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December 27, 2006

On deck: Celtics, Rams, P-Bruins on the road

The Boston Celtics shouldn't be battling for first place in their division.

But in the Eastern Conference's woeful Atlantic Division, 10 wins and 16 losses puts a team one game out of first place.

Coming off their third loss in a row last night, the Celtics hope to improve their record to 11-16 against the Los Angeles Clippers in California tonight. And from Boston's perspective, this is a good time to be playing the Clippers, who are in the midst of a slump of their own, having lost seven out of their last eight games.

Boston is still without leading scorer Paul Pierce, who's expected to miss another two to three weeks with a foot injury.

Tip off is scheduled for 10:30 p.m.

If you'd prefer to watch a basketball team with a winning record tonight, the University of Rhode Island men's club faces Ohio University at 7 p.m. in Athens. URI has seven wins and five losses so far this year. Ohio is 7-3.

Not a basketball fan?

The Providence Bruins take on the Norfolk Admirals tonight in Virginia at 7:15. The teams are in fourth and third place in their respective divisions.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:01 PM | Comment

Lombardi to make 4th run for N. Providence mayor / Correction

NORTH PROVIDENCE — Charles A. Lombardi, a former Town Council president and three-time mayoral candidate, is throwing his hat into the ring for a fourth shot at the city’s top job.

Lombardi is seeking to succeed outgoing Mayor A. Ralph Mollis, who will be sworn in as secretary of state on Tuesday. A special election will be held to replace him.

"To be mayor is something I’ve always wanted,” Lombardi said today, adding that he wants to make North Providence a community where officials “prioritize our spending based on need, not politics.”

Mollis, who has held the mayor’s office for 10 years, won election as secretary of state in the middle of his third four-year term, forcing the special election. In the interim, the Town Council is expected to appoint its president, John Sisto Jr., as acting mayor at a special meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The council will also set the date for a mayoral election, which must take place within 90 days.

Correction: The initial post on this topic incorrectly reported the dates for the secretary of state's inauguration and the special North Providence council meeting.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Lombardi ran against Mollis in 2004 and lost, receiving 40 percent of the vote in his third try for mayor. He also ran unsuccessfully against then-Mayor Salvatore Mancini in 1988, and against Mancini and former state Sen. John Celona in 1992.

Lombardi ran as an independent against Mollis in 2004, but said he will run as a Democrat this time.

An opponent has yet to be named.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:44 PM | Comment

Atwells Avenue bank robbed

PROVIDENCE -- The police are investigating a bank robbery on Atwells Avenue this afternoon.

A woman in her 30s entered the Bank of America branch at 215 Atwells Ave. at about 1 p.m. and passed a note to a teller indicating that she had a gun, according to Providence police Capt. Hugh Clements. No gun was shown.

The woman made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Clements said that the branch had been robbed before, but he thought the last time was more than a year ago.

More details to come...

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:24 PM | Comment

Health department warns of Norovirus in R.I.

The state is experiencing an increase in Norovirus infection, a spike that is typical this time of year, according to an announcement today by the state Department of Health.

The highly contagious Norovirus is a short-term, gastro-intestinal illness sometimes referred to as the “stomach flu.” Symptoms include the sudden onset of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the health department.

The symptoms generally last two or three days, though the infection can be passed on as long as three days after the symptoms disappear.

The health department did not provide an exact count of the Norovirus cases in Rhode Island. But health care providers in the state are reporting some Norovirus-like illness, and some cases have already been confirmed at the state laboratory.

The health department is encouraging Rhode Islanders to protect themselves from the virus by washing their hands often using soap and running water.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:24 PM | Comment

ACLU sues state treasurer over crime victim policy

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union sued General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares today, challenging new regulations that allow his office to deny or reduce compensation to crime victims who have been convicted of drunken-driving or drug-dealing offenses.

The treasurer administers the state’s Crime Victim Compensation Program, which pays claims to crime victims under certain conditions. And over the past two years, Tavares has adopted regulations that allow him to deny or reduce compensation if, in the previous five years, crime victims have been convicted of driving while intoxicated, selling or delivering drugs, or possessing drugs with the intent to sell or deliver them.

Steven Brown, executive director of the local ACLU affiliate, said it is “unfortunate that the General Treasurer has turned a program that is supposed to aid crime victims into one that punishes them for their past misdeeds. A former drug addict who is sexually assaulted should not have to fear reduced compensation because she once sold drugs to feed her habit.”

ACLU volunteer lawyer Frederic Marzilli filed the suit in state Superior Court on behalf of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island.

The association's executive director, Neil A. Corkery, said, “The regulations discriminate and marginalize persons, many of whom have addiction disorders." He said, "If we really believe in the restorative potential of persons who receive treatment for addiction disorders, we need to abandon such negative stereotypes and regressive measures. The measure appears punitive in nature and lacking in logic in excluding individuals who, other than a prior indiscretion, appear to be assigned a double penalty.”

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:18 PM | Comment

Board temporarily closes Club Pulse after shooting / Photo

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Board members, from left, Arys Batista, Allene Maynard and Chairman Andrew Annaldo listen during testimony today about Club Pulse.

PROVIDENCE -- In the wake of a Christmas morning shooting that killed one man and injured two others at Club Pulse, the city’s Board of Licenses voted unanimously today to issue a cease and desist order, shutting the club down for 72 hours.

Under the law, that’s the most the board could do since today’s emergency show-cause hearing was one-sided, with only the police speaking before the board. The police argued that the club presents an imminent public safety threat.

The licensee had not been notified and was not there. Since the law requires that the licensee be given an opportunity to be heard, another show-cause hearing has been set for Friday at 10 a.m.

The closure is effective immediately.

The night of the shooting, there was an unusually large police presence at the club on Crary Street.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Including four off-duty Providence police officers working a detail outside the club, a total of 11 officers were there, according to Maj. Paul Fitzgerald. Two to three of those were state troopers.

The police chief himself, Col. Dean M. Esserman, was outside the club until about 12:30 a.m.

Gunfire erupted at the club at about 1:30 a.m.

The police were there as a precaution, Fitzgerald said today. There is often trouble at Club Pulse on the Sundays before holidays because, he said, the club is open late, there’s more drinking and more people and on Sunday nights the club plays hip hop music, which the police consider a troublesome music format.

When the shooting began inside, Lt. Luis San Lucas heard shots.

Fitzgerald said it is too difficult to police clubs inside and outside at the same time.

“We stay outside unless we have some specific information that something is going to occur inside,” he said.

Fatally wounded was 29-year-old Providence resident Kendall Marshall. Also wounded were Darius Armardor, 26, of Groton, Conn., and James Rue, 31, of the Mattapan section of Boston.

The shooter escaped the club.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:00 PM | Comment

Update: Governor, R.I. delegation honor Ford

The Rhode Island state flag will be flown at half-staff in honor of former President Gerald R. Ford, who died yesterday, Governor Carcieri announced.

The state flag will remain at half-staff until January 25, the period of time that the U.S. flag has been ordered to remain at half-staff, according to the governor's office.

Carcieri said in a statement, “President Ford was an honorable and decent man who led our nation during an extremely tumultuous period. He provided measured and steady leadership that was needed to heal the country and restore confidence to the Office of the President.”

“President Ford was a great American and we are all saddened by his passing. Sue and I join all Rhode Islanders in expressing our condolences to the family of President Ford.”

Read the extended entry to see statements from Rhode Island's congressional delegation about Ford.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said: "Former President Gerald Ford led our nation with honor and dignity at a very difficult time in our nation's history. While his passing marks a sad day for all Americans, his leadership and bipartisan spirit will be remembered for generations to come."

Congressman Jim Langevin said: "I am deeply saddened by the passing of a great American - Gerald Ford. President Ford assumed office during one of the most challenging times for our nation and provided Americans with a steady leadership and optimism.

"President Ford's elevation to the presidency from the U.S. House - and the manner in which he helped bind our nation's wounds - will never be forgotten. He will be remembered as a kind-hearted man who embodied the qualities that our citizens expect in a commander in chief: strength, resolve, honesty and a deep appreciation for our constitutional democracy.

"It is with great sadness and respect that I extend deepest condolences to Mrs. Ford and her family. I hope it is a comfort to them that so many people mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time."

