« November 2, 2007 | Today | November 6, 2007 »

November 5, 2007

Cumberland fire deemed not suspicious

CUMBERLAND -- The state Fire Marshal’s Office has ruled that a Sunday morning blaze that heavily damaged a house at 2883 Diamond Hill Rd. was not suspicious, the police said today.

Fire officials determined that the fire was accidental in nature and likely due to an electrical fault. The house had been vacant since a blaze heavily damaged it about a year ago, but its owners were just getting ready to move in this month, the police said.

Sunday’s fire broke out at about 10 a.m. on the second floor of the 2½-story wooden dwelling. All four Cumberland fire stations as well as units from Woonsocket and Lincoln’s Albion and Manville departments responded. It took firefighters nearly three hours to control the smoky blaze.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:30 PM | Comment

Forty-plus people bought fake Patriots/Colts tickets

INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 40 people bought fake Patriots-Colts tickets, and police officers confiscated hundreds of other phony tickets in what investigators described as a nationwide sports counterfeiting ring.

Three Atlanta men were arrested yesterday after the police made a routine traffic stop for speeding and discovered the tickets in their car.

"This was a major arrest," police Lt. Jeffrey Duhamell said today. "These individuals counterfeit tickets and move from city to city, but they have been very hard to infiltrate. It's quite a big network."

Besides almost 200 tickets for the Patriots-Colts game, officers also found hundreds of tickets for other sporting events, including several college football games. Duhamell said the counterfeiting ring operates out of Atlanta and is under investigation in several cities.

"With the technology out there, they can do quite a whole lot with the tickets," he said. "A lot of them look good when you first see them."

Duhamell said more than 40 people paid at least $150 each for fake tickets for Sunday's game.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:28 PM | Comment

Rev. Philip Smith, former PC president, dies

PROVIDENCE -- The Rev. Philip Alphonsus Smith, who served as the 11th president of Providence College from 1994 to 2005, died at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence yesterday, the college announced today. He was 74.

The college said on its Web site today that Father Smith died unexpectedly and was surrounded by close friends. He was more recently a philosophy professor at the college and a member of the Dominican Community of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory on campus.

"Under Father Smith, the college achieved a reputation as a premier regional liberal arts institution, raising the academic standing of its undergraduates to its highest level ever," the college's statement said. "Providence College was consistently ranked #2 among colleges and universities in the north region in U.S. News & World Report’s annual college guide, America's Best Colleges."

Father Smith was awarded the college's highest honor, the Veritas Medal, at the 87th commencement in May 2005, recognizing "his many achievements and commitment to the academic standing and mission of the college."

A new performing arts center on college's east campus was named after Father Smith on Oct. 29, 2004.

The college said Father Smith "enhanced the quality and diversity of the faculty; directed a revision of the mission statement to emphasize the Catholic and Dominican traditions of [Providence College]; and oversaw $110 million in new construction and infrastructure improvements, including the construction of St. Dominic Chapel, a new performing arts center, and the campus’ first suites-style residential facility."

“Father Smith ably led Providence College through eleven years of opportunity and growth,” said college President Rev. Brian J. Shanley. “Under his guidance, the academic profile of our student body dramatically improved and the campus landscape was transformed."

Father Smith's body will be received at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in St. Thomas Aquinas Priory on campus on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. Calling hours will follow, concluding with the recitation of the Office of the Dead by the Dominican Community at 7 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Father Smith will be held Friday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m. in St. Dominic Chapel on campus. Burial will follow in the Dominican Community Cemetery on campus.

Donations may be made in his memory to the Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. Scholarship Fund, in care of Providence College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 549 River Ave., Providence, R.I., 02918.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Born Sept. 6, 1933, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Father Smith was a son of the late Philip and May (Byrne) Smith. According to the college, he was raised on a 100-acre farm in Fort Augustus, east of Charlottetown, and went to Webster Corner School, a one-room schoolhouse, from grades 1 through 10 then finished high school at St. Dunstan’s School in Charlottetown. He came to the United States in 1959.

Father Smith entered the novitiate of the Dominican Order (Order of Preachers), Province of St. Joseph, at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio, in 1961, and made his first religious profession there the next year.

He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on June 13, 1968, at St. Dominic Church in Washington D.C. by the Most Rev. Ernest B. Boland, then-bishop of Multan, Pakistan, and now a resident of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at PC.

Father Smith served the Dominican Order as a priest for nearly 40 years.

He joined the Providence College faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of philosophy. He became associate professor in 1984 and professor in 1994. From 1982 to 1985, he was also the special assistant to then-college president the Very Rev. Thomas R. Peterson.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:55 PM | Comment

Photo: Stuck inside of Providence

Journal photo/ Mary Murphy
Max Tiley, a former Johnson & Wales student from Sussex, England, plays the guitar on the pedestrian bridge between Providence Place and The Westin Hotel this afternoon to make money. He posted a sign saying he was broke and stranded.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:56 PM | Comment

Man expected to plead no-contest in death of child

PROVIDENCE -- A man charged with shaking his girlfriend’s baby so violently the child suffered fatal brain injuries is expected to plead no contest to one count of second-degree murder, prosecutors said today.

Ediberto Irizarry is expected to enter the plea before Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer in Superior Court on Nov. 19, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Irizarry, 21, formerly of 196 Pleasant St., Pawtucket, has been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions, charged with two counts of second-degree murder stemming from the death of two-month-old Geovanni Campbell in February 2005.

The two counts are contained in an indictment returned five months after Irizarry was arrested. The count to which Irizarry is pleading no contest charges him with unpremeditated murder. The other count charges Irizarry with felony murder under the theory that he killed Geovanni Campbell while committing the crime of first-degree child abuse, Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said.

In return for the no contest plea, prosecutors are likely to move to dismiss the felony murder charge, Healey said.

Geovanni Campbell was the son of 34-year-old Rocco Africo of North Providence and Carol Campbell, 36.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

Irizarry was babysitting Geovanni in Campbell’s apartment on Division Street in Pawtucket two years ago when he called 9-1-1 and said the child was unconscious and had no heartbeat.

An ambulance was dispatched as Irizarry, coached by the 9-1-1 operator, performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The baby was rushed to nearby Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, where medical personnel managed to revive him, then transferred to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, where he was listed in critical condition until his mother decided to remove him from life support on Feb. 26.

By then, a doctor at Rhode Island Hospital had given Carol Campbell a grim prognosis: Dr. Rebecca Moles testified she told Campbell that Geovanni had no reflexes and a bulge in his skull that caused by internal bleeding.

“I explained there could be no way he could recover,” Dr. Moles said.

Irizarry was already in custody at that point, charged with first-degree child abuse after doctors told police that Geovanni’s injuries were consistent with “shaken baby syndrome.”

When he was interviewed by police, Irizarry adamantly asserted his innocence, according to a judge who viewed the videotape of the interrogation. When was arraigned on the murder indictment, Irizarry pleaded not guilty. It was unclear yesterday what prompted him to decide to change his plea.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:55 PM | Comment

R.I. ranks 11th in healthy study

If you’re worried about all aspects of your health – access to insurance, your likelihood of picking up smoking or dying on the job – Vermont is the place to be, according to the latest Health Rankings Report.

But Rhode Island isn’t very far behind, coming in at number 11 of the 50 states. It’s a two-step improvement from last year, when the state came in at number 13.

The study was released by the United Health Foundation, a research and community outreach organization funded by United HealthGroup.

Improvements in insurance coverage and a decrease in occupational fatalities helped propel the state up in rankings, even though, according to the study, the number of children living in poverty has increased overall since 1990.

The report made note of binge drinking as one of the big challenges the state needs to face, along with low high school graduation rates.

Other strengths, according to the report, are a low rate of uninsured people, ready access to primary care, and a low violent crime rate: 228 offenses per 100,000 people.

After Vermont, Minnesota, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Utah, Maine, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Nebraska round out the top ten states.

The bottom five in descending order are: Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 2:47 PM | Comment

RIPEC director steps town

After three decades leading a nonprofit public policy advocacy group Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, Gary Sasse is stepping down.

Ronald Machtley, president of RIPEC, called Sasse a “key resource” for government officials and staff, as well as taxpayers.

“He has helped ensure that state government remains not only fiscally responsible,” Machtley said in a statement, “but mindful of the impact of tax and spending policies on our economic competitiveness. RIPEC and the State of Rhode Island have benefited enormously from his wise counsel and tireless effort.”

