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August 1, 2007

Tonight in Newport, a picnic with music

You can catch a musical picnic tonight if you happen to be in Newport.

The Newport Art Museum’s annual PM Musical Picnic Series offers the pop music of Shelly, Bill & Dill.

Bring a blanket and a picnic to the art museum, 76 Bellevue Ave. for the 6:30 p.m. performance. Admission is $5 for adults, or $10 per family. There is no charge for children 5 and under or museum members.

For more things to do, check projo.com's calendar listings and Summer Guide.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:00 PM | Comment

Gunshot victim: 212 pounds, 5 feet long, flippers

MYSTIC, Conn. -- The 5-foot, 212-pound victim is suffering from a gunshot wound.

Only the victim is an adult male harbor seal.

Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration said in a news release today it is treating the seal, which was found at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn., for a gunshot wound to its left eye.

The seal spent several hours on the beach before aquarium stranding experts placed the seal in a carrier for the trip to Mystic.

The seal is showing indications of central nervous system problems. The left eye is badly injured and may need to be removed at some point, according to Dr. Lawrence Dunn, staff veterinarian for the aquarium.

"It's effectively gone," Dunn said in the release.

Lifeguards, police and others in Bridgeport were important in keeping the seal out of harm's way early during the rescue, the aquarium said.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:58 PM | Comment

Technic exec pleads guilty to sabotaging test

An executive of a Rhode Island chemical company pleaded guilty to sabotaging a test of a formula developed by competitor Rohm & Haas Co. for electroplating Intel Corp. microchips.

Robert Schetty III, a vice president in charge of developing and marketing electroplating products for Cranston-based Technic Inc., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., to destroying a Rohm & Haas solution called ST380 that was being tested for Intel.

"This is a very, very stupid caper in his life and he's doing his best to put it behind him," Ron Russo, Schetty's lawyer, said in an interview

Schetty faces as much as 10 years in prison, three years probation and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said. He agreed to pay $15,536 restitution to Rohm & Haas.

Schetty worked in Plainview, N.Y., for the Advanced Technology Division of closely held Technic, prosecutors said in a court document filed under seal July 17 and released today. He schemed to ruin the tests because he feared Rohm & Hass would take Technic's Intel account.

Bob Sheeran, a Technic spokesman, didn't return a call seeking comment.

Electroplating is an industrial process that uses an electrical current to coat microchips with a thin later of metal.

-- Bloomberg News

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:48 PM | Comment

Man killed by train in Central Falls identified

CENTRAL FALLS -- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has identified the man killed yesterday morning by a commuter train traveling from Providence to Boston as Hector Cortes, 59, of Providence.

Lydia Rivera, a spokeswoman for the MBTA, said today that no other information was available on Cortes and that an investigation into the accident is ongoing. Rivera said yesterday that the man appeared to be homeless based on information from MBTA officers.

Cortes was killed by a 6:33 a.m. train when he was struck on the tracks near the Clay Street overpass in Central Falls.

-- Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:37 PM | Comment

Affidavit reveals details behind Freddie Bishop's arrest

An affidavit released to The Providence Journal today by Warwick police sheds light on details behind the arrest of career criminal Alfred "Freddie" Bishop for a murder at a Warwick home on June 28.

The affidavit describes what happened at the Warwick Lake home the night that Gabriel Medeiros was shot to death and his brother, Caesar Medeiros, and sister-in-law Claire Mederios were also shot.

It also tells how the police came to suspect Bishop -- through a lead generated by a composite sketch of the intruder -- and how DNA samples were used to link Bishop to samples obtained from the scene.

Bishop was arraigned on seven charges related to the shootings yesterday and ordered held without bail. He previously had been jailed on an unspecified parole violation since July 3.

Bishop, the second-longest-serving inmate in state prison history, had only been out of the ACI since August 2006. Known for violent behavior and past domination in the prison system, he had been serving a sentence for another Warwick murder before his release.

Extra: Read the police arrest report, affidavit and arrest warrant for Bishop.

Full report to come in tomorrow's Journal and on projo.com ...

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:34 PM | Comment

Amgen vice president of operations leaving company

WEST GREENWICH -- Dennis Fenton, the executive vice president of operations for Amgen Inc., is leaving the company, Amgen announced today.

Fenton, 55, has worked at Amgen for 25 years. He will leave the company at the end of the year.

In an interview with The Providence Journal in May, Fenton praised Amgen's manufacturing facility in West Greenwich, where the company employs 1,700 people to produce the drug Enbrel. If sales of Enbrel were to decline, Fenton said in the interview, Amgen would continue to operate the plant.

