« December 25, 2006 | Today | December 27, 2006 »

December 26, 2006

Warwick PD ask for help finding 2 bank robbers

WARWICK -- The police are asking the public to help locate two men who robbed a crowded Bank of America branch here Saturday morning.

The masked men stormed into the bank at 50 West Shore Rd. just after it opened at 9 a.m. At least 10 customers were inside, as well as several tellers and other employees.

Two surveillance cameras captured the robbery. One shows a masked man enter the bank, remove an article of clothing that had concealed a shotgun, and aim his weapon at customers.

Another camera captured the second thief, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, and his body obscured by rubber gloves and a tan trench coat.

No one was injured during the robbery, according to a police statement. The robbers are believed to be in their 20s or 30s.

The police say the robbers arrived at the bank in a blue Buick stolen earlier that day from the Super Stop & Shop parking lot on Warwick Avenue. Following the bank robbery, the police say, the thieves abandoned the Buick in the parking lot of a nearby Ocean State Job Lot, leaving its engine and windshield wipers running.

Police detectives, who have interviewed bank staff and customers, are searching for witnesses who may have seen the suspects leave the Buick and possibly flee in another vehicle. Detectives can be reached at (401) 468-4233.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:48 PM | Comment

Update: Providence man victim in club shooting / Photo

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Club Pulse, at 86 Crary St., was the scene of the fatal shooting early Christmas morning.

PROVIDENCE -- The police say a Providence man was killed in the shooting early Christmas morning at Club Pulse.

They released the identity of the man this morning as Kendall Marshall, 29. The police did not release his address.

The police say they have no suspect in the 1:30 a.m. shooting, which injured two other men.

Because of the shooting and previous incidents of violence at the club on Crary Street, the police are seeking an emergency meeting with the city's licensing board in an effort to close the club.

"We've had a number of problems there in the past," said Maj. Paul Fitzgerald, commander of the uniformed division.

The meeting hasn't yet been scheduled, but Fitzgerald wants the board to hear the request before the club is scheduled to reopen Friday as part of its regular schedule.

The injured men were identified as Darius Armador, 26, of Groton, Conn., and James Rue, 31, of Boston. The police declined to release their street addresses.

The police are still investigating the motive for the shooting. "We're still looking into what precipiated the violence," said Det. Capt. Hugh Clements, detectives commander.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Armador suffered a grazing wound to the neck. He was treated at Rhode Island Hospital and released, according to the police.

Rue was shot in the lower back and was in stable condition at the hospital yesterday, according to the police. The hospital couldn't provide an update when contacted today by projo.com.

The shooter was able to escape through one of the club's many exits in the confusion after the gunfire. The police say a handgun was used but would not say how many shots were fired.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Jack Perry at 4:40 PM | Comment

Zoning official suspended without pay

The Hopkinton building and zoning official has been suspended without pay after accusations that he gave preferential treatment to local elected officials and falsified his time card.

Charles M. Mauti said today that he is fighting the suspension.

Hopkinton and Westerly police officers delivered the 30-day suspension notice to Mauti’s Westerly home Friday afternoon.

Mauti had been the target of a two-year criminal investigation after accusations that he gave certain people -- the former Town Council president, another council member, and Mauti's own wife among them -- preferential treatment. No criminal charges were filed.

The recent suspension follows accusations that Mauti indicated on his time card that he worked one day last month that he actually took as a personal day. Mauti said it was a simple mistake.

There will be a hearing on the suspension in the coming weeks.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Maria Armental

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:23 PM | Comment

Peak season for state unemployment checks

PROVIDENCE -- Waiting for a state unemployment check? No worries -- it should be in the mail.

While dozens of unemployment checks were lost in the mail last holiday season, state officials say that those depending on unemployment insurance this Christmas shouldn't expect any major delays.

"This is our peak season; we're filing a high volume of claims," Raymond Filippone, the assistant director of income support for the Department of Labor and Training, said today. "But the checks went out fine."

State officials waited seven hours longer than usual to print checks on the Friday before Christmas to accommodate as many people as possible, Filippone said.

Still, some people may get their check a day later than expected because Christmas fell on a Monday -- there was no mail service yesterday and the state didn't print any checks that day.

Filippone estimated that the state will distribute 14,000 checks this week, compared to around 11,000 during non-holiday periods.

Why the increase?

Many companies lay off seasonal workers after Christmas, while other businesses close to conduct inventories, Filippone said. And there are many temporary layoffs for school-related jobs like crossing guards and bus drivers.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:58 PM | Comment

1 hospitalized after fire on Atwells Ave. / Photo

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Tameka Rahu comforts family members after a fire gutted her home at 857 Atwells Avenue, Providence.

PROVIDENCE -- One person has been hospitalized for smoke inhalation following a fire in a two-story building on Atwells Avenue this morning.

The victim, who has not been identified, is one of seven people -- four adults and three children -- to be displaced by the blaze, which started in the basement of 857 Atwells Ave., according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

The Red Cross has been called to help the residents find new shelter.

Authorities were first notified of the fire at 11:07, and the flames were under control by 11:59, Taylor said. Fire crews are still there.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:24 PM | Comment

Back at it with just 364 shopping days left

After taking a breather for the Christmas holiday, Rhode Islanders headed back into the stores early this morning.

People began lining up outside stores and malls in the early morning looking to snap up holiday-themed goods at deep discounts and other items on sale, as well as return a misguided gift or two.

Your turn: What Christmas gift are you returning and why?

"I was kind of surprised," said Fran Olean, store team leader at the Target on Bald Hill Road in Warwick. "It was kind of a mini-Black Friday."

Black Friday is the nickname retailers have for the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

While the day after Christmas doesn't have a pet name, it too is typically a busy one for retailers. It's a day when the often slash prices on red- and green-colored dinnerware, silver and gold tree trimmings and other holiday-related gimcracks.

They also reduce prices on other goods they want to clear out before undertaking annual store inventory counts, which typically begin in mid-January.

"These are the people who've eyed something and didn't want to pay full price," Olean said of shoppers at Target.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:51 AM | Comment

Gas prices jump another 8 cents

Gasoline prices in Rhode Island climbed another eight cents last week, the seventh straight week of increases, according to AAA Southern New England.

The average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gas is $2.43 at the self-service pump, according to AAA's weekly survey. That's 25 cents more than drivers were paying when prices started increasing in the middle of November.

Gas saving tips and tools from AAA.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:05 AM | Comment

Mass. health officials puzzled by outbreak

BOSTON -- What city health officials at first thought was an outbreak of whooping cough among employees at Children's Hospital Boston may have been something else entirely.

But exactly what is still in question.

It started when a 19-month-old patient came down with the classic symptoms of whooping cough, a respiratory disease also known as pertussis. Symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing, slight fever, and mild cough, which can develop into a violent and persistent cough.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:29 AM | Comment

Light traffic, wet roads

The roads are wet from rain and drizzle this morning, and patchy fog could also be a problem for drivers.

But commuter traffic should be light for most of this week because of holiday vacations. The state Department of Transportation's Web cameras are showing light commuter traffic. The DOT doesn't have any current traffic alerts.

Check out its Web site for more travel information.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:54 AM | Comment

Rain, drizzle, fog

PROVIDENCE -- The rain should continue until 9 a.m. today with drizzle, fog and cloudy skies after that, according to the National Weather Service.

The temperature should climb to 52 degrees, although the weather service was warning of the chance for wet snow to mix with rain this morning at higher altitudes in the Berkshires and southwest New Hampshire.

Isolated gale force gusts are also possible on coastal waters south of New England, the weather service says.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's Journal front page includes stories on British forces raiding a police station in Iraq and freeing tortured inmates, the death of singer James Brown and a local story on the Meeting Street School.

Download today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment