Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Cold weather can't stop a dedicated quahogger. About a dozen of them fended off the chill today while looking for clams at low tide at Colt State Park in Bristol. Check those tides, as well as local conditions and forecasts, at projo.com/weather. Hint: Tomorrow will be in the 40s and clear, and on Sunday, you'll wonder if it's winter, with temps reaching into the 50s under partly-cloudy skies.

BY MARK REYNOLDS
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- A former North Providence police officer who connived with a known drug dealer and lied to federal agents will be imprisoned for five months and confined to his home for another five months, a federal judge ordered today, telling the 38-year-old that he had corrupted the criminal justice system.

As Paul Vittorio asked U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi to approve the sentence negotiated by his lawyer, William C. Dimitri, muscles in Vittorio's neck quivered. The former officer told the judge he had chosen "self-preservation" over his duty to enforce the law.

"While I'm not the first person to do so, or the last, it was wrong, your honor," he said.

Due to his plea deal with prosecutors, Vittorio will serve a sentence far lighter than the maximum 28-year term allowed under the law.

"Had you not had this agreement with the government," Lisi told him, "I would be sending you away for a very long time, because what you have done is despicable."

In September, Vittorio admitted that he warned Louis Romanelli that he might be under investigation for dealing in pharmaceuticals, and suggested that Romanelli move his operation to another location, according to federal prosecutors.

Vittorio also admitted trying to influence the testimony of a grand jury witness.

>> Continue reading: Update: My crime 'was wrong,' says ex-N. Providence cop

WARWICK - The city is facing a $5-million shortfall for the current fiscal year thanks to state aid cuts, and Mayor Scott Avedesian said he is looking at ways to cut the budget, including layoffs and furloughs.

The mayor said it also appears seasonal recreational programs will have to be cut this summer.

The city's financial situation has been aggrevated by the fact the School Committee has racked up a $3-million deficit over the past two years, he said.

BY Linda Borg
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island College has opened a $2.9 million center that will enable teachers from around the state to enhance their math and science instruction by working with the latest technology.

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Center is located on the second floor of the Henry Barnard School, an elementary school used to train prospective teachers studying at RIC.

The center includes four electronic classrooms and additional life science classrooms, and lecture rooms will be installed throughout the RIC campus later this year, for a total investment of almost $6 million.

One of the center's main roles is to promote the use of technology by teachers who teach science, technology, engineering and math. As many as half of the teachers in the state are expected to be involved with this program, which has already received a $12.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. It will involve scientists at RIC, the University of Rhode Island and other colleges.

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
More than 100 female executives from the corporate, medical and political communities joined Rhode Island's sLt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed today on the State House rotunda steps. All wearing red, they gathered to raise awareness of the No. 1 and No. 3 killers of women in Rhode Island -- heart disease and stroke -- on the eve of National Wear Red Day, tomorrow, Feb. 6.

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Students from the Winsor Elementary School in Smithfield carry a dragon as part of their Chinese New Year celebration today. The festivities marking the Year of the Ox included a Chinese dance performance featuring Bryant University student, Dongni Wan, and a demonstration of Tai Chi, and student presentations of their Chinese language and culture learnings. Video: Watch them parade and perform.

By Katherine Gregg
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE, RI -- Governor Carcieri has asked Democratic General Assembly leaders to give him a two-week extension on delivering his proposed tax-and-spending plan for next year.

The first extension gave him until next Tuesday to present his proposed 2009-10 budget.

But in a letter going out this afternoon to House Speaker William J. Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, he asks permission to deliver the proposal Feb. 24.

"As we discussed, this extension will give us time to incorporate any changes made through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan currently before the United States Congress,'' he wrote, referring to President Obama's stimuls plan.

Lawmakers are expected to agree to his request.

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
The snow fell heavily, but beautifully, this afternoon in front of a New England classic, the Old Congregational Church just off the Scituate town green. The Greek Revival building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

By John E. Mulligan
Journal Washington bureau

WASHINGTON -- As President Obama's top economic advisor expressed a willingness to change elements of the $819-billion economic recovery bill that passed the House last week, the White House estimated today that Rhode Island would gain about 13,000 jobs among the 3 million to 4 million that the administration expects the measure to create by the end of next year.

At a briefing for reporters, Lawrence Summers, chairman of Mr. Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, continued the administration's campaign for swift action on the huge economic stimulus bill. He defended a number of its provisions - including expanded Pell grants for college students - against the criticism that they will do little in the short -term to create jobs.

The Pell grant expansion is "very much'' an economic stimulus, he said. "I see families that don't have to sell their houses'' in order to send their children to college, he said.

The White House job estimate sheet did not break down how Rhode Island might gain 13,000 jobs over two years. But the estimate was in line with a rule of thumb that R.I. Transportation Director Michael Lewis cited last week when he said there might be an increase of 6,000 jobs Rhode Island this year from such traditional public works projects as road-building.

The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders rose in December by 3,700, boosting the unemployment rate from 9.3 percent to 10 percent, the highest rate in New England and the second-highest in the country (after Michigan). There were 56,800 unemployed state residents by the year's end.

From December 2007 to December 2008, the number of unemployed Rhode Islanders grew by 26,600.

In the Senate, Rhode Island Democrats Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse were both in the majority on a 58 to 39 test vote on a proposal to add $25 billion to the spending on the national infrastructure. That measure failed because 60 votes would have been needed under Senate rules. The two were both in the 71 to 26 majority that signaled support for a temporary tax break on auto loans and on certain state taxes on car purchases.

By TALIA BUFORD
Journal Staff Writer

WESTERLY -- Three Westerly men accused of robbing a drug dealer in November will be arraigned Monday in Washington County Superior Court on felony charges.

Jamie Castagnaro, 21, of 3 River Ave., Robert Austin, 19, of 125 Granite St., and James Lucy, 19, of 1 Meadow Lark Drive were indicted Friday on charges of first-degree robbery and conspiracy. Lucy also was indicted on one count of possession of marijuana.

The three men and three youths were arrested Nov. 11 after a week-long investigation by the Westerly police. According to officers, the six arranged to buy marijuana from a 16-year-old boy but instead robbed him at knifepoint, taking the marijuana and $100 in cash. The alleged victim, who suffered minor cuts to the neck and hand, was not charged because the marijuana wasn't recovered.

The three boys, all 16, were arrested at the time of the incident and held at the Rhode Island Training School.

One of the boys admitted sufficient facts -- the Family Court equivalent of a no-contest plea -- on two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery. He was given 18 months' probation and a one-year suspended sentence.

A second youth will be arraigned in Family Court on Feb. 10 for alleged assault with intent to commit robbery, robbery and two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Charges against the third youth were not pursued.

PROVIDENCE -- The House of Representatives today voted 71 to 2 to approve legislation requiring General Assembly approval for every substantial change proposed to Rhode Island's Medicaid system under the new Global Medicaid Waiver agreement between the state and the federal government.

The legislation is meant to ensure legislative oversight as the state moves forward with executing changes to Medicaid allowed under a waiver granted by the federal government late last year, according to a State House press release.

The bill will now be forwarded to the Senate.

The controversial waiver was proposed by Republican Governor Carcieri as a way of coping with the state's budget deficit. The Democrat-ruled General Assembly did not block the waiver when it had the chance and was expected to approve oversight legislation.

Lawmakers had been worried that the governor sought unprecedented authority to re-shape Medicaid programs that touch 180,000 Rhode Islanders, but had yet to detail most of the specifics.

-- With Journal archival reports

Roll call for the second shift of the Providence Police Department was held at the grave site of Sgt. Steven Shaw this afternoon, at St. Ann's Cemetery in Cranston. It is the 15th anniversary of his death in the line of duty. Shaw was killed while investigating a series of robberies. Besides the more than 50 Providence police who drove in a caravan to the cemetery, members of his family including his widow, Maria, and his father, Robert Shaw, attended. Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy

By Katherine Gregg
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE -- Adelita Orefice confirmed today that she is stepping down as the $123,892-a-year head of Rhode Island's Executive Office of Health & Human Services within 10 days, making way for an as-yet unidentified replacement.

In a brief interview today, Orefice said she put the governor's office on notice when she took the job that she hoped to leave when she reached her 10-year anniversary in state government this summer.

She said she is leaving the job early for a new assignment within the R.I. Health Department, so that someone new can step in "shepherd'' the Carcieri administration's unprecedented Medicaid agreement with the Bush administration.

The agreement would give Republican Carcieri freedom from many of the tight rules that currently govern the Medicaid program, in exchange for a $12 billion spending cap over the next five years. A former state labor director, Orefice was given the title deputy secretary of OHHS when she was brought in to replace former human services secretary Jane Hayward.

At that time, the governor's said Orefice would oversee what Carcieri in his 2008 state of the state address described as a "transformation" of the state's Medicaid program "from one centered on institutions and agencies to a system that focuses on the people who use it: our children, the elderly, and those with disabilities."

While the proposal was evolving, however, Orefice said she was more involved in consolidating the administrative and operational functions within the human-services agencies under her purview.

There was no immediate comment from Carcieri's office on her departure from the job, but Orefice said it is "my understanding the governor has somebody in mind'' to replace her.

>> Continue reading: Orefice stepping down as head of HHS Office

In East Providence, laid off Colibri workers and Fuerza Laboral, an organization of immigrants and low-income workers, hold a rally to protest the sudden closing of Colibri. Providence Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl

By Benjamin N. Gedan and Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writers

Displaced employees of The Colibri Group are gathering today at the company's East Providence headquarters to demand that laid off workers receive an additional two months of wages and health care coverage.

The rally, reported by the Rhode Island's Future blog, is being organized by Fuerza Laboral, an immigrant and labor rights group in Central Falls.

About 60 persons gathered at the plant and by noon were chanting noisily and displaying signs reading "Enough Abuse Already" and "Justice for Workers."

Colibri, one of the region's best-known jewelry makers, abruptly shut down on Jan. 20, laying off its 280 employees. The same day, a Providence Superior Court judge appointed a receiver to sell off the company's assets to pay back more than $28 million in company debt.

Fuerza Laboral argues that Colibri violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, known as the WARN Act. The law, passed in 1988, compels companies with at least 100 employees to provide a minimum of 60 days' notice before closing a plant.

"Many workers had given 10, 20 and 30 years of their hard work to the company," Fuerza Laboral says in announcement about tomorrow's noontime rally. "Federal Law requires a minimum of 60 days notice for a major plant closing. We didn't even get one day."

Laura Hart, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor and Training, which by law receives WARN notices from Rhode Island employers, said in some circumstances companies forced to close by emergency financial challenges may be exempt from the law.

By W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal Staff Writer

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. -- The new chairman of the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation expressed astonishment today that consultants were paid nearly $600,000 in lobbying and administrative fees last year for their work at the Donald W. Wyatt Federal Detention Facility.

Daniel Cooney, a retired deputy fire chief who was recently appointed to the board, said that he wants a detailed breakdown on what each firm was paid and exactly what services it performed.

Last week, the Journal reported that consultants were paid about $579,000 last year and that Anthony Ventetuolo Jr., the jail's executive director, and his real estate firm, Avcorr Management of Warwick, were paid $230,575. The jail's financial records also revealed that Ventetuolo was slated to receive an "incentive'' bonus of $164,382. bringing his total income to $407,961.

"That was an eyebrow raiser,'' said Cooney. "I don't know who [the consultants] are or what they are getting paid for. I'll tell you what -- it seems like a lot of money.''

The consulting fees were about $50,000 more than the $525,000 the city received last year for being the jail's host community.

U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, left and Jack Reed, right, with North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi, discuss the need to pass the economic stimulus package in Washington, ane how the state would benefit from it. Watch the video Providence Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

By Neil Downing
Journal business columnist

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse were at City Hall this morning to talk about the proposed federal economic stimulus legislation currently before Congress.

Reed today predicted that a final vote on the stimulus plan could come by Presidents' Day, Feb. 16, and Whitehouse said Rhode Island seniors could see a one-time boost in their Social Security benefits by late spring if the legislation is enacted.

The Senate will debate its own version of the measure this week, Reed said at the meeting this morning with North Providence Mayor Charles A. Lombardi and others.

A conference committee will have to hammer out differences between versions of the bill approved by the House and Senate. A final version, acceptable to both houses, could be voted on by Feb. 16, Reed said.

Under a legislative provision that Whitehouse has promoted, Social Security beneficiaries would receive a one-time payment of $300 apiece.

The payment would probably be made in the form of a one-time addition to a beneficiary's monthly Social Security benefit, Whitehouse said.

>> Continue reading: Senators: Stimulus plan to include boost for RI seniors / Video

Members of the 54th Volunteer Regiment Honor Guard from Milford, Ma. carried his casket into the Waring-Sullivan Funeral Home in Swansea. Below, Harrington's sister, Elizabeth Harrington, 21, left, Harrington's widow, Faith, and an Army staff sergeant watch as his the casket is taken into the funeral home. Providence Journal photos / Frieda Squires

The body of Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Harrington returned to southern New England Sunday morning.

Harrington's body arrived at T.F.Green Airport Sunday morning around 9 a.m.

From Warwick, it was transported to the Waring-Sullivan Funeral Home in Swansea, where 32 members of the Patriot Guard Riders lined the driveway bearing American Flags.

Members of the 54th Volunteer Regiment Honor Guard, from Milford, Ma., carried Harrington's casket into the funeral home.

Harrington's father, Dennis Harrington of Cranston, released a statement expressing hope that his son's fellow soldiers "find peace within their hearts" and come home safely.

Harrington died Jan. 24, in Basra, Iraq, when someone in his unit backed over him with a forklift.

Watch a video of the arrival of Harrington's casket in Swansea

Watch a video of Elizabeth Harrington remembering her brother

Post a tribute to Staff Sgt. Kyle Harrington

Read our continuing report on Southern New Englanders who have died in Iraq

Former Providence Tax Collector Robert Ceprano says Mayor David N. Cicilline is making him a scapegoat in the controversy over a bad check that Cicilline's brother gave to the city on behalf of a delinquent taxpayer.

Cicilline fired Ceprano last week following an audit report on the check and the operations of the tax collector's office.

In an exclusive interview with The Providence Journal's Mike Stanton, Ceprano, a 28-year veteran of the IRS, responded to criticism from Cicilline that Ceprano ran an office without policies and procedures and that Ceprano erred in accepting the bad check. Ceprano says he wouldn't play the kind of political games once common in the collection of city taxes.

Read Stanton's complete story in The Sunday Journal and on projo.com.

By KATIE MULVANEY
Journal staff writer

A former University of Rhode Island student testified today about the hours and minutes that led up to the death of a Fairfield University valedictorian under the wheels of a bus at a Newport street corner.

Jarrad Rocheleau, of Cumberland, described a night of drinking that began before hundreds of URI seniors climbed aboard buses and headed to Newport for a pub crawl in May 20, 2004.

Rocheleau left the area of the Rhino Bar and Grille and started walking toward the buses with Loren Welsh, of New Jersey, when Welsh exchanged words with four men in tuxedoes, Rocheleau said under questioning by lawyer Robert D. Parrillo.

Welsh approached the men and raised her hand to strike someone, he said. He tried to stop her, but she made contact with somebody, he said. Welsh and Rocheleau were good friends at the time, and remain friends, but have not talked in more than a year.

Within seconds a man he later learned was Francis J. Marx V fell to the ground, he said. Under questioning by Welsh's lawyer, Rocheleau later said it was "fair to say" that Welsh had not tried to hit Marx, but one of the other men in formal wear.

>> Continue reading: URI student of Cumberland testifies in pub crawl death

Goetz Custom Sailboats has rehired nearly its entire workforce after an international customer resumed payments on an order for a racing yacht.

The Bristol boatbuilder went into receivership Jan. 6 after the contract with the client -- a private individual from Scotland -- was suspended because of the worsening international economy. As a result, Goetz laid off all of its 75 employees.

But after the customer recommitted to the project, Goetz rehired about 40 percent of its workers last week and another 40 percent yesterday. About 60 people are now working at the company's shop on Broad Common Road.

Find more breaking business news at Projo Biz Blog

By Gina Macris
Journal staff writer

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The East Providence teachers' union has asked the Rhode Island Supreme Court to reverse
a Superior Court ruling allowing the School Committee to roll back teachers' salaries and require them to contribute to the cost of their health insurance.

The state Supreme Court has set Feb. 5 as the date it will hear the teachers' appeal, court spokesman Craig N. Berke announced late this afternoon.

In the meantime, Berke said, there is no effect on the ruling last Thursday by Superior Court Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer, who refused to temporarily block the School Committee from unilaterally slicing 5 percent off paychecks and imposing a new payroll deduction to cover 20 percent of health insurance premiums.

The union had turned to the Superior Court for an injunction to prevent the pay cuts until the state Labor Relations Board can hear the merits of a separate unfair labor practice complaint. That Labor Relations Board hearing is not scheduled until March.

The salary reductions went into effect with the paychecks teachers received Jan. 16.

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

BOSTON -- Francesco Insolia, former owner of a New Bedford factory raided by federal immigration agents two years ago, was sentenced today to a year and a day in federal prison for violating immigration and wage and hour laws.

Insolia, 51, of Pembroke, Mass., the founder and president of the former Michael Bianco Inc., is also to pay a $30,000 fine.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock also fined Bianco, the corporate entity, $1.51 million and $460,000 in restitution to former employees.

Federal immigration agents raided the company in March 2007 and arrested more than 350 suspected illegal immigrants and three top company administrators.

Insolia pleaded guilty in November to harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.

The plea agreement spared Insolia a maximum 10-year sentence and more than $600,000 in fines.

Insolia pleaded guilty to harboring and concealing illegal immigrants by allowing the company to submit false Social Security numbers for its employees. The charge said he did so for "commercial advantage and private financial gain."

The Bianco company (MBI) pleaded guilty to 18 specific felony counts of knowingly hiring illegal aliens; helping to harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection from authorities; failing to pay them full overtime; Social Security fraud; and mail fraud, "all in an effort to maximize profits on a series of lucrative military contracts," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan. The counts involved the period between early 2004 and late 2006, a time during which the company grew from fewer than 100 employees to more than 600.

-- with Journal archive reports

BY KATHY GREGG
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- With the state facing a huge backlog of unemployment-benefit claims, legislative leaders have agreed to fast-track legislation allowing the state's Department of Labor & Training to rehire some of its retirees.

The proposal initially was included in Governor Carcieri's $357-million deficit-reduction plan, but was criticized by some legislators and organized labor representatives.

House Speaker Williiam J. Murphy confirmed this afternoon that the House will be asked to vote, on an emergency basis, on a bill to allow the Department of Labor & Training to bring back retirees between today and March 1 for the exclusive purpose of processing unemployment insurance claims.

The bill is being considered this afternoon and follows a personal visit by House Finance Chairman Steven Costantino, D-Providence, to an unemployment call center today.

>> Continue reading: Update: House to take up bill to rehire retirees

Watch Mayor Cicilline's press conference, on YouTube video.

By Phil Marcelo
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I -- Mayor David N. Cicilline fired city Tax Collector Robert Ceprano today and announced a series of changes in the way that the city collects taxes, to make the process of disputing tax bills clearer to the public.

Ceprano, who has served has city tax collector since 2000, has been on paid administrative leave since September, when The Journal first reported that Ceprano's office had accepted a bad check for $75,000 from the mayor's brother, the now disbarred lawyer John M. Cicilline, in order to clear real estate liens placed on the West End property of one of Cicilline's clients.

The mayor hired an independent auditor to look into what happened in that instance. In the process, the firm also looked into four other cases in which Ceprano says he was pressured by the mayor's aides and his supervisors to perform tax favors for Cicilline's friends and campaign contributors.

"What this audit makes clear....is that big changes are necessary at the Tax Collector's Office," Cicilline said at a news conference in his office this afternoon. "The audit clearly supports the finance director's original conclusion that new leadership is required in the office."

AP Photo/Martha Updike,Alfred A. Knopf
JOHN UPDIKE

By Bryan Rourke
Journal Staff Writer

John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex, divorce and other adventures in the postwar prime of the American empire, died today at age 76.

Updike, a resident of Beverly Farms, Mass., died of lung cancer, according to a statement from his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf.

In part, Updike's literary reputation is based in Rhode Island. That would be the parts known as The Witches of Eastwick (1984) and The Widows of Eastwick (2008). Both books draw upon the character and the scenery of the state, specifically East Greenwich and Wickford. Their names and features Updike combined to create his so-called fictional sense of place: Eastwick.

Disclaimers in both books report that they are "a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental."

But any Rhode Islander who has read the books knows better.

Here are some of what Updike calls coincidences: Eastwick happens to have a Cocumscussoc Way, just as North Kingstown does. The story takes place in an L-shaped seaside village formed by two main commercial roads, just as Brown and West Main Streets do in Wickford. And these commercial roads have "chi-chi restaurants, and art galleries that come and go. Those scrawny trees downtown are strung with Christmas lights all year long."

When read that description last November, Bruce MacGunnigle, East Greenwich's Main Street coordinator, thought he recognized it.

"That's us. They're Bartlett pear trees. They have lights on them all year, but they're not lit all year."

Before 1984, the publication of The Witches of Eastwick, which later became a movie starring Jack Nicholson, Rhode Islanders made numerous sightings of Updike in Wickford. But in a 1984 letter to the late Susan Brandau, a former resident of the village, he claimed ignorance.

"Your claim that I have well depicted Wickford and its residents inspires me with mingled joy and terror, since I don't really know Wickford at all, nor did I want to depict it."

And in declining an invitation to speak at the North Kingstown Library in 1984, Updike wrote Deborah Brennan, the former librarian, saying "the connection of the setting of my novel with Wickford is so tenuous that I don't want to emphasize it by appearing at such a function as you suggest."

Updike was not to be believed in 1984, nor in 2008. Clearly sometime in between he had returned to Rhode Island, and observed changes that occurred in 24 years, which he reported in The Widows of Eastwick: a Stop & Shop and a Home Depot built on Route 102, just outside the village.

In his 1984 letter to Brennan, Updike admitted he visited Wickford to explore a possible ancestral connection. At the center of the village is a Wickford Park. The village used to have a John Updike Bed & Breakfast (no relation to the author) until 1999. And in 1707, Wickford was called Updike's Newtown, named after its founder, Lodowick Updike.

-- with reports from Associated Press

By John E. Mulligan
Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON _ President Obama won bipartisan praise today from Rhode Island officials for opening the door to state-level rules on automobile pollution that go further than federal standards. Democrats took the opportunity to renew their criticism of the Bush administration's environmental policies.

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick J. Lynch said in a news release, "The swift and decisive action taken today by President Obama is a breath of fresh air -- literally -- for all who have been harmed by the Bush administration's disdain for and indifference to regulating greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to pollution, threaten public health, and increase the impacts of global warming.''

Mr. Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to review a Bush administration ruling that effectively barred California and allied states from stiffening the limits on auto emissions - including carbon dioxide - believed to contribute to global warming.

Rhode Island was among the states that joined California more than three years ago in seeking a waiver from regular procedures that would have permitted them to press for tougher limits on so-called ``greenhouse gases.''

Mr. Obama's decision -- like the Bush administration action that may now be reversed -- will have no immediate effect on citizens in Rhode Island or the other states involved in seeking what has come to be known as the California waiver. Car manufacturers do not make cars -- or their emissions control systems -- to specifications that vary from state to state. But collective pressure on the auto industry from the states with stricter emission standards could prompt the carmakers to cut back on certain emissions.

``I'm very pleased by this advance,'' said W. Michael Sullivan, director of the state Department of Environmental Management. ``If we're going to affect the quality of our air'' the level of harmful emissions from cars has to be reduced because cars are the biggest source of certain pollutants, Sullivan said.

Governor Carcieri, a Republican, signed an executive order more than three years ago in which he proposed to have the state join in imposing the California strictures on car emissions. All the other New England states except New Hampshire are among the states that have signed onto the effort with California.

Democrat Lynch has joined in legal actions to advance the prerogative of states to impose restrictions tougher than the federal government's.

``It's clear that today's order to the EPA by President Obama signals that the agency will once again become the Environmental Protection Agency, rather than the IPA--the Industry Protection Agency,'' Lynch said in his statement.

"For years, the Bush Administration took care of its friends in the oil and gas business instead of pushing for stricter pollution standards that will lead to new cars and trucks that get better fuel economy," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a news release. "Rhode Island - and America - is ready for tougher limits on greenhouse gas emissions. It's exciting to finally have a president who gets it, and will take strong measures to help all Americans breathe cleaner air, spend less at the pump, and use less foreign oil," said Whitehouse, a Democrat who sits on the Senate's principal environmental committee.

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writer

No state criminal charges will be brought in the death of Hiu Lui Ng, a Chinese national who spent his final month at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls last year.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch and Rhode Island State Police Supt. Brendan P. Doherty announced today that "a lengthy investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Hiu Lui Ng" determined that no state criminal laws were broken in connection with Ng's death.

Ng, a 33-year-old computer engineer from New York, was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he died at Rhode Island Hospital on Aug. 5, 2008, of advanced cancer. He also had a fractured spine.

His lawyers, who say Ng was denied medical care and access to his attorneys, are planning a civil suit.

Extra: Read the deputy attorney general's letter to Rhode Island State Police

Set to open Monday after much fanfare and fuss, URI's new biotech center is the centerpiece of its North Campus expansion and a linchpin in the state's economic plan to expand biotech. Providence Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

By Jennifer Jordan
Journal staff writer

The University of Rhode Island plans to unveil Monday its most expensive building to date: the $59 million Biotechnology Center, the centerpiece of an ambitious expansion of the Kingston campus' north district.

At 10 a.m. Monday, Governor Carcieri and Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse will join URI President Robert L. Carothers and other university officials at a formal ribbon cutting ceremony for the 140,000-square-foot facility.

State and university officials hope the center will help the state attract more biotechnology companies to Rhode Island and perhaps spark spinoff companies that could strengthen the economy.

>> Continue reading: URI to unveil $59 million biotech center Monday

BY ALISHA A. PINA
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- A judge has denied a preliminary injunction that the East Providence Education Association sought asking that the city School Committee be ordered to rescind changes made to teachers' compensation.

Superior Court Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer chose not to intervene with the East Providence School Committee's recent decision to unilaterally rollback its teachers' salaries by nearly 5 percent and, among other changes, force them to pay 20 percent toward their health insurance costs.

Pfeiffer's written ruling, released at 4:30 p.m. today, said the state Labor Relations Board has "exclusive and original jurisdiction over unfair labor practice cases." While the committee and East Providence Education Association -- which represents the city's more than 500 teachers -- waits for a hearing before that board, the judge also said he would not even intervene to temporarily reverse the School Committee's compensation changes.

The changes went into effect Jan. 5 and were first reflected in the teachers' Jan. 16th paychecks.

The union said it will suffer "irreparable harm" if Pfeiffer doesn't suspend the changes, but the School Committee said the proper venue in which to fight back would be with the state labor board.

"Although the union contends that it will suffer irreparable harm unless this court prohibits the committee from reducing wages and mandating a contribution for health care benefits, it is important to note that these changes simply are pecuniary in nature," Pfeiffer's decision read. "The changes do not affect the teachers' health care benefits -- only the cost to the teachers for such benefits. In other words, the teachers will retain the same coverage and access to physicians as they did under the expired collective bargaining agreement. While this Court is sympathetic to the additional costs and potential financial hardships these changes will have on the teachers, financial hardship alone does not rise to the level of irreparable harm under the law."

PROVIDENCE -- Retired Providence Journal columnist M. Charles Bakst; Michael S. Van Leesten, chairman of the Providence Black Repertory Company, and Chace Baptista, a co-founder of Young Voices, are to be inducted this evening into the city's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame.

Mayor David N. Cicilline will preside at the induction ceremony, slated for 7 p.m. in the rotunda of the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Bakst, Van Leesten and Baptista are being honored for "their demonstrated efforts to carry on the legacy of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., by making substantial contributions to acceptance, social justice, civil rights and equality."

Cicilline selected the honorees from a list of nominees submitted by the MLK Hall of Fame selection committee. Their names will be permanently inscribed on a plaque in Providence City Hall.

Gilbane Inc., based in Providence, has been included on the 12th annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list compiled by Fortune magazine.

One of the driving factors for inclusion on the list is that the companies excel at creating jobs. Of the 100 companies on the list, 73 are currently hiring.

Gilbane, locally-controlled and owned by the Gilbane family, currently has 25 job openings, said Wes Cotter, director of communications. Gilbane employs 2,169 employees in the U.S.

The full list of companies and related stories will appear in the Feb. 2 issue of Fortune magazine.

PROVIDENCE, RI -- The two armed men who knocked at the door of a house in Fox Point last night knew just what they wanted and just where to get it, according to the Providence Police.

When one of the residents at 76 Gano St. opened the door sometime after 8:30 p.m., one of the men pointed a gun at him and a visiting Barrington man and demanded access to a locked bedroom belonging to Luke Znosko, according to a police report.

The 18-year-old man wasn't home, but the two armed men broke into his bedroom, grabbed a gray Century fire safe holding a large amount of cash, and took off, Providence Police Maj. Thomas Oates said. Another resident called the police. No one was injured.

-- Amanda Milkovits, Journal staff writer

Newport schools Supt. John Ambrogi recommended the School Committee close the Carey School on Narragansett Avenue. He said one of the main reasons is that its students will be able to attend another school in the same part of town, Underwood School, on Harrison Avenue. Kathy Borchers / Journal file photo

By Rich Salit
Journal staff writer

NEWPORT -- Faced with declining enrollment and costly repairs and improvements to its many aged buildings, the School Committee has voted to close one of its five neighborhood elementary schools.

The committee voted 4-to-2 to close Carey School, a 113-year-old multi-story brick building on Narragansett Avenue, in the south end of town, at the end of the current academic year. About 140 students attend school there.

Nearly 150 people attended the meeting, including many parents of current and future Carey students. They urged the committee to keep the school open or to at least take more time to review options.

But the committee followed the recommendation of schools Supt. John Ambrogi, who said that for a variety of reasons Carey was the best choice to be closed. One of the main reasons, he said, is that its students will be able to attend another school in the same part of town, Underwood School, on Harrison Avenue.

>> Continue reading: Newport committee votes to close elementary school

By Jennifer Jordan
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- State and education officials this morning released the latest round of test scores, which show improvement across all grade levels in both reading and math, but which continue a worrying pattern of extremely low math proficiency for high school students.

The results of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) administered to more than 89,000 elementary, middle and high school students last October, were released by Governor Carcieri and state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters at 11 a.m. at the Statehouse.

Students in grades 3 through 8 improved by 3 percentage points over the previous year in reading, with 68 percent demonstrating proficiency, and they improved 3 points in mathematics, with 57 percent proficient.

High school results also showed improvement, but math scores remained dismally low.
In grade 11, 69 percent scored proficient in reading, up 7 points from last year, but just 27 percent scored proficient in math -- a 5 point jump over last year, the first time the high school test was administered.

The math test is tough -- scoring proficient is roughly the equivalent of a B+, say education officials. But that is the level of math proficiency in algebra, geometry and some trigonometry students need today to compete globally, officials say.

They said they were pleased with the steady progress, but acknowledged the state must do more to strengthen math education.

Over the four years elementary and middle school students have taken the NECAP, scores have risen 10 percentage points in reading and 7 in math.

The test is administered jointly with New Hampshire and Vermont. This fall, Maine will join in the elementary and middle school tests.

"The results today show improving scores for all grades, all tests and all student groups," McWalters said. "Like our other NECAP partners in New Hampshire and Vermont, I remain concerned about the high school mathematics scores. We are working with colleagues in higher education to improve the mathematics curriculum and instructional practices across the state, which should lead to continued improvements in the high school scores."

Reports on the test results are posted on the RIDE Web site.

By Amanda Milkovits
Journal staff writer

CRANSTON -- Starting Friday, the busy Dyer Avenue bridge will be restricted to vehicles weighing 18 tons or less.

Recent inspection findings for the bridge that spans the Pocasset River have spurred the state Department of Transportation to narrow the roadway and restrict the weight limit carried by the bridge.

A crew from the DOT's highway and bridge maintenance division will place barrels and post signs of the weight limit on Friday.

Use of the 47-year-old bridge will be limited indefinitely, until it can be repaired, DOT spokeswoman Frances Segerson said.

>> Continue reading: Weight limit imposed for Cranston's Dyer Ave. bridge

By Mark Reynolds
Journal staff writer

WARWICK - A bench warrant for the arrest of former Rhode Island state Sen. Gregory J. Acciardo of Johnston has been withdrawn, according to Johnston police.

A court clerk told the police this afternoon that the warrant had been withdrawn after the court learned that Acciardo had missed an arraignment proceeding because of "medical reasons," Johnston police Major Ralph Bubar III said.

Acciardo had failed to appear in Kent County District Court to be arraigned on one charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Earlier today, the police said that a bench warrant had been issued for his arrest. Later, the police learned that the court had withdrawn the warrant after communications with one of Acciardo's representatives, Bubar said.

>> Continue reading: Police not searching for former Johnston state senator

By Cynthia Needham
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri has named Gary S. Sasse director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration.

Sasse, a former longtime head of the Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council, now serves as the state's first-ever director of the Department of Revenue, a job he's held since last January and will continue to do alongside his new post until a replacement is found.

He'll replace outgoing $143,011-a-year DOA Director Jerome Williams, who has elected to leave state government early next month to become a senior vice president and chief business and administration officers at Roger Williams University.

In a statement released a few minutes ago, Carcieri said he was pleased that Sasse agreed to take the job. "With more than 30 years of experience in crafting and analyzing sound fiscal policies and sustainability for government programs, Gary has earned the respect and trust of legislators, the media, and the public alike, and is a vital part of the team as we navigate the State through this financial crisis," the governor said.

The same statement quotes Williams praising his successor. "It's has been a pleasure working closely with Gary for the past year..." he said.

Sasse earned a B.A. in political science from Florida State University and an M.S. in public administration from the University of Missouri, according to the administration.

The Providence Journal reported last night on this site that Sasse was a candidate for the job. He could not immediately be reached for comment this afternoon.

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- A group of community activists yesterday "demanded that the Democratic Party of Rhode Island "honor its stated principles" by adopting a platform "in favor of the dignity and human rights of immigrants, regardless of immigration status.

"With the inauguration of our new president, a new era begins for the United States and we believe that the Democratic Party has the opportunity and responsibility to establish a new era in our state is well," one that is based on respect for human dignity," the group said in a statement signed by dozens of people. The statement was made public at a news conference at St. Teresa Church, held by members of Olneyville Neighborhood Association; Immigrants in Action Committee of St. Teresa Church; American Friends Service Committee, Jobs with Justice and several tenants' rights organizations.

The suggested platform includes providing driver's licenses based on the ability to drive, not on immigration status; requested that state and local police "not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement" or ask about a person's immigration status; and calls for an end to racial profiling during traffic stops. Advocacy group members also stated that "the Republican program 'E-Verify' does not belong in our state," because it results in employment discrimination and "a significant number of incorrect firings."

Democratic Party Chairman William Lynch said he had not received the statement, and that the party office was closed because most of the staff had attended the presidential inauguration in Washington.

By Tracy Breton
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- Lawyers for the victims of the Station nightclub fire and the parties they have sued are trying to hammer out the wording of a release form the plaintiffs will have to sign to receive money from a $176-million settlement fund that all of the defendants have agreed to contribute to.

But it appears that it will still be months before the victims will receive any money.
At a status conference Tuesday, lawyers for the plaintiffs and defendants told U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin about incremental steps that are being taken to effectuate the settlements.

"We have made a lot of progress," victims' lawyer Mark Mandell told Martin. But neither he nor lawyer James Ruggieri --who chairs a committee of defendants' lawyers -- asked the judge to approve anything, saying there are still things that need to be ironed out.

>> Continue reading: Settlement money isn't released to Station fire victims

By Steve Peoples
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE, RI -- The Senate Finance Committee will meet at 3 this afternoon to review to review high-profile legislation requiring significant legislative oversight for Governor Carcieri's plans to overhaul subsidized health insurance programs.

At a similar hearing before the House Finance Committee yesterday, top state officials could not explain millions of dollars in expected cuts to health insurance programs.

Governor Carcieri has repeatedly pledged that the unprecedented agreement with the federal government -- known as a "global Medicaid waiver" -- is designed to give poor, elderly and disabled Rhode Islanders better health care choices. But the governor's office has released a document detailing $20 million in Medicaid-related savings this year alone.

"We're not prepared to answer those questions," Department of Human Services Senior Administrator Ann Martino told the House Finance Committee yesterday, when asked to explain a proposed "limited benefit package" for RIte Care, which serves 120,000 children and parents.

Martino testified that the administration has backed off a plan to cut medical coverage for some recipients. But she said there would be cuts.

"Alternate savings were being looked for," she said. "To be honest with you, I'm not sure what was exactly elected as a substitute."

Several lobbyists testified yesterday before the House committee-- and many are expected to return to the Senate today -- in support of legislation requiring the governor to obtain Assembly approval for any Medicaid change other than the most basic administrative issues.

Without the oversight, advocates representing vulnerable Rhode Islanders fear the governor could eliminate or change popular services.

Department of Human Services Director Gary Alexander said in a separate interview that the administration supports the proposed legislation.

In response to concerns, Alexnader noted there was no plan to cut early screening programs for poor children. And he said there was no immediate plan to change how RIte Care is managed.

"But whatever changes we propose have to come before the Legislature," he said, acnowledging the requirements in the oversight bill.

AP Photo / Doug Mills
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk down Pennsylvania Avenue en route to the White House today, after the inaugural ceremonies and before the evening festivities.

WASHINGTON -- The presidential inauguration is more of a marathon than a sprint.

Here's what's officially on tap for tonight (and this writer is betting that Michelle Obama can't wait to kick off those green pumps for a little while before shifting to dancing shoes.)

Commander-in-Chief's Ball

Location: National Building Museum
Doors open: 5:30 PM
Event begins: 7:00 PM
Event Concludes: Approximately 12:00 midnight
This event is by invitation only.

Neighborhood Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Convention Center, Hall D
Doors open: 5:00 PM
Event begins: 7:00 PM
Event Concludes: approximately 10:30 PM
A portion of the tickets will be reserved for DC residents. Visit www.pic2009.org for further details.

Youth Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Hilton
Doors open: 7:00 PM
Event begins: 9:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 2:30 AM
Young Americans age 18 - 35

Obama Home States Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Convention Center, Hall E
Doors open 5:00 PM
Event begins: 7:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 11:30 PM
Illinois and Hawaii invited guests

Biden Home States Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Convention Center, Ballroom
Doors open: 6:00 PM
Event begins at 8:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 11:30 PM EST
Delaware and Pennsylvania invited guests

Eastern Inaugural Ball

Location: Union Station
Doors open: 8:00 PM
Event begins: 10:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 2:30 AM
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands invited guests

Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Convention Center, Hall A
Doors open: 6:00 PM
Event begins: 8:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 12:30 AM
Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia invited guests

Midwest Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Convention Center, Hall C
Doors opens: 6:00 PM
Event begins: 8:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 1:30 AM
Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Missouri invited guests

Southern Inaugural Ball

Location: DC Armory
Doors open: 8:00 PM
Event begins: 10:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 2:00 AM
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas invited guests

Western Inaugural Ball

Location: Washington Convention Center, Hall B
Doors open: 7:00 PM
Event begins: 8:00 PM
Event concludes: approximately 1:00 AM
Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, Guam/AS invited guests

The Providence Journal is publishing a commemorative edition of the newspaper tomorrow focusing on the historic inauguration of President Obama. It will be wrapped in the cover you see above, and include several features on how Rhode Islanders marked the day -- at home, in Washington, in stories and in photos. You may download, and share, a copy of the cover in larger PDF form by clicking here.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's office just released the following statement by Dr. Edward Aulisi, chairman of neurosurgery at Washington Hospital Center:

"Senator Edward Kennedy experienced a seizure today while attending a luncheon for President Barack Obama in the U.S. Capitol. After testing, we believe the incident was brought on by simple fatigue. Senator Kennedy is awake, talking with family and friends, and feeling well. He will remain at the Washington Hospital Center overnight for observation, and will be released in the morning."

-- John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington Bureau

By Philip A. Marcelo
Journal staff writer

Kimberly Ahern, 25, is a law student at Roger Williams University and native of Fairfax, Va., who has lived in Rhode Island for seven years. She heard the president's speech from the standing-room-only section directly behind the special seating area in front of the Capitol steps.

"I brought my binoculars, so I could see a good bit," says Ahern, who was a part of the state's grassroots election campaign for Obama, which is how she scored tickets from Sen. Jack Reed's office for a close view of the ceremony.

Ahern is vice president of Rhode Island's Young Democrats, a political action committee, and a regular contributor to local blogs.

She stayed in a hotel in Washington D.C. near the National Zoo, so getting to the Capitol was not too tough a task, she said.

"Despite the millions of people, the Metro worked really well. I got there by 7 a.m. and there were already tons of people on the Mall." Just getting through security took more than three hours, but she was well bundled up for the cold.

Ahern said Obama delivered a "powerful speech" that reminded Americans to put aside "petty politics" in order to "reach for something new."

"It's what needed to be said," she says. "It wasn't a campaign speech. It hit the somber tone needed for the times."

She said that she was especially moved by Obama's acknowledgement of the significance of his oath taking as an African American. "That 60 years ago his father would not have been able to buy a cup of coffee from some of the shops near the Capitol, and here he was being sworn in as president. . . . He really framed that moment in time for people that never lived through that."

Ahearn's trip to Washington ends tomorrow, but before that, she'll join other New Englanders at the Eastern Inaugural Ball (for guests from Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and New England) at the historic Union Station, one of 10 balls taking place tonight.

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writer

Ryan Simmons, an American University student from Barrington, made it to the Washington Monument area and watched the swearing-in of Presdient Obama ]on the giant video screens.

There were equipment problems, and about a 10-second voice lag.

And, "the police were doing a really poor job of doing things. They were really poor at crowd control. Barriers were set up in such a way that it would create all these bottlenecks - there'd be people staring at each other saying, 'You move,' 'no you move,' 'You move," and they [police] would just stand there and laugh. Besides that, everything was really good ... the crowds were absolutely mind-bogglingly huge."

"After the swearing-in, as far as you could see, there were gigantic crowds everywhere. You had to push your way through."

And, he said, "at the big field, where the Jumbotrons were, every time they showed Obama and Biden, there was unanimous cheering. Anything time they showed Bush or Cheney, they had unanimous booing."

Simmons said he and his friends decided to leave when the parade was delayed because they were concerned that the Metro, the Washington, D.C., subway system, would be too crowded. Only when he returned to his dormitory did he learn that the delay resulted from Senator Ted Kennedy's collapse during the inaugural luncheon.

R.I. student in D.C. says Mall 'completely packed'
11:22 a.m.

Ryan Simmons, of Barrington, is a junior at American University. He is with eight friends.

"It's pretty hectic. We got here around 5:30, and we were about half a block from a security checkpoint. It took us four hours to get through. We moved about a foot every 20 minutes. It was completely packed. There was no room to turn around. The mall was completely closed off. We're along the parade route."

Simmons heard that there are Jumbo-trons on 14th street and 3rd street, "but we can't get back out. The security checkpoints are completely clogged. They're insisting on herding everyone through three metal detectors, and they have 200,000 people going through. A couple of metal detectors have stopped working."

"There are snipers on every rooftop - they're very visible. Besides that, we managed to get in fairly early. Still there are thousands of people outside the security area, trying to get in."

"It's pretty cold. I didn't really notice it when we were waiting on line - there was so much body heat. But as soon as you get through the security line, [the temperature] drops about 10 degrees. It's an interesting experience."

R.I. student in D.C. needs game plan to reach inaugural

4:45 p.m., Monday

Ryan Simmons, a Bristol resident who attends American University, in Washington, said he and his friends are going to finalize their route to the inauguration over dinner tonight.

"Our plan is to wake up at 4 a.m. and put on 10 to 12 layers of clothes, and make our way to the parade route, and hopefully we'll be able to see something," said Simmons. But if yesterday's experience was any indication, it's going to be tough.

"It took at least twice as long getting onto the Metro," which generally takes 10 to 20 minutes, he said.

Walter and Helen Okolowitcz, of Cranston, watch Barack Obama's inauguration at Twin River in Lincoln. Providence Journal photo / Steve SzydlowskiTwin River, Lincoln, inaugura

By Rich Salit
Journal staff writer

They stood for nearly seven hours in the freezing cold, but by the time they returned to their hotel in the late afternoon, Ellen O'Hara, 69, and her husband Pete, 73, both said to each other that they had no misgivings about attending the inauguration of Barack Obama.

"People around us cried. I was very touched by that. Everyone felt extraordinarily emotional, very connected," she said. "And I was too."

Ellen O'Hara, a former Cranston councilwoman, had originally planned to take in the inauguration from the National Mall with her husband. But after reading about them and their plans in The Journal, an aide to a member of the Rhode Island's federal delegation offered them tickets that someone else no longer needed. So the O'Haras got to enter the tickets-only area.

"We could actually see the podium. We were about two football fields from it. We could see people there and movement. And we could look from there back to the Jumbotron," she said.

>> Continue reading: O'Haras, of Cranston, only two football fields away

By Katherine Gregg

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that effectively squelched the Ethics Commission's prosecution of former Senate President William V. Irons.

In October, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan dismissed ethics charges against Irons, accepting Irons' defense that the "speech in debate clause'' in the state Constitution protected legislators from prosecution based on their votes or other legislative activities.

Irons, an insurance salesman from East Providence, abruptly resigned Dec. 31, 2003, after two decades in the state Senate. He had opposed pharmacy-choice legislation that pharmacy giant CVS, a company Irons had sold insurance to, also opposed.

The Journal subsequently disclosed that Irons, while chairman of the Senate committee that handled health care, had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions since 1997 on a Blue Cross policy covering CVS workers in Rhode Island.

The Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe that Irons broke the code of ethics by using his public office to financially benefit his business associate, CVS. The next step would ordinarily have been a trial-like hearing before the commission. Irons, however, went to court in a successful attempt to block the commission prosecution.

In its filing with the Supreme Court, the Ethics Commission noted the potentially paralyzing implications of Darigan's stance.

"A ruling by this court is necessary to resolve the question of the Ethics Commission's juThe Rhode Island Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that effectively squelched the Ethics Commission's prosecution of former Senate President William V. Irons.

In October, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan dismissed ethics charges against Irons, accepting Irons' defense that the "speech in debate clause'' in the state Constitution protected legislators from prosecution based on their votes or other legislative activities.

Irons, an insurance salesman from East Providence, abruptly resigned Dec. 31, 2003, after two decades in the state Senate. He had opposed pharmacy-choice legislation that pharmacy giant CVS, a company Irons had sold insurance to, also opposed.

The Journal subsequently disclosed that Irons, while chairman of the Senate committee that handled health care, had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions since 1997 on a Blue Cross policy covering CVS workers in Rhode Island.

The Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe that Irons broke the code of ethics by using his public office to financially benefit his business associate, CVS. The next step would ordinarily have been a trial-like hearing before the commission. Irons, however, went to court in a successful attempt to block the commission prosecution.

In its filing with the Supreme Court, the Ethics Commission noted the potentially paralyzing implications of Darigan's stance.

"A ruling by this court is necessary to resolve the question of the Ethics Commission's jurisdiction which will continue to arise in every newly issued advisory opinion and newly filed complaint that relates to members of the General Assembly," the commission wrote.

In agreeing to hear the case, the Supreme Court also granted a request from Common Cause of Rhode Island to submit a friend of the court brief. The court also denied a motion from the Ethics Commission to stay Darigan's ruling until the Supreme Court had ruled.

In making his decision, Darigan was mindful of the "tremendous" public interest it would generate and suggested himself that the Supreme Court review the case "because of the far-reaching ramifications it has not only in the operation of the Ethics Commission....[but] to all of the citizens and all of the office holders in Rhode Island."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Kennedy is awake and being evaluated at Washington Hospital Center after being taken from the inaugural luncheon for President Obama today...
.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sens. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., have been taken from an inauguration luncheon for President Barack Obama.

A Capitol police officer stood up at the luncheon and said medical attention was needed.

Kennedy had a seizure, a Republican congressman told reporters. The senator was taken to a nearby room in a wheelchair, said the lawmaker.

The Massachusetts senator is the father of Rhode Island's Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

During a talk to members of Congress and others, Obama called attention to Kennedy, saying "I know that while I was out of the room, concerned was expressed about Teddy."

Obama said that Kennedy "was there when the voting rights act passed, along with John Lewis, was a warrior for justice."

"And so I would be lying to you if I did not say that right now a part of me is with him," Obama added. "And I think that's true for all of us. This is a joyous time. But it's also a sobering time. And my prayers are with him and his family and (Kennedy's wife) Vicki."

In an interview broadcast live on CBS at about 3:20 p.m., Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., a close friend of Kennedy, said the senator appeared to be doing okay.

"The good news is he's going to be fine," Dodd said.

Kennedy, 76, who has been ill with brain cancer, had joined other lawmakers, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at Statuary Hall in the Capitol following the inaugural ceremonies today.

Kennedy, the longest-surviving brother in the nation's most celebrated political family, was diagnosed with a usually fatal form of brain cancer in May 2008 and was given a filmed tribute at the Democratic National Convention in August, which nominated Obama. He took the stage at the convention and echoed a speech he made 28 years earlier when he declared, "the work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.''

The Democratic Party's liberal lion, and his son, Rhode Island Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, endorsed Barack Obama for president in January after Obama's landslide victory in the South Carolina primary. That endorsement gave Obama a new jolt of momentum in his campaign against New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

More to come....

-- With reports from Bloomberg News

By Rich Salit
Journal staff writer

In the mess hall at Naval Station Newport, the flat-screen TVs on the wall, which often are ignored, were the center of attention for a group of students from the Naval Academy Preparatory School.

Wearing khaki pants and black jackets, they had finished eating before Barack Obama took the oath of office. Many are only 18 and had voted in a presidential election for the first time. Quite a few are members of minority groups.

"It's so historic," said Ernest J. Halton, 18, of Hockessin, Del., who looked forward to being in the mess hall at noon, virtually the only place he would have a chance to watch the ceremony today. Halton, who is part Native American and part African-American, said, "I wish I could have been there [in Washington]."

"I've never been interested in a presidential race before," Halton said, and he praised Mr. Obama as someone who "can actively bring change and do something for this country and this world."

André Colden, also an African-American, moved his dining hall chair right up to the TV.

"It's the first [inauguration] for me," said Colden, 19, of Charleston, S.C. Having a black person win the presidency "shows that the world has changed in a positive way ... It makes me more proud to be in the military."

Colden's phone rang right after Mr. Obama took the oath and the students around him applauded. It was a text message from his mother.

"Obama ! Obama!" it read

12:42 p.m.

PROVIDENCE -- President Obama had been his commander in chief for all of 40 minutes when Army Master Sgt. Leonard Pimental talked about his hopes for the new administration's plans for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pimental served in the first Gulf War, where his platoon came within 50 miles of Bagdad, and he returned to Iraq in 2005 and 2006 during a dangerous tour on security patrol.

"Politics aside, it's all about democracy," Pimental said from the Army National Guard recruiting office on Weybosset Street. "It's all about helping people."

Even though a giant screen television in the office was showing the live broadcast of the inauguration, some of the National Guardsmen went next door to the Providence Performing Arts Center to watch the ceremony with the crowd of 2,500. Pimental remained behind at work -- "my wife is recording it for me" -- and thought about the "momentous" event unfolding in Washington, D.C.

He said Obama was "impressive," and he was interested in the president's plan to draw down troops from the wars.

"I think change is coming, and it's a good thing," Pimental said, as the crowd from PPAC streamed past his office. "If we can draw down our guys and let them [the Iraqis] govern their own country."

-- Amanda Milkovits, Journal staff writer

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writer

Colin McKenna, 38, of Johnston, went to the inauguration with friends. He ended up in "the nosebleed section. We really didn't even come close." Despite that, "I've never seen anything like it, and I probably never will again."

"We left at 9:30. We were near the Washington Monument, looking at the Jumbo-tron ... . It was endless. We were off on the side. We couldn't even get on the Mall. Beyond us was packed. Behind us was packed. There were people in the trees. There were people everywhere. There were people climbing ,on tourist information roofs. Whether or not it was a weight-bearing thing."

McKenna added, "It was pretty intense. One of the funniest moments, was when everyone around booed George Sr. They screamed for Bill Clinton; they gave an applause for Carter. But when George W was introduced -- the boos, the hissing, it was like 4 million people cat-calling him, hissing and booing and telling him to go home. A small group of us were singing, 'Nah Nah Nah Nah, Nah Nah Nah Nah, Hey Hey Hey, good-bye!" I think they tried to kick in the music from the stage to drown out the noise [heckling]."

"I thought he [Obama] was fantastic. Yeah, there was a person to my left who seemed to be going into some Pentecostal I don't know what. She had her hand raised with her palm almost to the sky ... there were people crying. My friend's 3-year-old daughter was going 'Obama! Obama! Obama!' over and over again ... people were looking over and laughing."

"The crowd was really enormous, but it was really, really peaceful. I'm willing to believe him. I'm pretty cynical and skeptical when it comes to politics, but I feel that a man like Obama, if he is what he seems to be, then we have a great leader."

BY Karen Lee Ziner, Amanda Milkovits and Mike Stanton
Journal staff writers

Some 2,500 people filled the Providence Performing Arts Center, where Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch hosted a free inaugural party that drew an assortment of college students, business people, political figures, schoolchildren, and ordinary citizens. People filled the orchestra seats, the balcony, the aisles, and even in the lobby, where televisions were broadcasting the inauguration live.

The joyous crowd cheered when Obama strode onto the rostrum, the waves of applause from Washington echoing off the big screen and rippling through the gilded theater, up to the balcony. The lights from cell phone cameras capturing the moment flickered in the darkness.

Many wept when Aretha Franklin sang, and they wept as Obama spoke. They stood when the oath of office was administered to Obama, saving their loudest cheers for the moment that he was proclaimed president.

Obama's voice echoed from the theater to the outside lobby, where people stood silently, watching.

Bela Kopylova, a Russian Jewish refugee, physician and U.S. citizen, said she knew as soon as she heard Obama speak at the Democratic Convention four years ago that he was destined for greatness.

"That guy is an absolute genius. I'm so glad we have a brilliant person in office. When that guy opened his mouth four years ago, nobody knew him. And I said, he is going to have a future ... I was sure of this; that this man is going to be the president ... he's going to bring his decency and dignity" to the Oval Office. Kopylova said she became a citizen as soon as her five-year waiting period elapsed. "I'm so proud. I'm Russian in my heart, but there is no country like America."

>> Continue reading: Inauguration stills, stirs crowd of 2,500 at PPAC

AP photo / Elise Amendola
Barack Obama, left, joined by his wife Michelle, second from left, and daughters Sasha, third from left, and Malia, takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts to become the 44th president of the United States.

It's done. President-elect Barack Obama is now President Barack Obama.

With a bit of pause after the first phrase and repeat prompt from Chief Justice John Roberts, Obama took his brief oath of office, as a smiling Michelle Obama stood by.

Here's the oath:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

11:05

Walter Stone is a Providence lawyer with the firm Adler, Pollock & Sheehan. He and about 10 other people took the train to Washington on Saturday, and they left for the parade route at 7:30 this morning.

"I'm just enjoying it. It's cold. I'm down to the staging area ... I'm high enough above that I can get a good view, but I'm not that close. It's in the blue section ... I'm about 20 rows up."

Stone went to several house parties, and one of the Bar Association balls.

"Oh yeah, there were just so many people ... the coat check afterwards, you stood in line for 4 or 5 minutes to an hour. Packed, packed. Everyone was enjoying themselves. It's just a really good, positive spirit going on."

Chuck Kennedy / MCT photo
Democratic U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, lower right, arrive at the U.S. Capitol today for the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Scott Andrews/Pool/MCT
Swathed in patriotic bunting, the U.S. Capitol is illuminated this evening, the night before Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, and its first African-American to hold the office. Projo.com will be covering the event as it unfolds, featuring reports from John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington bureau chief, on the scene in Washington, and Journal reporters at various gatherings throughout the state. We'll also asking projo.com visitors to send in their reports, photos and videos, from the inauguration. Click here for more information on how to take part in our coverage.

By Gina Macris
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- It now seems highly likely that peanuts ground into paste or churned into peanut butter are at the root of salmonella poisoning that has struck 474 people in 43 states, including 4 in Rhode Island since last September, according to an official of the state Department of Health.

A week ago, Rhode Island health officials said they did not believe that Rhode Islanders who became ill had eaten peanut butter.

Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received information which suggests that even if those stricken did not eat peanut butter, they may have become ill from peanut butter or peanut paste included as an ingredient in another product sold in retail stores.

The investigation into the source of the salmonella outbreak centers around a plant in Blakely, Ga., owned by the Peanut Corporation of America, which supplies peanut butter and peanut paste to institutions like nursing homes and schools and to manufacturers like the Kellogg Co., which makes cookies and crackers sold to consumers.

"Anything coming from that plant is suspect," said Robert Vanderslice, acting as a spokesman at the state Department of Health. "We don't know all their clients. It's very confusing," he said.

>> Continue reading: R.I. Health Dept.: Peanuts suspect in salmonella cases

Ronald Bridge, left, and James Ek, right, of Youthbuild Providence, join other members of their organization and other volunteers helping to paint lockers at Mount Pleasant High School this morning. Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy

By Linda Borg
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- Mike Raposa, a '74 alumnus from Mount Pleasant High School, returned to his alma mater this morning to add a little luster to the dilapidated high school on Smith Hill.

Raposa was one of 65 employees from Home Depot to spend the day replacing door knobs, painting lockers and generally sprucing up the aging brick high school, a throwback to an era when high schools were neighborhood hubs.

"We're here to get the school back on track," said Raposa, who is 52 and lives in Warwick.

"I want to let students know that they can be dream-makers, not dream-breakers."

City Year invited volunteers from the city's schools, Home Depot, T-Mobile, Brown University and Youth Build to fix up the massive, three-story brick building in Mount Pleasant. Among the volunteer workforce were 100 middle school students, members of "Young Heroes," a community service program run by City Year. They were joined by 300 families and members of the community.

Students planned to spend the day painting a mural that will grace the front entrance of the school and include quotes from famous activists like Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Volunteers spread out through the school to do various jobs. Some painted the railings along the stairs gray. Scores of volunteers went to two floors of the high school to give tired looking lockers a fresh coat of light blue paint. One group helped to paint two murals in the gym. Other volunteers painted the walls in the corridors and at the entrance of the school with quotes from famous people in history that ran from Martin Luther King to Carlos Santana.

Anthony Rich, 15, a student at Mount Pleasant High School, who volunteered to paint, said he was delighted so many people volunteered to work on his school because it could use some sprucing up. "We need a better environment to learn. I don't want to see broken down stuff," Rich said. Mount Pleasant student Anaclariza Rivera, 14, said she signed up to paint to make the school better. "I'm showing people I'm not afraid to make a difference. All it takes is one person," she said.

Chijioge Nwogu, 20, a Brown University student, stood in the corridor on the first floor of the school with other volunteers meticulously applying light blue paint to a locker. He had volunteered along with about 35 other peer leaders (RAs) from the university. They had seen the call for volunteers on the internet and signed up. "You do your small part. People should help out more often even if it's a small thing. Nwogu said there was excitement in the air among the students volunteering on Martin Luther King Day and with the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama. "It means a lot to have a figure of hope. You have to step back and look at the bigger picture. Obama is just a man. He is not God. He is doing his own part. We have to do our own part. Hope alone can't make change it takes action."

Jesus Isasis, of Cumberland, who works in customer relations for T-Mobile, volunteered with about 20 other people from his company. His 9-year-old daughter Veronica was helping him paint the lockers in the corridor. Isasis said this was the first time he volunteered and not his last. With the newly elected president there seemed to be a new willingness to pitch in, he said, for people to do their part to help. After work Tuesday, his wife and friends planned to put on their Obama t-shirts and gather at a friend's house to watch the inauguration.

>> Continue reading: Volunteers fix up Providence school for King's day

It has been 43 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his landmark "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington.

On this inaugural eve, Americans stand poised to watch the actualization of that dream.

Rhode Islanders from all over the state pause to recite an excerpt from Dr. King's speech.

Watch the video by Providence Journal photographer Gretchen Ertl

By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer

A high-speed ferry operated by Interstate Navigation Company, of Narragansett, helped rescue passengers from the US Airways jetliner that crash-landed in the Hudson River Thursday afternoon.

The Athena, which ferries passengers between Block Island and Narragansett in the summer, is on a winter charter to New York Waterways, operating between Belford, N.J., and Manhattan.

The vessel was docked in Weehawken around 3:30 p.m. when crew members spotted the Airbus A320 floating down the Hudson.

The ferry captain, Carl Lucas, of Narragansett, immediately set out for the downed plane. By the time the Athena arrived, other boats were already on scene and passengers and the plane's crew were standing on both wings.

The Athena rescued 19 people, including the pilot and a stewardess.

"We would classify it as a very successful rescue operation," said Christian Myers, an operations manager for Interstate Navigation.

Video: See another view of the high-speed ferry's role in the rescue from The Washington Post.com

By Katherine Gregg
Journal State House Bureau

Governor Carcieri has notified legislative leaders that he plans to deliver his annual televised State of the State address at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the House chamber.

The notification came in a letter today from the governor's chief of staff Brian Stern.

"In keeping with tradition, I also respectfully request that you invite all members of the House of Representatives and Senate, and that you make the necessary arrangements for coverage of the address by Capitol Television,'' Stern wrote House Speaker William J. Murphy.

Earlier this week, Carcieri asked lawmakers for an extension until the same day, Feb. 10, to deliver his budget proposal to them for the year that begins July 1. Under state law, it is due the third Thursday in January each year, a deadline which came and went yesterday.

By Alisha A. Pina
Journal staff writer

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Standing in the cold outside East Providence High School yesterday, a lone spokesman for the city's taxpayers association said public school teachers are being misinformed by their union in their ongoing tussle with the city School Committee.

"We are pleading with our teachers not to let an out-of-touch leadership lead them off a cliff that perhaps will result in layoffs, missed payrolls or even the closing of the school system," William Murphy said. "Solidarity is little consolation at the bottom of the abyss."

In a statement, the taxpayer association said one misconception is that the teachers were "attacked and victimized" by the School Committee when it decided earlier this month to reduce the teachers' salaries by nearly 5 percent and force the educators to pay 20 percent toward their health insurance costs. The taxpayers group believes the changes were "in no way motivated by the ill will toward teachers."

Murphy also said union leaders "falsely assert" that the city's financial crisis is caused by current School Committee mismanagement. Murphy said past board members -- "retired teachers, School Department employees and union officials who had horrendous conflicts of interest" -- approved a contract for teachers the city could not afford.

"They and members of their family were receiving benefits from the very contracts they were negotiating," Murphy continued. "They took care of themselves, their friends and their families; not the school children or the general public." The city is now running a deficit estimated at $8.3 million.

Standing with Murphy yesterday was one supporter from Portsmouth. Nearby with the media was Patrick Crowley, an assistant executive director with the National Education Association/Rhode Island, parent organization for the East Providence Education Association, which represents more than 500 teachers. Crowley, who also manages the Internet site rifuture.org, videotaped the news conference.

"It's more misleading information from people who don't know everything that is going on," Crowley said after Murphy. "... The teachers from as early as 2004 have been giving concessions."

Projo.com is encouraging those going to the inauguration, or watching from home, to text us on Inauguration Day and in the days leading up to it. Text messages will be displayed on this screen.

He ran on a campaign calling for change. Millions are expected to travel to Washington to witness the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, on Tuesday.

Are you going?

Are you planning to host or attend an inauguration party?

We want to hear from you.

Share what you're thinking with fellow projo.com readers in the days leading up to the inauguration: Text us.

To text about -- or from -- the inauguration, send a text message like "@pjinaug Our whole family is going" to 25622.

>> Continue reading: Obama's inauguration: R U going? Text us

By Steve Peoples
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE -- The R.I. Senate has released legislation that would introduce strict oversight provisions into the Carcieri administration's controversial plan to overhaul Rhode Island's Medicaid system.

The proposed legislation states that: "No changes in the state Medicaid program shall be made without the express approval by a legislative body..."

The bill further defines three categories of potential changes and directs the administration to obtain legislative approval for all but the most basic administrative changes that don't affect "beneficiary eligibility, benefits, overall healthcare delivery systems, payment methodologies or cost sharing."

It's unclear when the Senate will hold a hearing on the legislation, although Senate Finance Committee Chairman Daniel DaPonte said yesterday he wanted the full Assembly to adopt the measure this week.

The House -- which is working on a separate but related bill -- would have to pass the Senate bill as well for it to become law, and House leaders have suggested there would be no such vote this week.

House Speaker William J. Murphy said last night that his chamber will not vote to block the overhaul of the Medicaid system, a decision that gives the Carcieri administration power to begin reshaping Rhode Island's health insurance program for the elderly, poor and disabled as soon as Monday.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As the House of Representatives got under way this afternoon, House Speaker William J. Murphy announced the creation of a 12-member commission to "look into the potential economic opportunities in the development of port facilities in Rhode Island.''

The target date for the commission to report its findings is Sept. 1.

"It's time that the state of Rhode Island takes a comprehensive look at our underutilized assets to bolster job creation and grow our economy,'' Murphy said.

The move comes as the Ocean State struggles with a deficit and high unemployment.

-- Katherine Gregg, Journal State House bureau

By Katherine Gregg
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - All four members of the state's Congressional delegation sent Governor Carcieri a letter Tuesday, warning that the proposed Medicaid overhaul that he is promoting "could pose serious risks to the Medicaid program, leading to unprecedented cuts'' to both patients and providers.

In their letter, U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Reps. James Langevin and Patrick Kennedy reiterated many of the concerns that have been voiced during three days of State House hearings, namely: that the administration has not yet spelled out what it is going to do to the government-paid medical insurance program that covers 180,00-plus Rhode Islanders.

"Despite numerous public briefings ... a detailed plan and justification are still not public and accessible. Collectively and individually, we have made repeated requests for specific information, but we are still awaiting key details,'' they wrote.

"For example, the state has not provided data on the impact on beneficiaries, nor has it provided projections of state spending, savings, or the assumptions and methodologies on which such projections are based.''

But "from the information we have, one aspects of the waiver seems quite clear. The aggregate cap on spending could leave the state up to $842 million short of its projected obligations over five years. This is because the cap is based on national projections in the president's budget and does not factor in Rhode Island's specific circumstances - including a significant aging population and skyrocketing unemployment.''

They questioned whether the state has the capacity - and "administrative preparation and capability'' - to save money by limiting nursing home placements to those with the "highest need.''

Aside from this broad concern, they raised concerned about an "unprecedented approval process'' proposed for eligibility, benefits and cost-sharing, saying: "there are no protections to ensure that essential benefits are available to those for whom they are medically necessary, and the specific changes that the state will seek remain unknown.''
"In closing, they wrote, "the waiver raises more questions than it answers,'' they said.

State lawmakers are under a self-imposed deadline to decide by this weekend - and logistically, before their work week ends on Thursday - whether to reject, amend or allow the waiver to take effect without their action.

All four members of congress from Rhode Island are Democrats. The governor is a Republican.

Late today, they issued this joint statement: "We understand the financial pressures facing the state's leadership and we are working to ensure that the economic recovery package includes funding for Rhode Island's health care and infrastructure programs. Medicaid is a federal-state partnership that is a significant component of the state's budget, but more importantly, it is a program that provides essential services to almost two hundred thousand Rhode Islanders.
"The proposal negotiated by the Governor and the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department leaves many questions unanswered, and as a result we have serious concerns regarding this proposal, which we have shared with the state's leadership."

By Channing Gray
Journal arts writer

As two elegant Cambodian dancers glided about the lobby of the Providence Performing Arts Center, officials from the FirstWorks performance series this morning announced the kickoff of an ambitious educational program involving musicians from the Silk Road Ensemble, the group of world musicians assembled by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma a decade ago. Members of the group from as far away as China will visit a half-dozen schools in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket during the next three months starting Wednesday, talking about their homeland and demonstrating some of their native instruments.

The ensemble, which has been headquartered at the Rhode Island School of Design for the past five years, will give a concert for school children with Yo-Yo Ma at the RISD auditorium March 4. Then Ma and his fellow musicians will launch their national tour in a PPAC concert March 6. Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance range from $79 to $37.

Kathleen Pletcher, head of FirstWorks, said the March 6 concert marks the first time the series has held events on a year-round basis. Normally FirstWorks holds its offerings in the fall.

Various groups protested at lunchtime today in downtown Providence, including Students for a Democratic Society and the Northeast Anarchist Network.

They said they were showing solidarity with the victims of the bombings of Gaza by Israel and the treatment of protestors in Athens, Greece, as well as with homeless people and people whose homes have been foreclosed upon here in Rhode Island.

The event was organized by a group that calls itself What Queer.

Watch the video

By Tracy Breton
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- A court-appointed master today filed a plan with the federal court for distributing $176 million in settlement money to those who lost loved ones or suffered injuries in The Station nightclub fire.

The plan of distribution devised by Duke University Law Prof. Francis E. McGovern differs very little from the original one that was distributed last fall to more than 300 plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits seeking money damages in connection with the catastrophic blaze.

Under the plan, the survivors who were most badly burned and were hospitalized the longest will receive more money than several of the families who lost loved ones in the fire. A minor child could receive more than a surviving spouse.

McGovern's plan operates on a point system and he proposes different point systems for death cases and for injury claims. The system is similar to those used in other large liability cases, such as the settlements in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

As long as plaintiffs can prove they were inside the club the night of Feb. 20, 2003, when the fire broke out and can properly document injuries -- physical or psychological -- they will receive a share of the $176 million. One hundred people died as a result of the fire and more than 200 were injured.

Under the proposed plan, points are allocated by categories of harm, such as a minor losing a parent, medical expenses and physical and psychological injuries. Each category has a number of points. Each victim will be assigned points based on categories of harm that apply.

Some victims have been told that they can expect to receive several hundred thousand dollars while others may receive less than $20,000. Others are expected to receive more than $1 million.

In a separate report filed simultaneously with McGovern's, William A. Poore, the Providence lawyer appointed by the court to represent the dozens of minors who will receive some of the settlement money says the professor's proposed plan of distribution "meets acceptable standards for fairness, consistency and justice."

He ran on a campaign calling for change. Millions are expected to travel to Washington to witness the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Are you going?

Are you planning to host or attend an inauguration party? Is your party open to the public?

Where will you be watching, at work or at school, or at home? Will you be watching with your children?

We want to hear from you.

If you are willing to be interviewed as part of The Journal's inauguration coverage, e-mail your name and contact information to pjnews@projo.com. Please include the word "inauguration" in the subject line.

Or, or call (401) 277-7303.

By Katherine Gregg and Cynthia Needham
Journal Staff Writers

Text of the Governor's speech

PROVIDENCE - A cigarette tax hike, more than $74 million in municipal and education aid cuts and a rollback in pension benefits for state workers and teachers who wait until after April 1 to retire are key pieces in Governor Carcieri's proposal for averting a potential $357.4 million current-year deficit.

The deficit-avoidance plan he unveiled during a televised address from his office tonight was a patchwork of tax and fee increases, state-spending cuts and one-time revenue boosters, such as the sale of three state-owned pieces of land - including a Cranston parcel eyed as the new home of the state motor-vehicle registry - to Rhode Island Housing for a quick infusion of cash. He is also banking on $27.5 million in Medicaid bonus money from the Obama administration.

"Tonight, I've taken the unprecedented step of speaking to you directly, because we are facing extraordinary circumstances,'' Carcieri said in a speech he prepared for a 7 p.m. address from his office, broadcast live on local television and radio.

"How we decide to cure this deficit will have long-lasting consequences for Rhode Island's future. We can avoid the tough decisions and drift into more troubled waters, or we can set a new course that leads to sustainable spending and a brighter, more prosperous future for us all,'' he said.

"I know there are some out there who believe we need to increase taxes to solve this budget problem. I am firmly convinced that raising broad-based sales or income taxes would be disastrous for our state's future -- it will merely prolong the economic decline, hasten job losses, and hurt more of our families.''

>> Continue reading: Carcieri outlines plan to plug $357 million deficit

By Karen Lee Ziner and W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal staff writers

CENTRAL FALLS -- Seven staff members of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility are facing punishments ranging from reprimands to firing in connection with the death of Hiu Lui Ng last August while in Wyatt custody.

Ng, 34, a computer engineer from New York, died as a result of complications from advanced cancer; he also had a fractured spine. His lawyers said Ng's pleas for medical care were ignored.

The disciplinary actions result from a just-completed internal investigation that exonerates the Wyatt facility with regard to Ng's medical care.

The seven unnamed staff members are being punished for "specific failures to comply with facility policies and procedures during Mr. Ng's 25-day detention at the Facility," according to a statement from the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation, which operates Wyatt.

"The CFDFC stands by its initial statement that Mr. Ng was provided appropriate and timely medical attention to diagnose the late-stage cancer which ultimately caused his death, both in-house and through the use of outside hospitals," according to the statement.

Neither the facility nor its staff, according to the statement, learned that Ng was suffering from late-stage cancer "until after Mr. Ng. was diagnosed at Rhode Island Hospital on or about Aug. 1, 2008. Mr. Ng remained in hospital care from the time of his cancer diagnosis until his passing on Aug. 6, 2008."

The statement says, "The CFDFC reiterates that the actions of the Facility's staff, including the actions of those staff members that have been disciplined, did not contribute to the cause of Mr. Ng's death." It noted that the state medical examiner's office determined that Ng. died of natural causes associated with metastatic liver cancer.

>> Continue reading: Wyatt staff face punishment in immigrant inmate's death

projo.com photo / Andrea Panciera
The icicles look pretty but make for a chilly seat this morning in a Richmond backyard. (Never mind the wooden porch step that the photographer took extra care not to slip on.) Send in your ice photos for us to post on a projo.com gallery.

PROVIDENCE -- William Murphy has just been elected to his fourth term as speaker of the R.I. House of Representatives, as the General Assembly begins its new session today.

Murphy, of West Warwick, got the loyal backing of his party, with 67 of 69 fellow Democrats voting for him.

The only opposition came in the form by a bid by House Minority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich. Watson, too, was backed by his party. The tiny six-member GOP block gave him his only votes.

-- With reports from Katharine Gregg, Journal State House bureau

East Providence Parks and Recreation Department employee Bill Couitt tosses a Christmas tree into a wood chipper at the Looff Carousel this afternoon in Riverside. Watch the video Providence Journal photo / Bill Murphy

East Providence Parks and Recreation employees have the task of collecting used Christmas trees left out with the trash by city residents. They store the trees at different city parks where they await the chipper. Today, trees stored at the Looff Carousel in Riverside were mulched to be used for city plantings.

U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse this afternoon plan to pay tribute to the late former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell from the floor of the U.S. Senate, according to Whitehouse's office.

At 5:15 p.m., R.I. Democrats Reed and Whitehouse expect to deliver remarks and offer a Senate resolution honoring the life and work of the longtime Democratic lawmaker and diplomat, who died last week at the age of 90.

The two were among the hundreds attending the funeral for Pellyesterday for the former Rhode Island senator. Also attending were former President Bill Clinton, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who each eulogized Pell.

The tribute may be carried on CSPAN2.

By Tom Morgan
Journal staff writer

SMITHFIELD -- A mechanical defect in a car parked in an attached garage apparently sparked the fire that gutted a family's house yesterday, Fire Chief Joseph P. Mollo II said today.

Mollo said the blaze was discovered by a homeowner who lives at 23 Karen Ann Drive when the man went to check on the vehicle about 6:25 p.m. after smelling smoke. He found it ablaze, Mollo said, ushered his family out of the house, and summoned firefighters. Mollo said the names of the family were not available.

The fire chief said that the fire spread swiftly.

"The fire flew through the first floor and went up a stairway to the second story," he said.

It took firefighters about 40 minutes to bring the flames under control. "The house is more than likely a total loss," Mollo said.

The family stayed with friends for the night, he said.

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
The body of former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell is laid to rest today by a Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard, in St. Columba's Cemetery in Middletown, R.I. See projo.com video showing more scenes from today's funeral services for the former longtime senator from Rhode island and his burial.

By Greg Smith
Journal staff writer

The four members of the Ford family of Smith Hill, Providence, are having a run of bad luck.

As the family slept on Dec. 6, a bold thief entered the house and stole a wallet, purse, car and house keys and Christmas presents. Then the thief stole the family car, which contained the daughter's wheelchair.

The police recovered the car, which had been abandoned behind a factory on Hartford Avenue. But the thief, who apparently still had the stolen car keys, returned last night, and took the car again. The culprit then led the police on a chase in which the uninsured car was wrecked.

"I want to move out of here," the desperate mother of the family, Christine Ford, 40, said today. "We were very scared last night. I barricaded my kids and me in my bedroom."

The family members, who occupy the first-floor apartment in a triple-decker at 508 Chalkstone Ave., also include the father, Donald, who works as a security guard and takes the bus to his job; daughter Barbara, 16; and son Benjamin, 8.

The police said they arrested Fernando Lopez, 25, of 30 Pekin St., Smith Hill, who was driving the stolen car, and lodged six charges against him, including auto theft.

Even after the Dec. 6 incident, the family's spirit had been restored for a time. Barbara, an epileptic and special-needs student at the Birch Vocational School, which is housed at Mount Pleasant High School, relied heavily on the missing wheelchair. But an anonymous donor gave the family a replacement wheelchair.

The staff at Roger Williams Medical Center took up a collection and gave the Fords replacement Christmas gifts, according to Mrs. Ford and the hospital staff. The Fords were hosted at a small party at the hospital.

And the police found the car a few days before Christmas, according to Mrs. Ford. That was crucial, she said, because she needed the car in order to take Barbara to doctor appointments and to pick her up at school if she has a seizure.

But misfortune struck again -- hard -- Sunday night.

By John E. Mulligan
Journal Washington bureau

WASHINGTON -- Cementing his status as a congressional advisor to the new administration on foreign affairs, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed will accompany Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. this week on a fact-finding tour of southwest Asia.

Biden's office said this afternoon that he will travel with a bipartisan Senate delegation including Reed, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John F. Kerry, D-Mass.; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me.; and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

The officials did not release any details of the trip -- including which countries they will visit -- citing security reasons. But several Asian news organizations have reported that Biden and the delegation from Capitol Hill will visit Pakistan.

This morning, Biden, Reed and Kerry attended the Newport, R.I., funeral of Claiborne Pell, the longtime Democratic U.S. senator from Rhode Island, who died last week at age 90.

Rhode Island Democrat Reed has been to Pakistan several times - often on tours that encompassed Iraq and Afghanistan as well. Reed has made 12 wartime tours of Iraq, most recently an internationally-publicized visit last July as an informal guide to then-Sen. Barack Obama.

He has also traveled with Biden. In July, 2006, the Delaware Democrat joined Reed on a tour of Iraq. Much has changed since that visit, when the two men said they had found that the insurgency in Iraq had given way to what Reed called ``a low-grade civil war.'' Since President Bush launched the strategic shift known as the ``surge'' of U.S. combat troops, levels of violence have dramatically declined.

Taken together, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - with its threats to neighboring Pakistan - may constitute the gravest foreign policy challenge facing President-elect Obama.

Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said, "The delegation will make it clear to foreign leaders that they are not there to speak on behalf of the U.S. government or the President-elect. We extend our thanks to the Bush Administration for their cooperation in making this trip possible."

By Tracy Breton
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- All of the people who are seeking money damages in connection with the catastrophic fire at The Station nightclub fire are in favor of a proposed plan that has been devised for distributing $176 million in settlement money, a lawyer for many of the plaintiffs announced in a federal court hearing this afternoon.

More than 300 plaintiffs who suffered injuries or lost a loved one in the Feb. 20, 2003, nightclub fire are expecting to receive money from the settlement fund. Lawyer Mark Mandell, who represents many of the plaintiffs, told U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin today that all of the victims' lawyers have reported that there is "100 percent support" for the distribution plan that has been devised by a court-appointed special master, Francis E. McGovern.

McGovern, a Duke University Law School professor, is expected to file his plan for distribution with the court on Friday. On that same date, Providence lawyer William A. Poore, a special master representing the interests of the 181 minors who are slated to receive part of the $176 million, will also file his report with Martin. He is reviewing McGovern's matrix to see whether it seems fair to the minors.

No victims have been given precise figures from their lawyers on what they might actually receive once attorneys' fees and expenses are subtracted. But some have been told that they can expect to receive several hundred thousand dollars, while others may receive less than $20,000. Others are expected to receive more than $1 million.

McGovern's plan operates on a point system and he proposes different point systems for death cases and for injury claims. The system is similar to those used in other large liability cases, such as the settlements in the September 11th attacks.

Last October, The Providence Journal obtained a copy of the proposed distribution plan devised by McGovern. It would give everyone who sued a share of the $176 million, including those who suffered mental trauma but never sought medical treatment.

Under the proposed plan that was circulated to the victims -- which may have been altered since then -- the survivors who were most badly burned and were hospitalized the longest would receive more money than several of the families who lost loved ones in the fire. As long plaintiffs can prove that they were at the club on the night of the fire and can document injuries -- which will be reviewed at a later date by a neutral expert -- they will receive a share of $176 million, according to the plan obtained by The Journal last fall.

The settlement money will be held in a trust until it is distributed to the victims.

Martin scheduled another status conference in the case for Jan. 14 at 10 a.m.

The U.S. Coast Guard's Ceremonial Honor Guard, which arrived in Rhode Island last night from Washington, pauses and for a salute while bringing Senator Pell's flag-draped casket out of Trinity Church after this morning's funeral service in Newport. Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy

CRANSTON -- The state's third-largest city will swear in a new mayor tonight, passing the executive office reins from Democrat Michael T. Napolitano to Republican Allan W. Fung.

When he is sworn in, Fung will become the first Asian-American mayor in Rhode Island history.

Fung, 38, a former City Council member, won 63 percent of the vote on Nov. 4, defeating Democrat Cindy Fogarty. Both were making their second run for the mayor's office. Napolitano, who served one two-year term, did not seek reelection.

The inauguration is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Cranston High School East, located at 899 Park Ave.

-- Journal staff writer Randal Edgar

The Right Rev. Geralyn Wolf, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, outside Trinity Church this morning before officiating at the funeral of former U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell. She and her husband returned from Sudan last night. Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Nuala Pell, widow of former U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell, is escorted to Trinity Church by her daughter Dallas Pell, behind her, and son, Christopher T.H. Pell. Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy

The Right Reverend Geralyn Wolf, Bishop of Rhode Island, in red, follows others entering Trinity Church. Wolf will give the blessing. Journal photo / Frieda Squires

Mourners begin to take their seats inside historic Trinity Church this morning. Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

NEWPORT -- The City by the Sea, home to the Gilded Age mansions and their wealthy residents, is no stranger to the funerals and weddings of the rich and famous.

Perhaps the most famous wedding -- the marriage of Jacqueline Bouvier and then U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy, who would later become president of the United States. Jacqueline's family had a summer home in the city, at Hammersmith Farm.

Their 1953 wedding was held in the Roman Catholic St. Mary's Church, only blocks away from the Episcopal Trinity, where the funeral service for former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell is being held today.

In July 1989, the Colonial-era Trinity Church was the site of the funeral for Jacqueline's mother, Janet Auchincloss Morris, which also featured a turnout by members of the famous Kennedy Democratic political clan.

Today's funeral also maintains the Kennedy connection, with the late president's brother and now scion of the family, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, among the speakers.

-- Andrea Panciera, projo.com

The 7to7 breaking news blog will ring in the new year with a day off.

While we won't be blogging Thursday, New Year's Day, we will return to the job on Friday at 7 a.m.

In the meantime, we will be updating the site as usual with stories from The Providence Journal newspaper, live national and world news, sports reports and any major local news.

We invite you to share your comments on stories, send in your snowstorm or holiday photos and videos, and browse for things to do on the first weekend of 2009.

The lights indeed are bright, as the snow lifts and downtown Providence gets ready for its annual New Year's Eve party. This scene, from projo.com's weather Webcam, shows Kennedy Plaza at left.

Want to see more of New Year's celebrations around the world? Follow this guide, to online and TV coverage, compiled by projo.com's Sheila Lennon, whose blogging on her Subterranean Homepage News from home today.

The late-morning commute from South County to Providence was a slog.

Many side streets in Narragansett were unplowed, and cars slipped and swerved while trying to climb steep hills like Bridgetown Road. Some drivers gave up, fishtailed into the other lane and drove back down the hill.

Fast-moving snow coated Routes 1 and 4 ahead of the plows, creating single lanes heading north and south. The interstate wasn't much better. Traffic on I-95 from North Kingstown to Providence moved at about 20 miles an hour just before noon.

Share your storm reports to projo.com, and send in your photos, too.

See what it's like out on the highways via the R.I. Department of Transportation's Web cams. You may have to try more than once to see the cams; we're finding we're getting a "server too busy" message at times.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Davis

Going somewhere for New Year's Eve where the music will be hot even if the weather is not?

You might try warming up with salsa dancing lessons tonight, at 8 p.m., with Anna Mihalova, at Strictly Salsa Tuesday at Olives bar in Providence.

Or get ready for some snow removal chores tomorrow -- and make sure you can head out of the house or enjoy the eve warmly at home. Here are some tips on prepping for a storm.

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
At L.A. Nails in Cranston, Sharon Nichols was having her nails done this afternoon in preparation for New Year's Eve festivities tomorrow. She was planning to go out for an early dinner. Check out projothebeat.com for more ideas on where to ring in 2009; see projo.com's food page for treats you can enjoy at home; and keep the latest forecasts in mind, as a snowstorm heads this way.

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Rob Taylor, left, and Mark Shakelford, unload pallets of food delivered this morning by Ocean State Job Lot to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank as the annual holiday meal drive comes to an end. Donations exceeded 200,000 pounds, or 100 tons. Today's delivery consisted of cans of vegetables, tomato sauce, rice cereal, pasta, baked beans and fruit. The Food Bank feeds approximately 40,000 Rhode Islanders each month through a network of 285 agency programs.

Video: Watch, and listen, as deliveries are made to the food bank today.

As the wind howled across the Ocean State earlier today, trees and limbs fell, hitting power lines and causing power failures.

But by late afternoon, the wind had lessened, and power was being restored.

In Rhode Island there are still 143 customers around the state without power, but that number is down from roughly 1,700 a few hours ago, said National Grid spokesman David Graves.

"It has started to declined as the wind died down," Graves said "We do anticipate to have all customers restored by the evening,"

No customers were out in southeastern Massachusetts. Previously, customers living in Warwick, which had the most reports, Cranston, Hopkinton, Barrington and South Kingstown lost power.

The National Weather Service had a wind advisory in effect through 1 p.m. today. Northwest winds were expected to average 25 to 35 mph. with gusts up to 50 mph. By late afternoon, winds are expected to diminish to 15 to 25 mph. with gusts up to 35 mph.

In Hopkinton, at least four trees had fallen by midday, around Woody Hill, Tomaquag, Collins roads, and Main Street in the Hope Valley section, according to a police dispatcher.

A rotten telephone pole on Tomaquag Road snapped at the base and caused a small fire in another tree when the transformer fell off. No injuries were reported.

The heavy winds were making the work of restoring power difficult, Graves said earlier this afternoon.

"The winds are blowing and it's a game of catch up," Graves said. "We're trying to stay ahead of it. As soon as we get some customers back up, a limb or a tree will go down and we'll loose another section of customers. As the winds die down, we'll be able to get more customers back up."

-- With reports from Talia Buford and Lisa Vernon-Sparks, Journal staff writers

This time of year, you'll see a lot of lists of "stories of the year."

But there's only one list that's all about projo.com readers.

Remember the room with no view at the Providence Place mall? How about the house in Warwick that got an Extreme Makeover? (Here's how it came out)

And who could forget the DUI suspect with the highest blood-alcohol level ever recorded?

These stories rank among the most-read news stories on projo.com in 2008.

Check out our list. Which gets your vote?

And if there's a story that didn't make the list and should have, let us know.

By Amanda Milkovits
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- Today, his last day as the head of the state judiciary, R.I. Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams was in mediation with the lawyers from the City of Providence and the unions over whether the self-insured city can go ahead with switching its health-benefits administrators on Thursday.

The mediation is one of several complex cases that Williams is taking up on his last day as the chief judge -- but it won't be the last.

Court spokesman Craig Berke said today that Williams will continue to sit on the bench as a retired judge and will continue working on the cases he has pending. Even as chief judge, Williams often took on the same amount of cases, about 25, as the others.

"Any time you make a [reference] to retirement, he keeps saying he's not going anywhere," Berke said.

Already, a small office on the seventh floor of the Licht Judicial Complex on Benefit Street was being cleaned and painted in anticipation of Williams' move as an active retired judge. He has company: Retired chief justice Joseph R. Weisberger also has a small office there.

Williams had abruptly announced his retirement barely three weeks ago, on Dec. 11, after serving nearly eight years as the chief justice. It was a dual role of judge and administrator for the state judiciary, which includes more than 700 employees and a $97-million budget.

If he'd remained two more years, he would have qualified for a lifetime pension equal to 100 percent of his $184,408.38 salary, instead of 75 percent, $138,306. And, in an interview with The Journal after his first year in the position, Williams had said he intended to stay for 10 years.

Things change. Berke said that Williams had accomplished what he'd intended -- the construction of new courthouses, Kent County and the Traffic Tribunal, replacement of the antiquated court computer system, increased funding. He also made numerous public appearances to raise awareness and interest in the state's judicial process.

Under state statute, judges who retire at 100 percent of their pension are subject to being recalled to work. Although Williams is retiring after being vested at 75 percent, he is choosing to remain "on call" for work. If he is called in, Williams will be paid a per diem, which is his pay difference between the 75 percent and the full vested amount, Berke said.

Video: Chief Justice Frank J. Williams discusses his resignation, in a Dec. 11 interview.

PROVIDENCE -- It's getting chillier out there. The kids are on vacation. And you may need to get them, and yourself, out of the house.

So, now's the time. The outdoor Bank of America Skating Center, located in Kennedy Plaza in downtown Providence, is open. And not just during the day, but the evening, too.

During the week there are three skating sessions: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 2 to 6 p.m.; and 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is $6, $3 for seniors and children 12 and younger. Skate rentals are $4. For more information, visit www.providenceskating.com.

For more ideas of how to have fun this holiday week, visit projothebeat.com.

By Tracy Breton
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- One veteran lawyer has been disbarred and two others suspended from practice for converting client real-estate proceeds to their own use. According to the Supreme Court's chief disciplinary counsel, who conducted the unrelated investigations, the total allegedly taken is almost $1.3 million.

Lawyer Geoffrey A. Regan, who has an office at 221 Third St., Newport, voluntarily agreed to disbarment. David D. Curtin, the court's chief disciplinary counsel, said in an interview today that Regan had "converted $516,000 to his own use" from three real estate closings. According to court filings, Regan is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by the R.I. Attorney General's Office.

Lawyer Robert D. Natal, who maintained an office at 400 Reservoir Ave., Providence, was suspended indefinitely from the practice of law by the state Supreme Court and did not contest the suspension. Approximately $710,000 in client funds is still unaccounted for, said Curtin, who investigated the complaint and referred it to the Rhode Island State Police.

The court also meted out an indefinite suspension to lawyer Robert M. Brennan, who practiced out of an office at 75 Sockanosset Crossroads, Cranston. Brennan did not contest the suspension. Curtin's office is still investigating the disappearance of $65,731.16 in client funds.

Brennan has been a lawyer in Rhode Island for more than 37 years. Natal was admitted to practice in 1986, and Regan in 1987.

By Amanda Milkovits
Journal staff writer

SMITHFIELD -- Seventeen Bryant University students, including one from Ghana and one from Russia, are taking a historic field trip to Washington, D.C., next month -- to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama.

They were the few students selected for this special three-credit course designed by assistant history professor Rich Holtzman and appropriately called "The 2009 Presidential Inauguration."

Holtzman intends to have students examine the 2008 presidential election and the leadership challenges facing the new administration. While attending the inauguration is part of the coursework, it's also the most challenging, as the students are still scrambling to obtain the in-demand tickets from their congressional leaders and senators or, in the case of the international students, their embassies.

Rhode Island Congressman Jim Langevin is giving Holtzman four inauguration tickets, Bryant University Tracie Sweeney said. Even if there aren't enough tickets for all the students, the class is still going to the National Mall for the inauguration, and as one young woman put it, just being there will be enough.

"I feel like it will be such a privilege to see it," said Heather Miller, a freshman from Rocky Hill, Conn., who voted in her first election last month. Like Obama, Miller is biracial, and she said she felt a connection to him, although she waited to watch his performances in the debates before deciding to give him her vote.

>> Continue reading: Inauguration will cap 10-day D.C. trip for Bryant class

We knew it was coming, but not this early.

The R.I. Division of Motor Vehicles has just announced that the West Warwick DMV branch is closed, effective today, because of problems with the building's heating system.

The branch at 1237 Main St. had already been set to close after this Wednesday, along with the Westerly office, because of state budget problems. The state expects to save about $150,000 by closing the branches, which are in leased space, a government spokeswoman has said.

But because of the problems with its building's heating system -- which were not described in a press release this afternoon -- the West Warwick branch will not be open Tuesday or Wednesday.

Michael J. Pinga, owner of the building, said a part broke in the heating unit and he was told by his maintenance company that it would take two days to get a replacement. He said his staff had set up a temporary heating system, but the state officials didn't think it was warm enough.

"We gave them the option, but they were cold, so they went to Pawtucket," he said.

The heating system should be back in operation by the end of the week, Pinga said, and will be needed because while the DMV is closing the office to the public, workers will still have to be there for a few days more to remove records and equipment.

The Westerly DMV office will not be open after Wednesday.

Pawtucket and all other DMV branches will continue to operate with existing hours. See what they are and their services at the DMV's Web site.