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December 28, 2006

On deck: Quiet sports locally, big college bowl night

There's no Celtics or Bruins tonight. Even the University of Rhode Island and Providence College men's basketball teams are off.

Need something to watch anyway, even if there's no connection to Little Rhody?

It's no secret it's college football bowl season. And ESPN airs the Holiday Bowl between 21-ranked Texas A&M and 20-ranked California at 8 p.m.

But really, all eyes tonight will be on Bob Knight. The former Indiana coach is tied with coaching legend Dean Smith's all-time Division 1 mark with 879 wins. Knight can break the record tonight when his Texas Tech Red Raiders take on UNLV in Texas.

Check the results via projo.com's College Sports page.

The game will be aired on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:20 PM | Comment

Club Pulse seeks continuance of suspension hearing

PROVIDENCE — Yesterday, the city Board of Licenses ordered that the nightclub Pulse be shut down temporarily as a threat to public safety after a fatal Christmas Day shooting.

Now, the club owner is asking the board to hold off on a hearing scheduled for tomorrow that would allow him to contest the shutdown.

The move means that the club is voluntarily closing for this New Year's Day holiday weekend.

At the request of the Police Department, the license board yesterday suspended the operating licenses of the South Providence nightclub because three men were shot — one fatally — inside the club early Christmas morning. The police allege that it was only the latest in a string of troublesome incidents at Pulse.

The board had scheduled a hearing for 10 a.m. tomorrow at City Hall, as required by law, to give club licensee A.A.T. Restaurant Corp. an opportunity to contest the suspension.

The lawyer for the club owner contacted city officials today to ask for a continuance of the scheduled hearing. Tomasso has agreed to temporarily waive his rights to a swift hearing and an appeal and to keep Pulse closed for the time being, according to Richard H. Aitchison, city license administrator.

Pulse closed after the shooting, and according to police Maj. Paul Fitzgerald, the club was not scheduled to reopen until tomorrow night. By asking for a delay, police officers said, Tomasso is giving up what promised to be lucrative business over the New Year’s weekend.

The board will meet tomorrow morning to consider the request for a continuance, and no testimony about the management of Pulse or the shooting is expected to be presented, Aitchison said. The scheduled meeting time has been moved back by one hour, to 11 a.m.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:27 PM | Comment

State wins auto emissions lawsuit

PROVIDENCE – The two-month battle over the state’s multimillion-dollar contract for auto emissions testing is finished.

Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein ruled this afternoon in favor of the state’s purchasing officials, who decided to hire a new company, SysTech International LLC., to supervise the state’s vehicle emission and safety inspection programs.

The ruling saves the emissions program from descending into limbo over the uncertainty of who would conduct the state-mandated tests, which are part of motor vehicle inspections, in the new year.

The lawsuit against the state was brought by Applus Technologies Inc., the state’s current contractor. For the past seven years, Applus charged $13 for each vehicle tested in the state. When the contract went out to bid this year, Applus proposed to charge $8.95 per vehicle while SysTech proposed to charge $4 per vehicle.

In the suit, Applus Technologies said state officials acted in bad faith by giving concessions to their competitor and ignoring the advice of a review committee which favored their company.

In Silverstein’s ruling, he said “there is simply no evidence before the court that suggests bad faith, corruption, political or otherwise, of the purchasing agent.”

Silverstein also said it was up to the state’s purchasing agent to make a final selection.

“Ultimately, the taxpayers of Rhode Island have won here,” said Brian P. Stern, the executive of the Department of Administration. “We’ve sent a message to all businesses out there that the state is open for business.”

The transfer of auto testing programs in the state’s 294 inspection stations starts on Monday, New Year's Day, with Tuesday the first day of implementation. Applus and SysTech representatives promised state officials that they will make sure the handover goes smoothly.

-- Journal environment writer Michelle J. Lee

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:55 PM | Comment

Court upholds conviction of man nabbed in FBI sting

BOSTON -- A federal appeals court today upheld the conviction and sentencing of Anthony Gobbi, a Boston man charged with providing protection for a supposed cocaine shipment from behind the wheel of a black Cadillac outside a Providence hotel.

Gobbi was one of three men snared in a reverse sting operation, in which an FBI agent posing as a wealthy businessman arranged protection through Robert Nardolillo, described in the court’s decision as a “suspected underworld figure.”

Gobbi, 37, of Marion Street in Boston, was convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine and attempting to possess cocaine with intent to distribute it. And in April, U.S. District Judge William E. Smith sentenced Gobbi to 13 years and four months in prison.

Gobbi’s lawyer appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence Gobbi tried to possess cocaine and that the judge should not have admitted certain evidence. The defense lawyer also contended Gobbi’s sentence should not have been increased based on the presence of a gun at the hotel and the conclusion that Gobbi committed perjury.

But the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal. “Concluding, as we do, that Gobbi’s arguments are devoid of merit, we affirm the judgment below,” Judge Bruce M. Selya, the court’s only Rhode Islander, wrote in a 25-page opinion.

Gobbi is now at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, N.J., according to the federal Bureau of Prisons' Web site.

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:02 PM | Comment

Carcieri picks administration exec as DOT director

Governor Carcieri has named a new director for the state Department of Transportation.

Jerome F. Williams, currently executive director of the state Department of Administration, will replace James Capaldi, who is retiring, according to the governor's office.

Williams served as his department's No. 2 official since 2003, where he was responsible for seven departments, including accounting, internal auditing, taxation, facilities management, capital projects, sheriffs and the Capitol Police.

Carcieri called Williams "a tremendously effective leader" at the Department of Administration.

“In his current role at the Department of Administration and in his prior experience in both the public and private sectors, Jerry has excelled. He has significant financial experience administering large and complex contracts and managing complicated budgets,” Carcieri said in a statement.

“With an annual budget of $350 million, the DOT is responsible for the state’s infrastructure and intermodal transportation systems. This is an agency that requires a leader who can manage multi-faceted contracts and complicated financial issues,” Carcieri said. “Jerry is someone that I can count on to continue the success that the DOT has enjoyed over the past four years under Jim Capaldi in moving our state’s roads and rail systems forward.”

Williams served as a deputy director of the Department of Administration from 1991 to 1994. He also served as the deputy general treasurer for Rhode Island from 1986 to 1991 and town treasurer of Barrington from 1979 to 1986.

Williams was a senior vice president for FleetBoston Financial from 1994 to 2003.

“With the relocation of Route 195 – the state’s largest construction project in history – on its way and several other major transportation projects currently under way, it is critical that we have Jerry’s leadership at DOT," Carcieri said. "He understands how to make things happen and solve problems.”

Capaldi announced in early December that he would retire this month after more than 35 years with the state agency, the last three as its leader.

Capaldi, who recently turned 60, helped fuel the extraordinary burst of construction, particularly visible in Providence, by pushing a new-to-Rhode Island - some said risky - financing mechanism that made hundreds of millions of dollars available to the state government through borrowing.

He has presided over two of the DOT's more dramatic performances, the explosive demolition of the Jamestown Bridge, spread over several months this year, and the towing of the new Providence River Bridge arch up Narragansett Bay on barges in August.

But Capaldi also endured some embarrassments - seemingly endless delays on projects, including the Point Street overpass over Route 95 in Providence and the replacement of the Barrington River Bridge in Barrington, and expensive settlements with contractors because of design problems - but nothing that derailed the main construction program.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:16 PM | Comment

Poverty activists protest at State House / Photo

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
The group holds up a "laundry list" of their demands at the State House this morning.

PROVIDENCE — About 40 advocates for the poor descended upon the State House today as part of an effort to urge Governor Carcieri to take actions to help the poor, disabled and elderly.
.
The group led by the George Wiley Center and the Campaign to Eliminate Childhood Poverty presented the Republican governor with a “laundry list” of items and issues that it says remain “unanswered and ignored.”

Henry Shelton, coordinator of the center, said that he and others have tried time and time again to get the governor’s attention but have been routinely ignored.

“We’ve tried to bring to a head our many frustrations with this governor. We’re getting ignored with vital issues,” he said. “[The governor] never responds to phone calls, faxes, hand-delivered stuff.”

Carcieri’s staff today said that Carcieri will personally meet with the advocates but that no date has been set.

-- Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:50 PM | Comment

Cumberland firm accused of shipping hazardous waste

PROVIDENCE -- A Rhode Island shipping company is facing more than $100,000 in fines after being charged with knowingly transporting hazardous waste in violation of federal law, the U.S. Attorney's Office said today.

Berkeley Transportation Company, of Cumberland, is accused of illegally shipping hazardous waste on two occasions in 2004 from 155 Amaral St. in East Providence to a transportation depot on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick.

Prosecutors, in the two-count information filed today in U.S. District Court, Providence, did not detail the type of hazardous waste involved.

The owner of the shipping company, Bradford Dean, 56, of Cumberland, is a partner and an officer for Amaral Street Associates, which had recently sold the East Providence property and hired Berkeley Transportation to truck away waste that had been stored there, according to federal prosecutors.

Berkeley Transportation has agreed to plead guilty to the charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. As part of the agreement, the company will pay $35,000 to the state Department of Environmental Management's Environmental Response Fund.

Prosecutors also plan to seek an additional fine of $80,000 and an order forcing the company to establish an environmental compliance program.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

The state DEM worked with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the case.

Company representatives are set to be arraigned on two charges of illegally shipping hazardous waste in U.S. District Court Jan. 3 at 10 a.m. No date has been set for a judge to consider the plea bargain.

Each count carries maximum penalites of five years in prison and a fine up to $50,000 or twice the amount of gain or loss.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:09 PM | Comment

Update: Route 95 in Connecticut fully open now

Interstate 95 in Bridgeport, Conn., has reopened following a major fuel spill this morning.

The accident near Exit 22 initially closed both northbound and southbound lanes, according to a statement from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation around 10:30 a.m.

Southbound lanes were reported open again about 25 minutes later.

The northbound lanes were reported open again about 1 p.m., according to Rhode Island Transportation Management Center operator Robert Miller.

Click here to see a traffic cam of the area (click on the "Exit 20-21" link).

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:47 PM | Comment

Woonsocket residents hurt in Mass. collision

The police said today that excessive speed may have been a factor in a serious head-on crash yesterday afternoon in Bellingham, Mass.

A motorist heading west on Paine Street behind a Jaguar sedan at 4 p.m. told the police the Jaguar was “operating in the westbound lane at an extremely high rate of speed,” Bellingham Police Lt. Kevin Ranieri said today.

The speed limit on that stretch of road is 25 mph, Ranieri said.

The witness lost sight of the Jaguar as it drove up a hill and into what Ranieri described as a “blind corner.” Then, as the driver behind the Jaguar came around the corner, that driver saw that the sedan had collided head-on with a Toyota Corolla, Ranieri said.

Two Woonsocket residents in the Toyota were taken by helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center’s university campus in Worcester, Mass., according to the police and the helicopters that transported them. A hospital spokeswoman who did not give her name said today that it has been requested that no information be released about the patients' status.

Ranieri said those two Woonsocket residents -- the driver of the Toyota and her back-seat passenger -- were the most badly injured. The Toyota driver was identified as Bethzaida Grajales, 22, of 139 E. School St. The rear passenger was Beatrice Gonzalez, 44, of the same address.

Grajales was trapped in her seat, and rescue crews needed to use the "Jaws of Life" to extricate her, Ranieri said. Gonzalez was thrown and had gotten wedged under the front seat, Ranieri said. She suffered head injuries, he said.

The driver of the Jaguar was treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital, spokeswoman Nancy Cawley said. The police identified him as Pundy Kim Khath, 27, of 55 Huntington St. in Lowell, Mass.

The front-seat passenger in the Toyota was treated and released from Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, according to spokeswoman Addie Piette. The police identified him as William Louberil-Vasquez, of 139 E. School St. in Woonsocket. His age was unavailable, Ranieri said.

No one involved in the crash was wearing a seatbelt, Ranieri said.

A police reconstruction team continues to investigate the accident. No charges have been filed at this time, Ranieri said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:16 PM | Comment

Update: Pawtucket man killed in Foxboro crash ID'd

FOXBORO, Mass. – The state police this morning identified a 52-year-old Pawtucket man killed late yesterday afternoon in a three-car crash on Route 1 near Gillette Stadium.

Michael Leonard had been traveling north in a 2003 Hyundai sedan when a pickup truck spun into his lane after the truck was struck in a head-on collision, according to the state police.

The pickup truck, driven by Kelley Soucy, 32, of Woonsocket, had been stopped in the northbound left lane, attempting to turn across the southbound lane and into a parking lot, when a southbound van driven by John Lomasney Jr., 25, of Plainville, Mass., crossed into the northbound lanes and hit the pickup, according to the police.

Leonard had swerved from the left to the right lane to avoid a collision, but the impact of the first accident sent the pickup truck into the right lane, according to the police.

Leonard was taken to Norwood Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Massachusetts state police.

Both Soucy and Lomasney were brought to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro. Lomasney was treated for minor injuries and released last night, while Soucy remained hospitalized today in good condition, according to the hospital.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:49 PM | Comment

Today's front page

On today's Journal front page, Rhode Island political leaders recall former President Gerald R. Ford as an honorable, folksy man. Also, the family of a man shot to death at a Providence club Christmas morning criticize club security.

Download today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:04 AM | Comment

Traffic: Tractor-trailer accident in N. Kingstown

Police and fire crews have responded to a North Kingstown accident in which a tractor-trailer on Namcook road has struck a pole.

Namcook, which is off Post Road, is a side road. Therefore, the accident shouldn’t impede traffic much, Sgt. John Murphy said. Any injuries are believed to be minor.

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 7:48 AM | Comment

Partly cloudy and mild

Look for another mild day today with a high near 48 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Expect partly cloudy skies and a west wind between 7 and 13 mph.

The temperature should drop to about 27 degrees tonight with the wind from the northwest at 7 to 9 mph.

The normal high temperature for today is 39 degrees and the normal low is 22 degrees.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment