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December 8, 2006

Cumberland woman charged with DUI in fatal crash

PROVIDENCE -- A 28-year-old Cumberland woman has been indicted for drunken driving in the 2005 car crash that killed 16-year-old Samantha M. Beaudette.

A Providence County Grand Jury today indicted Kellie Woodbine, 28, of 18 Scott Rd., Cumberland, on one count of driving under the influence, death resulting, and one count of driving to endanger, death resulting.

Prosecutors say that Beaudette, a former student at Pawtucket's Tollman High School, was a passenger in Woodbine's car during the Dec. 30, 2005 crash in Pawtucket.

Woodbine is set to be arraigned in Superior Court on Jan. 3.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:21 PM | Comment

Man facing charges in deadly fire

A former Providence man accused of setting a house fire that killed an elderly man was indicted today by a Providence County Grand Jury on one count of murder, one count of first-degree arson and one count of fourth-degree arson.

Cody Zab, 21, formerly of 98 Vinton St., was charged in July after police in multiple jurisdictions worked to find the man they believe was responsible for the death of Nocenzo Vanti, 95. Zab is accused of throwing a flammable liquid into the front bay window of Vanti’s Meadow Street home in Pawtucket on Feb. 2 of this year.

Vanti became trapped in his bedroom by flames and suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation. He died five days later.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:17 PM | Comment

A smashing good time planned at anti-gun event

PROVIDENCE -- The attorney general's office plans to host a pre-Christmas "Toy Gun Bash" Sunday afternoon at Pleasant View Elementary School.

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

Attorney General Patrick Lynch will attend the bash -- scheduled Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. -- to talk to community members about reducing incidents of gun violence.

"Society needs to raise awareness of the dangers associated with guns -- whether they're real guns or toys," reads the attorney general's announcement.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:12 PM | Comment

R.I., federal authorities take Indian citizen into custody

Federal terrorism officials and Rhode Island authorities converged to arrest a citizen of India enrolled in a local tractor-trailer training school while attempting to obtain a commercial driver's license and a permit to carry hazardous materials, according to an announcement today.

Mohammed Yusef Mullawala, 28, of Jamaica, N.Y., was taken into custody by the state police on Tuesday after responding to state police headquarters on another matter, police said. He has been turned over to immigration officials and is being held in federal custody pending the results of an immigration hearing in Boston.

Mullawala had entered the country on a student visa that had since expired, according to the state police. Authorities discovered that he had a driver's license in three states: New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The police say that Mullawala lied when applying for a license at the Rhode Island Registry of Motor Vehicles by saying he was a Rhode Island resident.

Authorities did not release the name of the Rhode Island tractor-trailer training school, but said Mullawala "was displaying reportedly suspicious behavior" while enrolled there. In the announcement, they did not explain the suspicious behavior.

State Police could not yet be reached for more details.

Police said their investigation began after the newly created Rhode Island State Fusion Center received a bulletin on Nov. 27 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Operations Center.

The Fusion Center is a component of the Rhode Island State Police Intelligence Unit and is charged with conducting investigations relating to homeland security.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:05 PM | Comment

Update: Bishop's body returned to place of honor/ Photo

Journal photo / John Freidah
Bishop Thomas Tobin pays his respects at the casket of Bishop Thomas F. Hendricken, the first bishop of Providence, after the Mass of the Immaculate Conception for Bishop Hendricken's re-entombment at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence.

PROVIDENCE -- Borne on the shoulders of six sturdy young men, the casketed body of the late Bishop Thomas F. Hendricken, founding bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Providence, was returned in song-filled ceremony today to the cathedral he built.

Hendricken died 120 years ago, and his funeral -- parts of which were recreated today -- was the first Mass celebrated in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

Several hundred people attended today’s Mass and re-entombment service, led by the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, the eighth and current bishop of Providence. Four dozen priests and three retired bishops, all robed in white, joined Bishop Tobin in the hour-and-a-half ceremony.

"This observance has several purposes,’’ the bishop said during the Mass. "First, and most obviously, it is the re-entombment of Bishop Thomas Hendricken in a new and dignified place in this beautiful sanctuary that he envisioned and built.’’

It was also a chance to celebrate diocesan history, Tobin said.

Hendricken, a native of Ireland, spent more than a decade planning and raising money for the cathedral. The building was nearly complete when he died, at the age of 59, in 1886.

