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April 3, 2008

Tonight: Governor Carcieri goes on Lou Dobbs' program

Governor Carcieri will be a guest on Lou Dobbs' program on CNN tonight to talk about his order cracking down on illegal immigration.

Carcieri’s "brief appearance" is slated for about 7:40 p.m. according to CNN producers, the governor's office said in a news release this afternoon.

The CNN Web site highlighting Dobbs' program says, under the title "Broken Borders":

"And we'll be joined by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri who is cracking down on illegal immigration in his state. His new executive order calls for state agencies and the companies they do business with to verify the legal status of their workers."

Dobbs is anchor and managing editor of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and he also is anchor of a radio report on financial news that is nationally syndicated, according to a biography on the CNN site.

The online biography says Dobbs has receive the Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration from the Center for Immigration Studies for his series "Broken Borders," which the biography describes as examining U.S. policy towards illegal immigration.

The Center for Immigration Studies, on its Web site, includes a transcript of a speaker's remarks about Dobbs' receiving the a2004 ward that include criticism of some media coverage of immigration. Read the transcript here.

The governor's order, which he has said can save money the state currrently spends on illegal immigrants, has provoked controversy, with members of the state's clergy calling for him to reconsider it and advocates for immigrants denouncing it.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:05 PM | Comment

Update: Tense moments at Capitol immigration protest

Journal photo / Connie Grosch
Protesters crowd into the office of the governor's police officer at the State House today.

PROVIDENCE -- In a tense few moments at the State House today, a crowd protesting Governor Carcieri's executive order on illegal immigration flooded the office of his policy director, chanting loudly in Spanish, before being ordered to leave the building by yelling Capitol Police.

The police and some of the protesters tussled. But the confrontation did not escalate into outright violence, and no one was arrested.

About 75 protesters gathered initially in the State House rotunda at 4 p.m. to denounce the order, then quickly went down a hall to the office of policy director Timothy Costa.

About 50 entered the office, chanting "El pueblo unido no mas sera vencido!" -- a people united won't be defeated.

Capitol police arrived, and an officer yelled, "This is a private office" and "You need to leave right now."

In the crowd was Providence City Councilman Miguel Luna, who replied, "This is an office of the governor."

The protesters kept chanting, as yelling went on. They left after about 5 minutes.

The police warned them repeatedly not to resist. About a half-dozen police officers forced the protesters to leave the building.

As the crowd left the building, participants chanted in English, "We will be back."

Audio: Listen to a clip of the crowd chanting and police response (MP3, 2:04 mins.)

Extra: Read Carcieri's six-point executive order on steps to control illegal immigrants.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael McKinney and Steve Peoples, Journal State House bureau

Protesters held signs with messages such as: "No human is illegal."

Outside the State House, Luna said, "When you have the top clergy in the state of Rhode Island and they can't get through to him [Governor Carcieri], this is the option left."

Luna, referring to Carcieri, said, "It's all his fault -- it's his making."

The order, announced by the governor at a news conference last week, has ignited controversy.

Yesterday, Rhode Island religious leaders called on Carcieri to reconsider his executive order on illegal immigration, saying it threatened to create widespread vitriol against immigrant communities.

More than 40 clergy members from a range of religious denominations gathered outside the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul and applauded as Rabbi Alan Flam, president of Rhode Island’s Board of Rabbis, denounced the governor’s order as “a top-down, poorly conceived” policy that promised “discrimination against people of color and immigrants in Rhode Island.”

This afternooon, Carcieri's office announced he is due to go on the Lou Dobbs' program on CNN tonight to talk about his order. The live segment is slated to air at about 7:40 p.m.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 7:02 PM | Comment

W. Warwick teen charged in fatal crash

A 17-year-old West Warwick boy has been charged in Family Court with driving to endanger, death resulting, and alcohol possession in connection with the car collision that killed Luisa Avila, a 46-year-old mother of two.

The crash that killed Avila, of West Warwick, happened on Route 2 south in Warwick near the Kent County Courthouse at about 11:30 p.m. on March 20.

