Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. this morning. Rodgers and the lawyers then came out of his chambers and told a reporter waiting in the hallway that Savage would handle the case. At no point was anything said on the record in open court.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch and state General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares -- who heads the retirement system -- went to court in April seeking to reduce Yashar's pension.

Read the latest story about Yashar in today's Journal.

-- Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:08 PM | Comment

Kickboxer indicted for murder

The Statewide Grand Jury has indicted Malbon D. Bolden Jr., 44, for the beating and murder of Maria Sample at a Warwick hotel in March.

Bolden, a kickboxer from Baltimore, was in Rhode Island with Sample, also 44, for a tournament.

He is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 11:28 AM | Comment

Safety Board posts report on Block Island crash

The National Transportation Safety Board has found no mechanical problems with the private plane that crashed on Block Island July 5 killing three.

The preliminary report on file today did quote a witness as saying that it was raining hard, with lightning, when he heard the plane crash into a stand of trees.

The safety board examined the flight control mechanisms, the propeller, the engine and the fuel system without finding any evidence that would explain the accident.

At about noon July 5, White Plains, N.Y., surgeon William P. Homan, his wife, Valerie, and mother, Betty, boarded Homan's Piper Cherokee Arrow and took off for New York from Block Island Airport.

Around 12:15 p.m., the single-engine, four-seater crashed through the trees, landing about a half-mile from the runway, according to an inspector with the National Transportation Safety Board's northeast regional office.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 11:07 AM | Comment

National autism conference under way in Providence

PROVIDENCE -- The Autism Society of America continues its 37th National Conference at the Rhode Island Convention Center this morning.

The conference, "Lighting the Way to Hope," offers a variety of workshops and speakers that focus on increasing public awareness about autism and the day-to-day issues faced by those affected.

The conference runs through Saturday.

The Autism Society of America has more than 120,000 members across the country.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:34 AM | Comment

Nurses to protest work conditions at Women & Infants

PROVIDENCE -- Nurses and other hospital staff plan to protest later today over what they call unsafe work conditions at Women & Infants Hospital.

"The hospital continues to rely on mandatory overtime as a regular staffing tool, a practice that is unsafe for patients and unfair for workers," reads an announcement released by the New England Health Care Employees Union.

Nurses and others plan to distribute fliers calling for better staffing levels outside the Dudley Street hospital today. There will also be a press conference with union officials at 4 p.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:05 AM | Comment

Drug maker buys Smithfield plant; 80 new jobs planned

SMITHFIELD -- Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. said this morning that it has purchased the former Dow Chemical facility in Smithfield and plans to employ at least 80 people at the drug manufacturing plant.

The price was not disclosed.

The Connecticut-based company will produce Soliris, a drug for treating a genetic blood disorder, at the 55,000-square-foot plant. The company plans to retrofit the facility, which will start producing the biotechnology drug in 2008, according to a company statement released this morning.

Dow Chemical pulled out of the Smithfield facility in 2004 and put the drug manufacturing plant up for sale, as it changed its business plans. Earlier this decade, Dow had planned to build a $100-million drug-making plant next to the existing facility.

Alexion, (ALXN:Nasdaq) is a publicly traded bio-technology company founded by scientists at Yale University in 1992 and is preparing to manufacture its first drug. The 250 person company is still waiting for final approvals from government regulators in the U.S. and Europe for Soliris, according to the company's Web site.

Alexion will remain headquartered in Connecticut. The company lost $27.2 million in the first quarter of 2006 and reported $768,000 in revenue.

-- Journal staff writer Andrea L. Stape

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:38 AM | Comment

Carcieri to sign property tax relief bill

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri plans to sign legislation this morning that would cap increases on local property tax and school budgets.

The bill would gradually lower the maximum annual increase to a community's tax levy from the current 5.5 percent to 4 percent, starting in fiscal 2008 and reaching 4 percent in 2013. The same limits would be applied to school budgets.

This morning's signing is scheduled for 10:30 at the State House.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:09 AM | Comment

More humidity and thunderstorms today, hotter tomorrow

PROVIDENCE -- Like the weather for much of this week, today's forecast calls for humid conditions with a chance of showers and thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.

The chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

But the wet weather will depart late tonight as forecasters predict hot, sunny conditions through the end of the weekend. Tomorrow's high should touch 90, while Saturday's temperatures are expected to rise to the mid 90s.

For more weather and updates, see projo.com/weather.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:00 AM | Comment

July 12, 2006

Mass. lawmakers yet to vote on gay marriage ban

BOSTON -- Lawmakers gathered at the Massachusetts Statehouse have yet to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the only state where it is now legal.

Minutes after Senate President Robert Travaglini opened the constitutional convention today, an attempt failed to change the order of the agenda to move up the gay marriage proposal to guarantee debate today. A unanimous vote was needed to make the change.

Travaglini said he intended to get to all the nearly two dozen items on the calendar but there was no guarantee they would reach the proposal to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman by day's end. If that happens, it could be months until it is brought up again.

Gay marriage opponents hope to block future same-sex unions in Massachusetts with the proposed amendment, which could go on the ballot no earlier than 2008. More than 8,000 same-sex couples have taken vows since gay marriages began in May 2004.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:09 PM | Comment

Rep. Gallison praises bill barring LNG tankers from Bay

PROVIDENCE -- State Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., D-Portsmouth, praised Governor Carcieri today for signing a bill that blocks LNG tankers from using Rhode Island waters to reach a proposed terminal in Fall River’s north end.

The governor this week signed the bill, which was proposed by Gallison at the beginning of the year and passed by the General Assembly before it adjourned late last month.

“This is what I wanted,” Gallison said today. “I’m ecstatic the governor signed the legislation. This law will protect the people who live along Narragansett Bay.”

The intent of the law is to effectively prohibit massive LNG tankers from passing through state waters by enforcing strict security zones with which the ships would not be able to comply.

If the ships can't use local waters, they won't be able to reach the $250-million facility that Weaver's Cove Energy and Hess LNG want to build on 73 acres along the Taunton River. The plan has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee but still needs a host of permits from local and state agencies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

But a Weaver's Cove representative said today that the bill won't change the company's plans. They believe that federal law supercedes the state law -- a similar argument the Coast Guard used in opposing the bill.

-- Journal staff writer Alex Kuffner

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:38 PM | Comment

Tribe to hold casino press conference tomorrow

CHARLESTOWN -- The Narragansett Indian Tribe announced today that it will hold a press conference tomorrow morning to outline "the positive impact the [casino] project would have" on the tribe.

A spokesman for the tribe did not return a call left this morning seeking more details about the press conference.

The tribe yesterday released a summary of its contract with the Las Vegas financial backer, Harrah's, which would run a casino in West Warwick if approved by voters in November.

Read the contract summary (pdf document)

Read the full story about the tribe's deal with Harrah's in today's Journal.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:39 PM | Comment

Middletown: You can flush and shower again

MIDDLETOWN -- Roughly 10,000 residents were cleared to use their showers, flush their toilets and run their faucets this afternoon, more than 24 hours after a sewer main break disrupted local water service.

Town officials said that the main was repaired today at 12:15 p.m. And though residents can use their water, two beaches -- Easton's and Atlantic -- will be closed for at least another two days because of the sewage that poured into the coastal waters because of the leak.

Read the full story about the water main break in today's Journal.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:48 PM | Comment

Zidane says Italian insulted his mother and sister

Zinedine Zidane, the French soccer star, talked today for the first time about head-butting Marco Materazzi. He apologized. But when asked if he had any regrets, he said he did not.

Zidane, speaking on French TV, said today that the Italian player had repeatedly insulted his mother and his sister. He said he lost his temper the third time and head-butted Materazzi.

The referee then threw the veteran leader of the French team out of the game and Italy ended up winning the World Cup on penalty kicks.

Odile Mattiauda, of Providence, who listened to the interview on French satellite radio, said Zidane, in apologizing, said he felt bad for the impression he might have made on the millions of children who were watching the game.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 2:30 PM | Comment

Brown research published on cover of journal Nature

Dr. Leigh R. Hochberg, an investigator in neuroscience at Brown Medical School, is the lead author of a cover story in today’s issue of the journal Nature, about a team of researchers at Brown University working on cutting-edge technology to help seriously paralyzed patients move again.

Hochberg's team is working on a brain implant and computer system that has already enabled four paralyzed people to control objects simply by thinking about it.

New and cumbersome, the system still has a long way to go. But experimental subjects have opened e-mail, played computer games, adjusted the volume on a TV set, and manipulated a prosthetic arm. If the device were connected to a system that stimulates muscles, someday such people could use it to move their limbs.

More to come in tomorrow's Journal.

-- Journal staff writer Felice J. Freyer

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:01 PM | Comment

Education Secretary: Engaged businesses are crucial

HOPKINTON, Mass. -- U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings told a large group of teachers today that support from the business community is the key for local students to stay competitive.

"Without an active, engaged, smart business community with staying power, it’s not going to happen," Spellings said today to about 150 teachers from Massachusetts and Rhode Island at a conference in Hopkinton.

The teachers training conference, sponsored by EMC Corp., focused on helping improve math and science education.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Andrea L. Stape

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:39 PM | Comment

Presentencing hearing set for Carpio

PROVIDENCE -- A presentence hearing for convicted murderer Esteban Carpio has been set for Sept. 25.

Carpio faces life in prison without the possibility of parole -- Rhode Island's harshest sentence -- after being convicted last month of killing Providence police Det. Sgt. James Allen.

State law requires a presentence hearing to determine whether aggravating circumstances exist which would make appropriate the sentence of life without parole. The prosecution and defense will make arguments at the hearing, which is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

After evidence and arguments are presented, Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause will set a sentencing date for Carpio.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:12 PM | Comment

CBS to air Brotherhood this Saturday

The first episode of Brotherhood, the new cable drama set in a fictional Providence neighborhood, will air this Saturday on CBS.

The pilot episode of the series first aired last Sunday on Showtime, which is a division of the CBS Corporation.

"We're extraordinarily proud of Brotherhood and we want to showcase it to the most viewers and potential Showtime subscribers possible," said Showtime CEO Matthew C. Blank, in a statement.

The show features two brothers from a Providence neighborhood known as "the Hill," who are torn between life in public service and organized crime. It was filmed in Providence and the surrounding communities.

It is unclear if the show will continue to air on CBS after Saturday's 10 p.m. airing.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:11 PM | Comment

Big Dig inspection finds 60 more 'questionable areas'

BOSTON -- The head of the agency overseeing Boston's Big Dig highway project ordered a review of the entire highway system today after inspectors looking into the fatal collapse of concrete ceiling slabs found 60 more questionable areas in the tunnel's ceiling.

Initial inspections revealed dozens of signs of bolts loosening and other potential failures in the same connector tunnel, part of the main route to Boston's Logan Airport, Turnpike Authority officials and the Big Dig project manager said.

There were also trouble spots in the westbound lanes of the tunnel, they said.

Read more about the Big Dig problems.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:06 PM | Comment

LIN TV's new CEO sees opportunities and challenges

PROVIDENCE – At a time of dramatic change for the television industry, the newly named CEO for Providence-based LIN Television Corp. said now is an exciting time to lead the company that owns or operates two local TV stations among 30 total stations.

Vincent L. Sadusky was named CEO today after serving as interim CEO since last month when longtime CEO Gary R. Chapman announced plans to retire this past Monday.

Locally, LIN TV owns and operates WPRI Channel 12 and operates WNAC Channel 64.

Sadusky said the change that now has broadcasters transmitting via a digital signal rather than an analog signal offers the industry a host of opportunities and challenges.

On the challenging end, there is now the on-demand digital delivery of entertainment and more than 200 cable channels “vying for people’s television time,” he said.

But on the opportunity side, Sadusky said such a change allows television stations to build “terrific Web sites” and reach people at work who are interested in local news, sports, weather and traffic but don’t have worksite televisions.

Because more and more people have high-speed internet access now, television stations can tap into computer users’ interest in watching video online, Sadusky said.

Sadusky will join LIN TV’s board of directors and will continue to act as chief financial officer until a replacement is appointed. He has worked as LIN TV's vice president, CFO and treasurer since 2004, overseeing all financial functions and acquisitions.

“Vince has impressed the board with his leadership and vision for maximizing the value of LIN’s content and distribution assets in today’s evolving media environment,” said Peter S. Brodsky, of the company’s board of directors, in a company-issued statement. “Those qualities, along with his industry knowledge and experience in growing businesses, make him the ideal CEO for LIN.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:51 PM | Comment

Raytheon lands $72 million contract

Military contractor Raytheon Co. said today that it has landed a $72.8 million contract from the U.S. Navy to provide the Royal Australian Navy with radar equipment.

Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems unit will provide system transmitters, hardware and spares for radar systems on three Air Warfare Destroyer ships. The work will be done at Raytheon plants in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Components of the radar system are already in use on U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:53 AM | Comment

The Saint pleads guilty to a conspiracy charge

PROVIDENCE - Reputed mobster Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent Sr., a longtime fixture on the New England organized-crime scene, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit extortion.

St. Laurent, 64, of 2 Rotary Drive, Johnston, this morning in U.S. District Court also admitted he was in violation of the terms of his probation for a 1999 conviction.

St. Laurent was charged in April with trying to extort more than $200,000 from two Massachusetts men. The federal indictment charged that St. Laurent and unnamed others conspired to collect extensions of credit from the two men, and to physically harm them if they didn't pay up.

St. Laurent, who appeared in court in a wheelchair and wore a neck brace, is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 29.

In exchange for the guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney's Office will recommend a prison term “on the lowest point of sentences for the sentence level determined” and an additional year for a probation violation, in exchange for the guilty plea.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:31 AM | Comment

East Bay sewer line still under repair

MIDDLETOWN -- Middletown residents are being asked to conserve water while work continues in Newport to repair a broken sewer line.

Middletown Town Administrator Gerry Kempen says about 10,000 Middletown residents are being asked to limit use of their toilets and hold off on doing laundry, showering or using their sinks until repairs are made.

He says work is expected to continue through the morning to replace a section of sewer pipe that has two leaks.

Kempen says he's not sure how much sewage has leaked into Easton's Bay. He says workers are treating the seeping sewage with chlorine to kill bacteria, but people should not swim at Easton's Beach in Newport and the Atlantic Beach Club in Middletown.

Read more about the sewer line break in today's Journal.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:26 AM | Comment

Skakel will ask Supreme Court to overturn conviction

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Attorneys for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel said they planned to ask the U.S. Supreme Court today to overturn his murder conviction, saying his due process rights were violated because a statute of limitations had expired.

Skakel, 45, is serving 20 years to life for his 2002 conviction in the 1975 beating death of his Greenwich neighbor, Martha Moxley, when the two were teenagers.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:51 AM | Comment

Big Dig connector tunnel remains closed indefinitely

BOSTON – The Massachusetts State Police do not know when a Big Dig tunnel will reopen after a woman traveling through the tunnel was killed Monday night by a falling ceiling panel.

The connector tunnel, which leads to the Ted Williams Tunnel and the city’s Logan International Airport, remains completely closed this morning, according to the state police.

Because the connector tunnel is closed in both directions, no one is able to travel to the airport via the Ted Williams Tunnel because the closed roadway prevents eastbound access to the tunnel, State Police Trooper Veronica Dalton said.

Travelers leaving the airport can take the Ted Williams Tunnel westbound under Boston Harbor, Dalton said. Once they drive westward through the tunnel, drivers are then detoured around the closed connector tunnel -- through South Boston -- and back onto the Massachusestts Turnpike heading west, Dalton said.

Anyone needing to drive to Logan must take the Callahan Tunnel, which is located north of the Ted Williams Tunnel, Dalton said. Anyone leaving Logan who does not take the Ted Williams Tunnel could drive through the Sumner Tunnel, which is older than and parallel to the Callahan Tunnel.

With the closed connector tunnel and detour, traffic in the area is “tied up pretty bad,” Dalton said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:27 AM | Comment

Homeowners will have less to fear from tax sales

PROVIDENCE – Homeowners with unpaid bills will have more protection against losing their homes at tax sales when Governor Carcieri signs the Madeline Walker Act of 2006 today at 10 a.m. at the Urban League.

The legislation that won approval in the final days of the General Assembly is named after the 81-year-old Providence woman who was evicted from her home of more than 40 years last December.

Walker essentially lost her house after she failed to pay a $500 sewer bill and the Narragansett Bay Commission sold a lien on her house in late 2003, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. With a flurry of media and legislative attention focusing on Walker’s plight, a lawyer helped her gain back her home and she moved back into it in January of this year.

The new legislation enables Rhode Island Housing to have the right of first refusal in acquiring a tax lien when an owner-occupied home of three units or less is subject to a tax sale.

Walker's problem started with a system that allowed a public utility, the Narragansett Bay Commission, to sell her unpaid bill to a private company that sought interest and penalties from Walker. When she didn’t pay those additional bills, the purchaser of the lien was able to pursue ownership of the property.

At the time of the foreclosure, Governor Carcieri and other elected officials pledged to support legislative changes that would prevent people like Walker from losing their homes over relatively small unpaid bills. The Urban League of Rhode Island provided temporary housing for Walker after she was evicted, and it was at their offices that Carcieri first announced the proposed legislation in January that he will sign into law today.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:11 AM | Comment

Rain, rain, rain -- and a tornado? Well, potentially

PROVIDENCE -- More rain is predicted for today, mostly after noon.

And with thunderstorms in the forecast, too, the National Weather Service has issued a flash-flood watch and a hazardous weather outlook for much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and for parts of northern Connecticut. The worst weather is expected between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. today.

The thunderstorms could bring lightning, damaging winds and large hail – even a tornado across the Connecticut River Valley. The flash flood watch has been issued from 3 p.m. today through tomorrow morning.

Find out more on our weather page throughout the day.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:05 AM | Comment

July 11, 2006

State asks Middletown residents not to flush or shower

MIDDLETOWN – A force main break along Memorial Boulevard spilled a small amount of sewage into a nearby storm drain this morning, requiring crews to shut the Wave Avenue pump station and close Easton’s and Atlantic beaches during repairs.

Middletown Town Administrator Gerald Kempen said no sewage has reached Easton’s Bay, but wastewater will likely spill into the beaches after the Wave Avenue Pump Station is shut down to repair the 20-inch pipe that runs on Memorial Boulevard in Middletown to America’s Cup Avenue in Newport.

Middletown and state Department of Health officials are asking residents to refrain from flushing their toilets or running showers, washing machines, or dishwashers until repairs are completed by late tonight or early Wednesday morning.

A westbound lane on Memorial Boulevard has also been closed. Motorists should expect additional detours near Red Cross Avenue during repairs, which began this afternoon and will continue into the evening.

To minimize wastewater from reaching the bay during repairs, workers will use six sewage trucks to haul away the sewage as it surfaces, but some wastewater will surely spill into the beaches, said Ernest Julian with the DOH.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:27 PM | Comment

Update: Man escapes serious injury in Route 10 crash

PROVIDENCE – A man in an early-morning crash on Route 10 north escaped serious injury, according to the state police and a hospital spokeswoman.

Driver James Gomes, 18, of 36 Hadwin St. in Central Falls, was treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital, spokeswoman Andrea Barbosa said this afternoon.

State Police Sgt. Richard Ryan said Gomes was driving in the low-speed lane of Route 10 north at 3:30 a.m. when he lost control of the 1995 Chevrolet four-door sedan. About 400 feet north of the Union Avenue overpass, the car left the roadway, went up an embankment and back down, rolling over onto its roof, Ryan said. The car landed on the Union Avenue entrance ramp, he said.

Speed may have been a factor in the accident, Ryan said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:18 PM | Comment

Big Dig update: Romney calls for firing of turnpike chairman

BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney, speaking at a news conference at the Massachusetts State House, called today for the firing of Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew J. Amorello, a day after part of the ceiling of a Big Dig tunnel fell, killing a woman who was riding in a car.

Romney said the ceiling collapse was the latest result of mismanagement of the tunnel system, which he said has brought a loss of public confidence.

Romney, a Republican, has repeatedly called in the past for the dismissal of Amorello, who is a former GOP state senator. Most recently, Romney and the Democrat-controlled legislature have been battling over control of the board that oversees the authority, with Romney seeking to make a new appointment that would give him majority support on the board for the first time.

Romney, who was flanked today by Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Secretary of Transportation John Cogliano, repeated a litany of past problems with the Big Dig, ranging from leaks in the tunnel walls to what he described as financial mismanagement by Amorello. He said it was time for the Turnpike Authority to operate with openness rather than with "the secretive fortress mentality" that he says has prevailed under Amorello.

Turning his attention to safety, Romney said drivers should not have to pass through the tunnel system "with their fingers crossed."

The state's attorney general and the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston have asked the state police to confiscate all material from yesterday's collapse for use in a criminal investigation, if one is warranted.

- With reports from Tom Mooney

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:11 PM | Comment

Herald: "Adhesive anchor failure" cited in 2001

A broad section of the Big Dig tunnel ceiling surrounding last night’s fatal collapse was plagued by “adhesive anchor failure’’ in 2001 requiring more than $500,000 in construction changes to remedy support problems, state records show, according to the Boston Herald’s web site today.

Officials also told the Herald today the collapsed section was set to be re-inspected this year.

Contract documents reveal that federal officials approved hefty spending increases pertaining to ceiling construction after the I-90 seaport access section opened in July of 2003. One such adjustment in 2004 cost more than $439,000 to install “adhesive anchors for the ceiling struts,” the Herald reports.

On the Big Dig’s web site, a news report from April 2005 says the Big Dig tunnels are safe, according to an independent assessment by the Federal Highway Administration. Following problems with leaks in the tunnels, that study declared that the Central Artery/Tunnel Project was "structurally sound and remains safe for traffic."

The FHWA report did recommend, though, that work continue with inspections and repairs to put a stop to any and all leaks as soon as possible. It also recommended that project authorities develop an inspection program “to detect and deter any future leak problems.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:05 PM | Comment

Sloop Providence must cancel festive plans

CLEVELAND -- The Rhode Island-based continental sloop Providence will not be participating in festivals in the Midwest because it could not get through a lock on the Erie Canal.

The Providence is featured in the Walt Disney movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, starring Johnny Depp.

The ship was supposed to take part in a festival in Cleveland starting tomorrow. Then it was to move on to a festival in Bay City, Mich.

But the New York Canal System announced today that navigation has been halted for about six weeks. Water levels have been lowered between Lock 9 in Rotterdam Junction and Lock 11 in the City of Amsterdam so that crews can repair recent flood damage.

Unable to get through the canal system, the Providence has returned to Rhode Island, after waiting in Albany, N.Y., to enter the canal system on its way to the Great Lakes, the Providence Maritime Heritage Foundation announced today.

-- projo.com and Associated Press reports

“We are extremely disappointed that our vessel cannot proceed through the canal system,” said Robert Hofmann, executive director of the foundation. “We have looked at other options, but none were feasible. We are saddened that our plans to visit the Great Lakes must be canceled.”

Trish Rooney, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland festival, says the Providence will be replaced by the Brazilian tall ship Nina.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:28 PM | Comment

Gun-awareness campaign stops in Woonsocket

WOONSOCKET -- American children are more likely to play in homes with guns than in homes with dogs.

It’s a startling statistic, but one that has prompted Rhode Islanders to take action to keep kids away from guns.

This morning, representatives from the gun-awareness campaign known as ASK (Asking Saves Kids) gathered with local children in Woonsocket to spread the word about firearm safety.

Their premise is this: when a child wants to play at a friend’s house, along with the usual questions, parents should make a habit of asking whether there is a gun in the house -- and if so, is it locked up?

“Just as you ask about allergies, or will they be swimming in a pool, you’ve got to ask about guns," said Michael Migliori, a physician and member of the Rhode Island Medical Society. "Kids are curious, so it’s up to parents to make sure they are safe. Hiding guns isn’t enough.”

Read more about the ASK program.

-- Journal Staff Writer Cynthia Needham

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:03 PM | Comment

Providence man runs from stolen car; arrested by police

PROVIDENCE – Police have charged a 38-year-old Providence man with possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest, simple assault or battery and driving without a license.

James Williams, of 83 Dexter St., has yet to be arraigned. Sgt. Carl Weston said
he is now at Rhode Island Hospital under police guard, after complaining of chest pains.

Williams was arrested early this morning after Providence patrolman Eric Chabot saw a maroon Cutlass speeding into the the parking lot of the 7-Eleven store at Smith St. and Chalkstone Ave.

Williams went into the store and Chabot ran a computer check on the car and found it was stolen from Pawtucket.

After a few minutes, Williams got back in the car. Chabot then blocked the Cutlass in the parking lot and ordered Williams to stay put. But Williams fled.

He was arrested by Chabot and two other officers, the report states.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:03 PM | Comment

Pawtucket man indicted for murder arrested in New Hampshire

A Pawtucket man indicted for murder is in jail in New Hampshire today.

Jose L. Mojica, 21, formerly of 356 Lonsdale Ave., has been on the run for two months.

He fled Rhode Island in May after Central Falls police, investigating a narcotics case, went looking for him at a Central Falls apartment, Pawtucket Detective Sgt. Todd Stonely said.

Then, he skipped a Superior Court date on the murder charge he faces for the March 2004 slaying of 19-year-old Robert Cruz of Central Falls.

The Pawtucket and Central Falls police departments have been looking ever since for the man whose street name is “Chuckie.”

Mojica had surrendered himself to police in July 2004 after they had arrested two other men in connection with Cruz’s murder. He spent about six months in jail because he had violated an earlier probation, Stonely said.

But once Mojica satisfied the conditions of that probation, he posted bail and was legally out of jail while awaiting trial, Stonely said. In April 2006, Mojica was the passenger in a car whose driver, his stepbrother Wilson Echevarria of Pawtucket, was shot in the head. Mojica was not injured.

The other two men arrested in connection with the murder of Cruz have since been sentenced to 40 years with 20 to serve, Stonely said. Andrew A. Delavega and Erik Munoz reached some sort of plea agreement in the case.

But Mojica’s trial was poised to go forward.

He fled the state once he learned Central Falls police were looking for him in connection with that narcotics case, Stonely said.

In Pawtucket, Detective Captain John Seebeck worked the case. He learned that Mojica would be traveling from New York into New Hampshire in the middle of the night this weekend, Saturday night to Sunday morning, Stonely said.

With detailed information about the car Mojica was expected to be driving, Pawtucket police alerted Massachusetts and New Hampshire state police to be on the lookout, Stonely said.

The police work paid off.

As Mojica crossed the border into New Hampshire, state police nabbed him, Stonely said.

Now, he waits in a New Hampshire jail as talk of his extradition to Rhode Island is expected to keep prosecutors and police busy today.

This time, Stonely doesn’t see Mojica making bail and getting back out on the street.

“I would fully expect the [Rhode Island] court to revoke his bail and send him to the ACI,” Stonely said. “He’s clearly a flight risk and dangerous at the same time.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:47 AM | Comment

Today's high should be near 87; watch for thunderstorms

PROVIDENCE – Even if there’s some rain on the horizon this week, it finally feels like summer, doesn’t it?

It should be partly cloudy today with a high hear 87. There’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9 a.m. today.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for much of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and parts of northern Connecticut because of expected thunderstorms.

Showers and strong thunderstorms have already entered western New England and should move to southern New Hampshire and much of western Massachusetts early today. The thunderstorms aren’t severe, but they do bring with them dangerous lightning, the weather service reports. We could see more thunder and lightning later this morning and into the afternoon.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:04 AM | Comment

July 10, 2006

Barrington Council could be asked to close teen center

BARRINGTON – When the town council meets tonight, members could hear a recommendation from town manager Peter DeAngelis to consider closing The Place, which had been the town’s teen center and is now in disrepair.

Some parents have recently expressed opposition to closing The Place and want to resurrect the building as a viable youth center. It has not been used at all for at least a year.

The council meets at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Barrington town hall.

In other news, the council will consider a mutual-aid agreement with the police departments in East Providence and Seekonk, Mass.

Since Barrington has only one shelter that the Red Cross has approved, the community is working out plans to send residents to those other communities if there were a category 3 or greater hurricane. The mutual-aid agreement would allow Barrington to send its police officers to shelters in East Providence and Seekonk if residents took shelter there.

-- With reports from Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:02 PM | Comment

Peace activist speaks in Wickford

WICKFORD – About 90 people have gathered on a small public common tonight to hear peace activist Michael Berg, the father of the Pennsylvania contractor kidnapped and beheaded by Iraqi militants in 2004.

Berg, a Green Party candidate for Congress in Delaware, is in Rhode Island today and tomorrow to share his message of peace. The event is at the corner of Brown and Main streets in Wickford Village.

Berg is the most prominent of the speakers who will address the event tonight that has been endorsed by Military Families Speak Out. Organizers Theresia and Steve Kelly said they invited Berg to speak when they heard him talk recently about peace. They applaud the effort he has made to stop the cycle of retribution and revenge, they said.

Berg has been a longtime peace activist, but he was thrust into the spotlight when his son, Nicholas Berg, was abducted and killed on May 7, 2004.

He expects to speak again tomorrow at a 6:30 p.m. event organized by the Green Party of Rhode Island at Mi Sueno Restaurant, 1070 Broad St., Providence.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Jennifer D. Jordan

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:27 PM | Comment

Flash: Carcieri, Lynch ask Supreme Court to rule on casino

Governor Carcieri and Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch today asked the state Supreme Court to determine whether the General Assembly's casino referendum is constitutional.

The referendum, which would amend the constitution to permit Harrah's to operate a casino on private land in West Warwick, is on November 7 ballot. Harrah's has promised to share its profits with the Narragansett Indians.

In asking for an advisory opinion, Carcieri and Lynch today said they believed it was their duty to see if the proposed amendment is constitutional before the vote.

"It would be a tragedy," the governor said, "if Rhode Islanders were to vote to approve the casino amendment only to see it overturned by the courts afterwards."

Governor Carcieri has rehired Joseph S. Larisa Jr., the lawyer who won two previous legal battles to keep the casino proposal off the ballot, at a cost of $225 an hour.

In two recent advisory opinions, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has taken the position that the state Constitution only allows state-operated lotteries; a casino -- with the same elements of chance, consideration and prize -- is the equivalent of a lottery under law, and so privately operated casinos are, in effect, prohibited by the Constitution.

Faced with this constitutional impediment, the Narragansetts and Harrah's convinced the General Assembly that the only way, after two failed tries, to get their casino proposal on the ballot was to couple it with a proposed amendment to the Constitution.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 5:04 PM | Comment

Police chase a suspect up a tree in Providence

A high-speed police chase from Providence to Cranston began at 1:23 a.m. today with a report to police of shots being fired from a white vehicle on Sumter Street.

And it ended shortly before 2 a.m. with police “coaxing” the driver out of a tree in Providence.

According to the Providence police incident report Michael Collins, 26, demolished a recycling bin, drove into the backyard of 7 Gordon St. in Cranston and then jumped out of his car with a second man.

Passenger Adika Manigo, 27, was nabbed immediately, the police said.

Collins, also known by the nickname “Crime,” was discovered a bit later in the “top branches of a nearby tree,” the police said.

Collins was charged with eluding police and driving with a suspended license. He was also issued multiple summonses for driving violations, according to the police. The police also discovered three warrants for his arrest -- for a weapons violation, possession of a firearm without a license and the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.

Manigo had two warrants out for his arrest – for a bail violation on a charge of the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance and failure to appear for an arraignment on a conspiracy charge, according to the police.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:05 PM | Comment

Update: Electric Boat lays off 440

GROTON, Conn -- Electric Boat said it issued pink slips to 440 employees today.

Most were at the Groton shipyard, where 368 hourly production and production-support workers and 48 salaried employees were laid off, a company spokesman said. Twenty-four employees at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington state were also laid off.

"Today's announced layoffs by Electric Boat are a cause for great concern," U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee said of the layoffs.

Planned layoffs were announced earlier this year. Officials said between 1,900 and 2,400 jobs could be in jeopardy because of a decline in submarine design, maintenance and repair work. In March, 154 employees lost their jobs in a first round of layoffs.

"To preserve the future of this company, we have to align the size of our work force with the level of our work load," said Robert H. Nardone, vice president of human resources. "Everyone affected should be treated with dignity and respect through their last day at the company."

The company employs about 10,800 people, 7,900 of them in Groton.

The affected employees will be given 60 days notice during which they can use career-transition services provided by the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board in New London and other programs.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:00 PM | Comment

Photo: Check out this guy's backhand

Robert Kendrick returns a shot from Vince Spadea at the Newport Tennis Hall of Fame tournament. Kendrick beat Spadea in three sets. The Campbell's Hall of Fame tournament runs all week.