-- Journal staff writer G. Wayne Miller

For 120 years, Hendricken was entombed in a dusty crypt in the cathedral basement. Tobin decided to honor him by placing his body in a custom-built green Brazilian sarcophagus that sits to the right of the altar at the front of the church. His body had been stored in a Catholic mausoleum since it was removed from the crypt in June.

In his homily, Bishop Hendricken High School chaplain's, the Rev. Marcel L. Taillon recounted the story of Hendricken’s life. The late bishop fought prejudice and poor health in building the diocese, Taillon said. A severe asthmatic, Hendricken died of complications from a cold.

Taillon said that Hendricken’s last words, witnessed by several people who attended his death bed, were: "Thy will be done.’’

Hendricken students pay respects to bishop, 120 years after death
Posted 10:53 a.m.

WARWICK -- In a solemn service marked by prayer, reflection and song, students at Bishop Hendricken High School this morning paid their respects to the casketed body of their school’s namesake, Bishop Thomas F. Hendricken, the first bishop of the Diocese of Providence.

Hendricken’s body is being re-entombed following a noon Mass at Providence’s cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul -- but the present bishop, Thomas J. Tobin, granted the school’s request to bring the dead bishop to the school at 8 a.m. today.

Hendricken chaplain the Rev. Marcel L. Taillon arranged and led this morning’s service. Students assembled in a school gymnasium and watched a video of Hendricken’s life. When it was over, the body of Hendricken, enclosed in a green-velvet casket, was unloaded from a hearse. Six students carried the casket into the gym.

The choir sang and Fr. Taillon led the students in saying the rosary. After a moment of silence, a bagpiper played. The students carried the bishop’s body back to the hearse, which will bring Hendricken to Providence with a police escort.

-- Journal staff writer G. Wayne Miller

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:45 PM | Comment

Traffic: Accident on Route 295, Smithfield

An accident on Route 295 North in Smithfield, near the exit for Route 44, has backed up traffic for about a mile, according to the state Department of Transportation's Traffic Management Center.

The management center has issued an alert, saying the accident is blocking the left and center lanes. A police officer was involved, according to the alert.

There's no information on injuries.

Police officers and rescue workers are there.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:38 PM | Comment

Man indicted for 3 murders in Central Falls

PROVIDENCE -- A Providence County grand jury indicted a Pawtucket man of three counts of murder today following a violent episode in August in which Adelino Duarte allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend, her daughter and a friend.

In addition to the murder charges, Duarte was also indicted on three counts of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, death resulting, and one count of breaking and entering.

The police say that that Duarte, 39, of North Main Street, Pawtucket, broke in to his ex-girlfriend's apartment in the early hours of Aug. 18 and shot Elizabeth Orellana, a mother of five, her 20-year-old daughter Kristal L. Duarte (no relation to Adelino) and Octavio J. Calcagno, 23, each in the head.

When the police arrived, Duarte was found lying face down at the crime scene with his hand under a mattress. Police restrained Duarte after witnesses identified him as the shooter and discovered a gun under the mattress.

Duarte has been in prison since the incident. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 3.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:21 PM | Comment

Chafee to appear Monday on The Daily Show

U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee is no stranger to national television. He's appeared on his fair share of the Sunday-morning programs such as Meet The Press and Face the Nation.

But the Rhode Island Republican will make his first appearance on a different sort of show Monday night: comedian Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.

Chafee is scheduled to appear on the popular Comedy Central program Monday at 11 p.m. The show will be taped Monday afternoon, according to Chafee spokesman Christopher Spina.

Spina said that Stewart approached Chafee's office about being on the The Daily Show a day or two after Chafee wrote an op-ed piece that appeared in the New York Times on Nov. 12 -- five days after he was defeated by Democratic opponent Sheldon Whitehouse.

"I think he really respects the senator and offered to have him on the show," Spina said.

Chafee packed up his Washington office yesterday while preparing for the end of his term, which officially concludes in January.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:36 PM | Comment

Christmas tree lighting on tap tonight in Providence

PROVIDENCE -- The Christmas spirit should shine brightly in downtown Providence this evening.

City officials will flip the switch on a 30-foot Balsam fir at 5:30 p.m. at the city's annual tree lighting ceremony. There will be singing, free skating at the Bank of America skating center, and horse-drawn carriage rides.

The tree lighting will take place on the steps of City Hall at the south end of Kennedy Plaza. Mayor David N. Cicilline and WPRI news anchor Karen Adams will co-host the event.

There will be performances by The Voices of Sophia, a group of students from Sophia Academy, and Loriana De Crescenzo of Opera Providence. Actors from the Trinity Repertory Company are also scheduled to stop by.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:55 PM | Comment

GTECH lays off 200 workers, 70 in R.I.

PROVIDENCE - Lottery giant GTECH Holdings Corp. today laid off 70 employees in Rhode Island, among 200 employees who are being laid off worldwide, the company said this morning.

The employees were given notice today that their jobs were eliminated immediately, said Robert Vincent, a spokesman for the company. They will receive severance pay, as well as 12 months of career counseling and outplacement services, he said.

The jobs affected by the layoffs run the gamut, Vincent said, from vice presidents to entry-level positions.

Most of the Rhode Island employees who lost their jobs worked at the company's West Greenwich facility. Some also worked in the company's new Providence headquarters, which GTECH moved into last month.

The layoffs are part of the company's efforts to pare down expenses as it gets ready to re-bid several major contracts over the next 24 months, Vincent said. The company faces new competition, he said, including "international competitors that are looking to gain market share by offering prices we could not sustain."

In August, GTECH was purchased by Lottomatica SpA, an Italian lottery operator, for $4.8 billion. Vincent said the layoffs were not related to the acquisition and would have occurred if GTECH had remained an independent company.

Posted by Tim Barmann at 12:48 PM | Comment

Electrical work to turn off state Web sites on 2 days

Almost all state Web sites and e-mail will be shut down at times tomorrow and on the last Saturday of this month, as the state Department of Administration installs electrical equipment at its offices.

The department said today that its tentative schedule calls for power to be down, and Web sites and e-mails unavailable to the public, from 6 p.m. through 11 p.m. tomorrow. On Saturday, Dec. 30, service is expected to be down overnight, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m.

The Web sites involved are all state sites ending in “ri.gov” or “state.ri.us.” None of the state functions normally accessible online will be available while this electrical work is under way. In both cases, the services should be available on the following Sunday, the department said.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 12:45 PM | Comment

Update: Arlene Violet's show ends one day early

Talk-radio icon Arlene Violet will not be on the air this afternoon, the day her radio station, WHJJ (920-AM), said on Wednesday would be her last day.

Rather, the show she hosted yesterday – in which caller after caller said goodbye and sang her praises – was the last show, the station’s program director and news director, Bill George, said early this afternoon.

For now, Violet is still showing up on WHJJ’s schedule posted online, with the following description: “The Arlene Violet Show: Nobody's more Rhode Island than Arlene. For more than a decade, when Rhode Islanders have seen Red, they've turned to Violet! Arlene Violet, that is.” Check it out.

In Violet’s place today will be the nationally syndicated program featuring the politically conservative Sean Hannity. WHJJ said in its Wednesday news release that Hannity’s show would first air locally on Monday.

George declined to comment on what had changed since the news release issued Wednesday said Violet’s last day on WHJJ would be Friday, Dec. 8.

“This is a personnel issue,” he said. “I know that it’s a great story because it’s a story people are interested in, but it’s a personnel matter, and we don’t discuss things like that.”

Violet’s show ran at its usual time yesterday, from 3 to 6 p.m.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Violet has not yet returned calls seeking comment, including a message left on her voice mail at the station, which George said she can still access.

Asked whether any announcement about the change might be made on the station today, George simply replied: “The Sean Hannity show will be on.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:32 PM | Comment

Forecaster predicts 3 major hurricanes next year

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season should have above-average activity, a top hurricane researcher said today.

Colorado State forecaster William Gray predicted 14 named storms next year, including three major hurricanes and four other hurricanes.

Gray and fellow researcher Philip Klotzbach said fewer hurricanes are likely to make landfall compared to last year, which had the busiest and most destructive hurricane season on record.

It had 28 named storms, including 15 hurricanes, four of which hit the U.S. The worst of those was Katrina, which leveled parts of the Gulf Coast.

-- The Associated Press

This year's season had nine named storms and five hurricanes, two of them major. That was considered a "near normal" season but fell short of predictions by Gray and government scientists.

