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September 21, 2007

Tonight: Duke plays the blues at OctoberFest

The blues come to Pawtucket tonight, when Duke Robillard helps kick off the Blackstone River OctoberFest at the German Club, 78 Carter Ave.

Robbillard's band plays at 8.

Besides tasty guitar licks, there will be "traditional German food with plenty of Warsteiner beer on tap," the club's Web site says.

More bands play tomorrow. Read about it here.

For more ideas on weekend events, check projo.com's calendar, Lifebeat page and Fall Guide.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:00 PM | Comment

At Portsmouth pond, long-awaited day arrives / Photo

Journal photos / Mary Murphy
A channel was dredged out from the shore line along the Taunton River north of the Mount Hope Bridge, left. Water will flow through inton Town Pond; above right is a view from a trestle. See larger views of the photos here.

PORTSMOUTH -- Thurston Gray waited 10 years for this day.

At least once a week since 1997, the 70-year-old volunteer for Save The Bay visited what remained of Town Pond, 40 acres of marshland that was once a pristine salt pond. Gray, a Portsmouth resident, would tramp through the mud and weeds to test the salinity levels of the small pool of water left in the pond.

The idea was to collect a year or two of water-quality data before a plan to restore the pond started was implemented. The information would then be compared with to salinity levels after the plan was completed.

“I guess I was a little premature on the before part,” Gray said dryly, standing on a railroad track above the pond.

Today, after years of work, the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Management finally reached the culmination of the $4.5-million effort to restore Town Pond, also known as Boyd’s Marsh.

Just after 7 a.m., crews cleared away a 50-foot wide “plug” of sand and seashells, opening up the channel between the pond and Mount Hope Bay for the first time in more than 50 years.

It wasn’t a riveting sight. Water didn’t surge down the channel. It trickled in, slowly filling the pond, as the tide came in.

But, promised DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan, “you’ll see a very dramatic impact within the year.”

The tide will gradually flush out the wetland, creating a permanent nine-acre pond ranging in depth between from one and to six feet. Phragmites, an invasive freshwater plant, will die off as salt water flows in. Scallops and clams will return to the area as will flounder, which, experts say, will use the pond as a spawning ground.

-- Journal staff writer Alex Kuffner

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Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:59 PM | Comment

Video: Student from R.I. helps rally for small farmers

WASHINGTON -- A Rhode Islander was among students from across the country who rallied on Capitol Hill today for a more equal Farm Bill.

Dorie Obertello, a Westerly High School graduate who attends Vassar College, called for a more level playing field for small farmers.

The omnibus bill under consideration this year reviews agricultural programs, from support for farmers to food stamps.

Watch the full interview, by Belo Capital Bureau reporter Katie Greenan.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:30 PM | Comment

N. Providence school panel investigates project

NORTH PROVIDENCE -- The school department announced today it has begun a "fact-finding investigation" after a report of alleged overcharging by a construction vendor for work at the high school.

In a sparse news release, the department said the School Committee had met in a special session and decided to retain a construction consultant "with substantial experience" in commercial/institutional construction. The release said the response came after a report on ABC Channel 6.

The consultant will review the bid specifications from the work -- the news release does not specify which project or who was the construction vendor. The consultant will also review the type of workmanship done and the reasonableness of the project costs.

The School Committee will have no further comment, according to the news release, until its investigation is finished. It expect to get a report next month and for the fact-finding to be done in 60 days.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:54 PM | Comment

Troopers probing Burrillville police union funds

BURRILLVILLE -- State police detectives are investigating the alleged misappropriation of money belonging to the Burrillville police union, state police Maj. Stephen O’Donnell said today.

O’Donnell did not elaborate any further on the allegations, and he declined to identify any suspects, emphasizing that troopers will look into any complaint.

“We have had information turned over to us that we’ve been asked to look at,” he said.

The town’s police chief, Col. Bernard E. Gannon, said he could not discuss any such investigation.

He clarified that no one in the Burrillville department is investigating any matter involving the union, a local wing of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.

The union does not have an elected president who can comment on the situation at the present time.

The longtime union leader, Sgt. Robert McBrier, recently resigned from the position, Gannon said.

McBrier confirmed that he stepped down from the job, but he said he resigned about five months ago.

McBrier said he had no knowledge of the state police probe before a reporter apprised him of that earlier today. He also said he was not aware of any complaints regarding the union’s finances.

“This is all news,” he said.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:54 PM | Comment

Bush to Brown women's crew: 'You play hard' / Video

AP photo
Elizabeth Fison, who was co-captain of the winning Brown crew team, is smiled upon by President Bush, at his right, as he greets the NCAA champs today.

WASHINGTON -- "You play hard," President Bush told a group of collegiate championship athletes on the sun-kissed South Lawn, "and you end up here at the White House!"

So saying, the First Fan welcomed the Brown University varsity women's crew and seven other national championship teams for an afternoon visit to the White House today.

Mr. Bush introduced the teams in turn; they ranged from the men's and women's rifle teams of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks to the women's basketball team from the University of Tennessee -- all 2007 champions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division One.

"It's really fun to be with people who set high standards and achieve goals," said Mr. Bush.

Representing Brown were the women of three boats -- the varsity eight, the junior varsity eight and the varsity four -- who together collected top honors this summer at the NCAA championship in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Mr. Bush noted that Brown's women have been NCAA champions five of the past nine years and are the winningest women's crew program in NCAA history.

"These women know how to row!" Mr. Bush said.

After the ceremony, crew members senior Vanessa Rathbone and 2007 graduate Rachel Dearborn said that the president had enthusiastically greeted all of the athletes and coaches at a ceremony before his remarks outside on the South Lawn. The president joked with the Brown women about their Ivy League rivals at Yale, his alma mater.

Mr. Bush concluded the proceedings on an uplifting note, saluting the athletes for their accomplishments as scholars and models of good citizenship.

"You don't know how many people are looking at you," said Mr. Bush, "but there's a lot."

Video: Watch President Bush's acknowledgement of the championship Brown team, and an interview with its co-captain, Elizabeth Fison, by Belo Capital Bureau video reporter Ashley Patterson.

Video: See President Bush's speech to the athletes.

More about the team and its members ...

-- John Mulligan of the Journal Washington Bureau

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:25 PM | Comment

Another 175 R.I. Guard members going to Iraq

More Rhode Island Army National Guard members will head to Iraq next week, the state adjutant general announced today.

The 175 members of C Battery, 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Brigade, will leave on Sept. 26 to ready for a one-year deployment, a news release says. Other elements of 103rd Field Artillery Brigade have gone to Iraq, but this will be C Battery's first deployment as a unit.

A departure ceremony will be on Sept. 26 at Mt. Hope High School in Bristol, 199 Chestnut St., at 6 p.m.

The unit will initially go to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for training before heading to Iraq. The unit is currently slated to return home on Oct. 1, 2008.

"We are mindful of the continuing hardships these deployments represent for our soldiers, as well as for their families and employers and we pledge to provide the best support for, not only those soldiers we see off into harm's way, but also to those loved ones they leave behind and to their employers," said Major Gen. Robert T. Bray, adjutant general and commander of the Rhode Island National Guard.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:49 PM | Comment

Judge won't order Nov. 3 Smithfield recall vote

PROVIDENCE -- Superior Court Judge Allen P. Rubine ruled today that he was not going to order the secretary of state to allow a Nov. 3 vote on whether to recall Smithfield Town Council President Stephen G. Tocco from office.

There will be a recall election, however, but after Nov. 3.

">Smithfield Republican Committee Chairman James W. Archer had sued in an attempt to force the recall election to take place on Nov. 3.

If Tocco were recalled on that date, he would have served less than half of his term of office and, under the terms of the Town Charter, a special election would have been called to select a successor.

The recall election, however, will now take place some time after that date. And under the charter, if Tocco, a Democrat, is ousted, the Town Council itself would pick a successor, in this case from the Democratic Party.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Thomas J. Morgan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:23 PM | Comment

Update: Sen. Reed's troop withdrawal measure fails

AP photo
Rhode Island's Jack Reed, left, and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin talk with reporters after their measure failed today.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Jack Reed's measure to fix a deadline for troop withdrawals from Iraq failed to win a majority today, capping a week of defeats for antiwar forces in the Senate and dimming Democratic hopes of imposing a strategic shift on President Bush.

On a vote of 47 to 47, the Senate blocked an amendment by Rhode Island Democrat Reed and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., that would pull most American troops out of Iraq within nine months. The proposal lost ground on both sides of the aisle since it won 52 votes in its last Senate floor test about two months ago.

West Point graduate Reed said the defeat of his troop-withdrawal plan showed that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, "has managed to buy some time'' for Mr. Bush to continue his strategy in Iraq.

"I don't think he made a huge impression on the public at large,'' Reed said of Petraeus, who last week warned Congress against an early reversal of the surge of U.S. troops that the Army general credited with significant security gains in Iraq this year.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the purpose of the surge is "to have the Iraqi military take over more and more of the responsibilities'' as U.S. troops begin to leave. "You have to establish the military security environment in order for the political process of move forward'' in Iraq, McCain said.

Reed said that Petraeus and Bush have effectively bowed to Democratic pressure by announcing plans for some troop reductions later this year. The president last week said he would reduce U.S. forces to roughly the level -- about 130,000 troops -- where they stood early in 2007,when he ordered a surge of new troops to reduce violence, particularly in the capital city of Baghdad.

Reed has long maintained that the surge cannot continue beyond next spring in any event because maintaining it would disrupt the Pentagon's system of troop rotations.

Still, this week's Senate votes on Iraq were a letdown for Democrats, who appeared only last month to have made inroads in Republican support for Mr. Bush's policy.

-- John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington Bureau

Only three Republicans -- Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Gordon Smith or Oregon, and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine -- supported it. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who voted for Levin-Reed in July, criticized Democratic leadership for refusing to seek compromise language to draw GOP moderates.

Three Democrats also defected: U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and David Pryor of Arkansas, both moderates, and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, a liberal candidate for president, who made clear that he does not think the Levin-Reed measure goes far enough.

Independent U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman voted against the Levin-Reed measure, as he has in the past.

The war amendments have been to the massive Pentagon spending and policy bill for fiscal year 2008.

After today's defeat, Reed said he and Levin will try to draw Republican support for their amendment with compromise language, perhaps seeking a non-binding goal rather than a hard deadline with the removal of most troops and the shift in mission from combat to training and support of Iraqi forces.

This week's big shift came Wednesday, when U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., an influential voice on military affairs, surprised Democrats by voting against an amendment by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would have forced the Pentagon to give troops more time at home between deployment in Iraq.

The measure would have had the effect of restricting the Pentagon's ability to maintain current force levels in Iraq. The Webb amendment died on a 52-to-47 vote on a procedural question that needed 60 votes to prevail.

Yesterday, Democrats -- including Rhode Island's two senators -- split on an amendment by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., that would have forced a complete U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by next July 1, cutting off funding for the war at that point.

Fellow Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse supported the amendment, as he had earlier this year. Reed again opposed it, one of 20 Democrats to do so. ``I want to bring the troops home,'' he said, but called the Feingold measure ``just too restrictive'' because it could cut logistical and training fund that should continue after the bulk of U.S. forces leave Iraq.

After the vote today, Whitehouse issued a statement, saying Reed's amendment "would have set a smart, responsible strategy to safely redeploy American troops – but once again, the Republican minority in the Senate has used Senate rules to block the way.

“We face a simple question: is it in the long-term best interests of our nation for American troops to remain in Iraq? Americans have overwhelmingly answered no. I will keep fighting to bring our troops home safely, and bring them home soon.”

Reed said he still holds out hope for a vote next week on a compromise version of his measure that would command more Republican support and begin to chart a bipartisan course for concluding the war.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:52 PM | Comment

No West Nile or Triple-E in latest RI mosquito tests

Rhode Island mosquito samples from the week of Sept. 8 showed no signs of West Nile Virus or Eastern Equine Encephalitis, the state Department of Environmental Management said today.

Thirty mosquito pools -- from 56 traps set statewide -- were tested and came up negative. Results from 10 other pools, from the week of Aug. 28, also turned out negative.

But despite those results, the DEM said West Nile and Triple-E "are both firmly established in the state and the possibility of disease transmission remains likely."

Five mosquito pools have tested positive this year for West Nile -- four in East Providence and one in Barrington. None have tested positive this year for Triple-E.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:31 PM | Comment

Single in Providence? You may be out of luck

It’s Friday night. You’ve got the weekend off. You’re single and looking for love.

Your best bet? Catch the first flight out of town.

(Unless you happen to bump into Providence's most eligible bachelor or bachelorette)

Forbes magazine released its Best Cities for Singles report, and guess which city comes in dead last?

Providence moved to the bottom of the list this year, according to author Elisabeth Eaves, because it consistently scored low across all of the categories measured, including:

A lack of online dating – looking at Yahoo! Personals accounts, Providence comes in last.

A lack of job opportunities – using two companies’ projections of growth over the next five years, Providence comes in 35th out of 40.

And the city came in 33rd of 40 in cost of living alone, which was calculated using entry level salary information and a proprietary (and classy) algorithm: cost of rent + Pizza Hut pizza + movie ticket + six pack of Heineken.

Maybe we would have fared better if the equation used a brew that was a little less … expensive. Say, Narragansett Beer?

“Singles want to know that they’ll be able to nurture an interesting and prosperous career,” Eaves writes, “and Providence just doesn’t look that promising.”

Nearby Boston ranks 11th, and although it ranks just one step above Providence in job growth, the cost of living alone ranked 22nd, and culture was rated five of 40.

And coolness?

Boston rated 10th in that difficult to acquire, but easy to spot quality. Providence was 37th.

Coming in at number one for singles is San Francisco. The Big Apple is number two. Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago round out the top five.

The lowest five are Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Kansas City, Cincinnati and, well, you know.

Get an explanation of methodology -- like how, exactly, is coolness measured? -- here.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 2:28 PM | Comment

Update: Hot-air balloon fells lines; no one hurt

WESTPORT, Mass. -- A hot-air balloon struck and snapped a wooden utility police this morning, knocking down electricity and telephone lines, the police reported. No one aboard the aircraft was injured.

The accident occurred in a rural area on Sodom Road around 7 a.m., said police administrative assistant Nancy Braga.

WJAR-TV News reported that the balloon was owned by Balloon Adventures of New Bedford, based out of South Dartmouth, and was carrying six people, plus the pilot. The company’s principal, David Gifford, did not return a call seeking comment.

A police detail was assigned to the street until repairs could be made and electricity restored.

-- projo.com staff writer Richard Salit

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:20 PM | Comment

Yom Kippur begins tonight at sundown

Sundown tonight marks the beginning of what some consider the most important Jewish holiday.

Yom Kippur comes ten days after Rosh Hashanah, it is a day of atonement, and considered a complete Sabbath: no work, no eating, and no drinking anything until the holiday is complete, at nightfall tomorrow.

The holiday is also marked by the blowing of the Shofar, an instrument strongly associated with Rosh Hashanah.

Many will spend most of Saturday in praying in Synagogue, atoning for the sins of the previous year.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 1:04 PM | Comment

Once stranded in Jersey, a seal finds its way in R.I.

NARRAGANSETT -- A female grey seal pup that had been stranded in New Jersey in the spring has been released here at Salty Brine State Beach, the Coast Guard said today.

Coast Guard from Point Judith and stranding center personnel carried the seal in a crate to the beach yesterday. After initially going the wrong way up the beach, the seal turned around, went to the water and swam away. The seal was released at about 6:45 a.m.

The standing happened in the New jersey community Ship Bottom, on Long Beach Island. The seal was rescued and cared for by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, and treated for a respiratory infection caused by sinus mites. The seal weighed 81 pounds when rescued. Yesterday, it weighed in at 140 pounds.

"The seal was set free in Rhode Island because of this species' inquisitive nature," the Coast Guard news release said.

The New Jersey shore is strewn with many fish and lobster traps, and grey seals find it difficult to avoid entanglement, Robert Schoelkopf, the stranding center's director, said in the statement.

"Most people who join the Coast Guard do it to save lives," Senior Chief Petty Officer Chad Curth, of Station Point Judith, said. "Every now and then we get the chance to help save an animal's life -- and that's rewarding too."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:55 PM | Comment

Woman at Logan claims fake bomb is art, police say

BOSTON -- An MIT student with a fake bomb strapped to her chest - later claiming it was art - was arrested at gunpoint today at Logan International Airport, officials said.

Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it."

-- The Associated Press

The device had wires connected to a battery, allowing it to light up, he said. Simpson also had Play-Doh in her hands, he said.

Simpson was charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device, and was to be arraigned in East Boston District Court later today.

"I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport," Pare said.

Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

Simpson is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology sophomore from Hawaii, officials said. A spokeswoman for MIT had no immediate comment.

She was arrested about 8 a.m. outside Terminal C, home to United Airlines, Jet Blue and other carriers.

A Massachusetts Port Authority staffer manning an information booth in the terminal became suspicious when Simpson - wearing the device - approached to ask about an incoming flight, Pare said. Simpson then walked outside, and the information booth attendant notified a nearby trooper.

The trooper, joined by others with submachine guns, confronted her at a traffic island in front of the terminal.

Pare said Simpson took a subway to the airport, but he was not sure if she had the device on at that time.

"She was allegedly picking somebody up," said Pare.

The major praised the booth attendant but said the incident is a reminder of the terrorism threat confronting the civil aviation system. Two of the four passenger jets hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, took off from Logan.

"In this day and age, the threat continues to be there," said Pare. "She certainly jeopardized her own safety by bringing this to the airport, as well as the safety of everybody around her."

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:35 AM | Comment

Brown, RISD offering joint degree

Brown University or the Rhode Island School of Design -- it’s a tough choice isn’t it?

Not for long.

For students who want both a fine and liberal arts education without spending a decade in school, the two distinguished institutions are teaming up to offer a five-year, dual-degree program for as many as 20 students.

If students are successful, they’ll graduate with a bachelor of arts degree from Brown and a bachelor of fine arts degree from RISD.

For more information, check out the new, appropriately named Web site: http://risd.brown.edu

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:27 AM | Comment

Hurricane of '38 arrived on a day much like today's

Journal files
The trees bent in the wind, the pole tilted, and this Westerly clubhouse fought a valiant, but losing, battle, to the hurricane.

It was warm, sunny morning, perhaps much like today's, when the most devastating storm to hit the Rhode Island coast arrived 69 years ago -- the Hurricane of '38.

Equivalent to a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 121 miles an hour, it ravaged the region with fierce winds and floods.

It killed nearly 700 people around New England, including more than 300 people in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. It caused an estimated $300 million in damage.

And it left behind a fear, handed down to this day, of what hurricanes could do to the Ocean State.

For a reminder of what the storm was left, take this multimedia look at the past, compiled and narrated by The Journal's managing editor for visuals, Michael Delaney.

Read the accompanying story from 2005, written by Journal environment writer Peter B. Lord.

And share your, and your family's stories of the big blow that shook New England to its core.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 10:42 AM | Comment

Progreso Latino turns 30

In 1977, Progreso Latino started working with the Latino and immigrant communities of Rhode Island. Tonight, the group, which works with more than 11,000 people a year, celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Kicking off a new year and a new theme – Latina empowerment – will be keynote speaker, Marisa Rivera-Albert, is president of the National Hispana Leadership Institute.

Rivera-Albert has worked in the academic sector at Black Hawk College and Western Illinois University; in government for the U.S. Embassy in Panama, and an elections observer in Honduras.

Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and Sen. Rhoda Perry, D-Providence, will serve as honorary co-chairs.

The celebration, which runs tonight from 5:30 to 11, will be at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, 60 Rhodes Place in Cranston.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 10:27 AM | Comment

Alfred "Freddie" Bishop's bail hearing postponed

Convicted killer Alfred “Freddie” Bishop's bail hearing has been postponed for the third time this month; it is now scheduled for Nov. 16.

Bishop spent 33 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions after being convicted for murdering a close friend.

He faces a new murder charge for a home invasion where the police say Bishop wounded two people and fatally shot Gabriel Medeiros in a quiet neighborhood off Warwick Avenue.

The hearing was scheduled for today in District Court, Warwick.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 8:42 AM | Comment

Third ATM scammer's sentencing rescheduled

Sentencing for one of four California men convicted of rigging ATM card readers and stealing information from shoppers in Rhode Island was rescheduled for Oct. 30 in U.S. District Court.

Arutyun Shatarevyan, 20, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Two other men, Arman Ter-Esayan, 22 and Gevork Baltadjian, 20 were sentenced earlier this month. Ter-Esayan was sentenced to six years in federal prison and Baltadjian was given about five years for playing what was called a “minor” role in the scheme.

A fourth man, Mikael Stepanian, 28, of Studio City, is due in court Nov. 2.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:54 AM | Comment

Environmental police officer will receive citation

Governor Carcieri will give a citation today to Richard Browning, an off-duty environmental police officer who went onto a boat to help a semi-conscious victim and alert the Coast Guard.

Browning was on with friends on a sport fishing boat recently when they responded to a distress call from another boat while both boats were 130 miles offshore at night.

Browning went aboard the other boat in rough seas, began medical treatment and called the Coast Guard. He hoisted semi-conscious victim Dave Preble onto his boat, from which Browning was able to help Coast Guard personnel put Preble up into a helicopter, the governor's office says.

Browning, of Saunderstown, had served as a Coast Guard boatswain’s mate third class at Station Castle Hill in Newport before graduating from University of Rhode Island. The Department of Environmental Management hired him in April 2004.

Browning, Preble, and W. Michael Sullivan, the state Department of Environmental Managemenrt director, will attend the State House ceremony at 12:30 p.m. in the state room.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:03 AM | Comment

A summerlike transition into fall

Two more days of summer...

Another cloudy start to what should be a beautiful day. The National Weather Service is predicting a high of 79 degrees today with clear, sunny skies.

Tonight's low should be around 60 with fog returning early Saturday morning.

Once the fog clears, the last day of summer should feel summerlike, the sun shining and a high in the mid 80s. Winds may pick up with gusts as high as 25 mph. in some places.

Saturday night should get down to about 60 with winds as high as 21 degrees.

Sunday, the Autumnal Equinox and the first day of fall, will feel more like summer with a high in the low 80s and calm winds. The overnight low is expected to drop to the mid 50s.

Monday is looking similar, with a high in the low 80s and clear skies.

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 a story on efforts to raise the $600,000 still needed to build a $1.3 million World War II memorial in Providence.

Download a copy of today's front page.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment