Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Following a growing trend among supermarket pharmacies, Stop & Shop will provide nine types of antibiotics free to customers with a prescription.

"This whole thing started a couple years ago with Walmart starting $4 generic prescriptions," said James G. Hertel, a food retailing consultant. "One of the things that has characterized food retailing in the last 15 years has been the story of Walmart and their ability to grow grocery sales. It had the industry scrambling."

Hertel said supermarkets nationwide have been losing market share to Walmart and looking for ways to fight back.

Two years ago, Meijer, a Midwestern chain with Walmart-like super centers selling groceries and department-store goods, started offering free antibiotics in its pharmacies. It has been joined by Publix, based in Florida; United Supermarkets, in Texas, and Schnucks, based in Missouri, among others.

Unlike those chains, which adopted free antibiotics as a permanent program, Stop & Shop will offer the giveaway only from Jan. 2 to March 21. Covered drugs included various dosages and forms of amoxicillin, ampicillin, bacitracin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, erythromycin, penicillin and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP).

Giant Food Stores, a Mid-Atlantic chain owned by Stop & Shop parent company Royal Ahold, of the Netherlands, is offering the same program as Stop & Shop. The chains are also offering 90-day supplies of more than 350 generic prescription drugs for $9.99.

T.F. Green Airport last month saw its worst drop in passenger traffic in more than two years, and the third worst drop since terrorist attacks shut down the industry in September 2001.

November was the 13th straight month to see a drop in average daily passenger traffic at the state's largest airport.

Last month, 13.7 percent fewer passengers traveled through Green than in November last year, according to figures released by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the state agency that runs Green and several smaller Rhode Island airports. Since September 2001, only two months, July and August of 2006, have shown sharper declines, when traffic was off 16.3 and 14.1 percent, respectively.

"The aviation industry is not exempted from the downturn of the economy," airport corporation President Kevin A. Dillon said in an interview this afternoon. "People are keeping their discretionary dollars in their pockets."

The economic woes this fall followed a summer when the industry was battered by soaring jet fuel prices.

"Needless to say, it's a tough, tough environment," Dillon said. "I'm not optimistic in this climate of an immediate turnaround."

PROVIDENCE - Fire Department and gas company crews are at the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex investigating a possible gas leak.

The courthouse was evacuated before 10 a.m., but court sessions have not been canceled, according to Craig N. Berke, a spokesman for the courts. He said a building engineer for the courts also is tracking down the source of the leak.

The Garrahy Complex houses District, Family and Workers' Compensation Courts and related offices.

PROVIDENCE -- State courts should not use written questionnaires to effectively close jury selection proceedings that the U.S. Constitution requires to be open to the public, The Providence Journal argued this morning before the Rhode Island Supreme Court in a case stemming from The Station nightclub fire.

A lawyer for the state argued that making such questionnaires available to the public would discourage people from serving on juries, would discourage them from answering questions candidly and would invade their privacy.

In September 2006, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. used a 32-page questionnaire to speed up jury selection in the trial of Michael A. Derderian, one of the brothers who owned the nightclub and who was charged with manslaughter in the deaths of 100 fire victims. Over the course of two days, 421 potential jurors filled out the questionnaires, but, before the proceedings went further, Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey A. Derderian, pleaded no contest in the case.

The questionnaire, which included 102 numbered questions, warned jurors that their answers were not confidential and instructed them them to write the word "PRIVATE" after any question that was too sensitive or personal to answer.

After the Derderians entered their pleas, The Journal petitioned Darigan to release the questionnaires. The judge provided a blank copy of the form, but rejected the paper's request for the completed questionnaires, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court.

Bucking the industry trend this year, T.F. Green Airport is projected to increase its inventory of seats on airliners that use the airport, though it is expected to end 2008 below 2007's numbers.

Over the last few months, Continental, Delta and USAirways have added seats to their schedules as they have beefed up service to the New York market, with more upgrades expected this fall, according to Kevin A. Dillon, president of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the state agency that runs T.F. Green and five smaller airports around the state.

The increased service to New York gives Green passengers more access to connections to other cities, as well as more opportunities to fly into the Big Apple.

The inventory of seats is a key factor in determining how many passengers will use an airport because, even if demand is high, airlines cannot boost passenger traffic without adding more seats for passengers to sit in.

Continental has added 96 seats on its daily flights to Newark Liberty International Airport, Dillon said.

Delta has replaced turboprops flying to Kennedy International Airport with regional jets, which typically seat about 20 more passengers, said Dillon.

And USAirways, which flies to New York LaGuardia Airport, has moved to larger turboprops and added flights. That resulted in 83 more seats a day, according to Dillon.

Dillon touted the increase in seats, even though it is small. "It is noteworthy in this climate where a lot of airports are seeing cuts."

But, still, compared to a year ago, the four months from September to December are projected to be down from the same months last year. The decline gets smaller, though, as the year goes on.

September is down 1,154 seats a day during the week, accounting for all carriers except Cape Air and Air Canada, according to Airport Corporation figures. Last year, the airport had 9,613 seats a day. This year, it fell 12 percent to 8,459.

October is down 919 seats, from 9,439 to 8,520, or 10 percent.

November is down 561, from 9,213 to 8,652, or 6 percent.

December is down 360, from 9,012 to 8,652, or 4 percent.

Figures for November and December could change because airlines have not finalized their schedules for those months.

Dillon said that Green is starting to turn the corner, in part, because 6 million people live within a 90-minute drive to the airport.

"This is a very large market," he said. "There is a lot of opportunity. The carriers know there is passenger demand here. It is the strength of this market that's being recognized by these carriers."

Meanwhile, Green is seeing a flicker of competition within its market as Direct Air has announced it will fly from Worcester Regional Airport to two destinations in Florida beginning Nov. 22. Worcester has not had scheduled airline service since 2006, when Allegiant Air stopped flying to Florida's Orlando/Sanford International Airport.

Direct Air will fly to Orlando/Sanford, which is about 25 miles from Orlando, and to Punta Gorda Airport, about 25 miles from Fort Myers, the Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox.

The airline plans to offer service starting next spring from Worcester to Myrtle Beach, S.C., a popular golf destination and home of the airline.

Direct Air will lease Airbus A-320 planes from Virgin America, which will also supply flight crews.

To lure the carrier to Worcester, the Massachusetts Port Authority, which also runs Logan International Airport, waived landing, jet bridge and terminal fees for the airline. The state and city also agreed to spend up to $300,000 in federal grant money to promote the flights to Florida.