No hurricanes hit the U.S. Atlantic coast in 2006 - only the 11th time that has occurred since 1945.

Gray's team said a late-developing El Nino contributed to the calmer 2006 season but that those conditions are likely to dissipate before the next June-to-November season.

"Despite a fairly inactive 2006 hurricane season, we believe that the Atlantic basin is in an active hurricane cycle," Gray said. The active cycle is expected to continue for another decade or two, he said.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:14 AM | Comment

Man treated at hospital after nailing himself in the chest

CRANSTON -- A construction worker is being treated this morning at Rhode Island Hospital after slipping on a job site and nailing himself in the chest with a nail gun.

The accident occurred near the fire department’s headquarters, and co-workers drove the man to the fire station, at 301 Pontiac Ave., according to the department’s deputy chief of emergency medical services, Leo F. Kennedy. The man arrived at the station at 9:52 a.m. and was taken to the hospital shortly after 10, he said.

The gun shot an approximately three-inch nail into the man’s chest, but not in his heart, Kennedy said. The man was conscious and talking to emergency crews as they worked on him.

The police are investigating the accident, Maj. Ronald T. Blackmar said. They do not yet know details about the man, the company he worked for or exactly where the accident occurred.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Driving someone to the fire station seeking help isn’t the best thing for someone to do in an emergency, Kennedy said. There’s no guarantee that emergency responders are in the station, as they could be out responding to other calls, he said.

Luckily, a rescue crew was at the station and able to help the man when he arrived. The engine crew, however, was out on another call, and the department needed to bring a different engine over to the station to provide additional assistance, Kennedy said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:38 AM | Comment

Single-car crash on Route 146 southbound

NORTH SMITHFIELD – One person initially trapped in a vehicle after a one-car crash on Route 146 southbound has been freed from the car.

There’s no word yet on injuries, according to a police dispatcher.

National Grid has been called to the accident because the car struck an electrical box, according to the police. No power failures have been reported to the police at this time.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:00 AM | Comment

Pawtucket man critical after being struck by car

PAWTUCKET -- The police this morning released the name of a 46-year-old city man who was struck yesterday by a car as he attempted to cross Newport Avenue.

Edward Bouvier, of 385 Woodhaven Rd. in Pawtucket, remains in critical condition this morning, according to a statement issued by Maj. John J. Whiting.

The police were called to 642 Newport Ave. around 4:45 p.m. yesterday, according to the department. Bouvier had been struck by a vehicle heading south, driven by Harry Sioras, of 149 Hyde Ave. in Pawtucket, according to Whiting.

The accident remains under investigation. Speed does not appear to be a factor, and the police say they have no witnesses reported.

“There have been no charges lodged against the driver at this time pending the outcome of the investigation,” Whiting said in the statement.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:22 AM | Comment

Traffic slow on Route 195 West, 95 North

If you’re heading west on Route 195 this morning, expect traffic to slow down as you reach downtown Providence. Motorists are traveling along at an average of 33 miles per hour on that stretch at this hour.

Also on Route 95 North, traffic is slow at exit 17.

For other traffic needs, check out the state roadways, via the Department of Transportation's online traffic offerings.

You can find any traffic alerts describing accidents here, browse traffic cams to see real-time photos of the highways and check out the DOT’s road construction schedule here.

Also, check out congestion mapping -- i.e., how heavy the traffic is -- here.

To report a traffic incident, call the Transportation Management Center at (401) 222-5826 and choose option #2.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:53 AM | Comment

Download today's front page

Today's front page includes stories on Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee's last days in Washington after his defeat in the November election and state department directors proposing cuts to close an estimated $208 million budget gap.

Download today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:14 AM | Comment

Cold with gusty winds and more snow possible

PROVIDENCE – We’ve already seen flakes this morning.

Not many, mind you, but if you’ve missed them that’s OK. You’ll probably get another shot at it.

We could get an inch to two inches of snow this morning, with gusty winds expected to help reduce visibility on the roads this morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Any snow showers will likely diminish this morning but the wind will continue to gust to 35 or 40 miles per hour much of today.

It’s just 19 degrees out now, so bundle up.

This morning’s cloudy skies should turn mostly sunny by later today, but don’t expect a warm day like yesterday. We should see a high of just 31.

As for this weekend, expect sunny weather both days with a high in the mid-40s.

Check back with us for the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:59 AM | Comment