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:58 PM | Comment

Photo: Monsters take the ice in Providence

Journal photo/ Kathy Borchers

Children and adults, including several families from Adoption Rhode Island, were able to meet the stars of Monster Inc. during a special, free performance this morning at the Bank of America Skating Center in Kennedy Plaza, Providence. The Disney on Ice performance opens tonight and is playing through the weekend at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:25 PM | Comment

Ford brought stability, says former R.I. Congressman

Former Rhode Island Congressman Edward P. Beard today recalled President Ford seeking his expertise as a painter when Ford met with the Rhode Island Congressional delegation at the beginning of Beard’s first term in office.

It was late 1975 or early 1976. The president and Beard – along with Sen. John Pastore, Sen. Claiborne Pell and Rep. Fred St. Germain -- were waiting for breakfast to arrive at the White House when Ford turned to Beard and said, “I understand you were a painter. Will you take a walk with me?”

“Where the hell is he going?” Beard recalled thinking as they headed outside.

“Can I call you Eddy?” the president asked Beard, who had worked as a professional painter for the Rhode Island School of Design before winning the Congressional seat in 1975, the first time he sought it.

Ford wanted advice. The paint on his home -- the White House, of course -- was peeling, and he knew Beard had the expertise to know what should be done.

“I said, ‘First of all, that’s not paint. It’s whitewash,’ ” Beard recalled this morning. “ ‘ You need somebody who knows Georgia whitewash.”

“Would you want to do the job?” the president joked.

“No way,” Beard replied.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Beard said the White House is probably still coated with whitewash and not paint.

“It would be a very Herculean task to paint over it,” he said.

Whitewash is good at handling the kind of moisture that is typical for D.C., Beard said.

“For that building, that was the perfect solution,” Beard said.

That conversation was so casual that Ford felt comfortable using Beard’s first name, Beard recalled today. The next time the president saw Beard, “it was Congressman Beard,” he said.

“I, of course, never called him anything other than Mr. President,” Beard said. “He felt comfortable, at that one moment, to call me Eddy.”

Ford was “a nice gentleman” and “a good president,” Beard said today.

Beard, now 66, represented the state’s Second District as a Democrat from 1975 until early 1981. He lost a re-election bid to Claudine Schneider.

As Beard sees it, Ford’s legacy was “bringing stability back to the government after Watergate.”

Beard agreed with Ford’s controversial decision to pardon former President Nixon.

“That put an end to the public misery of what happened with Watergate,” Beard said. “In other words, that was the end of it.”

Had Ford let Nixon go to jail, Watergate would have dominated his entire term, Beard said.

Beard said he wishes he could travel to Ford’s funeral, but he has been sick and is unable to do so.

“But in my mind, I remember a wonderful president, and that’s how I’ll always remember him,” he said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:17 AM | Comment

Mass. court says it can't force gay marriage vote

BOSTON (AP) -- The state's highest court today said it had no authority to force lawmakers to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, even if the Legislature is showing "indifference or, or defiance to, its constitutional duties."

Opponents of same-sex marriage who were angered that lawmakers failed to act on the proposed amendment during a joint session in November had sued, asking the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to clarify if the state's constitution required lawmakers to vote.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:53 AM | Comment

Download two versions of today's front page

The death late yesterday of former President Gerald R. Ford forced editors to remake the Journal's front page.

Download the original front page in .pdf format.

Download the remade front page, also in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:49 AM | Comment

Traffic: Crash slows traffic on 95 South in Warwick

The state police have responded to a minor two-car crash on Route 95 south in Warwick, between exits 12 and 13.

Traffic has slowed as other motorists are pausing to look at the crash, which happened shortly before 8 a.m., according to a police dispatcher.

If you’re wondering how your morning commute will be, 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 8:10 AM | Comment

Warmer late December temps than normal

PROVIDENCE – With a high expected near 44 today, we’re considerably warmer than normal.

At 36 degrees now, it’s already warmer than the average normal temperature for this time of year, which is 31 degrees.

Yesterday, we had a high of 52 – 7 degrees shy of the record set back in 1973, but quite a bit warmer than the normal high of 39.

So, the warming trend continues. Today, we could see rain sprinkles after 9 a.m., and it should be mostly cloudy. The low tonight should be around 28 degrees.

The National Weather Service predicts more high temps in the 40s for the rest of the week.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:12 AM | Comment