"We're looking at other uses for the facility," he said. "It's been a great site."

After years of strong sales and a soaring stock price, Amgen recently hit a rough patch when studies raised questions about the effectiveness of some uses of Amgen's highly profitable anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen.

The company, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., said today that Fabrizio Bonanni, senior vice president of manufacturing, will succeed Fenton.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:16 PM | Comment

Providence police officer indicted on rape charge

PROVIDENCE -- Patrolman Marcus Huffman, a 13-year-veteran of the police force, was indicted today on a rape charge and immediately suspended from duty without pay.

The Providence County grand jury handed up an indictment charging that Huffman vaginally penetrated a woman on March 18 "at a time when he knew or had reason to know that she was mentally incapacitated, mentally disabled, or physically helpless." Under the law, the alleged offense is formally called first-degree sexual assault.

When Huffman reported for duty on the 3 to 11 p.m. work shift, he was informed that he was suspended without pay due to the indictment, said police Maj. Paul C. Fitzgerald, commander of the Uniformed Division.

Huffman, 37, of West Warwick, had been on restricted duty while the case was under investigation, monitoring the metal detector at the entrance to the Public Safety Complex.

The complaint by the woman, a 20-year-old Fall River, Mass., resident, has been jointly investigated by the State Police and the city police. Fitzgerald declined to discuss the case.

Huffman is due to be arraigned in Superior Court, Providence, on Aug. 15, according to a press release from the Attorney General's Office on today's grand jury indictments.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:11 PM | Comment

Update: Body found behind Johnston school ID'd

JOHNSTON -- Investigators have identified the decomposing body of a woman found today behind the Winsor Hill School, Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini said.

But her identity has not yet been released pending notification of next of kin.

The cause of the person’s death was not apparent at the scene, Tamburini said. But police are treating it as a homicide.

The body was in a state of decomposition when a Johnston police sergeant went to the school this morning in response to a janitor’s telephone call, Tamburini said.

Investigators have evidence suggesting someone brought the body to the location behind the school from somewhere else, said Tamburini, who declined to elaborate on the evidence.

“We can say with certainty that it didn’t happen here,” Tamburini said. “It appears a person or persons drove back there and placed a body there. They dumped the body there.”

Tamburini declined to speculate on exactly how long the body had been behind the school at 100 Theresa St. But it was there long enough to decompose, he said. “It was there for a while,” he added.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

The body was found near a ball field at the school, on the opposite side of a fence that surrounds the field.

Janitorial staff at the school were uncertain as to what was behind the school, but they smelled a distinct odor and alerted police, Tamburini said.

Sgt. Joseph Razza, the on-duty supervisor for the department’s overnight shift, went to the school and found the body, he said.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:54 PM | Comment

Lawyer fears Biechele could face further prosecution

PROVIDENCE -- A lawyer representing Daniel M. Biechele, the former rock band tour manager who lit pyrotechnics that started the disastrous Station nightclub fire, said today that he fears his client could be prosecuted for other crimes beyond what he is currently imprisoned for.

Lawyer Thomas Briody told U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin that Biechele could face federal prosecution or be charged in other states in connection with his former job with the band Great White.

He said his client has great sympathy for the victims but that he has advised Biechele that it would not be in his best interest to respond to questions posed by the victims’ lawyers for the lawsuits they have brought for money damages.

Lawyers for those who died and were injured in the Feb. 20, 2003, fire say that the prospect of further prosecution of Biechele is “remote.” They termed Briody’s arguments both vague and speculative.

They say they now that Biechele is serving a prison sentence in Rhode Island, he should not be allowed to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege to block them from questioning him about events leading up to the fire.

Martin did not issue an immediate decision on the victims’ lawyers request that they now be allowed to question Biechele. He said he would do so later in writing. Currently, there is an order in place -- issued in 2005 when Biechele was still facing state manslaughter charges -- that block the lawyers from trying to question him.

During today’s hour-long hearing, Martin pressed Briody to recite what crimes he feared Biechele could still face and why he believes prosecutors in various venues are still targeting Biechele. He said he might order Briody to provide a list of potential crimes in a private memo that he would review before deciding his issue.

-- Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Biechele, the former tour manager for the rock band Great White, is serving a four-year sentence at the Adult Correctional Institutions, in a work-release program, as a result of his Feb. 7, 2006, guilty plea to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter. He admitted unintentionally causing the deaths of 100 nightclub patrons by setting off pyrotechnics without a permit inside the club.

The fire began when sparks from the pyrotechnics ignited highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been installed as soundproofing by the club’s owners. One hundred people died in the fire; more than 200 people were injured in the West Warwick blaze.

In court today, lawyers for the victims told Martin that there was no evidence that any prosecutors -- state or federal -- were currently trying to build another case against Biechele. They said that now that the manslaughter case against him is over, they should be allowed to elicit information from him that will give a clearer picture of events leading up to the fire. They assert that his testimony is important to their cases.

In a brief filed with Martin, lawyers representing some of the victims lay out why Biechele’s testimony is important to them: “The products involved, the planning and operation of the concert and ignition of the gerbs, the identities of other participants and/or public officials, and the owners’ knowledge of these activities whether at The Station or at other venues -- to name just a few topics -- are important to a complete understanding of what occurred and a related evaluation of the legal claims pending against several defendants.

"Biechele,” they say, “should not be permitted to raise a trifling or imaginary Fifth Amendment claim at this stage to foreclose this discovery.”

While Briody says he is concerned that more charges could be leveled at Biechele if he cooperates with the questioning, the victims’ lawyers counter:

“It stands to reason that if Biechele’s guilty plea to 100 counts of manslaughter did not provoke a parallel federal charge arising from the same transaction, then his testimony concerning his involvement in that event -- and possibly others like it -- will most likely not subject him to additional criminal liability. More than four years have elapsed since the fire and no federal charges have been brought.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:48 PM | Comment

Update: Body of quahogger, 74, found

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- The body of a 74-year-old summer resident was found late this afternoon about 100 yards off shore in the area known as The Hummocks.

The body has been sent to the Office of State Medical Examiners.

A land and water search had been launched for Wayne Forsyth, of Waldron Avenue, when the summer resident didn’t return from quahogging yesterday at Rome Point, the police said.

The nephew of Forsyth notified the police at 8 p.m. yesterday that his uncle never came home from clamming near the John H. Chafee Nature Preserve that day, said Capt. Charles Brennan.

Before contacting the police, the nephew searched by kayak himself for several hours after realizing that his uncle’s rake and quahog bag were missing, the police said. Forsyth, who lived in Florida most of the year, clams regularly during the summer.

Local and state police immediately launched a foot search of the area with the assistance of Charlestown officers on all-terrain vehicles. The harbor master and U.S. Coast Guard patrolled the waters, with Coast Guard helicopters searching from the air, Brennan said.

The effort continued until 1 a.m. and resumed at 8 this morning without the help of the Coast Guard, Brennan said. The body was found at about 4 p.m.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:20 PM | Comment

Victorian on the move

Brown University is moving this grand house from 142 Angell Street about half of a block to the corner of Brown and Angell streets.

--- Journal photo/Sandor Bodo

Posted by Peter Phipps at 1:40 PM | Comment

Wrecking ball goes to work on ex-police/fire station

PROVIDENCE -- The Procaccianti Group started to knock down the former Police and Fire Station in LaSalle Square this morning, mere moments after an appeal by a neighborhood group was dismissed by the city’s Building Board.

Just after 11 a.m., wrecking balls started to bash in the face of the building, which served as the city’s police and fire headquarters from 1938 to 2002.

The Cranston developer had received emergency demolition permits last week to demolish the vacant station and replace it with a parking lot, after the city’s building official found that it would be a public safety hazard to leave the building standing.

But several neighborhood groups immediately appealed that decision to the city’s Building Board of Review, which put a hold on Procaccianti’s permits until the body could review the appeal.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

This morning, board members, city housing officials, city lawyers and Procaccianti representatives toured the building, examining the structural integrity and viewing the shattered interior, which has been heavily damaged by asbestos removal work done by the developer over the last six months.

The appeal by the West Broadway Neighborhood Association argued that while the interior may look bad, the building is in no imminent danger of collapse. Procaccianti has also stated that exterior limestone panels may pop off and injure passersby. The appeal discounts this danger.

But in the end, it did not matter how structurally sound the building was: the board determined that because the WBNA was not directly impacted by the demolition, and was not an abutter within 200 feet, they were not capable of halting the demolition with an appeal.

“They couldn’t meet the minimum threshold of an aggrieved party, so we couldn’t hear the case,” said Building Board Chairman Steve Nappa.

Perhaps 20 minutes after the appeal was dismissed, the wrecking balls began to demolish the building.

Project superintendent Steve Perfetto said the developer would be opening up the west face of the building today and removing debris gathered on those floors. Total demolition could take eight weeks, but within two, the building should no longer be recognizable, he said.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:05 PM | Comment

Body found behind Winsor Hill School in Johnston

JOHNSTON -- Someone dumped a body behind the Winsor Hill School, Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini said today.

The body, which appears to be the remains of a woman, was in a state of decomposition when a Johnston police sergeant went to the school this morning in response to a janitor’s telephone call, Tamburini said.

The cause of the person’s death was not apparent at the scene, Tamburini said. But police are treating it as a homicide.

Investigators have evidence suggesting someone brought the body to the location behind the school from somewhere else, said Tamburini, who declined to elaborate on the evidence.

“We can say with certainty that it didn’t happen here,” Tamburini said.

“It appears a person or persons drove back there and placed a body there,” he said. “They dumped the body there.”

Tamburini declined to speculate on exactly how long the body had been behind the school at 100 Theresa St. But it was there long enough to decompose, he said. “It was there for a while,” he added.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds, with a report from Journal staff photographer Bob Thayer

Investigators have no suspects and they have not identified the deceased.

Tamburini said he hopes to have the woman’s identity later today.

Meanwhile, detectives are coordinating with Providence police who have a number of fresh missing person cases, including some cases involving women, Tamburini said.

Janitorial staff at the school were uncertain as to what was behind the school, but they smelled a distinct odor and alerted police, Tamburini said.

Sgt. Joseph Razza, the onduty supervisor for the department’s overnight shift, went to the school and found the body, he said.

The body was found near a ball field at the school, on the opposite side of a fence that surrounds the field. Around noon today, police tape surrounded the area where the body was found. No officers remained at the scene.

As the investigation proceeds, Tamburini is emphasizing that the body was brought to the location behind the school.

“Based on my experience in dealing with these matters it definitely does not appear that it happened anywhere in the vicinity of the school,” he said. “…I just want the neighbors to understand that.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:04 PM | Comment

Does Dow Jones deal mean sale of local papers?

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The fate of several New England newspapers owned by Dow Jones & Co., which has agreed to be acquired by the News Corp., remains unclear today.

In an e-mail sent this morning to Dow Jones employees -- including reporters at The Standard-Times, in New Bedford -- Richard F. Zannino, the Dow Jones chief executive officer, said the sale will “accelerate” progress at Dow Jones publications.

“First and foremost, Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. will be investing in a growing, profitable and vibrant enterprise,” Zannino said in his memo. “News Corp. has the money -- and the intention -- to invest in our businesses on a scale we can’t.

“We can’t have great journalism without a great business to support it,” Zannino added. “And without the journalism, there is no business. This combination with News Corp. acknowledges as much in a very real way.”

Zannino’s 875-word letter, however, does not mention the local newspapers, and it leaves open the possibility that Murdoch might choose to sell some or all of Dow Jones’ local publications. A press release from Dow Jones about the sale also avoided discussion about the future of the local newspapers.

“I know this doesn’t end the uncertainty,” Zannino said. “Closing a transaction of this sort will likely take three months or so. And we can’t begin to predict the details of the integration to follow.”

Dow Jones & Co., the corporate parent of The Wall Street Journal, owns Ottaway Newspapers Inc., a national chain of local newspapers that includes several prominent New England publications.

The company’s Local Media Group includes at least 12 publications in Massachusetts, such as the Cape Cod Times, The Standard-Times, in New Bedford, The Inquirer and Mirror, in Nantucket, and The Barnstable Patriot. It also owns daily and weekly newspapers in Maine and New Hampshire.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

The local daily newspapers had an average circulation of 282,000 last year, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Including the non-daily publications, the newspapers generated $252 million in sales in 2006, up $2.3 million, or nearly 1 percent, over the previous year. Net income for Dow Jones’s local newspapers was $48.2 million.

Based in Campbell Hall, N.Y., the Ottaway newspapers circulate in markets where the median income is $56,300, according to Dow Jones.

James H. Ottaway started the newspaper chain in 1936. His son, James H. Ottaway Jr., served as publisher of The Standard-Times, which Ottaway acquired in 1966 along with the Cape Cod Times. In 1970, Dow Jones bought the Ottaway group.

The current chief executive officer of the Ottaway group, John N. Wilcox, was named president and publisher of the Cape Cod Times in 1996, six years before he was transferred to the Ottaway corporate offices to serve as executive vice president.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:01 PM | Comment

Voluntary outdoor water-use ban issued in Westerly

WESTERLY -- Town Manager Joseph Turo has declared a voluntary ban on outdoor water use until wells have a chance to regenerate.

On the recommendation of Superintendent of Utilities Paul G. Corina, Turo issued a call today for people to refrain from watering their lawns, filling swimming pools and washing autos, boats, sidewalks and exterior siding and to generally conserve water use.

The wells in Crandall and Bradford III stations, Corina said, “have to run continuously to keep up with demand. This has caused the well levels in all the Bradford Stations to reach a critical level. Without rest, and a significant lack of rainfall, the wells have been unable to regenerate water back into the system.”

Corina said he hoped the cooperation of all water system users would provide enough relief to avoid imposing mandatory restrictions.

-- Journal staff writer Donita Naylor

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:45 PM | Comment

Jack-knifed truck affecting Route 95 south traffic

COVENTRY -- A jack-knifed truck on Route 95 south near exit 6A is affecting traffic in left lanes, according to the Rhode Island State Police.

That is the Hopkins Hill Road exit.

The state Transportation Management Center reported the incident at 10:59 a.m. As of about 12:35 p.m., the truck was still there, according to the state police at the Hope Valley barracks.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:44 PM | Comment

Photo: Fallout from the wrecking ball

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
A wrecking ball slams into the front wall of the building that once housed the headquarters for the Providence police and fire departments in LaSalle Square this morning as a crew from A.A. Building Wrecking of Johnston begins work on the demolition of the structure. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:41 PM | Comment

Opening slated for new Providence water park

PROVIDENCE -- It's August, a fancy word for too hot, and a new water park is due to become official and provide some relief for people in Wanskuck and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods.

Mayor David N. Cicilline, City Council President Peter Mancini and area children will cut the ribbon on the park at One Recreation Way tomorrow at 10 a.m.

The 3,000-square-foor water park is one of eight in the city and "features 11 different spray components," the mayor's office announced today.

New picnic tables and benches are in the park.

The $105,000 project was paid for through a Community Development Block Grant from City Council President Mancini and Parks Department money.

On Aug. 7, the ninth water park is slated to open, at George West Park on Chalkstone Avenue in Mount Pleasant.

The water parks and pools are open seven days a week from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and are free to the public.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:03 PM | Comment

Update: Biechele's lawyer argues in federal court

PROVIDENCE -- A former rock band tour manager whose pyrotechnics sparked a nightclub fire that killed 100 people wants to avoid being questioned in a lawsuit over the fire.

An attorney for Daniel Biechele argued in federal court today that his client could face federal prosecution or even be charged in other states if he says something potentially incriminating.

Biechele is already serving a four-year prison sentence for his role in The Station nightclub fire in 2003.

Lawyers for survivors and victims' relatives say the prospect of federal prosecution is remote. They say it's time for Biechele to reveal all that he knows about what led to the blaze.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:45 AM | Comment

Teens' conference combating drunken driving begins

SMITHFIELD -- About 160 high school students from across Rhode Island are at Bryant College in Smithfield for a four-day conference on teenagers combating drunken driving.

The conference falls a week after the memorial service for a Barrington teenager who died in a boating accident. The teenage driver of the boat is charged with underage possession of alcohol and refusing to submit to a breathalyzer, among other charges. Just nine hours after the service for 17-year-old Patrick Murphy, the Barrington police broke up a house party with dozens of teenagers and arrested four for underage drinking.

The conference, sponsored by the Rhode Island chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, includes workshops on coalition building for teenagers interested in getting others to avoid drinking.

The workshops end tomorrow afternoon with speaker Kathy Andreozzi, whose daughter, Tori, was struck by a drunken driver while she walked home from Deering Middle School. Tori Andreozzi is now in a wheelchair.

-- Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:28 AM | Comment

Cape Cod town says no to filling barrier

CHATHAM, Mass. -- Opting to let nature take its course, residents overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to borrow $4.1 million to plug a widening breach on Nauset Beach that could threaten oceanfront homes.

The breach has grown to nearly 1,000 feet wide since it was blasted open by a fierce April storm. The beach forms a natural barrier that prevents the ocean from encroaching on the Chatham mainland.

About 600 residents attended a special Town Meeting yesterday on the issue, which was seen as pitting wealthier owners of seaside homes - many of them seasonal residents - against permanent residents who faced higher property taxes to fill the breach.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:49 AM | Comment

Station fire victims want Biechele to talk in civil suit

PROVIDENCE -- Lawyers for the victims of a deadly nightclub fire want the band tour manager who ignited the blaze to talk about what happened.

Those lawyers are scheduled to ask a U.S. District Court judge today to lift an order preventing Daniel Biechele from being questioned in a civil lawsuit.

Biechele set off the pyrotechnics inside a West Warwick nightclub on February 20, 2003 that sparked the fire. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is serving a four-year prison sentence.

-- The Associated Press

A judge previously decided Biechele didn't have to undergo questioning in the civil lawsuit. At the time, Biechele's criminal case was ongoing and he had a right against self-incrimination.

Now that the criminal case is over, those lawyers want the protection lifted.

Biechele's lawyer has warned his client could still face federal prosecution and shouldn't talk.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:41 AM | Comment

Woonsocket police arrest 16 in prostitution crackdown

WOONSOCKET -- Sixteen people face prostitution-related charges following a series of undercover police operations in Woonsocket.

The police say the crackdown was triggered by an increase in complaints about prostitution in the city, especially during the early-morning hours.

The police say five women were arrested in recent days after they allegedly offered sex to undercover detectives. Also arrested were 11 men accused of soliciting sex from female police officers posing as prostitutes, The Call of Woonsocket reports this morning.

Det. Lt. Eugene Jalette says the operations were focused on Blackstone, North Main and Arnold streets.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:03 AM | Comment

It's a beach day (in case you haven't noticed)

With weather like this, who cares that it's Wednesday?

After a dreary start to the week, the National Weather Service predicts temperatures in the mid-to-high 80s and clear, sunny skies around the state.

Wind speeds are between 5 and 10 knots throughout the bay.

It's expected to get even warmer tomorrow, with early morning fog giving way to temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s.

Hope Community Services Beach in Scituate and World War II Memorial State Park Beach in Woonsocket are closed because of high bacteria counts, more common after heavy rains, which most of the state saw last weekend.

For current boating conditions, visit the National Weather Service's marine page

For up to date information on beach conditions throughout the state, call the beach hotline at 222-2751.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie Jefferson

Posted by Peter Phipps at 7:55 AM | Comment

Man shot in Providence's Mount Hope neighborhood

PROVIDENCE – A man was shot early this morning at 61 Pleasant St. and taken to Rhode Island Hospital.

Emergency crews from the fire department responded to the 12:53 a.m. report of a man shot twice in the Mount Hope neighborhood, and they took the man to the hospital, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

Police in the capital city cannot be reached for comment.

The man is believed to have been shot twice, Taylor said. His condition is unavailable at this time.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:51 AM | Comment

After Conn. home invasion, tougher rules for parolees

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Burglars convicted of breaking into occupied homes will get random visits from parole officers under a new policy announced by Conn. Gov. M. Jodi Rell in the wake of a deadly Cheshire home invasion.

That crime, which left a mother and her two daughters dead, could also prompt lawmakers to order longer mandatory sentences for offenders who break into homes at night or while residents are inside.

Rell said she also will ask the General Assembly to reclassify such offenses as violent crimes, meaning offenders must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before parole is a possibility.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:03 AM | Comment

Sunny with a high near 86

The National Weather Service forecasts a sunny day with a high near 86 degrees in the Providence area.

The wind will come from the north at 5 to 8 mph.

Look for a clear night with a low around 65 degrees. There could be patchy fog after 3 a.m.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story about a convicted killer who has been charged with another murder less than a year after being paroled from state prison.

Download a copy of today's front page.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment

Route 95 S lanes re-opened around 4:30 a.m. today

PROVIDENCE – Highway workers on the Route 95-Route 195 interchange project that is requiring nighttime closures of Route 95 began picking up the cones that had closed the southbound lanes at 4:20 a.m. today.

The road was opened to traffic soon afterward, about an hour before the state Department of Transportation's promised 5:30 a.m. reopening, according to the
DOT's Transportation Management Center.

Last night was the second night of closures for the southbound lanes in this second round of closures for the highway project. The DOT reported that Route 195 west to Route 95 south and Route 95 south itself, between exits 18 and 20, was closed by 11:05 p.m. last night.

Route 95 southbound lanes are expected to close again tonight by 11 p.m. – with individual lane closures starting by 8 p.m. The lanes are expected to reopen by 5:30 a.m.

The last night of the work this week – tomorrow – is expected to shutter the northbound and southbound lanes. Check out the road-closure schedule on the DOT’s site.

For a look back at the earlier closures this year, see projo.com’s special reports section.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:20 AM | Comment