John C. Simmons, the chief administrator for the city of Providence, has been selected as the organization’s next executive director.

“It is an extraordinary honor to follow in the footsteps of such a fine, gifted and truly legendary public servant as Gary Sasse,” Simmons, said in a statement.

“I will do everything I can to uphold the high standard he has set with his keen analysis of state fiscal policy, and his persuasive, even-handed voice for a more stable and prosperous Rhode Island,” he said.

Mayor David Cicilline said Simmons would be missed, but he would leave behind a legacy of fiscal integrity.

“John has been an invaluable member of my team from the very beginning,” Cicilline said in a statement. “His vast experience, financial expertise and keen understanding of the intricacies of public finance have helped put our city government on the strong financial footing needed to accomplish my ambitious goals for the city.”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 2:07 PM | Comment

Herring restrictions up for debate in Newport tomorrow

BOSTON — The nets are half a football field long, three-stories high and pulled between two huge trawlers. The tiny Atlantic herring is their target, and they pull up tons at time, much of which lands in lobster traps as bait or pickling jars as food.

But environmentalists and other fishermen say the trawlers are also doing serious ecological damage. Beside depleting stocks of herring, which are important because they’re eaten by everything from birds to whales, they also accuse the trawlers of killing threatened groundfish species and decimating river herring populations.

Regulators will decide whether to devise tougher herring restrictions at a meeting of the the New England Fishery Management Council, beginning tomorrow in Newport.

-- The Associated Press, Jay Lindsay

The meeting comes amid heavy lobbying by groups who say the herring trawlers have been allowed to run amok.

“The government gave them this free hand with no restrictions. ... It’s been too much for too long,” said Ray Kane, a former tuna fisherman from Chatham who’s part of the CHOIR Coalition., an industry and environmental group formed to protect Atlantic herring.

But herring fishermen counter that the herring population is abundant. They say though environmentalists have demonized the large trawlers, evidence is thin that the ships are doing the widespread ecological damage opponents claim.

In addition, regulators just enacted new restrictions in June, including banning herring trawlers from Gulf of Maine coastal waters. It’s too soon for more restrictions, said Mary Beth Tooley of the East Coast Pelagic Association, which represents the herring industry.

“First, see if what’s in place works,” she said.

New England has seen centuries of fishing for herring, a small fish that fishermen prefer to catch when they’re about 10 to 12 inches long. But the population crashed in the 1970s after heavy fishing by foreign fleets. The stocks recovered after the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act passed in 1976 and kicked foreign vessels out of New England waters.

The most recent stock assessment in 2005 estimated about 1 million metric tons of Atlantic herring, which is nearly twice the amount at which herring would be considered overfished, said Lori Steele, a herring expert who works for the fishery council.

There’s a market for the herring as food, but about 70 percent of the New England catch goes to lobstermen to bait their traps.

New England’s lobster catch was worth about $385 million in 2006, compared to the relatively paltry catch of about $23 million for the herring fleet, which has about 35 boats. But environmentalists and fishermen say the small fishery is doing big damage to more valuable species.

Many of herring boats are so-called “mid-water” trawlers, some of which are up to 160 feet long and pull their nets in pairs in the middle the water column where herring swim, rather than dragging them on the bottom like a groundfisherman.

The herring trawlers are allowed to fish in areas closed to boats that fish for cod, haddock and other groundfish, and that’s not popular with some fishermen. Two commercial fishing groups in Maine have called for the trawlers to be banned from those areas, claiming their giant nets are snaring the cod and other groundfish and preventing those species from recovering.

And last week, a coalition of environmental groups called the Herring Alliance, which is part of the Pew Charitable Trust, blamed the trawlers for drastic declines in river herring, a key part of the food chain that mixes with Atlantic herring and can get caught by the trawlers. They said that unless the fishing slows, entire ecosystems could be threatened.

Peter Baker of the Herring Alliance is pushing the fishery council to extend a ban of the trawlers from Maine to inshore waters around Cape Cod to the islands. He also advocates for more federal observers aboard herring boats. They would document the unwanted catch that the boats pull up dead, called bycatch, and regulators could see how much the trawlers are harming river herring, groundfish or other species.

“They allowed mid-water trawling to come in with relatively little information about what their impacts are,” Baker said. “We don’t know what they’re killing.”

The idea that the mid-water trawlers are wiping out whatever is in its path is “ridiculous,” Tooley said. The nets and the way the herring fishermen fish results in very little bycatch, she said, adding the limited data from observers on the boats has not revealed any major bycatch problems.

Tooley also said federal data show protected groundfish stocks have grown in size during the time the mid-water trawlers have been working New England waters.

Tooley sees herring fishermen as the target of a well-funded campaign that’s short on facts, and pushing new rules that regulators recently decided not to enact.

“Do we have any new information in comparison to the last time we analyzed these measures?” Tooley said. “The answer is, ’No, we don’t.’”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 2:01 PM | Comment

One person taken to hospital after Rte. 295 accident

JOHNSTON -- One person was taken to a hospital after a car accident today on Route 295 north in the area of of the Route 6 exit in Johnston.

No other details were yet available.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:55 PM | Comment

Update: Carcieri vetoes primary date change

Governor Carcieri has vetoed a bill moving Rhode Island's presidential primary from March 4 to Feb. 5.

The governor said a change in the date would "create an excessive burden on local boards of canvassers."

He vetoed the bill yesterday and announced it today.

State Rep. Leonidas Raptakis, the disappointed sponsor of the primary bill, acknowledged that it's probably too late to overturn the governor's veto. He noted that disaffiliation deadlines are bearing down.

“This bill should have passed back in June,’’ Raptakis, D-Coventry, said. “If those powers that be were very concerned about passing a bill, they should have come back in September to override the governor’s vetoes. Don’t wait until October 30 to come back.’’

State lawmakers voted to move the primary Oct. 30 in a one-day special session during which they also overrode close to three dozen of Carcieri's vetoes.

As it stands, “if the General Assembly doesn’t come back this week, it’s a lost cause,’’ Raptakis said.

Asked who he blames, he said: “Until the process changes, this is going to happen year after year…I should be mad at the whole process. I should be mad at the General Assembly. This bill should have passed back in June.’’ And now, he said, Rhode Island faces the prospect of holding a March primary at taxpayer expense – with almost no voter interest, and “very, very low turnout’’ - after clear winners have already emerged the nominees have already been chosen. ‘Nobody is going to go out to vote on March 4 knowing the nominess have already been chosen,’’ he said.

Read the governor's veto letter.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Katherine Gregg.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:36 AM | Comment

Michael Bianco sells plant, site of immigration raid

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- Michael Bianco Inc. has sold its New Bedford plant, the site of a controversial immigration raid last March, according to Elizabeth Treadup, spokeswoman for New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang.

The March 6 raid resulted in the arrest of 361 illegal immigrants and jeopardized the company’s contracts to produce leather goods for the military.

Bianco's president and several top managers were indicted over the summer on charges of conspiring to harbor and hire illegal immigrants.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:31 AM | Comment

Traffic alert: Accident on Route 95

Traffic has slowed on Route 95 north just south of the new exit 19, which takes drivers East on Route 195.

The left lane of traffic is closed just north of Thurbers Ave. because of an accident.

Rescue officials are approaching the scene, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence fire department. He says the accident involved two cars in the middle of the road.

He is unsure at this time if there are any injuries.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:29 AM | Comment

Trial to start for man accused of Providence murder

A Providence man accused of stabbing another man to death and leaving his body at a park is due in court for trial today.

The police say Carlos Santiago, 43, stabbed 53-year-old Hector Gonzalez during a fight in September 2004.

Gonzalez’s body was found the next morning in the grass at the Dexter Training Grounds on the city's West Side.

Santiago was arrested the next day and indicted for murder that December. His trial is set to begin today in Superior Court, Providence.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:14 AM | Comment

Gas prices jump 18 cents

Gasoline prices in Rhode Island jumped 18 cents this week, according to AAA Southern New England.

The average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline is $2.949 at the self-service pump, according to AAA's weekly survey.

It's the highest price Rhode Island drivers have ever paid in November, AAA said.

The price has climbed for three straight weeks, driven by an increase in the price of crude oil, which exceeded $96 per barrel last week.