-- Journal photo by Mary Murphy

Posted by Peter Phipps at 3:25 PM | Comment

Mass. court OKs same-sex marriage question

BOSTON – -- The same court that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage ruled today that a proposed constitutional amendment to ban future same-sex marriages can be placed on the 2008 ballot, if approved by the Legislature.

The ruling was the result of a lawsuit brought by gay-rights supporters who argued that Attorney General Tom Reilly was wrong to approve the ballot question because the state constitution bars any citizen-initiated amendment that seeks to reverse a judicial ruling.

The Supreme Judicial Court, with a landmark 2003 ruling, cleared the way for same-sex marriages to begin in Massachusetts in May 2004. More than 8,000 gay couples have married since.

The court, in a unanimous ruling, said the proposed amendment is not a "reversal" of the court's ruling legalizing gay marriage, but instead a proposed future change to the state constitution, which can be legally done through a citizen initiative.

Read more.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:20 PM | Comment

National Republicans file complaint against Laffey

PROVIDENCE -- A group of national Republicans filed a federal complaint today accusing Republican Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey of using city money to support his bid for U.S. Senate.

Laffey is trying to unseat fellow Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who is backed by the national party.

The complaint focuses on a letter Laffey sent to Cranston property owners with their tax bills last month. In the letter, he says he ran for mayor to put the city back on its feet and saved it from bankruptcy by creating a $20 million surplus.

"I am happy to say that together, we have succeeded beyond our expectations!" the letter says.

In a complaint filed with the Federal Elections Commission, the National Republican Senatorial Committee says the city should not have paid for a letter touting the mayor's accomplishments in an election year. The complaint names Laffey, his Senate campaign and the City of Cranston.

Laffey's spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik had no immediate comment on the complaint.

The city council, which has a majority of Democrats, voted last month along party lines to ask Laffey to repay the approximately $3,000 the letter added to the cost of mailing residents' tax bills. He has refused to do so.

This is the second FEC complaint filed against Laffey. Chafee's campaign filed one in May that accused Laffey of breaking campaign finance laws by failing to report that the pro-business advocacy group Club For Growth collected donations for him, underreporting the cost of mailings to voters and accepting aid from a Providence employment agency.

Once the FEC receives a complaint, it contacts the people and organizations named and asks them to respond within 15 days. The commissioners then vote whether to open an investigation.

Many cities send letters to residents telling them how to pay their taxes, and those letters often bear the mayors' names or signatures, NRSC spokesman Dan Ronayne said. He said Laffey's letter differs from that kind of official communication because it does not include information about how residents' tax bills were calculated or how they can be paid.

"Rather, the communication was a patently political communication that praised Mayor Laffey's alleged fiscal accomplishments, attacked other Rhode Island cities for their fiscal policies, and included a cut-out piece containing skulls and crossbones with a list of fiscal warning signs," the complaint says.

Laffey has sent an annual letter with Cranston property tax bills since he was elected in 2002. His previous letters about the city's finances have a similar tone and are signed "continuing the fight" and "still fighting." This year's letter concludes with "as always, fighting for you," which echoes his campaign slogan, "Laffey fights for you."

Cranston City Council President Aram Garabedian said he thinks an FEC investigation will clear the city of wrongdoing.

"They'll find out the city didn't sanction" the letter, he said.

Garabedian, a Democrat who ran against Laffey for mayor in 2002, said he agrees with the charges in the complaint.

"He was using the city's mail and the city's dollars to promote a particular philosophy of his that he must think benefits himself," he said.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:06 PM | Comment

Photo: Tennis in Newport

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

The Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships opens today at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. Center court is to the left and courts 1 and 2 are on the right. Go to the Tennis Hall of Fame web site for information on matches and times.

Posted by at 1:05 PM | Comment

Supreme Court schedules Carcieri ballot hearing

PROVIDENCE -- The state Supreme Court announced this morning that it will review a lower court's decision allowing Governor Carcieri to place nonbinding referenda on the general election ballot.

The state's highest court scheduled an Aug. 7 appeal hearing, where lawyers for each side will have 15 minutes for argument. No rebuttal will be permitted.

The General Assembly recently passed a law stripping the governor of the authority to place nonbinding referenda on the ballot. But Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato ruled earlier in the month that the governor has an inherent right to do so, with or without legislative approval.

The court set July 17 as the deadline for briefs in the matter.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:00 PM | Comment

Social workers back Chafee

The National Association of Social Workers has endorsed U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee in the battle for his seat later this year.

The national organzation lists more than 150,000 members who work in social services.

"Working from the center, Senator Chafee has opposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid services, supported programs that encourage the production and preservation of affordable housing, and fought to increase funding for education and worker safety programs," said Ikeita Cantú Hinojosa, NASW director of government relations and political action, in a statement.

According to a rating system devised by the social worker association, Chafee voted for bills it supports 75 percent of the time during the last congressional session.

The incumbent Chafee faces a difficult road to re-election. His largest challenge may come in the Republican primary against Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey. The winner would likely face Democratic candidate Sheldon Whitehouse.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:58 AM | Comment

Update: Accident cleared on I-95 South

A traffic accident that caused lane closures on Interstate 95 at exit 27 this morning has been cleared.

The state Department of Transportation reported at about 9:15 a.m. that the left two lanes of the highway were open.

The lanes were briefly closed this morning at the peak of rush hour traffic.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:22 AM | Comment

Gas prices keep climbing

PROVIDENCE -- Gas prices are up five cents a gallon across Rhode Island -- to an average $3.06 this week.

A survey by the state Energy Office shows an increase of 10 cents in the past two weeks.

Last year at this time, a gallon of gas cost $2.42 a gallon. Prices are up 26 percent since last year.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 9:29 AM | Comment

Dunkin' Donuts warns about e-mail scam

Dunkin' Donuts has warned customers about a gift card e-mail scam.

The coffee giant says that e-mail messages are promising a free $25 gift card for filling out a survey.

The company says "Dunkin' Donuts is not affiliated with these offers, does not sponsor nor endorse this activity and is unable to fulfill these offers."

The company has sent cease-and-desist orders to USA Research Forums, a Boynton Beach, Florida firm that Dunkin' Donuts alleges is the culprit.

Dunkin' spokesman Andrew Mastrangelo says that the company wants to "make sure our customers are protected."

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:54 AM | Comment

Food bank summer drive starts today

PROVIDENCE -- This is the hungriest time of the year for many Rhode Island children, according to the state food bank.

That's because so many school-age children who would ordinarily take advantage of free breakfast and lunch programs in schools aren’t able to get food there.

To help the hungry kids, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank kicks off its summer drive today, an effort to boost food donations for the next six weeks.

Most needed are protein items such as canned tuna, peanut butter, canned chicken, beef stew, canned or dried beans, canned or dried fruits and vegetables, cereal, pasta (including macaroni and cheese) and evaporated or powdered milk.

Donations are accepted at many area banks, which are engaging in a “friendly competition” for the most donations, and at the state food bank, located at 200 Niantic Ave. in Providence. The food bank is open Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:36 AM | Comment

Officials to flock to E. Providence for $2M grant

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Local, state and federal officials will attend an East Providence ceremony this morning to announce a $2 million federal grant to help develop the city's waterfront.

The federal Economic Development Admnistration awarded the funding to the city for the construction of the Dexter Road connector and related water infrastructure projects. The development agency expects the grant to help create 350 new jobs and generate $74 million in private investments for the area.

Sen. Lincoln Chafee will join U.S. Economic Development Administration Deputy Assistant Secretary Benjamin Erulkar, Rhode Island Economic Development Council director Saul Kaplan and others at 11 a.m. near the old Red Bridge, 1 Waterman Ave.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:12 AM | Comment

Summer weather here to stay awhile

PROVIDENCE -- The temperatures will reach the high 80s today, and there's a chance of showers or thunderstorms before noon, according to the National Weather Service.

Despite the 20 percent chance of precipitation, today's conditions would make for a good beach day, with partly cloudy skies, relatively high humidity and a warm southwestern breeze.

And it looks like today's weather pattern will be around for awhile.

The National Weather Service predicts similar conditions through Friday.

For more weather information and updates, check projo.com/weather.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:00 AM | Comment

July 7, 2006

World Cup to be world's most watched TV

The 2006 World Cup will be decided this weekend when France meets Italy in what is predicted to be the world's most watched sporting event of this young milennium.

The championship game is set for 2 p.m. Sunday and will be aired on ABC.

The consolation match will feature Portugal and Germany tomorrow at 3 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:19 PM | Comment

Westerly officer accused of sexual assault appears in court

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- A suspended Westerly police officer pleaded not guilty to traffic violations today in District Court, Wakefield.

Don M. Thompson, 38, Of 58 Ring Drive, Groton, Conn., faces charges of reckless driving and operating with a suspended license after his arrest last month following a public safety officers’ benefit at a Misquamicut bar.

State police have also charged Thompson, a six-year officer on the force, with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly groping the 17-year-old hostess.

Thompson entered pleas for the traffic offenses at an arraignment before Judge Jeanne LaFazia. He was released on personal recognizance.

State police charge that Thompson followed a female hostess to her car at Paddy’s Beach restaurant and bar. He squeezed her breasts and reached down her pants as she resisted. He then unzipped his pants, exposed himself and began to masturbate, the state police allege.

Thompson has been suspended without pay since his arrest on June 26, said Westerly Chief Edward A. Mello.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:23 PM | Comment

Carcieri/Assembly appeal ballot question decision

PROVIDENCE -- Lawyers for Governor Carcieri and the General Assembly filed a joint appeal today asking the state Supreme Court to review a lower court's recent decision that would allow Carcieri to place nonbinding questions on the general election ballot.

Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunado Jr. ruled earlier in the week that despite the General Assembly's efforts to restrict the governor's authority, “the governor has the prerogative, pursuant to his office and separation of powers, to submit nonbinding questions to the secretary of state for inclusion on electoral ballots.”

The Supreme Court is expected to grant the request for an expedited review of Fortunato’s decision. No date has been set.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:40 PM | Comment

Wickford Art Festival begins tomorrow

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- More than 225 painters, printmakers and photographers will be featured along the sidewalks of historic Wickford Village this weekend at the 44th annual Wickford Art Festival.

As usual, most of the action will take place along the town's two main thoroughfares, Brown Street and West Main, with other exhibitors tucked away on smaller side streets. The two-day festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Because parking is an issue, festival organizers encourage people to park at Wilson Park and North Kingstown High School, both off Route 1-A.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:55 PM | Comment

Update: Dancing to their own tunes / Photo

Journal photo / Kris Craig
This group's umbrellas came in handy today, not just as a prop, but as protection against the bright summer sun, as the JUMP! Dance Company performed at lunchtime on the floor of the skating rink.

PROVIDENCE – Who needs ice?

The Bank of America City Skating Center was the scene today for a variety of original dances by JUMP! Dance Company that’s part of the Celebrate Providence! 2006 performing arts initiative.

The girls' dance company prides itself on fostering constructive and innovative self-expression while training girls ages 8 to 18 in the choreographic arts.

Today, the youngsters twirled and swirled with umbrellas as props, did their own version of "hip hop on point," and in general entertained a crowd of about 50 lunchtime spectators.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:12 PM | Comment

Indictments handed up for 3 fatal car crashes

Three Rhode Island men were indicted by a grand jury today on charges related to three separate accidents that killed four people.

The Providence County Grand Jury today indicted:

Andy Delarosa, 27, of 94 Webster Ave., Pawtucket, on two counts of driving under the influence, death resulting, for a March 2005 crash that killed a Brazilian couple visiting the United States to visit the wife’s brother, who lived in East Providence.

Delarosa was driving a 1997 Buick the wrong way on Route 95 south near Branch Avenue at 2:30 a.m. one morning when he struck a car carrying Jose R. Pamato, 41, and his wife, Adriana Pamato, 37, and their 13-year-old daughter, Mizraiam. The couple were declared dead at the scene of the accident, and their daughter was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with serious injuries. Delarosa, too, was injured in the crash.

Phanara Chai, 22, of 24 Sunset Ave., 2nd floor, West Warwick, on one count of leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting, for a March 2006 hit-and-run accident that killed pedestrian Ronald G. Dandeneau, 61, in Cranston’s Oaklawn neighborhood. At the time of the accident, Cranston Police Chief Stephen C. McGrath praised what he called the “tenacious” work of four officers who tracked Chai down with a car part found at the scene.

Jamaal M. Dublin, 23, of 285 Willard Ave., Providence, on one count of driving to endanger, death resulting, for a January 2004 accident that killed one of his passengers, 19-year-old Terrance Teasley. Dublin allegedly ran a stop sign at Harrison and Wilson streets in Providence in an apparent attempt to elude the police. Dublin was wanted for possession of cocaine, and the police believe he panicked and raced off when he saw a police cruiser.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:53 PM | Comment

15-year-old indicted in hair-braiding murder

PROVIDENCE – Phearin Rot, 15, the second-youngest murder defendant in Rhode Island in more than a century, was indicted today in connection with the June 2005 slaying of Jamont Richardson, 14, in a dispute over a $10 debt for hair braiding.

The Providence County grand jury handed up an indictment naming Rot on one count of murder, one count of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, death resulting, and one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to the attorney general’s office.

Rot will be arraigned in Providence County Superior Court on July 19.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:16 PM | Comment

Health Dept.: Part of Easton's Beach can reopen

Newport’s Easton’s Beach got the go-ahead this morning to reopen the half of the beach closest to the Newport cliffs and may be able to open completely by early afternoon, if water samples come back with good results, according to the state Department of Health.

The department typically closes beaches as a pre-emptive measure and announced closures of three local beaches yesterday based on rainfall amounts, said Ernest Julian, chief of the food protection division, which regulates the 119 beaches in Rhode Island.

An inch of rain can cause high bacteria levels in the water, so the department closes beaches after such rainfall even before test results for bacteria are back, Julian said.

The number of beach closures so far this rainy summer season have already far exceeded the closures all last year, according to the health department.

This season, the state’s 41 beach closures total 143 closure days, which is the total number of beaches closed multiplied by the number of days each beach has been closed. All of last summer, just 30 beach closures equaled 65 closure days.

One of the highest recent closure years was 2003, when 15 inches of summer rain caused 67 closures, totaling 459 closure days, Julian said.

This morning, the Camp Fuller-YMCA beach in South Kingstown also got the go-ahead to reopen, Julian said. Atlantic Beach Club in Middletown remains closed, at least until tests come back this afternoon, he said.

As of this posting, the health department has not yet updated its beach closures and advisory page for today,but it does so on a regular basis..

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:53 AM | Comment

Grant brings mobile technology to Cumberland school

Ashton Elementary School in Cumberland is among 15 public schools in the United States and Canada receiving more than $56,000 worth of technology equipment and training in a grant from Hewlett-Packard, the company announced today.

Ashton and the other schools will receive a mobile technology cart equipped with 15 personal computers, a digital projector and digital camera that can be moved throughout the school and used in any classroom.

Ashton and the other schools also received grants last year and were invited to apply for more because of their success in integrating the technology in their classrooms, according to Hewlett-Packard.

In addition to grants for the 15 public schools, which teach a range from kindergarten to 12th grade, Hewlett-Packard awarded grants to 10 colleges and universities.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:38 AM | Comment

Food bank's summer drive starts Monday

If you’re doing your week’s grocery shopping this weekend, you may want to pick up some extra food to donate to the governor’s third annual “Fill the Food Bank” summer drive.

Most needed are protein items such as canned tuna, peanut butter, canned chicken, beef stew, canned or dried beans, canned or dried fruits and vegetables, cereal, pasta (including macaroni and cheese) and evaporated or powered milk, according to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

The drive kicks off Monday and runs through Aug. 18, to cover what the Food Bank says is the “hungriest time of year” since so many school-age children who would ordinarily take advantage of free breakfast and lunch programs in schools aren’t able to get food there.

“They don’t have as much access to public programs, so it becomes a bigger burden for families to provide a couple extra meals each day that normally the children would receive in school,” Food Bank spokeswoman Jill Gonsalves said this morning.

You can make donations at many area banks, which are engaging in a “friendly competition” for the most donations, and at the food bank itself, located at 200 Niantic Ave. in Providence. The food bank is open Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For directions to the food bank, click here.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:18 AM | Comment

Fire damages Cranston discount store

CRANSTON – An early-morning fire at the discount store National Wholesale Liquidators, 1441 Elmwood Ave., caused smoke and water damage.

No one was injured in the fire, which was reported at 4:18 a.m. and extinguished quickly, said Thomas Dettore, deputy chief in the city’s fire prevention division. The cause remains under investigation.

Dettore said the business, which sells a wide variety of household items at discount, would be able to re-open once its safety features, such as its sprinkler and alarm systems, are all back up and running.

A few other Cranston businesses are also likely working today to correct problems after a fire shortly before 3 p.m. yesterday at 22-24 West Russe St., Dettore said. Fire investigators are still interviewing people about that fire, which caused extensive damage to the second floor.

The second floor houses Fernco Services and office and storage space for Pete Ruggieri Construction, Dettore said. Fernco also shares first-floor space in the building with Fernandes, a concrete business, Dettore said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:18 AM | Comment

Beach weather: Pack that bag and hit the shore

PROVIDENCE – Looks like it’s time to check out some beaches this weekend.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high near 80, and tomorrow is predicted to be mostly sunny with a high near 82.

So let us help you plan your beach-going experience. Check out projo.com’s beach map, but also be sure to doublecheck the Department of Health’s beach closures and advisory page before you put that beach bag in the car and head to your chosen destination.

On Sunday, you could still take advantage of Rhode Island’s beaches, but you’d probably be better off going in the afternoon than the morning. The forecast now calls for a chance of showers, mainly before noon.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:03 AM | Comment

July 6, 2006

Update: Identities of plane-crash victims confirmed

PROVIDENCE -- The state medical examiner's office has just confirmed the identities of the three people killed in yesterday's plane crash on Block Island.

As previously believed, they are the small plane's owner, William P. Homan, 58, his wife, Valerie R. Homan, 51, and his mother, Betty P. Homan, 85.

Department of Health spokeswoman Maria Wah-Fitta confirmed they are from White Plains, N.Y., where the plane was headed after take-off from the island.

At a press briefing this afternoon, a federal investigator disclosed little new information about the crash and its potential cause.

“Nothing’s ruled out,” said Luke Schiada, of the National Transportation Safety Board, one of several agencies on the island today investigating the crash.

Schiada told a small group of reporters that witnesses reported seeing heavy rain and low clouds at the time of the crash, though none of them saw the plane go down.

The plane had not reached 800 feet before it barreled into a wooded area at about 12:30 p.m., Schiada said, noting that its right wing separated, and the main body of the plane was badly mangled.

Before the medical examiner's office confirmed the identities of the crash victims, a statement released today by the White Plains Hospital Center “mourns the loss of William P. Homan,” the registered owner of the four-seat 1970 Piper Cherokee Arrow and the director of bariatric surgery at the medical center in White Plains, N.Y.

“The White Plains Hospital Center family is deeply saddened to learn of the presumed death of Dr. William P. Homan, his wife Valerie, and mother Betty in a plane crash on Block Island,” reads the statement.

Homan, 58, owns a home at 250 Old Town Rd. on Block Island with his wife, according to tax assessor’s records.

Homan owned his plane for the last 15 years and had at least 1,200 hours of flying time, Schiada said today. The plane was last inspected in May.

Schiada confirmed that there was no sign of distress or any communication at all after Homan’s plane lifted off. He said his agency would release a report detailing preliminary findings in about a week.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:03 PM | Comment

Madonna takes Confessions Tour to Boston tonight

BOSTON -- Madonna will launch her Confessions Tour at the TD Banknorth Garden tonight, the first of three shows scheduled for Boston.

The concert begins at 8 p.m., though Ticketmaster is reporting that the show is completely sold out, as is her next show on Sunday, July 9. There are limited tickets remaining -- ranging from $55 to $350 -- for Monday night's show, according to Ticketmaster.

Madonna began her Confessions Tour in late May, playing 24 consecutive sold-out shows so far. After a few more stops in the United States, the tour will move to Europe through the end of the summer.

Coming up: Read Journal music writer Rick Massimo's review of tonight's concert in tomorrow's Journal and on projo.com.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:54 PM | Comment

Carcieri signs health-care package into law

PAWTUCKET -- Governor Carcieri signed into law a sweeping health-care package today that covers everything from a ban on soft drinks in schools to insurance coverage for stop-smoking treatments.

The package's centerpiece: Legislation that aims to bring down health-insurance premiums for small-business owners and their employees.

Another piece of the health-care package, a reinsurance fund, would subsidize health-insurance premiums for firms whose average pay falls below a certain dollar amount.

However, that subsidy depends on a funding source -- a piece lawmakers and the governor will need to address next year.

Carcieri signed the bills at the Pawtucket headquarters of Atlantic Paper and Twine. The company has been operating since 1948, co-owner David Spencer said. He and his wife, Lisa, bought the company from her parents in 1992. They pay 70 percent of the cost of health insurance for their 15 employees.

-- Journal staff writer Elizabeth Gudrais

Carcieri also signed into law bills that:

- Ban sodas and sugary snacks in schools. The bill defines the minimum percentage of fruit juice a drink must have, and the maximum amount of added sugar per ounce a snack can have, to be sold in schools. It applies to elementary, middle and junior-high schools, both public and private.

- Require insurers to cover counseling and prescription drugs for people trying to quit smoking.

- Make information about the prices of medical services and procedures available to consumers, and

- Direct the health insurance commissioner to investigate dividing people with high health risks into a separate group for the purpose of health-insurance rates.

-- Journal staff writer Elizabeth Gudrais

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:38 PM | Comment

R.I.'s annual Bay Day to stretch over July 29-30

PROVIDENCE -- Free entry to all state parks and beaches will again be a hallmark of the 18th annual Governor's Bay Day, which will be marked this year with events on the weekend of July 29-30.

The free parking will be available on Sunday, July 30, with beaches open starting at 4 p.m. the day before.

A concert starting at 6 p.m. and fireworks at Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly on Saturday, July 29, will kick off the events. Entertainers include 2005 American Idol fourth-place finalist Anthony Fedorov as the emcee and musical entertainment by The Beach Bums, British pop duo Chad & Jeremy and The Jan and Dean Show starring Dean Torrence.

Other events include a neighborhood barbecue, various concerts, educational presentations about Narragansett Bay, a football toss and kayaking demonstrations. For a full list of events and schedules, click here.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:57 PM | Comment

Photo: Top of the rock

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Campers from the Roger Williams Park Zoo camp reach the top of the well-known Hanging Rock in Middletown as part of their day of studying the natural world at the Norman Bird Sanctuary. Each Thursday, campers spend the day at the sanctuary, where they hike and study birds, plants, geology and more.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:58 PM | Comment

Peace protest set for this afternoon in Providence

PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island Community Coalition For Peace plans to stage a downtown protest this afternoon outside the federal building at Kennedy Plaza.

The activist group opposes the American invasion of Iraq, but will focus today's protest on the recent Israeli military action against the Palestinians.

Today's protest is scheduled from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:49 PM | Comment

Update: Dunk to host NCAA tourney in 2010

PROVIDENCE -- The Dunkin' Donuts Center in downtown Providence, which is in the beginning stages of a $62 million upgrade, has been chosen as a site for the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament, according to Providence College and the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority.

The building will play host to first- and second-round games in March of 2010, welcoming teams and fans from eight schools.

The NCAA's selection was announced this afternoon at a press conference in the Rhode Island Convention Center. It will be the first time the facility has hosted a men's NCAA basketball event since 1996.

The Dunk's renovation was key to Providence College's decision to bid for the 2009 and 2010 tournaments, said the Rev. Brian J. Shanley, president of Providence College. The overhaul of the facility, which will include improved seating, locker rooms and concession areas, a new scoreboard and luxury seating, is expected to be finished in 2008.

-- Journal staff writers Kevin McNamara and Andrea L. Stape

It took the school, in conjunction with the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which manages the Dunk, and the Providence & Warwick Convention and Visitor's Bureau six months to put together the bid package.

The Dunk, formerly known as the Providence Civic Center, has hosted NCAA basketball and hockey events many times since its opening in October 1972. However, the building had fallen into disrepair and was no longer capable of landing such a prestigious event.

-- Journal staff writers Kevin McNamara and Andrea L. Stape

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:41 PM | Comment

EMT doesn't attend license revocation hearing

PROVIDENCE -- An emergency medical technician charged with child molestation did not attend a hearing today to consider the status of his EMT license.

The state last month suspended the license of Dominic P. Marchetti, 29, of Hope Valley, after learning that he was accused of molesting a teenager for years.

The Department of Health determined last month that allowing Marchetti to continue practicing as an EMT "would constitute an immediate danger to the public," department spokeswoman Maria Wah-Fitta said.

State health officials met at the Health Department in Providence this morning to hear Marchetti's appeal of their decision to suspend his license.

Neither Marchetti, nor his attorney attended the hearing, said Wah-Fitta, noting that Marchetti told investigators yesterday that he would not be in attendance.

Evidence presented against Marchetti this morning included testimony from the state police and a Department of Health investigator. But no one spoke on Marchetti's behalf.

Wah-Fitta did not know when health officials would rule on the appeal.

Marchetti was arraigned on April 30 and put on home confinement. He formerly lived in West Warwick, and worked for Universal Ambulance on Douglas Avenue in Providence.

He is awaiting trial for four counts of first-degree child molestation.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:16 PM | Comment

Nurse convicted of patient neglect gets probation / Photo

Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Gloria A. Baillargeon, accompanied by her lawyer, James O'Neil, left, listens to the prosecutor present a sentencing request today.

PROVIDENCE -- A nurse convicted in May of neglecting a 93-year-old patient at a Woonsocket nursing home will receive no jail time for the crime.

This afternoon, Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini sentenced Gloria A. Baillargeon, 64, to three years of unsupervised probation.

In his sentencing, Procaccini said the defendant's neglect was limited to the several hours in which the patient, Emma Morel, suffered a fatal respiratory attack. He added that Baillargeon's nursing license was revoked by the Board of Health following her arrest, effectively ending her career and thereby adding to her punishment.

Following a four-day trial, a jury convicted Baillargeon of one count of neglecting Morel while she struggled to breathe early in the morning of July 9, 2004, in her bed at Woonsocket's Oakland Grove Health Care Center. During the trial, certified nurses' assistants who worked with Baillargeon testified that they repeatedly asked for her help in treating the ailing Morel and were ignored.

-- Journal staff writer Cynthia Needham

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:42 PM | Comment

Ceremony this afternoon to send off troops

EAST GREENWICH -- Rhode Islanders will say goodbye to 130 members of the Rhode Island Army National Guard at a farewell ceremony planned for 4:30 this afternoon.

The troops, members of the Guard's 1207th Transportation Company, will join 175 Rhode Island soldiers already deployed overseas.

The Transportation Company, which is based at Camp Fogarty in East Greenwich, will first deploy to Camp Shelby, Miss., to complete training. (The Guard initially said the company was heading to Fort Dix, N.J.) Then the troops will move to Southwest Asia for 12 months, where they will be responsible for driving tractor-trailer trucks to transport troops and equipment.

This afternoon's ceremony will be held at the Camp Fogarty Armory, 2841 South County Trail in East Greenwich. The unit will actually depart this Saturday morning.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:38 PM | Comment

Homicide suspected in Swansea shooting

SWANSEA -- The police suspect homicide in the death of a man whose body was found at a Route 6 address on Wednesday, according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s office.

The victim, apparently killed by a gunshot, has been identified as John Oliveira, 35.

“We’re still trying to figure out where he was residing,’’ spokesman Ryan J. Phelan said this morning.

The District Attorney would not release the address where the body was discovered or provide any other information. The Massachusetts State Police and the Swansea police are investigating.

-- Journal staff writer Richard Salit

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:46 PM | Comment

Update: Carpio attorney won't file motion for new trial

PROVIDENCE -- The attorney for convicted murderer Esteban Carpio will not file a motion for a new trial in Superior Court.

Attorney Robert L. Sheketoff sent a fax to the court that was received today, indicating he would not file the motion, which is relatively standard in murder convictions.

Sheketoff's decision does not mean he won't appeal Carpio's conviction. It simply means that Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause won't be asked to review the jury's decision.

A Supreme Court appeal is automatic in cases where a defendant faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, as is the case with Carpio because he killed a Providence police officer, Detective Sgt. James L. Allen, in the line of duty.

Krause has not yet scheduled a date for the sentencing of Carpio, who was convicted last month.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Richard C. Dujardin

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:36 PM | Comment

Wendy Collins Morinville arrested on drug charges

The state police are charging Wendy Collins Morinville with multiple felony counts of drug possession, delivery of the drugs Vicodin and Valium to a police officer and conspiracy, Maj. Steven G. O’Donnell said this morning.

Collins Morinville, 33, gained notice after she accused former House Speaker John Harwood of pressuring her for sexual favors in return for her former job as a legislative researcher. Although he was never charged, Harwood gave up his powerful post in 2002.

She was arrested last night around 7 o'clock at her home in Warwick and held at the Adult Correctional Institutions overnight, O’Donnell said.

She’s expected to be arraigned today in 3rd District Court, Warwick, but as a probation violator on an earlier charge, O’Donnell said.

Also facing related drug charges are her husband, 42-year-old Scott Morinville, and an 18-year-old friend of her daughter’s, O’Donnell said.

She and her husband live at 42 Fairfax Drive, Warwick. But Morinville is already in jail on an unrelated charge.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:55 AM | Comment

Warwick investigates lobster boat fire

WARWICK – The police have called in their arson investigator to examine the remains of a lobster boat that burned at dock early this morning.

Investigators consider the fire aboard the 40-foot McGray lobster boat "suspicious in nature," Lt. Raymond Gallucci said. The arson unit has not yet ruled on its findings.

The fire at Sound Marina Associates, 11 Ottawa Ave., was reported with a 911 call at 12:42 a.m.

No one was on the boat at the time, and there wasn't any threat of the fire spreading to other boats, Gallucci said. The boat, built in 1989, was not hooked up to any shore power, Gallucci said.

Investigators have spoken to the owner of the boat, Gallucci said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:31 AM | Comment

Rain, rain, go away

So much for that beautiful weekend the National Weather Service was predicting yesterday. Maybe it just doesn’t pay to look ahead on a Wednesday and think about predicted sunshine.

As the rain pours down this morning, there’s now a chance of thunderstorms predicted for Saturday and Sunday.

For today, it looks as if the rain should end around 9 a.m., before returning perhaps after 3.

Expect a high near 77 today, 80 tomorrow (and what looks like a beautiful sunny Friday) and mid-80s over the weekend.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:00 AM | Comment

July 5, 2006

Update: Small plane crashes on Block Island, killing 3

NEW SHOREHAM -- A small plane crashed today on Block Island, killing all three people aboard.

Scott Backholm, of the U.S. Coast Guard in Woods Hole, Mass., said the airplane took off from the airport on Block Island just after noon and was bound for White Plains, N.Y. After takeoff, the private, four-seat plane disappeared from the radar.

The fuselage was discovered on the island at 4 p.m., he said. Wreckage was spread out about a half mile from the runway.

Backholm did not know who was aboard, and did not know what kind of airplane it was. One man and two women were on board, but their identities have not been released.

The plane was registered to William P. Homan, of White Plains, who owns a home on Block Island with his wife, Valerie.

A crash apparently was not heard on the island, which was experiencing a thunderstorm and rain earlier today.

Block Island is about 12 miles off Rhode Island's southern coast, and is a popular tourist mecca in the summer months.

There have been several plane crashes on the island in the past.

Extra: More information about the Block Island Airport, including a map and photo.

-- The Associated Press and reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

The FAA contacted the Coast Guard around 1:45 p.m. to say the plane's scheduled route would have taken it over water and advising of a possible water-related emergency, said Richard Uronis, a Coast Guard operations specialists chief.

The Coast Guard put out an emergency broadcast to area mariners, and also launched two boats from its station in Port Judith as well as a helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod, Uronis said.

-- The Associated Press and reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:10 PM | Comment

Portugal falls to France

Portugal's World Cup run was ended this afternoon by France, which advanced to the finals with a 1 to 0 win.

France will play the Italian national team for the World Cup title on Sunday.

Portugal will play Germany in the consolation game on Saturday.

Today's game ended badly for the 30 men packed into the Portuguese American Athletic Club on Warren Avenue in East Providence.

About 30 minutes into the game, the crew was extremely upset by what they believed was an unfair officiating call that led to a French penalty kick -- and its only goal.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:53 PM | Comment

Update: Carcieri signs tougher drunk-driving bill into law

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri signed legislation today to toughen penalties for drivers who refuse to take blood-alcohol tests.

The new law takes effect immediately.

Now, drivers who refuse blood-alcohol tests for the first time can lose their licenses from six to 12 months, doubling the previous penalty. The second refusal would become a criminal misdemeanor offense and would be punishable by up to six months in prison and a maximum of 100 hours of community service.

Supporters say the legislation closes a major loophole in Rhode Island's drunken driving laws by imposing stronger punishments for the high percentage of drivers who refuse to be tested after being pulled over.

Statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration say Rhode Island leads the nation in the percentage of suspected drunken drivers refusing the breath test.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:24 PM | Comment

Cranston man accused of firing gun on holiday

CRANSTON -- Police said today that a 21-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly fired a handgun from the porch of his 101 Wentworth Ave. home during Fourth of July festivities.

No one was hit in the incident, which occurred shortly before 8 p.m. yesterday.

James Archila was charged with firing a weapon -- a .380 semiautomatic -- in a compact area and with possession of illegal fireworks, Maj. Ronald T. Blackmar said today.

-- Journal staff writer Zachary R. Mider

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:18 PM | Comment

R.I. Guard sending more troops to Southwest Asia

The Rhode Island Army National Guard announced today that it plans to deploy 130 troops from the 1207th Transportation Company tomorrow, a move that will boost its presence in Southwest Asia by nearly 75 percent.

There will be a ceremony to send off the troops tomorrow afternoon at the Camp Fogarty Armory in East Greenwich, according to an announcement released this afternoon.

The Rhode Island Army National Guard has 175 troops deployed overseas. Last month, 95 members of the guard’s 861st Engineer Company returned to Rhode Island after 12 months in Iraq.

The Transportation Company, which is based at Camp Fogarty in East Greenwich, will first deploy to Fort Dix, N.J., to complete training. Then the troops will move to Southwest Asia for 12 months, where they will be responsible for driving tractor-trailer trucks to transport troops and equipment.

Nine Rhode Island soldiers have been killed in Southwest Asia since American forces invaded Iraq in 2003.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:30 PM | Comment

Portugal takes on France at 3 p.m.

The Portuguese national soccer team will play its first World Cup semifinal match in more than 40 years this afternoon.

Portugal will square off against France, the 1998 World Cup champion, at 3 p.m.

Italy beat Germany yesterday to advance to the finals. The Italians will play the winner of today's game.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:11 PM | Comment

ME examining body of Beach Pond drowning victim

The state Medical Examiner’s Office today will examine the body of a 23-year-old Providence man who died from complications after he nearly drowned Monday evening at a public swimming area in Exeter.

Kelvin Pena died around noon yesterday at Kent Hospital, said Lt. Michael Longtin with the state Department of Environmental Management’s environmental police.

Pena had been swimming at about 6:30 p.m. with a couple of other persons near buoys at the far end of the swimming area at Beach Pond, about 25 yards from shore, Longtin said. The man began swimming back to shore on his own, and the people he had been with then saw him go under water.

When they sought help, an environmental police officer, a park ranger and a nearby swimmer quickly went to the man’s rescue, Longtin said. However, they had difficulty locating him underwater because the water was dark, and he was under for perhaps five minutes, Longtin said.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Randal Edgar and the Associated Press

When they got Pena to shore, the rescuers performed CPR, and he was taken to Kent Hospital in Warwick, Longtin said.

Beach Pond is a recreation area in the Arcadia Management Area, which is managed by the state's Department of Environmental Management. Lifeguards were not on duty at the time.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Randal Edgar and the Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:41 PM | Comment

2 Mass. teens improving after Sunday crash

NORTH KINGSTOWN – The conditions of two Massachusetts teenagers seriously injured in a North Kingstown crash are improving.

Jared Osburn, 18, and Valerie Goulet, 16, both of Mendon, Mass., were passengers in a car that flipped over on Route 1 Sunday afternoon.

Osburn’s condition has been upgraded from critical to serious, while Goulet improved from critical to fair condition, hospital spokeswoman Andrea Barbosa said this morning.

Richard Scalise, 19, of Upton, Mass., was driving north on Route 1 when he veered off the road, smashed into a telephone pole and flipped his Volkswagen Jetta at around 4 p.m.

Scalise and passenger Emily Prior, 17, also of Upton, were treated for minor injuries at South County Hospital.

No other cars were involved in the accident, which is under investigation, said State Police Sgt. Frank Sullivan.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:30 PM | Comment

DEM warns of unhealthy air quality today

Rhode Island’s air quality is expected to reach unhealthy levels today because of fine particles in the air produced by a wide variety of natural and manmade sources, including factories, power plants, motor vehicles, fires and windblown dust.

The state Department of Environmental Management has issued a health advisory , advising that people with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are more susceptible to the effects of the fine particles.

Short-term exposure can cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, according to the state Department of Health.

The DEM is urging people in the higher risk categories to avoid heavy outdoor activities.

This alert is different than the ozone alerts that the DEM periodically issues. The fine particle levels are more likely to be elevated inside, as well as outside, and to stay elevated throughout the day, the DEM reports.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:27 PM | Comment

Update: Man hurt in Providence fireworks accident ID'd

PROVIDENCE – A 22-year-old man is in critical condition in Rhode Island Hospital this morning with serious injuries after attempting to set off fireworks at 40 Alvin St. last night.

The man, Andre Costa, apparently ignited a large type of explosive and when it didn’t immediately go off, he went over to look at it and was then hit in the forehead with the explosive, police Lt. Alfred Zonfrilli said. Crews responded to the incident at 8:45 p.m. last night, said James Taylor, chief of communications for the fire department.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:40 AM | Comment

Showers, thunderstorms could cause flooding

PROVIDENCE – If you were lucky enough last night to escape the downpour during your July Fourth picnic, you might as well just keep the grill off for today and tomorrow. Rain is back in the forecast for both days.

But hang in there.

On the National Weather Service’s five-day outlook, we then have three beautiful sunny days predicted – and they just happen to be a Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Showers and thunderstorms today could bring some heavy downpours and gusty winds that could lead to local flooding in areas with poor draining.

Today’s rain is likely between noon and 3 p.m., following what’s predicted to be “widespread haze” after 9 a.m. It should be mostly cloudy today with a high near 83.

If you’re a boater, note the small craft advisory in coastal waters along Rhode Island’s shore and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:08 AM | Comment

July 3, 2006

Update: Chance of storm may threaten some fireworks

A severe thunderstorm warning for northwestern Providence County, including Woonsocket, has just expired.

But if you're planning to attend fireworks in that area tonight, you may still face the chance of a storm and rain.

The weather service initially predicted a thunderstorm capable of producing quarter-size hail, lightning and destructive winds in excess of 70 mph. But it says the system has since weakened.

Fireworks displays celebrating the Fourth of July are set to go around 9 p.m. or later in a number of Rhode Island communities tonight, including Burrillville in northern Rhode Island, where it was raining a few minutes ago, police said.

Before you head out, check projo.com's weather page for the latest conditions and forecasts.

And if you miss the fireworks tonight, more are on tap for tomorrow, the actual holiday, as well as parades and more. Check our July Fourth Web page for details.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:43 PM | Comment

Update: Police probing quahogger's death

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- The police are investigating the apparent drowning of a quahogger off Lone Tree Point on Sunday afternoon.

Robert Gieck, 43, of North Kingstown, was found floating in the water near the end of Earle Drive around 5:30 p.m. while out clamming with another man and their girlfriends, Lt. Robert Desjarlais said.

The second man, whom police would not identify, had returned to shore shortly before Gieck’s body was discovered.

The state medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy today that will be complete "pending further studies.’’ The police continue to question people "to try to fill in the holes’’ in the case, Desjarlais said.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Vincent Gieck, of Glocester, said he was preparing a baseball field for an all-star game when he got the call Sunday that his brother’s body had been found. A day earlier, Robert had told him about his plan to go clamming on his day off at an excellent spot.

"He wasn’t a swimmer so he wouldn’t go deep,’’ Vincent Gieck said.

An occasional landscaper, Robert had two children and a grandson who live in Rhode Island, his brother said.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:10 PM | Comment

Update: 2 Mass. teens critical after Rte. 1 crash

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- Two Massachusetts teenagers have been downgraded to critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital this afternoon, following a car rollover on Route 1 yesterday.

Passengers Jared Osburn, 18, and Valerie Goulet, 16, both of Mendon, Mass., had previously been listed in serious condition.

The driver, Richard Scalise, 19, of Upton, Mass., was heading north on Route 1 when he apparently veered off the road, smashed into a telephone pole and flipped his Volkswagen Jetta at around 4 p.m., State Police Sgt. Frank Sullivan said.

No other cars were involved in the accident, which is under investigation, Sullivan said.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Davis

Scalise and passenger Emily Prior, 17, also of Upton, were treated for minor injuries at South County Hospital.

A police team is trying to determine if speed, alcohol or other factors played a role in the crash, Sullivan said.

Scalise was the only one wearing a seat belt. The telephone pole and wires fell across the road, forcing police to reroute traffic for more than two hours from Route 1 to Route 1A, Sullivan said.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Davis

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:54 PM | Comment

R.I. man, 21, missing in Virginia waters

GLASGOW, Va. -- Rescue crews searched today for a Rhode Island man who disappeared while rafting in the James River in Rockbridge County.

Authorities say the 21-year-old senior at Liberty University, whose name was not released, was rafting with a friend in rapids Friday afternoon when he fell into the river near Glasgow.

Robert Foresman, the county's emergency management coordinator, said the men were not wearing life jackets.

Search-and-rescue teams from Virginia and Maryland spent the weekend searching for the man. Foresman said the recovery effort has been difficult because of flooding last week and the river's width, which ranges from 300 yards to 500 yards in some areas.

-- The Associated Press and projo.com staff

The missing man is an intern at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Foresman said.

University officials and local police could not be reached by projo.com today for more information.

-- The Associated Press and projo.com staff

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:49 PM | Comment

Coast Guard seeks details on LNG transit plan

The Coast Guard said it does not expect to get the information it needs to evaluate navigation safety of the proposed LNG facility in Fall River, Mass., until November.

The agency had asked Weaver's Cove Energy for additional information in March after Weaver's Cove proposed using smaller LNG tankers and more frequent deliveries to its planned LNG terminal in Fall River.

In March, Roy A. Nash, the Coast Guard's captain of the port for Southeastern New England, expressed concerns about the modified transit plan, saying it "may be feasible," but would require "extraordinary maneuvers" for the tankers to safely pass through the old and new Brightman Street bridges.

In an update released this afternoon by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nash said he has asked Weaver's Cove for more information about LNG tanker and tug boat design, results of a computer simulation of an LNG tanker transit, contingency plans, and other information.

Nash said if he determines that tankers can proceed through Narragansett Bay, Mount Hope Bay and the Taunton River safely, he'll then evaluate the modified proposal's impact on marine safety and impacts on the environment, including increased bridge openings.

Posted by Tim Barmann at 5:44 PM | Comment

Johnston board to debate closing school tonight

JOHNSTON -- The School Committee meets at 6 o'clock tonight to consider whether to reorganize and potentially close one or more elementary schools as a way to trim the district’s budget. The meeting is at the N.A. Ferri Middle School.

Read more about the meeting in a Journal story.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:40 PM | Comment

Electricity back on after fire at Block Island marina

BLOCK ISLAND -- Electricity was restored at Champlin's Marina today, the day after a fire destroyed the waterside resort's power plant.

About 30 firefighters responded at 11:24 a.m. yesterday to a report of a dryer fire at the marina, set at the edge of the Great Salt Pond, said Fire Chief Ned Connelly. They found flames shooting from the roof of the building housing three generators that served as the resort's main power source.

The crew knocked the fire down in about 10 minutes, relying in part on water drawn from a swimming pool, Connelly said.

The firefighters were assisted in containing the blaze by southwest winds, which kept the flames away from an adjacent hotel and the Overlook, a building that houses summer employees, Connelly said.

The electrical fire is believed to be "completely accidental,'' he said.

By yesterday evening, two portable generators almost the size of tractor trailer trucks had arrived by ferry to restore power to the resort over the busy holiday weekend, said Robert D. Goldberg, Champlin's lawyer.

-- Journal staffer Katie Mulvaney

"Customers were very cooperative,'' Goldberg said. Most of the boating crowd were longstanding visitors to the marina, he said.

He also praised the firefighters. "They were fantastic,'' he said. "They averted a true disaster.''

-- Journal staffer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:18 PM | Comment

House fire in Warren quickly brought under control

WARREN -- Firefighters responded to a house fire on Locust Terrace this afternoon, bringing it under control in 20 or 25 minutes.

The police said no one was injured in the fire at 29 Locust Terrace. Firefighters went to the scene at 3:59 p.m., with four engines, a ladder truck and a rescue truck responding.

-- Journal staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:58 PM | Comment

Update: Reed aims to assess Iraqi security forces

CRANSTON -- About to leave on his eighth trip to Iraq, Sen. Jack Reed said today that he will continue to press for the redeployment of U.S. combat forces beginning this year.

"This is a critical moment" in the war, the Rhode Island Democrat said, and for both tactical and strategic reasons, the departure of American forces is the right move.

Reed said he expects to meet with civilian leaders and also to assess the condition of Iraqui security forces, particularly their willingness to serve the government rather than sectarian and religious militias.

The member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he hopes to visit top U.S. commanders in Baghdad, small unit commanders about the country who are closest to the battle against the insugency, and members of the 43rd Military Police Brigade of the Rhode Island National Guard.

Reed will travel with fellow Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. They will focus on the prospects for reductions in U.S. force levels.

-- Journal staff writer Bruce Landis / blandis@projo.com

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:35 PM | Comment

Alleged shoplifter's accomplice held without bail

PROVIDENCE -- A District Court judge this afternoon ordered held without bail the alleged accomplice of a suspected shoplifter who was killed by a North Smithfield police officer yesterday.

Carl Dinsmore, 45, of 93 Howard Ave., Cranston, was ordered held after he was found in violation of probation for two previous shoplifting convictions.

Dinsmore is charged with shoplifting more than $100 of baby formula, conspiring with James Wilcox to commit shoplifting and also being a habitual offender.

The police say Dinsmore was with Wilcox yesterday afternoon when Wilcox was shot and killed outside a Super Stop & Shop on Route 146A.

According to the police, a police officer shot Wilcox once in the stomach after Wilcox, driving a minivan, struck the police officer while trying to flee the parking lot.

The police say Dinsmore fled and was later apprehended in the parking lot of a nearby McDonald's restaurant.

Wilcox's daughter, who the police would not identify, was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

The Rhode Island State Police are investigating the shooting.

Dinsmore initially appeared in court for a brief hearing on the charges from Sunday's incident, and was then brought to another courtroom to determine whether he had violated his probation.

He did not enter a plea today, and there was no new information on the shooting.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer John Hill

Posted by Jack Perry at 3:20 PM | Comment

Update: Carcieri can put questions on ballot

PROVIDENCE -- A Superior Court judge sided with the Carcieri administration this afternoon, ruling that the governor can place nonbinding questions on the November ballot.

The secretary of state sought a ruling after the General Assembly revoked the governor’s power to place questions on the ballot last month. At issue were two specific questions Governor Carcieri submitted in May, before the assembly vote.

But Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. ruled today that the governor has an inherent power to place any nonbinding ballot question on the ballot with or without the authority of the General Assembly.

According to a statement released this afternoon, Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. said that the state Constitution contains no “express prohibition” against the practice. The judge emphasized the nonbinding nature of the questions, and noted they could be useful in measuring the sentiment of the public.

Lawyers for the secretary of state, General Assembly and the governor gave arguments before Judge Fortunato this morning, and the judge issued his ruling early this afternoon.

Read the full story about the case in today's Journal.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Elizabeth Gudrais

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:29 PM | Comment

Update: Suspect ID'd in stabbings at Atwells Ave. home

PROVIDENCE – The suspect in a multiple stabbing at an Atwells Avenue home has been identified by police today as the brother of one of three victims.

Ramon Pagan, 34, faces three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of possession of a knife while committing a crime of violence, according to Detective Sgt. Michael Sweeney.

Pagan is accused of stabbing his sister, 37-year-old Ivette Pagan; her boyfriend, 53-year-old Lorenzo Betances; and that couple’s 16-year-old son, Luis Betances, at 1016 Atwells Ave. last night.

The Pagan siblings and Luis Betances live at 1016 Atwells Ave. and Lorenzo Betances lives elsewhere in Providence, Sweeney said.

The stabbing was unprovoked, the family told the police. “There was no fight, no argument,” Sweeney said the police were told. “The family can’t explain it.”

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

According to Pagan’s family, Ramon Pagan is under a doctor’s care at The Providence Center, Sweeney said.

After a 911 call was placed from the Atwells Avenue home, the police arrived to find Ramon Pagan standing in the driveway wearing a blood-soaked shirt. Sweeney said the family identified him as the one who stabbed the three others.

Pagan was treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital for injuries the police believe he sustained while wielding the switchblade used in the attack, Sweeney said. He was expected to be arraigned in District Court today, Sweeney said.

The worst of the stabbings was sustained by Lorenzo Betances, Sweeney said. With a stab wound to his right shoulder and to his right hand, he was in “pretty serious condition” at Rhode Island Hospital, Sweeney said.

Ivette Pagan was treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital with a stab wound to her right hip area. Luis Betances was treated at Rhode Island Hospital for a stab wound to his left knee, Sweeney said.

Although the police said this morning that the triple stabbing took place during a house party, Sweeney said he does not believe there was any party at the home last night.

Also at the Atwells Avenue residence during the stabbing was the mother of Ivette and Ramon Pagan and a young child, Sweeney said.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:15 PM | Comment

Update: Annika scores the win at U.S. Women's Open

NEWPORT -- Annika Sorenstam quickly put an end to Pat Hurst's hopes today, beating her by four strokes in less than 3 1/2 hours to win the U.S. Women's Open.

Sorenstam held a commanding lead throughout today's playoff at tne Newport Country Club, to net first prize, $560,000, the biggest payoff in women's golf.

For a look at today's action, read projo.com staffer Mike McDermott's blog from the Newport Country Club.

More to come on projo.com and in tomorrow's Journal...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:30 PM | Comment

Update: Police officer in shoplifting shooting ID'd

NORTH SMITHFIELD -- Authorities have released the name of the officer who fatally shot a shoplifting suspect yesterday afternoon as he fled from a supermarket in a minivan.

Russell B. Amato, a seven-year veteran of the Police Department, has been placed on paid administrative lead while the state police investigate the incident.

The Rhode Island State Police has begun investigating the shooting.

More to come ...

Amato shot and killed James Wilcox, 34, of Pawtucket, who was suspected of stealing baby formula from a local supermarket. Wilcox struck an officer with his car while trying to flee the scene, according to police.

The officer fired a single fatal shot, hitting Wilcox in the stomach.

Wilcox's 5-year-old daughter was in the car.

North Smithfield police asked the state police to take over the investigation, according to a statement released this morning. The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:11 PM | Comment

Gas prices up again

PROVIDENCE -- The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Rhode Island is $2.99 per gallon, according to a survey conducted by AAA Southern New England released this morning.

That price is up 4 cents from last week.

At the beginning of 2006, the average price was $2.25 per gallon. And it was $2.27 per gallon at this time last year.

AAA found a range in prices across Rhode Island from $2.91 to $3.13. The company suggests that motorists shop around for the best prices, according to a statement released this morning.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:26 AM | Comment

Judge to hear Carcieri ballot argument this morning

PROVIDENCE -- Lawyers for the General Assembly and Governor Carcieri will square off today in Superior Court over the governor's ability to place nonbinding referenda on the ballot.

The General Assembly recently voted to strip the governor of that power. At issue today is whether two questions Carcieri submitted before the Assembly's vote will still appear on the November ballot.

The matter is scheduled to go before Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato at 11 a.m.

Read the full story in today's Journal.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:34 AM | Comment

Police searching for man in alleged skateboard attack

The Cumberland police have an arrest warrant for a young man believed to have bashed a skateboarder in the head Friday night with a nylon sack filled with hard objects, possibly rocks.

Capt. Ralph Liguori said that the police are searching for Anthony Santiago, 19, of Central Falls. The warrant alleges that Santiago committed assault with a dangerous weapon, according to Liguori.

Liguori said that Santiago is not friends with the victim, 18-year-old Ernie Lagassey of Cumberland, who was skating with his friends at the skate park across from the Town Hall at around 6 p.m. Friday.

Lagassey told the police that two young men approached the skate park and taunted and jeered the skaters. Then one of the men spit in one of skater's faces. Lagassey intervened and was hit in the face with a hard sack, according to the police.

Lagassey's wounds required several stitches.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:28 AM | Comment

Rhode Islanders to become U.S. citizens today

PROVIDENCE -- More than 15 Rhode Island residents will become American citizens today.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is holding a special naturalization ceremony this morning at the Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence -- the site where Roger Williams first founded a settlement in 1636 to provide refuge for people seeking religious freedom.

The ceremony is one of many events the immigration department is organizing across the nation to celebrate Independence Day.

More than 18,000 people are expected to become American citizens during the July 4 celebrations.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:55 AM | Comment

Big night planned in Providence

PROVIDENCE -- Thousands of people are expected to flock to downtown Providence later today as the city has a series of events planned to celebrate the July 4 holiday.

First, a 12-member orchestra known as Plena Libre will begin playing at Station Park at 6:30 p.m. The Grammy-nominated group specializes in a new and revitalized form of traditional Afro-Rican musical style.

The Rhode Island Philharmonic Pops orchestra will follow at 8 p.m., with fireworks above Station Park scheduled to begin at 10 p.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:37 AM | Comment

Warm day, slight chance of showers this afternoon

PROVIDENCE -- The National Weather Service is calling for temperatures to reach the mid 80s today, with partly cloudy skies and a slight chance of showers this afternoon.

The wind is also expected to shift today, from the northwest to the south, blowing at about 8 mph.

The chance of precipitation is 20 percent this afternoon, and similar weather is expected to persist through tonight's fireworks displays. There is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms until midnight, according to the weather service.

For more weather and updates, see projo.com/weather.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:00 AM | Comment