The teen is charged with one count of driving to endanger-death resulting, one count of possession of alcoholic beverages and one count of transportating alcoholic beverages, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office said in a news release.

The teen pleaded not guilty before Family Court Judge Stephen J. Capineri this afternoon. The judge ordered him held in home confinement and prohibited him from driving pending further court order. A May 1 pre-trial conference is scheduled.

According to the attorney general's office press release, a Warwick police investigation found the boy and his 16-year-old passenger, a fellow West Warwick High School student, had gone to a party at another student's home that night. After the party, they stopped to eat at a Wendy’s restaurant, then headed south on Route 2.

The accused allegedly drove at "extremely high rate of speed" and his car struck Avila’s car at an intersection.

The crash pushed her car more than 100 feet from the impact point, farther down Route 2, the news release says. Avila, who was attempting to turn left onto Quaker Lane to get home after working the second shift at Amtrol, was killed instantly.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:17 PM | Comment

Smoke-shop case: Jury goes home for the day

PROVIDENCE -- The jurors deliberating the case against seven Narragansett Indians arrested during a state police raid on a tribal smoke shop have gone home for the night, according to a state judiciary news release.

Judge Susan E. McGuirl dismissed the jurors at 4 p.m. and told them to report back at 9:15 a.m. tomorrow to resume deliberations. The jury began deliberating Tuesday.

The judge and lawyers in the trial met in chambers for much of the morning, delaying the start of a third day of jury deliberations. McGuirl then gave the jurors instructions and urged them to listen and talk to each other, saying, "You need to keep your minds open."

Extra: More coverage of the trial.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:16 PM | Comment

Carcieri going on CNN tonight to talk about immigration

Governor Carcieri will be a guest on Lou Dobbs' program on CNN tonight to talk about his order cracking down on illegal immigration.

"Governor Carcieri’s brief appearance is slated for about 7:40 p.m. according to CNN producers," the governor's office said in a news release this afternoon.

The CNN Web site highlighting Dobbs' program says, under the header Broken Borders:
"And we'll be joined by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri who is cracking down on illegal immigration in his state. His new executive order calls for state agencies and the companies they do business with to verify the legal status of their workers."

The governor's order has provoked controversy, with members of the state's clergy calling for him to reconsider it and advocates for immigrants denouncing it. And a Hispanic leader broke ties with the state Republican Party yesterday.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:00 PM | Comment

Justice notes past civil rights abuses by Providence police

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Police Chief Dean Esserman and Mayor David N. Cicilline discuss results of the Justice Department investigation into allegations of excessive force and discriminatory practices in the police department.

PROVIDENCE -- Mayor David N. Cicilline and Police Chief Dean Esserman announced today the conclusion of the Department of Justice’s review of the city police’s observances of citizens’ civil rights, especially the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.

The Justice Department's involvement began in 2000 as preliminary review and a criminal investigation into the fatal shooting of police Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. by two fellow officers while he was off duty. In 2002 it morphed into a formal inquiry and consultation.

No criminal wrongdoing found in connection with Young's death.

But Esserman acknowledged that the Justice Department did find abuses in the police department, primarily during the administration of former Police chief Urbano Prigano Jr.

Two major areas where the Department of Justice said there had been abuses were instances of excessive force involving the public, and instances of poor handling of civilian complaints against members of the department.

During the years-long process, the police department adopted some reforms, all under the watchful eye recommendation of the Department of Justice, including:

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

-Implementing the use what they call “less-lethal weapons” such as a bean bag launcher and TASERS.

-Adopting a policy of much closer scrutiny of any use of force that goes beyond effortlessly handcuffing a suspect said in a statement

The Police Department has gone “a radical transportation in its practices," Rhode Island Urban League President Dennis Langley said after the meeting. “Your uniform is no longer tainted."

A Providence Police Department news release today said the Justice Department found the police department "has made significant improvements" under Esserman's leadership.

Cicilline, in the same news release, stated: "This is a police department that used to exist under a cloud of corruption, low morale and was at war with the community" but "the Justice Department's findings validate the hard work of the men and women of the police department to transform this agency into a national model in law enforcement."

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 3:49 PM | Comment

State seeks proposals for off-shore wind farm

PROVIDENCE -- Wind farm developers, show us your plans.

That’s the message Governor Carcieri sent today to private developers who may be interested in building a massive off-shore wind farm that would generate at least 15 percent of the electricity consumed throughout Rhode Island -- about 1.3 million megawatts of power a year.

At a State House news conference this afternoon, Carcieri announced that the state has begun a formal “Request for Proposals” process in which it seeks a partner in the private sector who would construct, finance and operate the wind farm. The project is expected to be about the same size and scope of the proposed Cape Wind project in Massachusetts and cost perhaps $1.25 billion, said Andrew Dzykewicz, the governor’s chief energy adviser.

The state would not play a role in financing the project. But the state would “use its best efforts to expedite the permitting process,” the RFP states. And the state will “use its best efforts” to assure a long-term contract for energy produced by the facility.

The governor said the “preferred site” is off the south and western shores of Block Island, but others may be considered. He said he wants proposals to include providing power to Block Island so that the 1,000 residents there can see some relief in electricity rates. They are currently paying about 40 cents per kilowatt hour, more than four times the rate paid by mainland residents.

The deadline for proposals to be submitted is May 16. The governor’s office said the state will choose the winning proposal based on the total cost to Rhode Island ratepayers, the qualifications and experience of the developer and the number of jobs and tax revenue the project would create.

-- Journal staff writer Timothy C. Barmann

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:33 PM | Comment

Bank of America donates museum admissions

Bank of America customers will get free admission to The RISD Museum, the Museum of Work and Culture and the Providence Children’s Museum the first weekend of every month this year.

The offer, part of the Museums on Us program, applies to 70 museums in 28 cities, the bank announced today. The program begins May 3 and 4.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 3:31 PM | Comment

Update: Robbery suspect nabbed after multi-town search

Several town and state police forces -- plus a National Guard helicopter on night training -- worked together last night in the hunt for a man suspected of robbing a bank in Warwick.

They failed to find him.

But eventually, the suspect, Michael Dirocco, 25, of Warwick, was taken into custody early this morning by the North Kingstown police after a car he was riding in was pulled over for speeding.

The effort started at about 7:30 last night, when Charlestown police began following a car that was reported stolen.

According to a statement, officers saw the male driver leave the car and run across Route 1 into the South County Sand & Gravel gravel bank.

Then, the search began in earnest.

Police from Charlestown, Westerly, Narragansett, Hopkinton, Richmond, South Kingstown, North Kingstown joined state and Department of Environmental Management police and air support from the National Guard in the form of a Blackhawk helicopter.

K-9 units followed the suspect's scent through the gravel bank and a surrounding area totaling 100 acres until around 1:20 a.m., when the search was suspended.

Charlestown Police Lt. Patrick McMahon said this morning that police believe after the search was called off, the suspect called his girlfriend, who picked him up.

-- projo.com staff writers Brandie M. Jefferson and Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Donita Naylor

According to a statement released this morning by the North Kingstown Police Department, at about 4 a.m. Officer Tyler Denniston pulled over a driver on Post Road for speeding.

Denniston said the driver, Jessica L. Jencks, 26, of Warwick, was wearing pajamas and seemed nervous. She told police she had just come from a restaurant.

According to police, her male passenger handed the officer a driver’s license that appeared to be fake.

The police said the passenger later identified himself as Dirocco, and, police allege, he told them he had robbed a bank in Warwick earlier in the day.

Dirocco was taken into custody for obstructing a police officer, as well as for the robbery warrant out of Warwick where he will face charges first.

Jencks was taken into custody for obstructing a police officer and harboring a fugitive. She appeared in District Court, South Kingstown, and was released on $35,000 personal recognizance today.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 3:10 PM | Comment

Kicked out of Mexico, arrested in L.A., charged in R.I.