The average price nationally is $3.00.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:03 AM | Comment

Photo: Providence firefighters climbing the roof

Journal photo/ Sandor Bodo
Providence firefighters navigate the roof of 27 Vaughn Street in Providence, where a morning fire apparently started in the kitchen. The single family house suffered significant smoke damage but no one was hurt. The fire is still under investigation.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:15 AM | Comment

A pleasant morning drive across the Iway

A broken-down car on the side of the road, lane changes without signals, blind merging.

Things have settled into business as usual on Route 95 leading up to the new section of highway known as the Iway.

The drive from the Thurbers Ave. entrance onto 95 northbound to the Gano Street exit took less than a minute at 7:15 this morning.

Smooth, new pavement, sparse traffic and a new, open view of the Providence River and its associated commerce made it possibly the most pleasant 1.5 miles of highway in the state.

Survey: Tell us about your drive across the Iway.

Not so fast, though.

“This would be people leaving the city,” said project supervisor Paul Grimaldi, noting the sparse traffic.

“This is fine now because it's morning,” but for the real test, he said, come back around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

He’ll be there.

This is just the beginning of the massive highway relocation project. Just two of eight lanes are open. New exits are still closed off by Jersey blocks. And westbound traffic on 195 at 7:30 a.m. is the same as it ever was: a parking lot.

Standing on what will eventually be the four 195 westbound lanes, you can see trucks and backhoes and a machine called the crusher hard at work, crushing debris to be used as fill.

“That’s over,” Grimaldi said, motioning to the two lanes of eastbound traffic on the new road.

“Onto the next thing.”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:54 AM | Comment

Can Franny get to Fox Point from Foxboro?

Sunday afternoon, Franny from Foxboro set out to visit her granny on Gano Street.

Franny has been driving from Foxboro to Fox Point for years.

She knew the Route 95 S curves. She could maneuver the high-speed exit onto Route 195.

But Sunday, as she approached the Gano Street exit, she was confronted by a wall of concrete.

The exit was gone and, before she knew it, Franny was over the Washington Bridge heading back to Massachusetts.

A frustrated Franny finally got herself turned around and found her way back to Fox Point. She was relieved to see that Granny's Gano Street exit is still open from Route 195 east.

Now next Sunday, and many Sundays to come, Franny has to remember to get off Route 195 at Wickenden Street when she's driving from Foxboro to Fox Point.

Granny's Gano Street exit will be closed until the end of next year when the new southeast ramp to the Iway is finished.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 9:21 AM | Comment

Providence house evacuated during morning fire

Firefighters have just extinguished a first floor fire at 27 Vaughan St. in Providence.

James Taylor, chief of communications for the department, says the call came in at 8:33 a.m. The Red Cross was brought in to help the three adults who were evacuated from the 1.5 story house..

The fire was under control 13 minutes later.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 8:52 AM | Comment

No school for Scituate high and midddle schools

School is canceled today for Scituate High School and Scituate Middle School because of a water problem, according to school officials.

Officials expect the problem to be fixed in time for classes to resume tomorrow.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:25 AM | Comment

Photo: New 95N to 195E connector gets first test

Journal photo / Kris Craig
It was smooth sailing as the first section of the Iway project opened to traffic Sunday morning.

The new exit connecting Route 95 North to Route 195 East is open, and traffic is moving across the bridge early in the morning commute.

At about 7:10 this morning, traffic was flowing smoothly as a projo.com reporter drove across the so-called Iway project.

The section opened for the first time yesterday morning, but the new connector gets its first test from commuters this morning.

Read more information on using the I-Way from the state Department of Transportation.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:30 AM | Comment

Construction begins on URI undersea center

NARRAGANSETT -- The University of Rhode Island is breaking ground on a $15 million dollar undersea exploration center and marine science library.

Marine explorer Robert Ballard and Governor Carcieri are among the officials who will attend the ceremony today.

Ballard is an oceanography professor at the school.

The 41,000-square-foot facility, paid for through loans approved by Rhode Island voters three years ago, will also house the Inner Space Center.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment

Clouds moving in, high in the 50s

There may be a bit of rain this morning before noon. The National Weather Service is forecasting clouds most of the day with a high temperature in the mid 50s.

More rain late tonight and early tomorrow morning with an overnight low temperature near 45 degrees.

The rain will continue into tomorrow morning. The temperature should reach the mid 50s with west winds of about 15 mph.

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 coverage of the Patriots' big win over the Indianapolis Colts.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment