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August 2, 2006

Severe thunderstorms heading into northern R.I.

A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for northern Rhode Island until 6:30 p.m.

A line of severe storms capable of producing destructive winds in excess of 60 to 70 mph is moving into the area now.

Check their progress on live radar on projo.com.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:15 PM | Comment

No record: Temperature tops out at 100 / Photo

Journal photo / John Freidah
John Viera of East Providence, with Cosco Fencing & Guardrail, cools off after working today along Route 95 north in Richmond.

PROVIDENCE -- While temperatures hit triple digits today, the city will not break the mark for the hottest Aug. 2 on record, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham.

As of 4 p.m. the temperature was at 100 degrees, recorded at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick.

"We may sneak up to 101, but that’s about it," said Dunham, who is based at the NWS office in Taunton, Mass. The record for today is 104.

An excessive heat warning for the region has been extended until 5 p.m. tomorrow, which is expected to be humid with highs in the 90s under partly-cloudy skies. Showers and thunderstorms are likely for the afternoon. Temperatures will drop into the 70s overnight, rising into the 80s on Friday.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:42 PM | Comment

No sign of violence in Fall River couple's deaths

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled out physically induced "traumatic injury" as a cause of the deaths of an elderly Fall River couple found in their Ray Street home yesterday.

"There is no consideration of any violent trauma," said Kelly Nantel, director of communications for the state Executive Office of Public Safety, said this afternoon.

What did cause the deaths of Michael and Victoria Mone "is pending further study," Nantel said.

The police received a call from a neighbor at 9:42 a.m. yesterday because the couple had not been seen for days, according to a Fall River press release. Officer Gary Pasternam went into the 139 Ray St. home and found the two.

The police are saying little about the case. Their home has been treated as a crime scene by the city's Major Crimes Division with assistance from state police who are assigned to the office of Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.

-- Journal staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:12 PM | Comment

Guard team trained to respond to terror attacks / Photo

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Governor Carcieri, at podium, formally presents the team today at R.I. National Guard headquarters.

CRANSTON – Governor Carcieri today introduced newly trained Rhode Island National Guardsmen who are ready to respond to terrorist attacks.

The 13th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team will be on call to assist first responders in the event of a chemical, biological or radiological terrorist attack. The 22-member squad recently earned national certification after a training period of nearly three years.

Amid a slew of hazardous materials suits, gas masks, computer equipment and a mobile laboratory, Carcieri lauded the team, standing stalwart in fatigues in a semi-circle behind the him. Also present were the adjutant general to the Rhode Island National Guard, Lt. Col. Robert T. Bray, and former adjutant general Reginald A. Centracchio.

Carcieri emphasized the team's intensive training record and how its presence enhances Rhode Island ’s overall preparedness for any public threat, natural or terrorist.

“They underwent vigorous and rigorous training. It’s a great accomplishment,’’ Carcieri said. “It’s another asset for our state. It’s another part of the process to bring up our capability. In a [post-] 9/11 world, we know how important that is. We hope we never have to use their expertise.’’

-- Journal staff writer Lisa Vernon-Sparks

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:06 PM | Comment

Tomorrow: Ozone alert, Day 3

Tomorrow will be another ozone alert day in Rhode Island, which means that air quality is expected to be at unhealthy levels, with the most unhealthy levels in southern Rhode Island.

The designation also means that regular-route buses and trolleys operated by the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority will be free.

In issuing its third ozone alert this week, the state Department of Environmental Management offered advice on how to help lower ground-level ozone levels and create cleaner air:

Limit driving, minimize starts and unnecessary vehicle acceleration, reduce idling by avoiding congested traffic and lines at drive-through windows, drive your lowest-emission vehicle, refuel at stations that have a vapor-recovery system, maintain your vehicle with regular tuneups, minimize lawn-mower emissions, limit the use of solvent-based household products, and limit barbecue emissions by using an electric starter instead of lighter fluid to start charcoal fires.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:32 PM | Comment

Are boaters to blame for high bacteria levels?

High levels of bacteria, particularly in Greenwich Bay, have the state Department of Health wondering whether weekend boaters are disposing of sewage as they should.

Legally, boaters are supposed to discharge the sewage from their vessels at sewage treatment centers or at pump-out stations at various marinas, according to Ernest Julian, chief of the Health Department’s Office of Food Protection, which also regulates the state's beaches.

Typically, levels of bacteria high enough to require the Health Department to close beaches follow days of heavy rain, Julian says. But recent high bacteria levels – on these hot, sticky heat-wave days – are not the result of too much rain, he said.

“The only thing we have right now as a plausible reason is boaters,” he said.

Three beaches today remain closed per the Health Department, after being on the closure list yesterday, Julian said. They are City Park Beach in Warwick, Atlantic Beach Club Beach, in Middletown, and Warren Town Beach.

Julian said that such a hot day is the "worst day for a beach closure."

Also, two pond beaches – Browning Mill Pond, in Exeter, and Gorton Pond in Warwick – remain closed. High bacteria levels there are likely the result of waterfowl pollution, Julian said.

The Health Department is continuously updating and changing its beach closure page and will continue to do so as water tests come back from various labs, Julian said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:27 PM | Comment

Update: Derderian defense team will attack fire marshal's credibility

PROVIDENCE -- Michael Derderian's lawyer made it clear in court today that he will attack the credibility of former West Warwick fire marshal Denis Larocque when Derderian's trial begins early next month.

“Let there be no doubt about his credibility being questioned,” Richard M. Egbert said of Larocque during this afternoon's proceeding.

Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr., who heard several pretrial motions brought by the defense team today, ruled that Larocque would be allowed to testify about how he determined the capacity of The Station. But Darigan said that he wasn't sure whether he'd allow into evidence a memo from Larocque to the police chief about the matter.

“The document is somewhat suspect, there’s no question about it," Darigan said today. "I’m concerned about the genuineness.”

Darigan today also said he would likely allow jurors see photographs of dead bodies taken at the fire scene, and denied attempts by the defense team to ban the term "misdemeanor manslaughter" from the trial.

Derderian's trial is set to begin Sept. 5.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples, with reports from Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

Although defense lawyer Kathleen Hagerty called the photographs of the fire victims at The Station "the most horrible photographs I have ever seen," Darigan said he "probably will allow some of them."

"They're heartbreaking, heartbreaking photographs," Hagerty said.

Lawyers for the prosecution and defense also discussed the use of other types of photographs as evidence. Darigan said he would also probably let the prosecution introduce photographs of the victims taken before the night of the tragic fire. The defense argued that the photographs were not relevant.

The defense didn't object to the prosecution's plans to show photographs of the West Warwick nightclub before and after the fire.

In arguing against the use of "misdemeanor manslaughter," the defense team said the term is misleading and inaccurate.

"The use of 'misdemeanor manslaughter' is quite misleading for potential jurors, for it suggests to them that a defendant convicted on that theory would only be liable for a misdemeanor" when it is really a felony, wrote Derderian's attorney in a motion supporting today's arguments.

Darigan rejected the defense's argument this morning, but said he would instruct the jury of the term's meaning before and after testimony in the trial.

Darigan also denied a defense motion to preclude testimony from the medical examiner, but he instructed the prosecution to avoid repetition in that testimony.

One hundred people were killed and more than 200 were injured when a band's pyrotechnics ignited a blaze in the West Warwick club on Feb. 20, 2003. Michael Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey, were co-owners of the club.

Each are charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter -- two for each of the 100 people who died. They are charged with criminal negligence manslaughter, which alleges they ignored the risks to the safety of people in their nightclub, and with misdemeanor manslaughter, which means they committed a petty offense that resulted in death. "Misdemeanor manslaughter" refers to that petty offense. Both types of manslaughter are felonies.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:19 PM | Comment

Lynch sues closed computer-repair shop

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has sued an East Providence computer repair shop for failing to do work they had been paid to do.

Lynch, who filed the complaint under the Rhode Island Deceptive Trade Practices Act, is seeking a refund for all of the consumers who paid Computer Exchange to repair their computers and have not had their property returned to them.

Computer Exchange, located at 2399 Pawtucket Avenue, advertised its services as a business that "buys, sells, services, networks, upgrades and custom builds computers."

The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit investigated and determined that in some instances, Computer Exchange was neither repairing nor returning its customers' computers.

"It's unconscionable that a business would deceive customers by claiming to correct computer problems, taking their money, and then closing their doors with the property of consumers' left inside," Lynch said today.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:16 PM | Comment

2,000 RI electric customers without power

More than 2,000 National Grid customers in Rhode Island have no electricity this afternoon, according to a spokesman for the electric company.

That includes about 800 customers in Barrington, 720 in Cumberland, 240 in North Kingstown, 170 in Warwick and 120 in East Greenwich, National Grid spokesman David Graves said at about 3 p.m.

Electric company repair crews are working to correct the problems.

Hot weather creates higher usage and higher usage creates greater demand, Graves said, adding that greater demand means the system runs overtime, like a car that runs at 80 mph for 12 hours straight.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Timothy C. Barmann

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:14 PM | Comment

Foot found may belong to missing URI student

NARRAGANSETT -- A foot caught in a fisherman’s net last week may belong to Geoffrey M. Wilkes, the Glocester teen who disappeared along with two other University of Rhode Island students on Narragansett Bay in March, state authorities said today.

On July 25, a fisherman discovered a black shoe with bones in his net while trolling off Bonnet Shores before 9 a.m., said Department of Environmental Management spokeswoman Gail Mastrati. The Coast Guard and DEM turned the remains over the medical examiner’s office, she said.

“The medical examiner is in possession of some human remains, and based on the personal effects found with those remains,” they are likely from Wilkes, spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth said.

The medical examiner has asked the FBI to do DNA testing to confirm the state’s findings, Beardsworth said. She would not elaborate on what personal items were found. “Our investigation is not officially closed,” she said.

The 18-year-old Wilkes was one of three URI students who rowed onto the fog-shrouded Bay in the predawn hours on March 13. The three students drank and socialized with a small group of friends before taking an aluminum rowboat into the Bay.

The bodies of Fandia Mahoud Shloul, 21, of Pawtucket, and Daniel P. Donahue, 20, also of Glocester, were found by the Coast Guard in late April.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Davis

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:50 PM | Comment

Heat chases meter readers off Providence streets

PROVIDENCE – Meter readers for the city have stopped patrolling the streets today because of a union contract clause that sends outdoor city employees either home or to work in a cooler locale on days when the mercury in downtown Providence hits 90.

The meter readers are now working in an air-conditioned location, according to Rhoades Alderson, the city’s communications director. He was not sure what type of work they're doing.

The union contract with Local 1033 of the Laborers International Union of North America includes the meter readers, the city’s parks and public works departments and those city employees who work for the Providence Water Supply Board, Alderson said.

The contract clause states that when the temperature hits 90 degrees, “all outside crews shall be dismissed without loss of pay and inside City Hall employees in non-air-conditioned offices shall be reduced to a skeleton force.”

If they act before it hits 90, department directors can call their outside workers in to either an air-conditioned working environment or a “pre-approved enclosed cooler working environment which is not air-conditioned” instead of sending them home, according to the contract language.

Alderson does not yet have details on how many city workers have been sent home today and yesterday. However, when the mercury hit 90 a few weeks ago, he said 39 parks employees, 45 public works employees and 32 water employees were sent home.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:08 PM | Comment

Governor urges Rhode Islanders to conserve power

Governor Carcieri is asking Rhode Islanders to voluntarily reduce their electricity consumption to avoid potential power losses this afternoon.

He plans to make this plea at a press conference at 3:15 p.m. today at the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Cranston, 645 New London Ave.

The governor has also instructed the Emergency Management Agency to open the state’s Emergency Operation Center to coordinate the state response to the current heat wave.

The region has already set a record for energy demand, according to ISO New England, operator of the region's bulk power system.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:28 PM | Comment

Photo: Tearing it up at the Dunk'

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Heavy equipment was at work today tearing up sidewalks in front of the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, which is undergoing a $62 million renovation. A war memorial in front of the building has already been moved. Exterior concrete was due to be poured this week.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 2:02 PM | Comment

Narragansett man was electrocuted on boat

PROVIDENCE -- A Narragansett man found dead on his sport fishing boat Monday night was electrocuted, the state medical examiners office said today in announcing his cause of death.

William H. Carr, 47, of 14 Perriwinkle Road, was found by his 10-year-old son, who rode his bike to the dock in Galilee when his father hadn't returned home when expected, according to state authorities investigating the death.

Carr was last seen Monday at about 11 a.m., when he went to a nearby marina to buy some new wires for his boat, the 42-foot "Ashley."

The specific cause of death was "low voltage electrocution."

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:30 PM | Comment

Court hears appeals in Lincoln Park bribery case

BOSTON – Lawyers for Lincoln Park and two former executives brought their clients' bid to dismiss their convictions on bribery conspiracy charges before a federal appeals court today.

The defendants themselves, who were convicted a year ago, were not there. Nigel Potter and Daniel Bucci are serving terms in federal prison. The business entity once known as Lincoln Park exists only as a limited liability company, and the Lincoln Park gambling facility itself has been bought by another firm.

Their pleas were heard by a three-judge panel sitting at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, including one Rhode Islander, Judge Bruce M. Selya.

Defense lawyers argued that no evidence proved that an actual scheme had been hatched to bribe the law partner of former Rhode Island House Speaker John Harwood. They also contended that no scheme, whose aim was to have been to obtain more video lottery terminals at Lincoln Park, was ever executed.

At one point, Bucci's lawyer, Anthony M. Traini, said that it had been portrayed as if Harwood could do anything.

'"We're not talking about the president of the United States, we're talking about the Rhode Island Speaker of the House," Traini said.

Judge Selya joked back, "Well, some would say that's a more powerful figure," drawing laughs from the courtroom.

The judges made no decision on the appeal today and did not announce a time for doing so.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

Last August, a federal jury convicted Lincoln Park, Potter and Bucci of conspiring to bribe Harwood with up to $4 million to secure state approval for at least 1,000 more VLTs and to block a rival casino. A Providence jury had deadlocked on many charges in an earlier trial, and the second trial was held in Worcester after defense lawyers sought a change of venue.

Potter, former CEO of Lincoln Park's former parent company, Wembley plc, was sentenced in October to three years in prison. And Bucci, Lincoln Park's former CEO, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison. U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi also imposed a $1.5-million fine on LPRI, the limited liability company remaining from Lincoln Park's former owners.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:11 PM | Comment

Update: Morning fire in Warwick sends one to hospital

WARWICK -- A fire probably caused by a candle igniting a mattress caused minor damage to a single-family home at 83 Symonds St. this morning, and sent its one resident to the hospital for observation.

Warwick Battalion Chief Joseph Greenwell said that the fire call came in at 10:13 a.m., and that firefighters responded to find a fire in the bedroom, probably started by a candle near the bed igniting the mattress.

Firefighters were able to douse the flames before there was any structural damage to the two-story Cape-style home, Greenwell said, though there was smoke damage to the first floor.

One resident, a renter whose name was not released, was home at the time. He was taken to Kent Hospital to be examined for smoke inhalation. He was treated and released.

The fire is under investigation, Greenwell said.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:05 PM | Comment

Region breaks another record for electricity use

With the heat and humidity pushing record levels, the region has already set a new record for electricity demand today, according to ISO New England, operator of the region's bulk power system.

Electricity use had already reached 27,798 megawatts by early this afternoon, according to ISO New England's Web site.

That broke yesterday's record of 27,401, according to ISO New England.

The previous record of 27,395 was set July 18.

Peak demand today is expected to reach 28,030 megawatts.

Demand today will push supply levels, although ISO New England says power levels are expected to be adequate.

To help ensure adequate supply, the power manager has asked New Englanders to conserve energy between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. For example, it has asked customers to turn up the thermostats on their air conditioners, turn off unneeded lights and electrical equipment and put off using major appliances until late in the day.

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:43 PM | Comment

Beacon Mutual hires firm to help find new CEO

PROVIDENCE -- The Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. board of directors has hired an outside company to conduct a nationwide search for a new chief executive officer, according to an announcement released today.

The executive search firm Witt/Kieffer is charged with finding a new leader for the state's largest workers' compensation insurer.

The former CEO, Joseph Solomon, was fired earlier in the year after a report surfaced that exposed, among other things, how Solomon had granite countertops installed in the kitchen of his East Greenwich house -- at a cost of $10,000 -- by a company that received undocumented breaks on its workers' compensation insurance.

"We would like to have a new CEO engaged by the end of the year but this process will not be driven by a deadline," Carl Hayes, Beacon board chairman, said in a statement. "Our goal is to get the best candidate for the job with the requisite skill set to manage the Beacon in an effective, transparent and productive manner."

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:42 PM | Comment

State announces sale price for AmEx building

PROVIDENCE -- The state pension fund has sold the former American Express building across from the State House for $20 million, according to an announcement released today.

The buyer, RI Gateway Properties, LLC, is involved in the construction of the new GTECH Holding Corp. headquarters nearby.

Neither side would disclose the price yesterday, prior to finalizing the sale of the four-story office building next to the Providence train station and formerly known as the American Express building. The pension fund bought the building for $17.9 million in a bankruptcy court proceeding last year.

Read the story in today's Journal about the sale.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:41 PM | Comment

Verizon worker dies after suffering electrical shock

The Verizon worker who was severely injured on July 18 while working from a bucket truck on a utility line in South Providence died yesterday, according to Verizon.

Joseph Allard, a splice service technician, suffered an electrical shock and was burned when the bucket apparently made contact with an electric power line in front of 78 Oxford St. on that July afternoon.

“On behalf of all Verizon employees, we want to offer our prayers and deepest sympathy to his family and colleagues,” the company said in a statement issued this morning.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:00 AM | Comment

Story hours and free family movies at Providence library

The Providence Public Library has scheduled additional children’s story hours and free family movies in its main branch today for families trying to beat the heat.

The first story hour has just begun, at 10:30 a.m., and the next one is at 2:30 p.m. today. The movies will be shown at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Barnard Room on the third floor.

“The special story times will be held in a spacious conference room set up to accommodate as many kids as possible, with seating to give city residents a comfortable place to relax and escape stifling heat for a couple of hours,” spokeswoman Tonia Mason said in a news release.

The Central Library at 150 Empire St. is air-conditioned.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:40 AM | Comment

Patriots practice time pushed back

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The New England Patriots have announced that today's practice session will start at 3 p.m., not 2:30 as originally scheduled. The practice will still conclude at 4:30.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 10:16 AM | Comment

Communities open cooling centers

Communities around the state are opening cooling centers today to protect Rhode Islanders from the record heat.

Click here for the list.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:47 AM | Comment

Providence closes two library branches without AC

PROVIDENCE – Two Providence Public Library locations can’t take the heat.

The Knight Memorial Library, at 275 Elmwood Ave., and Smith Hill Branch Library, at 31 Candace St., will be closed today because they don’t have air conditioning. Also, the library services offered at the Washington Park Foundation, at 1380 Broad St., are canceled for today.

All other library locations will be open normal hours today.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:50 AM | Comment

Lawyers in Lincoln Park case seek to overturn convictions

BOSTON -- Lawyers for Lincoln Park and two former executives will ask a federal appeals court in Boston today to overturn their clients' convictions.

Nigel Potter, Daniel Bucci and the park itself were convicted of plotting to pay a multi- million-dollar bribe to former Rhode Island House Speaker John Harwood in exchange for political favors.

Bucci, the park's general manager, was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Potter was the CEO of the corporation that owned Lincoln Park until last year. He's serving a three-year sentence.

Defense lawyers say their clients were discussing paying a performance bonus or retainer fee to Harwood's law partner, who did legal work for the park.

No money ever changed hands, and no one else was charged.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:44 AM | Comment

Hot. Hot. Hot. It's forecast to break 100

PROVIDENCE – We’re not alone as we wake up in Rhode Island to this hot, sticky weather.

A quick look at the National Weather Service’s eastern region map shows lots of fuschia – the color for its “excessive heat warning.” The warning that was issued earlier this week to last through this evening has now been extended to 5 p.m. tomorrow.

With widespread haze, today should see a high around 101. Considering the effects of the temperature and humidity, today’s heat index is expected to hover around 111.

Locally, the state Department of Environmental Management has issued another ozone alert day for today, on the heels of yesterday’s warning. Unhealthy levels of ozone can cause throat irritation, coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath and aggravation of asthma.

With that warning in place, all RIPTA routes will be free throughout the day, to encourage people to avoid walking outside or driving their cars.

DEM regularly issues updates on the state's air quality.

We’ll keep you posted on the latest weather news. Check back with us throughout the day.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:15 AM | Comment