He’s been Michael Ballard and David Anthony, and even “Slade Austin.”

But in U.S. District Court, Providence, tomorrow, he’ll be facing mail fraud charges as David Whitaker.

Prosecutors say the company Whitaker co-founded –– Mixitforme.com-- failed to deliver thousands of pieces of electronic equipment that it promised to send. Five alleged victims charge that they lost about $13 million to Mixitforme.

Whitaker was arrested in Los Angeles International Airport after being kicked out of Mexico, according to the prosecutors. He was brought back to Rhode Island yesterday

Two others have entered pleas in connection with the case. David Carpenter, of Cranston, pleaded guilty in November, and Cory Johnson, of Warwick, pleaded guilty in December.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 3:09 PM | Comment

Update: Dispatchers fired over death are back on job

PAWTUCKET – The rookie firefighters who were fired amid charges they delayed dispatching an ambulance while a 53-year-old woman bled to death in her home in the Pleasant View section last year have been reinstated with full back pay and benefits

Christopher Jeffery returned to work Sunday, Sean P. Mooney returned to work today, as a result of a March 5 agreement between their lawyers and the administration of Mayor James E. Doyle.

The reinstatement came six months after the Doyle administration fired Mooney and Jeffrey for failing to quickly send an ambulance to Maria G. Carvalho’s home at 101 Gooding St. despite three frantic 9-1-1 calls that were routed to the city’s fire dispatch center the morning of Sept. 20.

The calls, which were made by Mrs. Carvalho’s husband, João, and Yvette LeBlanc, an 81-year-old neighbor, indicated that Mrs. Carvalho, a kidney patient, was bleeding heavily from a shunt placed in her arm to facilitate dialysis.

Fire dispatch center records indicate that the ambulance was dispatched 15 minutes after the first call of the three calls was made and, in the meantime, Mrs. Carvalho bled to death.

Lawyers for the two firefighters said that Mooney and Jeffrey are happy to be back at work, now that investigations conducted by the health Department and Attorney General’s Office have exonerated them.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

Daniel V. McKinnon, who represented Mooney, and Stephen J. Reid, who represented Jeffrey, said it has consistently been their position that the firing was precipitous, coming as it did before the investigations by the two state agencies were complete.

The Attorney General’s Office completed its investigation on Oct. 12. The Health Department completed its investigation on Dec. 20.

Lt. Robert Neill, president of the Pawtucket firefighters union, said the decision to fire Mooney and Jeffrey before the investigations were finished denied them due process.

“Our position all along was if there were investigations going on, the city should have held off,” Neill said.

But Stephen M. Rappoport, the lawyer for Maria Carvalho’s family, said the investigations were “in arenas that my client had no control over. The standards (in a civil court) are totally different.”

Rappoport, who has filed a $4 million wrongful death action against the city on behalf of Maria’s husband, João, said he believes that, when the case is finally tried, the verdict will be that the city and its agents were “willfully and grossly negligent.”

Rappoport said that city’s decision reinstating Mooney and Jeffrey was “totally expected,” because it supports the city in its contention that it is not legally liable for Mrs. Carvalho’s death.

City Solicitor Margaret M. Lynch-Gadaleta said the city decided to give Jeffrey and Mooney their jobs back after the Attorney General’s Office exonerated them of criminal wrongdoing and the Health Department found that they were not guilty of professional misconduct.

But she said the city was right to fire the firefighters when it did, a week after Mrs. Carvalho’s death, based on the information that was available at the time, and the circumstances. She brushed aside allegations by the firefighters’ lawyers and the union that the firing was precipitous.

“I’m sure that they’re advocating as best they can for their positions. I don’t put any credence in Monday morning quarterbacks,” Lynch said.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:28 PM | Comment

Marine accused of stealing another Marine's identity

A U.S. Marine has been charged with identity theft and bank robbery after prosecutors say he stole the wallet of a fellow Marine who was deployed in Iraq and opened accounts in the person’s name.

Daniel Tejeda, 21, of Providence is also accused of robbing a bank.

According to federal authorities, Tejeda took a fellow Marine’s wallet while they were training together at Parris Island in South Carolina. When Tejeda returned to Rhode Island, prosecutors say, he used the alleged victim's information to open bank accounts and a cell phone account.

The alleged victim was deployed to Iraq in September 2006. A few months later, the alleged victim’s mother was contacted by collection agencies looking for payment of overdue bills in the victim’s name.

The mother called New York State Police, who traced the account to Providence. With the help of the Secret Service, authorities eventually found Tejeda.

In another indictment returned last month, but unsealed just yesterday, Tejeda is charged with stealing almost $6,000 from a teller at a Sovereign Bank branch in Providence.

Tejeda had been in Florida, but returned to Rhode Island yesterday at the request of the Secret Service. He pleaded not guilty to the bank robbery charge and has not pleaded to the charge of identity theft, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Tejeda was ordered detained; he faces a total of 25 years in prison and fines totaling $500,000.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 2:16 PM | Comment

Convicted killer Alfred Bishop loses his lawyer

Alfred "Freddie" Bishop, a man who spent 33 years in prison for gunning down a friend and now faces another murder charge, will have to find a new lawyer.

Bishop's lawyer, Paul DiMaio, withdrew from Bishop's murder case today.

DiMaio moved to withdraw, a motion that had been scheduled for hearing today and was granted by Judge William E. Carnes Jr. in Kent County Superior Court, according to Michael Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

DiMaio cited his client's lack of resources to have scientific testing performed and to hire technical expertise to defend the case effectively, according to Healey.

Bishop's case has been referred to the public defender's office, Healey said. The next court date is April 10, a determination of attorney conference. That is to see if Bishop qualifies for representation from the public defender's office, meaning the office will have to check whether there is a conflict of interest. If there is, then the court would appoint a lawyer.

Bishop pleaded innocent to the murder charge on Feb 22.

The Warwick police allege that Bishop, who had been on parole for about 10 months, shot and killed Gabriel Medeiros, 35, during a home invasion last June and wounded his brother and sister-in-law.

The police allege that Bishop entered the house at 43 Warwick Lake Ave. just after midnight wearing a ski mask and carrying a pistol. Caesar Medeiros, 43, confronted Bishop in a hallway and clubbed him twice with a golf club before Bishop wounded him and his wife Claire, 39, according to the police.

Gabriel Medeiros, who was living in the couple’s basement, then tackled Bishop. Bishop allegedly managed to shoot him in the chest, the police said.

Bishop was arrested five days later.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney with Journal archival reports.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:08 PM | Comment

R.I. Supreme Court upholds stomping-murder conviction

PROVIDENCE -- The state Supreme Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Manuel Texieira for his role in the 2003 stomping death of Edgar Ortega outside a Providence club.

Texieira is serving mandatory life imprisonment after a Superior Court jury found him guilty on Feb. 16, 2006.

His appeal to the Supreme Court contended that the trial judge erred in several ways, including by denying Texieira's motions that he be acquitted and his motion for a new trial.

Read the state Supreme Court's opinion.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

A fight broke out between two strangers in the early morning of Aug. 31, 2003, outside The Keg Room. Friends of both men joined in and the fight ended with Ortega beaten and kicked to death, the court opinion states.

Ortega and three friends had decided the day before to the spend the evening at the club. After they got there, a club patron, Jonas Chattelle, walked by and bumped Ortega while Ortega was dancing with a female friend. The two men "stared at each other ominously," the high court opinion says, but apparently did not confront each other.

Later, as the club was closing at about 2 a.m., Ortega started arguing with Chattelle and two bouncers tried to separate them. The bouncers "physically ushered" Ortega out of the club and had several other patrons leave it as well, through a back entrance.

Ortega -- described in the court opinion as over six feet tall and weighing more than 300 pounds, compared to Chattelle weighing about 180 pounds -- and his friends met up outside and he warned them that they should “watch out because there might be [a fight].” Ortega saw Chattelle and they fought on a sidewalk in front of the club entrance.

Ortega’s friend Victor Alonzo, tried to break it up, but Ortega would not withdraw. A large crowd surrounded the fight. the crowd got rowdier, yelling at the two fighting. Another man, supporting Chattelle, further instigated the fight, which turned into a melee pitting friends of both men on each side, the court opinion says.

Ortega was eventually on the ground, where he was hit and kicked in the abdominal area and the face by various people involved in the melee. He was hit in the head by a thrown bottle and, eventually, hit various ways again in or near the street.

A witness testified that he saw Texieira run about three to four steps, then kick Ortega in the face, according to the court opinion. The witness said the noise was jarring and sounded “like [Mr. Ortega’s] face broke.” Ortega’s head went back, his hands came off the ground, he collapsed on the ground and didn't move any more.

The police found Mr. Ortega unconscious. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:15 PM | Comment

Smoke-shop case: Jury waits while judge, lawyers talk

Journal photo/ Mary Murphy
Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, second from right, and other members of the Narragansett Indian tribe who are defendants in the case stemming from a state police raid on their smoke shop, listen as Judge Susan E. McGuirl gives instructions again to the jurors late this morning.

PROVIDENCE -- The Superior Court judge and lawyers in the trial of seven Narragansett Indians met in chambers for much of the morning, delaying the start of a third day of jury deliberations.

Judge Susan E. McGuirl then came out, again gave the jurors instructions and urged them to listen and talk to each other, saying, "You need to keep your minds open."

The jury, which has deliberated for two days coming into today, did not return to their task until after the judge and lawyers met in chambers.

Late yesterday afternoon, the judge received a note from the jury, moments after she clarified its question about self-defense.

“Go home. Clear your heads,” McGuirl told jurors yesterday. “You’re in the best place to make a decision that anyone can be.”

McGuirl, when asked through her clerk, would not say whether the jury was deadlocked. She did tell jurors that she would give them further instructions this morning.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

The panel of seven men and five women, plus three alternates, heard testimony from 25 witnesses over 16 days in Providence County Superior Court before beginning deliberations around 11 a.m. Tuesday.

They are weighing 17 misdemeanor counts lodged against seven Narragansett Indians arrested when the state police raided a tax-free smoke shop the tribe opened on tribal land in Charlestown in July 2003.

Extra: more coverage of the trial

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:31 PM | Comment

Groups plan to protest governor's immigration order

Another protest is scheduled today at the State House to voice opposition to the governor’s executive order aimed at identifying and removing illegal immigrants from Rhode Island.

An organizer said a handful of advocacy groups are involved.

“While the Governor tries to argue that immigrants without legal status cost the state money,” a statement announcing the protest says, “immigrants who don’t have papers pay more in taxes than higher wage earners and receive less in services and tax refunds than other workers.”

Exactly how many illegal immigrants are in the state, and what their financial impact is, is a point of contention which no one has been able to answer definitively.

Today’s protest is scheduled for 4 p.m. this afternoon at the State House Rotunda.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 12:19 PM | Comment

Victim of pickup-tanker truck crash was Coventry man

The driver who died after his pickup truck collided with a tractor-trailer last night was a 46-year-old Coventry man, the police said today.

Joseph Fogarty died at Kent County Hospital, according to the police.

Yesterday at about 7:20 p.m., the Coventry police responded to the accident near 450 Arnold Road. The police say witnesses report seeing the tractor-trailer –– which was towing 10,500 gallons of home heating oil –– driving north on Arnold Road.

A Ford Ranger pickup truck, driven by Fogarty, was traveling south on Arnold Road when it crossed the double yellow line, the police say, and collided with the tanker.

No oil was spilled from the tanker, which is registered to Parente’s Oil of Coventry.

The police are still investigating the accident.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 10:41 AM | Comment

Jury to return in smoke-shop deliberations

The jury in the smoke-shop trial returns to Superior Court today -- hopefully with clearer heads and a solid understanding of self-defense.

In its first full day of deliberations, the jury did not reach a verdict in the case of seven Narragansett Indians who face several misdemeanor charges for their part in a 2003 scuffle that broke out during a state police raid on a tribal, tax-free smoke shop.

The seven defendants -- including the Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas -- face 17 charges between them of assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and obstructing police.

Yesterday afternoon the jury sent Judge Susan E. McGuirl a letter asking for a clarification about self-defense. Soon after working through that definition, McGuirl sent the jury home.

"Go home. Clear your heads," she said, and told the jurors that they would receive more instruction today.

Extra: See photos and video of the raid, and read documents filed with the courts.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 9:31 AM | Comment

Talking politics and Islam at Johnson and Wales

Professor, presidential adviser and international political science maven Vali Nasr is speaking on politics and Islam today in Rhode Island.

Nasr is currently a professor at Tufts University, where he teaches “Islam and Politics” and “Iran and Global Politics.” He has advised, among others, President Bush, and the National Security Council, and testified in front of Congress.

He’ll be speaking today at the Johnson & Wales University Xavier Auditorium. “The Politics of the Muslim World” is set to begin at 11:30 a.m.

Seating is limited. For information call 598-1400.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 8:48 AM | Comment

Today's front page, a lottery and the clergy

It's a different kind of lottery, and the payoff may be greater. On today's front page, staff writer Jennifer D. Jordan writes about parents entering their children in a lottery to secure a spot in one fo the state's charter schools.

And staff writer Tom Mooney writes about the clergy's reaction to Governor Carcieri's executive order on illegal immigrants.

Download a .PDF copy of today's front page.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 7:02 AM | Comment

Nice day today; listen to the birds for the forecast

For the first morning in a while, the chirps of birds this morning were not muffled by wind, or drowned out by rain.

The National Weather Service is forecasting clear, sunny skies, calm west winds getting breezy at times, and a high temperature near 55 degrees.

Enjoy it while it lasts, as we'll see rain tonight -- and through the weekend. Tonight's temperature should drop to about 33 degrees. Winds should be milder, however, coming from the southwest.

And more rain is expected tomorrow. Expect a mild east wind and a high temperature near 42 degrees.

For weather updates throughout the day, see projo.com's weather page.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 7:01 AM | Comment

Lynch attacks latest LNG plan for Mount Hope Bay

PROVIDENCE -- A plan by Weaver's Cove Energy to use the middle of Mount Hope Bay as the site for a liquefied natural gas offloading facility would be an assault on the bay, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said.

"From an environmental standpoint, this proposal is even more invasive of Mount Hope Bay than the plans that have been previously rejected," said Lynch. "At a time when so many have worked so hard to restore the marine environment of Mount Hope Bay, this proposal declares war on it."

The company had planned to bring supertankers through the bay and up the Taunton River in Massachusetts, unloading them in Fall River. But the Coast Guard said the ships could not safely navigate through the Brightman Street Bridge and its replacement bridge, now under construction.

The new proposal would eliminate the need to pass under any Massachusetts spans, but still require the tankers to go under the Pell and Mount Hope Bay bridges, shutting them down during the passages.

"The bridge closures and tanker traffic would still disrupt our Ocean State's quality of life," Lynch said. "The bay would still be monopolized by LNG tankers and be seriously compromised as a destination for Rhode Islanders and tourists alike."

The company says it changed its plans in response to reaction from the public.

"That's ludicrous and insulting," said Lynch. "They haven't been listening, because they've been deafened by the sound of the money they hope will line their pockets."

"On many occasions I've said that offshore LNG sitings are preferable. But erecting a berth in Mount Hope Bay, just two miles south of the Braga Bridge, and building a four mile-long pipeline into Weaver's Cove is hardly 'offshore,' even though that's the terminology being used by Weaver's Cove Energy," he said. "This proposal borders on stunning in its audaciousness, greed, and stupidity."

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:08 AM | Comment