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September 20, 2007

Photo: Rowing, rowing down the river

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Randy Galloway, 16, a student at The Met and Alex Collier, 15, The Wheeler School, head down the Seekonk River during their sculling class with the Narragansett Boat Club. The students started three weeks ago and will row the river until the end of October. They work on form and conditioning, building their strength, control and endurance.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 7:05 PM | Comment

Tonight: Mob rules on one stage, arsenic on other

It's nighttime in Rhode Island, and the mob is about to take over... take over the stage of the Granite Theatre in Westerly, that is.

"Breaking Legs," a play in which a playwright looks for someone to bankroll his latest work and a former student's family comes through. But it turns out the family is, um, connected. The performance starts at 8 at the theater, 1 Granite Street. Call (401) 596-2341.

There's the classic mystery, "Arsenic and Old Lace," at the Mill River Dinner Theater in Central Falls at 8 tonight. Call (401) 721-0909.

For more on what's happening, visit projo.com's event calendars.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:02 PM | Comment

$5.7 million OK'd for state veterans cemetery

The federal Department of Veterans affairs has approved the state's application for more than $5.7 million to expand the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter.

The grant will pay for developing an additional burial area including 2,300 full-casket burial sites, 600 in-ground cremation sites and 624 columbarium niches for cremation remains, Governor Carcieri's office said in a news release this afternoon.

The state applied for the grant in August.

“As citizens, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Rhode Island's veterans and their families," Carcieri said in the statement. "Rhode Island's Veterans Memorial Cemetery provides a fitting place where they can be appropriately honored for their patriotism and their sacrifices."

The governor added: “By funding the expansion of the cemetery, this federal grant will provide all Rhode Island veterans an opportunity to be laid to rest with their comrades, past and present."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:42 PM | Comment

Victor Innovatex acquires Quaker Fabric's buildings

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Victor Innovatex Inc., a textile manufacturer in Quebec, says it has acquired the bankrupt Quaker Fabric Corp.'s buildings and equipment and plans to hire at least 100 people as it reopens Quaker's shuttered plant in Fall River. Quaker fired about 900 people, including 62 Rhode Island residents, when it closed in July.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:28 PM | Comment

Swansea's Case High cancels night events

SWANSEA, Mass. -- In response to the discovery of two mosquito-borne illnesses in town, all outdoor activities at Joseph Case High School will end at 5:45 p.m. from now on as a precaution.

Town officials made the decision this week after West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis were found in a local mosquito pool. This is the third consecutive year in which the change has been made.

All home games for outdoor sports will be pushed forward to afternoon start times. Those game and all outdoor practices, including those for marching band, will end at 5:45 p.m.

Insect repellent is available to all students who practice and play sports outside.

“Joseph Case High School remains proactive against mosquito-borne diseases,” said Principal Brian McCann. “We will continue this until further notice, in the event that there are early hard frosts this autumn.”

-- Journal staff writer Alex Kuffner

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:20 PM | Comment

Tiverton teachers hit back at superintendent

TIVERTON -- The teachers union is balking at Schools Supt. William J. Rearick’s decision not to pay them for what he calls “the illegal job action” they took when they went on a one-day strike on Sept. 4.

In a letter Monday to Rearick, Patrick Crowley, assistant executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, writes that the teachers are protected under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires salaried employees to be paid a “predetermined amount” which is “not subject to reduction because of variations in the quantity or quality of the work performed.”

Crowley said that Rearick’s decision could be interpreted to mean that the employees are now eligible for overtime pay for any hours worked beyond the statutory limits.

If that’s not Rearick’s intention, Crowley writes, “it occurs to me that the withholding of pay is a willful violation under the federal statute and may subject the violator to criminal sanctions.” The School Department, Crowley writes, could face up to $10,000 in fines for withholding the pay.

“Please clarify your understanding of the exemption status for the workers in the NEA bargaining unit in order for the members to adequately calculate the overtime paid owed to them in time for the next pay roll period,” Crowley writes. “If, however, the refusal to pay the teachers their agreed upon salary was inadvertent, we will work with you to remedy the situation as expeditiously as possible.”

Rearick faxed a copy of the letter to The Journal today. He could not be reached for comment.

This is the latest flap in the ongoing contract dispute between the Tiverton School Committee and the 200-member NEA-Tiverton union.

-- Journal staff writer Meaghan Wims

The teachers returned to work two weeks ago under the terms of a Superior Court consent order ordering the union and the School Committee to return to the bargaining table with an appointed mediator.

Both sides were set to meet again tonight.

The union voted unanimously Wednesday to only perform official duties detailed in their existing contract. They will still perform duties that involve helping students, such as writing recommendations and coaching, but they won’t participate on school-improvement teams, for example, Crowley said.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:01 PM | Comment

A $500,000 grant coming for Salty Brine pavillion

The state Department of Environmental Management is getting a $500,000 federal grant to replace the Salty Brine Beach pavillion in Narragansett, a move aimed at bettering public access there, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed's office announced today.

The money, from the National Parks Service, will be matched by another $500,000 from the state, Reed's office said.

“Salty Brine Beach is a wonderful family beach that gets a lot of use from both tourists and Rhode Islanders. The existing facility is over twenty five years old and in need of replacement,” said Reed in the statement. He is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, which oversees National Park Service program spending.

The renovation will also meet enhanced accessibility requirements.

Formerly Galilee State Beach, the Salty Brine State Beach was dedicated in 1990 to Salty Brine, the state's well-known radio personality.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:57 PM | Comment

Update: A local presence at 'Jena Six' protest march

Some staff members at the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies have been working for decades to teach students and activists around the country and the world the tenets of nonviolent protest.

Today, their practices were put to use -- on a scale not seen since the civil rights movement -- in the small town of Jena, La., where reports say as many as 50,000 people came from across the country to protest what they see as a new threat to social justice.

The protesters came to march in defense of six black high school students facing decades in jail after a fight.

Five of the teenagers, who have come to be known as the “Jena Six,” were charged with attempted murder after a fight. They are accused of assaulting a white student months after a noose was hung on a tree that black students sat under.

The victim was bruised, swollen and suffered a concussion, but was released from the hospital the same day and attended a school function that evening.

“They’re criminalizing children rather than educating them,” Bernard LaFayette, the director of the URI center and a long-time civil rights advocate, said today.

“This is a nationwide problem, but because of the extremity in Jena, it becomes an example of how far it could go.”

While not at the march in Jena, LaFayette was in Washington D.C., meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. “Nothing changes without leadership,” he said.

However, his co-worker, Charles Alphin, did attend the march. He went to Jena to help train people at the protest in nonviolent conflict resolution and protest.

Charles Steele, Jr., the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by the late Martin Luther King Jr., was at the protest, where he said the mood was “awesome."

“It was very peaceful, even the local law officers were very nice, as well as state troopers, sheriffs … they were very hospitable in terms of us coming here.”

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with wire reports

Steele said the goal of the event was to get 16-year-old Mychal Bell -- the only of the six to have been tried – out of jail, where he awaits sentencing. Ultimately, he added, the goal is to get charges dropped against all of the teenagers.

And while the march is over for the day, he said his work is not.

“We’re not just coming in there, having a march, and leaving. We must set up residence there, a presence in the community.”

LaFayette says he is working on policy issues. “We need to get lawmakers, judges and people with power to change laws. Like we did with the voting rights act, he said.

“The center in Rhode Island and the work that I’m doing is working through the system and the people who are in power, so it’s top down,” he said. “And Jena is bottom up.”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 3:57 PM | Comment

Stakeholders gather questions about proposed sites for RI wind farm

It was a day of questions and few answers for the Governor’s wind stakeholder group, which met this morning at the University of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay Campus.

The group is charged with identifying which of 11 potential sites would be best to place a state-owned wind farm. Governor Carcieri has proposed building a large wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that would generate 15 percent of the state's electricity usage.

At their meeting, the stakeholders were asked to come up with a comprehensive list of questions they would need answered in order to help make their recommendation.

The questions proposed covered practically all aspects of the project, from what will the entire costs for each of the proposed sites be, to whether the state might be able to sell advertising space on the wind turbines.

The group was promised answers to the questions over the next month, in time for the next meeting in mid-October. The Governor’s energy adviser hopes the group will come to a consensus at that meeting and recommend a site.

That site would then move to the permitting process, which would involve public hearings and regulatory approvals from various state agencies. If the project is located in federal waters, it would require federal approvals as well.

Posted by Tim Barmann at 3:50 PM | Comment

Retired general will speak on Iraq and more at Brown

PROVIDENCE -- Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey will deliver a lecture titled "After Iraq: How the World has Changed" at Brown University next month.

The university announced today that McCaffrey will speak on Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching on the college green. The event is free and open to the public. It is the 77th event in the Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture Series.

Attendees may ask questions after the lecture.

McCaffrey served in the U.S. Army for 32 years, retiring in 1996 as a four-star general. He served overseas for 13 years and finished four combat tours, including commanding the 24th Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

McCafrrey over saw national security operations in Latin American as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces Southern Command, the university news release says.

From 1996 to 2001, he directed the White House Office of National Drug Policy. He got honors, including the Department of Health and Human Service Lifetime Achievement Award for achievements in the field of substance abuse prevention; the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation’s National Service Award; and, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Lifetime Achievement Award.

McCaffrey is president of his own consulting firm in Arlington, Va., and an NBC News national security and terrorism analyst.

A Taunton, Mass., native, McCaffrey graduated from West Point in 1964, earned a master's degree in American government from American University, and attended the Harvard University National Security Program.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:38 PM | Comment

Mind games: Red Sox Nation reacts to tight race

PROVIDENCE -- The tightening race between the Red Sox and the Other Team is not going unnoticed by Sox fans, despite the warm, comfy reversal of the 86-year-old Curse just four years ago.

Joe McGowan, walking on the connector between Providence Place mall and Westin Hotel, sported a weathered-looking Sox cap.

"When I get home, I'm changing my hat for the Patriots hat," offered McGowan, a Brown University graduate who now lives in Florida but has family in the area.

McGowan quickly made it clear he was kidding. But he said the pitching hasn't been the same. The team has "burned out" Daisuke Matsuzaka through use this season, he felt. At the same time, he said, the New York Yankees' pitching seems to have improved.

Joe Fitzpatrick, a Johnson & Wales University student from the Boston area, sported a Sox cap, but conceded he has not watched some of the games as the race has grown closer.

"A little bit nervous," he said of how he's feeling about the situation.

Still, Fitzpatrick is a "die-hard" Sox fan. He did watch the most recent game.

"I still support them -- you've got to support, it's loyalty," he said.

Tommy McCahey of Providence, sitting out front of the Coffee King on Fountain Street, pushed aside any notion that the closer race puts any dent in his psyche.

"No panic, no panic," he said, especially given that the Sox finally did it in 2004, vanquishing their foes.

And something else: "The Yankees have the A-Rod curse," McCahey said of Alex Rodriguez.

Sure, the Yanks look like they're reeling in the Sox like a fish firmly on a hook, but come post-season, McCahey predicted Rodriguez will keep the Yanks from doing much more than talking about the 20th Century.

"It's destiny," he said. "A-Rod's gonna choke ..."

Quonset Gateway approved

A revised proposal to develop a gateway to the Quonset Business Park was approved this morning by the Statewide Planning Commission. The previous version of the plan to be submitted was rejected 11 to 1 by the commission less than six months ago.

The new design substantially increases the amount of office space and attempts to shield visitors from the retail outlets that have provoked the most pointed criticism.

Those shops -- a 117,000-square-foot Lowe's and an 89,000-square-foot Kohl's -- were not excised from the project, despite protests from North Kingstown officials and objections from state planners.

The new plan was endorsed by Governor Carcieri, the Quonset Development Board of Directors and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

The 73-acre Quonset Gateway will host office space, retail space and a 160-room Hilton Hampton Inn hotel. Non-retail space and a community meeting space and fitness and recreation center – a suggestion put forth by high school students during the planning phase -- are new additions to the plan.

In addition to criticizing the large retail outlets, state planners had also objected to what they described as a lack of density on the property.

A State Planning Council review found that 40 percent of the site had been reserved for roadways and surface parking. Of the 1,700 projected new jobs, more than half were to be in the retail and hospitality sectors and offer relatively low wages.

Now, parking lots will be shifted behind buildings, creating more of a village atmosphere, according to Steven J. King, chief operating officer for the QDC.

"The whole feel of it has changed," North Kingstown Town Manager Michael E. Embury said. "We look at it as a 180-degree different proposal.”

In a statement, Carcieri said he believed the Gateway would lead to job growth and an improved local economy. “We can be proud of our vision for development at Quonset,” he said, “and for the hard work we have put into substantially revising the project over the last several months.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported the size of the Lowe's store, giving a larger figure that also included storage and garden space.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 1:16 PM | Comment

Update: Buddy debuts show on positive note / Photo

BUDDY CIANCI.JPG
The Associated Press
Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci hosts his talk radio show today at WPRO's studio in East Providence.

Former Providence Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr. kicked off his morning radio show shortly after 10 today by thanking all of those who supported him during his prison stay and welcomed him back to Providence.

"I'm back on the radio because I love this city. I love this state," Cianci said.

He said prison had changed him.

"You find out new things about yourself when you're placed in situations like that," said Cianci, who recently finished serving a term for a corruption conviction.

Cianci, who was joined by former early morning host Ron St. Pierre, gave viewers a preview of his show and told them they could go elsewhere if they were looking for negativity.

He said he would tell some prison stories and also talk politics. Cianci, a radio talk-show veteran who gained national notice through his witty exchanges with radio host Don Imus, also said he encourages listener participation.

Cianci ended the first segment by playing a song with lyrics that said in part, "Folks are blessed who make the best of every day."

And it wrapped up with..."Give me the simple life."

Later, Cianci heard from several callers, including a priest, who welcomed him back. He told a joke (mp3) about the pope, former President Jimmy Carter and former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley stranded in a lifeboat.

He and St. Pierre touched briefly on the Red Sox and their recent losing streak. "They're like some politicians around here," Cianci said.

Journal photo/ Steve Szydlowski.
Cianci and boxer Vinny Paz shake hands before the show -- not before they come out fighting.

Before starting his show, Cianci crossed paths in the hallway with another Rhode Island icon, boxer Vinny Paz. Paz had been on John DePetro's show, which aired before Cianci's.

They shook hands and Cianci said, "Nice to see you. Can I take some boxing lessons?"

Cianci, wearing a mustard-colored shirt, appeared nervous before starting the show, fiddling with his pen.

WPRO had kept the seat, or in this case, the headphones, warm for Cianci, who had been on the station previously and was once the top-rated talk-show host in Rhode Island.

The station held onto Cianci's old headphones, storing them in a box. He's wearing them again.

Cianci's much-promoted return to the airwaves drew several reporters to WPRO's East Providence studio, including four to five still photographers and three to four television cameras.

His show can also be heard online, via live streaming audio, on the statio's Web site.
Podcasts are also available after the show.

-- projo.com staff writer Jack Perry, with reports from Journal staff writer Karen Lee Ziner

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:39 PM | Comment

Warren boatmaker faces fine for clean-air violations

Pearson Composites, a maker of fiberglass sailboats and powerboats, is facing a proposed penalty of $264,349 for violations of the federal Clean Air Act.

The violations were cited in a recent Environmental Protection Agency complaint, which follows up on an administrative order issued to the Warrne company last December, the EPA said today.

EPA’s complaint claims Pearson violated five provisions of a federal hazardous air pollutant standard for boat manufacturing and two provisions of the company’s state-issued clean air operating permit. These violations include:

- Emission standards for Pearson’s fiberglass open molding operation, carpet adhesives and wood finishing wash coats;
- Work practice standards for inspections and for control equipment monitoring; and
- Reporting requirements by failing to timely submit required compliance notifications.

Pearson has reported that it corrected all of these violations as of mid-February of this year, the EPA said.

The proposed fine is designed to insure that Pearson will continue to comply with standards, according to the EPA.

Pearson’s manufacturing processes, which involve various chemicals, release significant quantities of hazardous air pollutants, primarily styrene, the EPA said.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 12:31 PM | Comment

2 police departments searching for missing man

Providence police have joined Johnston detectives to search for Anthony Smith, a 43-year-old, developmentally challenged man who was taken into Johnston police custody during a traffic stop where he was a passenger, questioned and released before a family arrived to bring him home.

The police say they were unaware that Smith had a handicap. They deny they did anything wrong and say they are now making intensive efforts to find him.

Johnston Police Chief Richard Tamborini said he called Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman and suggested officers could help. The idea, he said was “having Johnston detectives team up with officers in Providence to see where street people hang out in Providence, because we really hadn’t checked,” the investigation had been focused on hospitals and shelters.

Tamborini said the office has been “inundated” with sightings, and that they respond to every one immediately, but there is still no word on the whereabouts of Smith, who lives with his uncle in Providence, has been missing since Sept. 11.

The Smiths, who are black, say the traffic stop that started the chain of events smacks of racial profiling, the sort of discriminatory law enforcement that two detailed statistical studies have found is common among Rhode Island police.

See a new missing's person poster for Smith, which has two photos of him.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:00 AM | Comment

Coastweeks 2007: Big event you've never heard of

Today might be a good day to hit the Coast. The sun is shining, the temperature is right, and Coastweeks 2007 is in full swing.

The nationwide event is sponsored in Rhode Island by the Rhode Island Coastal Resource Management Council and the Rhode Island Sea Grant.

The celebration of coastal resources and history is offering a 75-minute cruise of Rhode Island lighthouses by Gansett Cruises. The $20 cruises will be offered every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during Coastweeks.

Or take a tour on the Blackstone Valley Explorer. For $8 to $10, every Sunday passengers can take a guided tour and learn about the architecture, mill history and French Canadian history of Woonsocket between the Thundermist Dam and the Massachusetts border.

Beach cleanups, book discussions, boating, hiking, and aquaculture tours will all be offered throughout Coastweeks, which runs until Oct.15.

See the full schedule of events here.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal Staff writer Peter Lord

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:39 AM | Comment

Cianci returns to radio this morning

Former Providence Mayor Vincent A. 'Buddy' Cianci makes his return to radio this morning at 10 a.m. on WPRO-AM.

The 66-year-old Cianci, who recently completed a federal prison term, was once Rhode Island’s highest-rated radio talk show host.

He says his show will spend a lot of time talking politics.

“We’ll also talk about movies, books, the arts, things that interest me,” said Cianci.

“I see myself as an entertainer,” said Cianci. “I’m not a journalist, I never aspired to be a journalist.”

Streaming audio is available through WPRO's Web site. Sign-up required.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Scott MacKay.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment

The sun should prevail today

It's a little cloudy, but the sun should make an entrance later today and the National Weather Service is predicting a high temperature of 81 degrees.

The clouds should return tonight and the overnight low will be in the high 50s.

Expect more of the same tomorrow, with clear, sunny skies and a high near 80.

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

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features the final installment in a series about Marine Cpl. Patrick D. Murray, of North Kingstown, who lost his leg in Iraq.

Download a copy of today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment