Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Wrtier

The IRS wants Joseph Mollicone Jr. to pay, to the tune of $31.6 million in back taxes, interest and penalties from his days at the head of Heritage Loan & Investment Co.

The federal government is seeking its payment from Rhode Island's most notorious embezzler in a suit filed last year in U.S. District Court Rhode Island.

Mollicone failed to respond to that complaint so Judge William E. Smith granted an entry of default against him last month, bringing the United States one step closer to collecting the money as owed. Now, the government has to prove it's entitled to that amount and get a judgment from the court.

In November 1990, insurance regulators announced they had taken control of Heritage Loan and Investment after they found its books to be in such poor condition that they could not determine if the bank was solvent.

The takeover is considered one of the triggers that caused the state's credit union crisis in the 1990s.

It also uncovered the flight of bank president Mollicone, who disappeared for more than a year, and found living in Utah. He was later convicted in 1993 of stealing $12 million from the bank.

A judge imposed the toughest sentence ever given for a white-collar crime in Rhode Island: 30 years to serve in prison, $12 million in restitution and $420,000 in fines.

Mollicone served 10 years behind bars and is to remain on parole until 2023. He began making restitution payments after he was released from prison in 2002.

Despite assurances from the Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corporation (RISDIC) and state regulators that their money was safe up to $500,000 per account, a day after the announcement depositors removed $1.2 million, or 6 percent of all deposits.

-- With Providence Journal archival reports

PROVIDENCE _ Passengers who rely on the state's bus system could make it to July without major service reductions -- so long as the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority gets some key financial breaks, officials there say.

That would amount to a reversal from the grim situation last fall, when the agency was estimating its deficit at $10 million and considering eliminating up to one fifth of its service. Those cuts could have taken effect as soon as this month.

But if things don't go RIPTA's way, transit officials say, it may fall right back into a financial hole and again be pushed into service cutbacks.

"We're not out of the woods yet, by any means," said John Rupp, chairman of the authority's board of directors. "Nothing's off the table yet."

By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Staff

PROVIDENCE - Providence College officials acknowledged today that they've taken steps to prevent a repeat of what they call an ``embarrassing'' incident in Saturday's loss to Marquette University at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

In the second half of the nationally televised game, Jonathan Xavier, 24, of Pawtucket, came out of the stands and walked through the PC team bench and onto the court where he confronted a referee. Xavier did not touch the official and was pulled off the floor by Dunkin' Donuts Center security guards without incident.

Xavier was arrested and released by Providence Police after being charged with one count of disorderly conduct. He will be arraigned in Providence Municipal Court next Tuesday. Xavier is on probation for a drug conviction. Attempts to reach Xavier via the telephone number or at the Pawtucket address he left with the police have failed.

Xavier is an older brother of Jeff Xavier, a Friar senior who was elbowed in the eye during a play that precipitated his brother coming down to the floor. Jeff Xavier left the game with an eye injury that required three stitches to close but was back in the lineup for Monday night's PC win over the University of Cincinnati.

PC released a statement today that read, in part, ``following the incident, Providence College and the Dunkin' Donuts Center recognized that there was a need to take precautions to prevent further incidents during our men's basketball games. As a result, the number of security personnel was increased and uniformed Providence Police officers are now strategically positioned near the team benches.''

During Monday's Cincinnati game, a police officer was stationed directly behind the PC bench for the first time. Also, more security officers were seated closer to the playing floor.

"We were disappointed and embarrassed about the situation that occurred when the fan entered the court during our men's basketball game versus Marquette on Saturday," Providence College Athletics Director Bob Driscoll said.

"The safety of the student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans is a top priority for us. We have worked with the Dunkin' Donuts Center to improve our security efforts at the Dunkin' Donuts Center and we will constantly monitor these efforts."

Janis Krums, a tourist from Sarasota, Fla., Twittered from his iPhone and posted this photo on TwitPic, captioned, "There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy."

By Sheila Lennon
projo.com

The photo -- I've cropped some water and sky from the the version above -- has been viewed more than 90,000 times in the fewer than 12 hours since the crash, and is now moving on the Associated Press feed.

It took me a while to realize that the crowd who seem to be walking on water -- or standing knee-deep in the middle of the Hudson -- must be standing on the floating plane's wing.

The Times blogged the aftermath of the the masterful landing of US Airways flight 1549 from LaGuardia Airport in New York, bound for Charlotte, N.C. (Updates From Plane Rescue in Hudson River), and interviewed both rescued passengers and observers (What Happened on Flight 1549, Inside and Out). Their main story is headlined with the amazing news, All 155 Escape Jet's Plunge Into Hudson.

The pilot, Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, from Danville, Calif., 57, emerged as a genuine hero of the crash, which was probably caused by a flock of birds taking out both engines barely a minute into the flight: US Airways Crew Is Credited for Nimble Reaction.

Doc Searls posts the route of the very short flight from FlightAware, below, which makes clear that the decision to ditch the Airbus in the Hudson was a deliberate choice to avoid disaster in densely populated Manhattan and surrounding areas.

USA1549 Flight Track (with map) on FlightAware

Intelligence, experience and patience tacked a happy ending on a tale that must have seemed to those aboard about to end with their own tragic deaths.

More: How Birds Can Down a Jet Airplane at LiveScience.

NowPublic has put together a Web 2.0 reaction page

-- Crossposted from Sheila Lennon's Subterranean Homepage News blog

EAST GREENWICH -- An off-duty Providence police officer today helped local police nab an machete-wielding bank robber shortly after he ran out of the BankRI branch at 1269 South County Trail.

Police Lt. James Poccia said that officers are working to verify the identity of the man they took into custody in the parking lot of a grocery store across the street from the bank.

According to Poccia, the man walked into the bank around noon, brandished a machete and was given an undisclosed amount of cash. The robber than jumped into a stolen car to make his get away. But he had been spotted by the off-duty officer who notified police and followed the suspect to the nearby parking lot of Dave's Marketplace at 1000 Division St.

The suspect tried to run but was apprehended by East Greenwich patrol officers, Poccia said.

He said that detectives are continuing the investigation.

--- Barbara Polichetti, Journal staff writer

Rhode Island District Court calendars will be suspended Monday for the funeral of District Court Chief Judge Albert E. DeRobbio, who died Dec. 22.

"Essential matters" that must get a hearing Monday, will be heard at 2:00 p.m. at the Garrahy Judicial Complex, Providence.

His funeral will be held at 10 a.m. in St. Paul's Church on Broad Street in Cranston.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter advisory for northern Rhode Island with sleet, freezing rain and snow starting after 11 p.m.

For Providence and the southern parts of Rhode Island, the Weather Service says the precipitation will turn completely to rain by 3 a.m. Expect a low Friday night in Providence of 34 with a high Saturday of 50.

The rain will continue across Rhode Island on Sunday and the temperature could hit 60.

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees have reeled in another prime free agent, reaching a preliminary agreement with first baseman Mark Teixeira for $180 million over eight years, the Associated Press and ESPN's Buster Olney have reported.

The AP reported that a person familiar with the negotiations disclosed the agreement, which is subject to a physical.

The Red Sox reportedly had also been in the hunt, if, for nothing else, but to keep Teixeira away from their New York rivals.

By Cynthia Needham and Katherine Gregg
Journal State House bureau

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri today unveiled a federally-approved plan to give the state "unprecedented flexibility'' in how it provides Medicaid-financed health care to roughly 200,000 Rhode Islanders.

It's a plan that Carcieri says could save the state more than $357 million over five years.

But the agreement is just one step in a process that governor now says could take several years to fully implement and likely won't achieve the projected $67 million in savings this fiscal year.

The Carcieri administration is still at least three months away from rolling out some of the more dramatic changes, including the adoption of new eligibility criteria for admission to a nursing home. In the near future, only those considered to have the "highest need'' will be guaranteed Medicaid subsidized admission.

On Friday, Rhode Island became the first state in the nation to secure such a deal -- a controversial five-year agreement which has significant implications for the state's finances and for the elderly and the disabled who receive Medicaid services.

The announcement of an initial deal came after months of negotiations with the federal government.

Rhode Island's top Democrats say they are concerned about the deal the Republican governor has struck with the federal government to free the state from certain Medicaid rules.

Continue reading to see what some of them said this afternoon:

>> Continue reading: Update: Carcieri's Medicaid-savings plan could take years

The snow cancelled high school games. The Providence Bruins moved their game to 1 p.m. And they won. But their were few fans at the Dunk to see it.

Journal photo Steve Szydlowski

By Steve Peoples
Journal State House Bureau

The governor's office announced Friday that it had finalized a "landmark" deal with federal regulators that may change Medicaid coverage of nursing homes, prescription drugs, group homes for the disabled and even transportation for the elderly.

The plan has far-reaching implications for the 180,000 disabled, elderly and low-income residents touched by Medicaid programs last year.

The agreement gives the governor's office unprecedented authority to restructure Medicaid programs, which are now closely regulated by the federal government. In exchange, Rhode Island has agreed to limit Medicaid spending over the next five years to roughly $12.075 billion, which is about $375 million less than state negotiators had hoped.

The cost of Medicaid programs is simply unsustainable, according to the governor, who believes the new deal will allow the state to control costs while better serving residents. Medicaid consumes roughly $1.8 billion in state and federal spending this year, or 25 percent of the total state budget.

Critics, however, fear the new agreement jeopardizes programs that have long been known as "entitlements," because they are guaranteed to people who meet certain income guidelines.

If Rhode Island spends its five-year limit too soon, it would be forced to slash programs or pay for them only with state funds. Currently, the federal government pays about 52 cents of every dollar spent on Medicaid programs in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island is the first state in the nation to secure such a deal -- dubbed a "global Medicaid waiver" -- with the federal government.

Current law gives the legislature 30 days to veto the deal. An Assembly spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

The administration noted that major changes to Medicaid programs would still require public hearings and, in some cases, approval from the legislature.

WASHINGTON _ Brown Physicist Anastasia Volovich, an expert in the scientific quest known as ``string theory,'' is at the White House today to receive a special award for young scientists.

Volovich is one of 20 engineers and scientists selected by the National Science Foundation for a presidential award recognizing exceptional promise early in their careers. The award entitles her to support from the agency for five years, according to the university.

Volovich specializes in string theory and related areas in particle physics and general relativity, according to a press release from Brown. ``String theory is the search for a single explanation that describes all the laws in the known universe,'' says the release. ``The theory's main idea is that all matter and forces are made of tiny strands of energy that vibrate in different patterns.''

Volovich is being recognized for her work on a particular method of calculation -- quantum chronodynamics -- that may help scientists to detect evidence in nature that would back up the theory. A potential milestone in the research approaches; next summer in Switzerland, scientists will use the Large Hadron Collider, the world's biggest particle accelerator, to search for physical corroboration of string theory.

Volovich is also considered a promising teacher. The presidential award committee has cited her work on a science Olympiad for high school students. "Anastasia has demonstrated not only impressive skills as a physicist but also enthusiasm and talent in teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels," said Chung-I Tan, who heads the Brown physics department.

WASHINGTON _ Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is on a fact-finding tour of the Middle East, including his second visit to Iraq, his office said today.

Whitehouse is part of a Senate delegation led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that met today with U.S. officials including Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, who leads the multinational force in Iraq, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker.

Whitehouse said in a statement released by his office that he had a chance to meet and convey thanks to ``our troops spending this holiday season far from home,'' including some Rhode Islanders.

The delegation, which also includes Senators Kent Conrad, D-N.D. and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., also visited Eqypt and Jordan. Whitehouse is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

By David Nowak
Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW -- An African-American exchange student from Rhode Island has been stabbed by unknown assailants in a southern Russian city in an attack officials say may have been racially motivated.

Stanley Robinson, 18, of Providence was in grave but stable condition Friday at Hospital No. 12 in the southern city of Volgograd, the hospital's head doctor said.

Investigators were trying to determine if the Dec. 5 assault on Robinson was a hate crime, said city police spokeswoman Svetlana Smolyaninova. No suspects have been detained, and she said authorities have not ruled out robbery or random violence.

But Robinson's mother, who has spoken twice with her son by telephone since the attack, has no doubts about what motivated the attack.

"I believe it happened because he is a person of color," Tina Robinson said in a telephone interview Friday from her home in Providence. "It was completely unprovoked."

The stabbing took place in Volgograd, an industrial city of 1 million people 900 kilometers (550 miles) southeast of Moscow.

Tina Robinson said her son had developed pneumonia, and said she was trying to arrange his transfer to a Western-style medical facility. "I'm very concerned about the care he's getting there," she said.

The U.S. Embassy declined comment, citing privacy concerns.

In recent years Russia has seen a rising number of attacks against members of non-Slavic ethnic groups, particularly darker-skinned migrants from the Caucasus region and Central Asia. African students and immigrants are also frequent targets of attacks, but attacks on Westerners are rare.

>> Continue reading: Update: R.I. African-American student stabbed in Russia

The National Weather Service today issued a flood warning for Pawtuxet Village in Cranston along with parts of Warwick.

Elsewhere, the commute was awful especially in parts of the East Bay where a park and ride lot in Barrington and intersections in Bristol were a foot underwater.

At greatest risk, the Weather Service says, are homes and businesses on Wellington Avenue and Avery Road in Cranston and Pioneer Avenue, Bellows Street, Venturi Avenue and a portion of River Street in Warwick.

At 9.5 feet, The river had already crested its banks at 6:30 a.m. The Weather Service warned the Pawtuxet could reach 11 feet by Friday afternoon. Flood stage is 9 feet.

The Weather Service hydrology graph shows the Pawtuxet falling back below its banks overnight.

With up 5 inches of rain forecast for some areas of Rhode Island, the Weather Service also issued a moderate flood warning for parts of the Blackstone River.

The Barrington River was over its banks at the White Church on Route 114 and the Providence River is flooding sidewalks in Waterplace.

In Newport harbor, the water was lapping at top of the sea wall near the Marriott on Long Wharf. King Park and Wellington Avenue were underwater at high tide Friday morning.

"Do not allow children to play near swollen rivers, streams or culverts," the Weather Service warned. "Swiftly moving water can pose an imminent threat to life."

What is the best thing that happened on or near Christmas to you or a loved one?

Was it an unexpected visitor or gift? Someone lost in the past reappearing? A marriage proposal? A spiritual or religious experience?

Staff Writer G. Wayne Miller doesn't know what the story is, but he'd like to retell it for a feature to run on or shortly before Dec. 25. Please send a synopsis to gwmiller@projo.com

BOSTON -- Officials say the Massachusetts public pension fund lost about 13 percent of its value or about $5 billion in October.

The Pension Reserves Investment Trust has lost about 27 percent of its value this year and was worth about $40 billion as of Oct. 31.

The state Treasurer's Office says the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 17 percent in October and is down 33 percent for the year, while the average large pension fund has lost about 28 percent.

--- The Associated Press

MOST PEACEFUL PLACE: Staff writer G. Wayne Miller is looking for the most peaceful place in Rhode Island or nearby Massachusetts, and someone to take him there for a story and video. Do you know of such a place -- a place of tranquility in these worrisome times -- and would you be Miller's guide on the journey there?

Write him at gwmiller@projo.com

By C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Journal staff writer

BARRINGTON - The School Committee and the teachers union have agreed to a new three-year contract requiring most teachers to pay more for their medical insurance and raising pay by 2 to 2.95 percent annually.

The pact, which doesn't take effect until Sept. 1, also says that both sides will consider renegotiating salary scales if there is a severe cut in state aid. The talks would be designed to avoid layoffs or cuts in programs.

"We hope it doesn't come to that," said Patrick Sullivan, president of the 290-member teachers union, NEA Barrington. "Getting through these difficult times requires some collaboration with the administration, and that's something we have always been receptive to."

School Committee Chairman Patrick A. "Buzz" Guida said the agreement means Barrington teachers will be paying 20 percent of their health insurance premiums, the highest among teachers in the area. Currently, only new teachers pay that amount. Those hired before Sept. 1, 2006 have been paying 15 percent.

With no education funding formula in the state and Rhode Island having the dubious distinction of having the worst economy in the U.S., "you have a perfect storm," Sullivan said this afternoon. "We felt this was something we could work with over the next three years."

The Navy's top officer today gave a ringing endorsement of the submarine program, calling it a ``killer arrow'' among the weapons available to commanders.

``I love submarines,'' Adm. Gary Roughead, the Chief of Naval Operations, told a convention of submariners, contractors and others close to the industry, joking that some of his colleagues in the surface Navy ``think I have gone over to the dark side.''

But Roughead, a rare CNO who has commanded both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, observed on a serious note that some people ``think that submarines are a thing of the past.''

He said skeptics view submarines as ``cold war relics'' that have outlived the usefulness. ``I am not in their camp,'' Roughead told the annual symposium of the Naval Submarine League in Northern Virginia.

Roughead went on to allude in general terms to the versatility of submarines, which are uniquely able to operate without detection on missions of intelligence-gathering, special forces warfare and long-distance missile attacks.

As a commander in the Pacific, Roughead suggested that he relied heavily on submarines, calling them ``the killer arrow in the quiver,'' that offers ``options and capabilities that exist nowhere else.''

Roughead offered particular praise for the small, new class of former ballistic missile subs that have been overhauled in recent years to accommodate large payloads of conventional missiles, as well as special forces units.

The Navy leader spoke at a moment of growing challenges for the Navy, which faces heavy budgetary pressures even as such potential adversaries such as China expand their undersea fleets.

PROVIDENCE _ The state Water Resources Board today fired its general manager Juan Mariscal.

William Penn, the new water board chairman, and J. Michael Sullivan, director of the state Department of Environmental Management, who sits on the board, instigated the action. The vote was 5 to 4.

Penn, Mariscal's leading critic, said the board was not doing enough to develop new water supplies.

Mariscal's defenders said that Mariscal did a good job, adding that water supply efforts will now be hampered because today's action cuts the beleaguered agency down to a staff of just three. It had nine employees three years ago.

One board member, retired state Planner Daniel Varin, called the dismissal an "outrage."

Robert A. Urciuoli holds his wife's hand as he leaves court this morning after a jury convicted the former Roger Williams Medical Cente president and CEO of all 36 counts against him.
Video: Watch a video of responses from Urciuoli's lawyer and Frances Driscoll's daughter after the verdict Providence Journal photo by Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE -- A jury this morning convicted former Roger Williams Medical Center president and CEO Robert A. Urciuoli of all 36 counts against him, but acquitted former vice president Frances P. Driscoll of the one count against her.

The pair were accused of stealing the honest services of former state Sen. John A. Celona of North Providence, hiring Celona to do political favors for the medical center.

Urciuoli was convicted of one count of conspiracy and 35 counts of honest-services mail fraud. Urciuoli remained stoic as the jury announced its verdict. One of his lawyers held his hand against Urciuoli's back.

Driscoll was acquitted of the only charge against her -- one count of aiding and abetting the alleged conspiracy. Family members gasped when the jury cleared the 69-year-old grandmother who shattered her arm when she fell on the courthouse steps Sept 22, delaying the trial for almost a week.

The jury had started its fifth day of deliberations when it reached its verdict.

Outside the courthouse this morning, an attorney for Urciuoli said he was disappointed with the verdict but confident it would be overturned on appeal.

The jury's verdict "is completely against the evidence that was presented in this case," said attorney Howard Cooper of Boston.

Urciuoli stood near Cooper. He was hugging his wife, the former Donna Paolino. The Urciuolis declined comment.

Cooper emphasized trial testimony that James McGuirk, an attorney for the Roger Williams Medical Center, had said that it was OK for Urciuoli to hire Celona. He noted there was also a state Ethics Commission opinion supporting his legal advice.

Cooper said he's confident the verdict will be overturned, as it was the first time.

This was a retrial for both Urciuoli and Driscoll. They were convicted in their original trials in October 2006, but the convictions were overturned on appeal. Celona testified at that trial, but did not testify at the retrial, which started with opening statements on Sept. 9.

U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, also speaking in front of the federal courthouse, said the jury made the right decision regarding Urciuoli.

In regards to Driscoll, he said, "I'm not disappointed. We respect what the jury comes up with."

He commended the two prosecutors: Luis A. Matos and Dulce Donovan, both assistant U.S. attorneys.

Corrente was asked whether not having Celona testify made a difference. "I don't think it played an awfully big role," he said.

Evidence presented in the trial showed that Urciuoli hired Celona despite the concerns of Driscoll and others at the hospital. The prosecution introduced faxes and e-mails from Celona to Driscoll in which the senator said he had worked to kill or promote certain legislation.

Celona was hired by an assisted living center affliated with the hospital, The Village at Elmhurst, and was paid $260,000 from 1998 through early 2004.

Prosecutors say that Celona took steps to kill bills deemed harmful to Roger Williams and to advance legislation that Urciuoli considered favorable.

Celona worked to kill legislation that would have prohibited hospital officials from serving on the board of a for-profit hospital in the event of a merger, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said Celona also helped Urciuoli pressure medical insurance companies to increase their reimbursements to Roger Williams for health care services.

But the defense countered that there was nothing illegal in the relationship and that Celona, who was paid between $700 and $1,000 a week, exaggerated his claims. Celona is in prison, serving a 30-month sentence after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges.

Urciuoli remains free on bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for March 6, 2009.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, conspiracy and 17 of the mail fraud counts carry maximum penalties of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Eighteen of the mail fraud counts have maximum penalties of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

In the original trial, Urciuoli was convicted of all the counts against him, while Driscoll was convicted of one count.

The two appealed the convictions, their lawyers arguing that Senior U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres gave the jury instructions that allowed them to convict Celona for work he did that was legal.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston overturned the convictions in January 2007.

Both were free on bail pending the retrial.

-- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski

projo.com photo/ Brandie Jefferson
Providence firefighters extinguished a fire at a three-story house at 610 Union Avenue this morning.

PROVIDENCE -- An early morning fire in the Silver Lake neighborhood filled a three-story house with smoke. All the residents escaped safely.

Firefighters arrived at 610 Union Avenue at 7:19 this morning. It took several companies about 45 minutes to put the flames out.

The fire appears to have started on the first floor.

Amara Ezeamama, who owns the house with her husband, Bright Onye, said she woke up to the smell of smoke, and the sounds of their house being destroyed.

"We heard the cracking of windows before the fire department got here," Ezeamama said.

She woke Onye, who had just gotten home from work.

"I was fast asleep when my wife started waking me up and telling me "'there's smoke, there's smoke,'" he said.

"I quickly got up, looked at our apartment; there was smoke. I went down to the second floor, there's more smoke. I was like, 'where is my tenant?'"

The tenant, Pedro Cabral, who lived on the second floor, said the smoke was "really thick" when he got out.

He said he wanted to go back in to get his stuff, but, he said, "I knew better." Cabral said this is the second time he's had to escape from a burning house.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Today in history: In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, Mass.

Lizzie Borden, Andrew Borden's daughter from a previous marriage, was accused of the killings, though she was later acquitted.

A.H. Belo Corp. of Dallas, Texas, whose holdings include The Providence Journal and Dallas Morning News, plans to reduce company-wide employment by the equivalent of 500 full-time jobs -- about 14 percent of the company's work force.

Howard G. Sutton, publisher, president and CEO of The Providence Journal, today told editors that the staff reductions here would be less than 5 percent.

If the company does not reach the target number through a voluntary severance program to be completed by mid-September, "an involuntary reduction-in-force will be necessary,'' the company said in a letter to shareholders issued today.

A.H. Belo also said it also will cut marketing and overall promotion expense, as well as travel costs and other discretionary expenses, and reduce the width of the newspapers in Providence and Riverside, Calif.

Robert W. Decherd, A.H. Belo's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a letter to employees today that these and other steps are a response to "the unprecedentedly adverse business environment facing the newspaper industry -- and the related, negative perception of the industry's future prospects.''

The company announced the steps on the same day it posted a second-quarter net loss on a 15-percent drop in revenue.

For the three months ended June 30, A.H. Belo posted a net loss of $3.19 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a net profit of $12.3 million, or 60 cents a share, for the comparable period a year earlier.

Second-quarter revenue fell 15.1 percent, to $163.25 million.

A.H. Belo is among a number of media companies nationwide that are being affected by a drop in overall advertising revenue as many readers and advertisers migrate to the Internet.

Just before mid-day today, A.H. Belo stock was trading at $6.09, down 31 cents a share.

-- Journal staff writer Neil Downing

Journal reporter G. Wayne Miller is looking to write a story of a bride-to-be's last day as a single woman -- i.e., the day before her wedding.

The story would include still photographs and a video for projo.com. Miller wants to capture this moment on the day before a wedding anytime from the week of Sept. 8 through the end of October.

If interested, please respond to Wayne Miller, gwmiller@projo.com

What male and female Rhode Island high school scholar-athletes will receive this year's Providence Journal High School Honor Roll awards?

Who will be named the 2008 Dick Reynolds Correspondent award winner?

The three scholarship recipients will be revealed Sunday in ProJo Sports and online at hsgametime.com/rhodeisland.

The Providence Journal Honor Roll Girl and Boy will each receive a $5,000 Wendy's/Peter Bennett Scholarship. The Dick Reynolds Correspondent award winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship

State education officials today are expected to celebrate a special “green” certification for a new 367-bed residence hall at Rhode Island College.

The Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education will take part in the celebration at 5 p.m. on the college campus with outgoing RIC president John Nazarian and incoming president Nancy Carriuolo.

The new residence hall is the largest building in Rhode Island to receive the so-called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is also the first residence hall in Rhode Island to earn the designation.

The 127,500-square-foot building was designed by RGB, a Providence-based architecture, engineering and interior design firm.

Energy efficient design is expected to save more than $115,000 annually in heat and air conditioning costs. The building was sited to minimize the clearing of natural vegetation and more than 750,000 tons of trash from the construction work was recycled.

-- Journal environment writer Peter B. Lord

PROVIDENCE -- City schools Supt. Donnie Evans is no longer a finalist for the Cincinnati school district now that the Cincinnati School Board has decided to keep looking.

Evans said he was disappointed but not surprised that the school board decided to launch a new search, adding that the board had told him that it was unhappy with the search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. Evans did say, however, that he was talking with another search firm about applying for three other superintendent openings, which he declined to name because of the confidential nature of the searches.

According to The Cincinatti Enquirer, the board decided to re-open recruitment because its members felt that neither finalist would receive a 5-2 majority. The other finalist, Diana Bourisaw of St. Louis, withdrew her candidacy late last month, citing personal reasons, which left Evans as the sole candidate.

“We don’t want our new superintendent to start with a factionalized board,” school board president Eve Bolton told The Enquirer. “We’ve done that before.”

The Cincinatti board is expected to name an interim superintendent July 14.

Meanwhile, Providence’s new superintendent, Thomas Brady, is scheduled to arrive here on July 14. Brady, the interim superintendent of Philadelphia, was hired this winter approximately a week after Evans announced that he would not be seeking a second three-year term in Providence.

Brady spent 25 years in the military before entering the educational field and he has held top administrative positions in Fairfax, Va., and Washington, D.C.

-- Journal staff writer Linda Borg

Repair work is under way on the Henderson Bridge and that means those who wish to cross the bridge on bicycle or on foot must use a sidewalk on the westbound side of the bridge.

The first phase of construction is on the bridge’s eastbound lanes. Cars headed east are limited to one narrow lane, according to a Department of Transportation news release today.

Bicycles and pedestrians are banned from the east side of the bridge during construction. On the westbound side, bicyclists must walk their bikes along the sidewalk and across the span.

The bridge connects Waterman and Angell streets on Providence's East Side to Massasoit Avenue in East Providence.

A detour for bicyclists and pedestrians headed to East Providence is in place from Waterman Street up Butler Avenue to a right on Angell Street, where they can access the sidewalk next to the bridge's westbound lanes.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

PAWTUCKET -- The Division Street Bridge is being reopened to two-way traffic, seven months after it became one-way, and an elaborate set of detours was put in place, when a weight limit was imposed on part of Route 95.

The bridge, now one-way eastbound, is expected to reopen to two-way traffic Wednesday morning, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m.

State Department of Transportation maintenance crews are busy painting stripes, working on traffic signals and repaving the roadway, Kazem Farhoumand, DOT’s acting chief engineer, said today in an interview.

The work, necessary before two-way traffic is restored to Division Street, has taken longer than expected, Farhoumand said, because of delays by private utility companies relocating wires from utility poles on the city-owned bridge.

The Division Street Bridge has been one-way between George and Prospect streets since Nov. 28, when the state transportation department imposed a 22-ton weight limit -- later lowered to 18 tons -- on the bridges that carry Route 95 over the Pawtucket River.

The weight limit was intended to prolong the life of the bridges, built half a century ago as part of the interstate highway system. The detours imposed as a result of weight limit involved diverting traffic through Pawtucket’s labyrinthine network of streets.

There were concerns, when the detours took effect, that they would cause traffic jams in the city and wear and tear on Division Street Bridge, which was built 130 years ago and rehabilitated in 1985.

But the traffic jams didn’t develop. Most trucks too heavily loaded to cross the Route 95 Pawtucket River Bridges legally detoured onto Route 146 or Route 295.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

PROVIDENCE -- The swirly-shaped compact fluorescent light bulbs have become the darlings of those who care about saving energy and combating climate change, except for one nagging problem.

When they break, they release tiny quantities of highly toxic mercury.

Now, a team from Brown University believes it has developed a solution. It has discovered a material that rapidly absorbs mercury gases and could be used as the packaging for mercury bulbs or as a tool for cleaning up broken bulbs.

Saturday morning we’ll be upgrading the active projo blogs to a new version of the Movable Type software. All blogs will remain available during this process. Afterwards you’ll see a new look and some new features, and we’ll welcome your comments about them.

Staff Writer G. Wayne Miller is looking for candidates for two stories:

FIRST HAIRCUT. Miller seeks a toddler, girl or boy, who’s never had her or his hair cut. Miller and a staff photographer would join the child and parents on the day of the first cut.

LAST DAY AT HOME for a high school graduate who is heading off to college. A student leaving for a distant school is preferable, but not required; the only requirement is that the student will be living away from home. Miller and a staff photographer would be at the student’s home on the last day

If interested, please contact Miller at gwmiller@projo.com

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
Helen Peck, of Cranston, enjoys the belated celebration of Flag Day at the Cranston Senior Center this afternoon. The center had been closed last Saturday, the official Flag Day. Tody, the Cranston police honor guard presented the colors, and there were patriotic songs and readings before lunch.

Stories on the Twin River slot parlor and the murder of a teenager lead today Journal.
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The House Finance has increased the governor's budget for schools by $12.8 million. Check how much money your community will get. Providence got $3.5 million in extra money in the fiscal year starting July 1.

Passenger traffic at T.F. Green Airport declined in April and during the first four months of 2008, compared to similar periods last year, according to statistics released today by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.

There were 412,471 passengers at Green in April, off .4 percent from April 2007.

For January, February, March and April, 1.50 million passengers used Green. That’s down 1.1 percent from the 1.52 million passengers in the first four months last year.

Southwest Airlines remained the biggest carrier at Green, with 52.4 percent of all passengers at the airport in April. U.S. Airways was the second biggest carrier with 21 percent of all passengers. No other carrier has more than 7 percent.

Projo.com will be down for maintenance early Saturday morning. It is expected that we'll be back up and running by 8 a.m., at the latest. We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope you'll come back later in the day.

The word of the day and the weekend is "rain."

And the National Weather Service in Taunton is pretty sure of itself, 100 percent sure.

The service puts the chance of rain at 70 percent this afternoon, 100 percent tonight and 40 percent Saturday and Sunday.

It looks like a washout. At least it won't be cold. Today's high is forecast to be 63. It could approach 70 tomorrow.

New bridge restrictions and the latest sounding on the Democratic primary lead today's Journal.
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PROVIDENCE –– The state’s largest revenue sources –– income and sales taxes –– are down sharply through the first 10 months of the fiscal year.

This is a further sign that Rhode Island’s fiscal problems are mounting as lawmakers struggle to shape a balanced budget facing the largest deficit in nearly two decades.

Economists reported last week that Rhode Island is one of nine states experiencing an economic recession. State Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan supplied data today detailing the effect of widespread job losses, stagnant wages and weak consumer confidence.

Sales taxes are down $23 million, or 3.1 percent, compared to the same period last year, Sullivan reports, while income taxes are down $9 million, or 1 percent.

Should the trend continue through the next two months, as expected, it would be the first time that the state’s largest two revenue sources collectively fell since the early 1990s.

“As far as I’m concerned we’re in a recession,” Governor Carcieri said in an interview today with the radio station WSAR, 1400 AM.

Journal photo/Bob Thayer
Samira Galvao, the cousin of Helder Tomar, touches his casket today outside the Merrick R. Williams Funeral Home in Pawtucket. Tomar, 19, was shot and killedSaturday after a fight with another teenager in Jenks Park in Central Falls.

PAWTUCKET – Helder Tomar, the first of two teenagers killed in an outbreak of violence in Central Falls last weekend, was laid to rest today in an emotional funeral marked by an eloquent plea for peace.

“My son is leaving me, my good son is leaving me,” Helder’s mother, 55-year-old Virignia Tomar, said over and over again in Creole as friends and family members went up to the coffin to bid farewell to him.

“You’re leaving everybody behind and you have a lot of friends and family around you today,” Mrs. Tomar said.

A tall, distinguished-looking woman whose hair is streaked with gray, Mrs. Tomar emigrated to the country from Cape Verde with her husband, Paulo, in 1990 to make a better life for their seven children.

She kept her composure through most of the hour-long service at the Merrrick R. William Funeral Home on Smithfield Avenue. But when the time came to close the coffin and take her dead son to Mount St. Mary’s Cemetery for burial, she and others in the room began to wail.

Helder Tomar, 19, was shot to death in a fight that broke out last Saturday afternoon in Jenks Park with 19-year-old Anthony Strobert, who has been charge with murder.

The day after the shooting, 16-year Edelmiro Roman of Central Falls was shot down on Dexter Street and and killed.

Police say they believe that Roman, whose family is from Puerto Rico, was killed in retaliation for Tomar’s slaying.

Addressing the crowd of young people who packed the funeral home this morning, lay preacher Marco De Barros called for peace.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

>> Continue reading: A call for peace amid sorrow at shooting victim's funeral

A story on the pope's Mass in Yankee stadium and an inspirational advance on the Boston Marathon lead today's Journal.
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A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts released this week projects that an average of one in 31 homeowners in Rhode Island who took out high-cost mortgages during the real-estate boom will lose their homes to foreclosure, most of them by the end of next year.

Rhode Island’s projected foreclosure rate exceeds the national average of 1 in 33 homeowners, and is higher than any other New England state, according to the study, “Defaulting on the Dream: States Respond to America’s Foreclosure Crisis.’’

Massachusetts’ projected foreclosure rate is forecast at 1 in 48 homeowners. The state with highest projected foreclosure rate — 1 in 11 homeowners— is Nevada.

The projections are for 2007-2011, but the foreclosure are expected “primarily” to occur this year and next year, the study said, when rates on the loans are set to adjust upwards. (The forecasts are for “actual homes lost,” not late payments or foreclosures started but not completed.)

It's playoff time in Boston.

Join the Celtics bandwagon: See photo galleries of the starting five, catch up on team stats and test your knowledge with Providence Journal sports editor Ken Hamwey's Celtics quiz.

The Atlanta series opens Sunday night at the Garden.

Harrison "Harry" Zolnierczyk, a forward with the Brown University hockey team, has pleaded guilty to charges that he secretly made a sex tape, according to a story in The Vancouver Sun. Canadian prosecutors said the surreptitiously recorded video involved an underage girl, and was posted on YouTube.

Zolnierczyk is pleading guilty to secretly recording sexual activity and making available voyeuristic recordings. The "video voyeurism" charges are new in Canada, according to the newspaper story, and there is a lack of sentencing precedent. Prosecutor Gordon Baines told the newspaper that the sentence for Zolniercyzk could be "anywhere from discharge to six months in jail and three years probation."

Prosecutors agreed to stay more serious charges of producing and distributing child pornography, charges which would have carried a minimum jail sentence.

Stories on the Pope's visit and the new Bradley hospital lead today's Journal.

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A package of stories on a new bottle bill lead today's Journal.
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A story on the two bodies pulled out of Cumberland home and feature on a patient at the Eleanor Slater Hospital lead today's front page.

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

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

The smoke-shop trial and immigration lead today's Journal.
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Photo/Mystic Aquarium


Beached in Little Compton three weeks ago, a yearling harp seal returned to the ocean in Charlestown today. The Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration staff nursed the seal back into health. The seal had an elevated white blood cell count and was dehydrated.

Video: See a video of the May 18, 2007, release of 15 seals, courtesy of Mystic Aquarium

By JOE McDONALD
and SEAN McADAM

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox players today voted unanimously in a closed-door meeting that they will not take the field today against the Toronto Blue Jays unless major league baseball agrees to compensate coaches for the coming trip to Japan. The game, the last before the team leaves on its season-opening trip to the Far East, is scheduled to be televised at noon on ESPN.

The controversy arose Tuesday morning when manager Terry Francona found out that the coaching staffs from both Boston and Oakland would not be paid the extra $40,000 that the players and managers will get for traveling to Japan.

There has been a lot of confusion between Major League Baseball and MLBPA in the last 24 hours, and Francona is still waiting for answers.

“I was promised some answers yesterday and I didn’t receive them,” said the manager. “We’re trying to get ready to play a game and I spent the morning apologizing to the coaches and being humiliated. The players are pretty adamant that something be done.

“This is a touchy situation for me,” added Francona. “It’s a big deal. I don’t appreciate that coaches are [viewed as] second-class citizens. That has never sat well with me. We’re over there representing Major League Baseball, and we’ve talked about doing it with class, but this is disheartening. This is hard to understand. We were told [they would be paid] and the players believed it too. I double-checked on this this winter. This isn’t something I take for granted.”

Francona said he is embarrassed by the entire situation.

The Red Sox players are, too.

“I’ve seen a lot of stuff in this game, but this is unbelievable,” said Red Sox player rep Kevin Youkilis prior to the team meeting this morning. “It was brought to my attention (Tuesday) and it was something I thought would never even be a problem. To have this as a problem is embarrassing. For what these coaches do for baseball, I mean, the players play but in order to have order and run these teams, they put all the hardest work in. They deserve as much as much as the players. . . For them not to be getting paid for this trip is a disgrace. It’s a disgrace to the game.”

No matter if the issue is resolved before the team leaves this afternoon, Youkilis said the coaches will be taken care of internally by the players.

“But for Major League Baseball not to step up . . . this is unbelievable,” added Youkilis. “It’s wrong. We all get a per diem and all that, but I thought we were all under the same thing.”

Youkilis is also under the impression that when the Yankees and Rays made a similar trip to Japan to start the 2004 season, players voted on who would be compensated and he believes everyone was, including the coaching staffs.

Joe McDonald, Journal Sports Writer

>> Continue reading: Japan trip: Red Sox vote to boycott today's game

John Kluth talks with his lawyer at the start of his trial on 32 counts of obtaining money under false pretenses.
Journal photo Andrew Dickerman


PROVIDENCE -- An 84-year-old woman, who shuffled into the courtroom using a metal cane, told a jury today that two years ago a man knocked on her car window, told her his lobster truck "conked out" and asked for $1,000 so he could save the load of lobsters from perishing.

Eileen Dropkin of Warwick, one of three witnesses testifying in Providence County Superior Court today, said at first she thought he was a fellow from her neighborhood.

But Dropkin later picked him out of a photo array for police, who say it was John P. Kluth Jr., now on trial after 32 people in Rhode Island accused him of scamming them by asking for money for what police say was a fictional broken-down lobster truck.

Dropkin testified that she was parking her car at a Warwick Stop & Shop that day in 2006 when the man tapped the driver's side window. Dropking was looking at her bank statement at the time.

"I thought it was someone I knew," Dropkin said, mistaking him for a Billy Archer from her neighborhood. "I said, 'Well, hello, Billy.' "

The man she has identified as Kluth asked her if she could give him $1,000 to get the truck repaired. Dropkin said she told him she did not have that much money, but could give him $100 and went back into the supermarket to get that amount from an ATM.

The man promised to pay back the money that night at her house.

Dropkin never saw him again.

For each of the 32 complaints, he faces 20 felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses from a person over the age of 65 involving a sum of $500 or less; 4 felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses from a person over the age of 65 involving a sum of more than $500; 7 misdemeanor counts of obtaining money from a person 65 or younger of $500 or less; and one felony count of obtaining money from a person 65 or younger, more than $500.

Correction: A headline on an earlier version of this item reported an incorrect dollar amount for what Dropkin gave Kluth. The correct amount was $100.

Extra: Hear Kluth talk to Journal staff writer Gregory Smith
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

John Kluth talks with his lawyer at the start of his trial on 32 counts of obtaining money under false pretenses.
Journal photo Andrew Dickerman


PROVIDENCE -- An 84-year-old woman, who shuffled into the courtroom using a metal cane, told a jury today that two years ago a man knocked on her car window, told her his lobster truck "conked out" and asked for $1,000 so he could save the load of lobsters from perishing.

Eileen Dropkin of Warwick, one of three witnesses testifying in Providence County Superior Court today, said at first she thought he was a fellow from her neighborhood.

But Dropkin later picked him out of a photo array for police, who say it was John P. Kluth Jr., now on trial after 32 people in Rhode Island accused him of scamming them by asking for money for what police say was a fictional broken-down lobster truck.

Dropkin testified that she was parking her car at a Warwick Stop & Shop that day in 2006 when the man tapped the driver's side window. Dropking was looking at her bank statement at the time.

"I thought it was someone I knew," Dropkin said, mistaking him for a Billy Archer from her neighborhood. "I said, 'Well, hello, Billy.' "

The man she has identified as Kluth asked her if she could give him $1,000 to get the truck repaired. Dropkin said she told him she did not have that much money, but could give him $100 and went back into the supermarket to get that amount from an ATM.

The man promised to pay back the money that night at her house.

Dropkin never saw him again.

For each of the 32 complaints, he faces 20 felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses from a person over the age of 65 involving a sum of $500 or less; 4 felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses from a person over the age of 65 involving a sum of more than $500; 7 misdemeanor counts of obtaining money from a person 65 or younger of $500 or less; and one felony count of obtaining money from a person 65 or younger, more than $500.

Correction: A headline on an earlier version of this item reported an incorrect dollar amount for what Dropkin gave Kluth. The correct amount was $100.

Extra: Hear Kluth talk to Journal staff writer Gregory Smith
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

A group of Latino ministers today demanded the state investigate a Providence storeowner’s demand to see the Social Security card of one or both of two Spanish-speaking customers, and threatening to call immigration authorities on them.

Standing outside the Providence heating and cooling supply store owned by David C. Richardson, some three dozen pastors – one of whom flew in from Washington – demanded the Attorney General’s Department “investigate and prosecute what is consider a hate crime and discrimination against Latinos.” The group based its protest on a story in today’s Providence Journal and projo.com.

The article described a recent encounter inside the store between Jose A. Genao, a state worker, and Richardson. Genao said – and Richardson concurred – that when Genao’s friend declined to show a social security card, Richardson said he could call Immigration and Customs Enforcement “at any time.”

The Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, said the group will stage protests outside Richardson’s business and try to “shut him down,” either if no investigation goes forward or if Richardson “refuses to apologize.”

Rivera and the Rev. Eliseo Nogeuras of the Hispanic Pastors Association of Rhode Island said they had already contacted the Attorney General’s office and had written a letter to the FBI.

Afterwards, Richardson said, “I didn’t intimidate anybody. I apologize if they felt intimidated.” He also said he did not mean to break any laws.

A group of Latino ministers today demanded the state investigate a Providence storeowner’s demand to see the Social Security card of one or both of two Spanish-speaking customers, and threatening to call immigration authorities on them.

Standing outside the Providence heating and cooling supply store owned by David C. Richardson, some three dozen pastors – one of whom flew in from Washington – demanded the Attorney General’s Department “investigate and prosecute what is consider a hate crime and discrimination against Latinos.” The group based its protest on a story in today’s Providence Journal and projo.com.

The article described a recent encounter inside the store between Jose A. Genao, a state worker, and Richardson. Genao said – and Richardson concurred – that when Genao’s friend declined to show a social security card, Richardson said he could call Immigration and Customs Enforcement “at any time.”

The Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, said the group will stage protests outside Richardson’s business and try to “shut him down,” either if no investigation goes forward or if Richardson “refuses to apologize.”

Rivera and the Rev. Eliseo Nogeuras of the Hispanic Pastors Association of Rhode Island said they had already contacted the Attorney General’s office and had written a letter to the FBI.

Afterwards, Richardson said, “I didn’t intimidate anybody. I apologize if they felt intimidated.” He also said he did not mean to break any laws.

A story on a plan to cut a program at Hasbro Children's Hospital and the latest foreclosure report are featured on the front page of today's Journal.
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A story on a plan to cut a program at Hasbro Children's Hospital and the latest foreclosure report are featured on the front page of today's Journal.
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Hillary Clinton's primary victories in Rhode Island, Ohio and Texas lead today's Journal.

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Hillary Clinton's primary victories in Rhode Island, Ohio and Texas lead today's Journal.

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Projo.com is keeping tabs on turnout at primary polls around the state today. Here are reports so far:

CRANSTON -- Officials said voting appeared to be smooth early in the day. But there were some complaints.

The city reduced polling stations to 10 this year, down from 20 in the 2004 presidential primary. And Robert Giardina, a 59-year-old priest, said he was frustrated to learn that he could not vote his normal polling station at Budlong Manor, a retirement home.

“I went up there this morning and the sign said go to City Hall,” he said, adding later, “I wasn’t happy about it.”

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- At the Davisville Middle School polling place, where a large portion of voters from the northern section of town cast ballots, more than a thousand voters had turned out by late afternoon.

In addition to veteran voters, conversations in line revealed first-timers who came to take part in the presidential preference primary. Also, the disaffiliation table -- where voters could change their party affiliations after their vote today -- was busy at the DMS site.

-- projo.com staffer Pam Cotter

CUMBERLAND -- At the St. Joseph’s Parish Center, the lines were longer than previous primaries even thought the site had received double the number of voting booths than in previous years.

Moderator Charles Alves said people had been waiting in line 10 minutes before polls opened at 7 a.m. “We’ve been moving them right along with no holdups,” he said.

There were 450 votes cast at the polling site as of 1:15 p.m, a number that would have taken the entire day at that site during previous primaries, according to John Koniezny, of the town Board of Canvassers.

Koniezny said the large turnout could be attributed to the fact that this year the church community center was the site for two polling places.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

FOSTER -- At the Moosup Valley Fire Station, the town’s lone polling site, Board of Canvasser’s Chair Natalie Arnold said that 449 voters had cast ballots as of 2:55 p.m, a “much higher number” than the last primary election.

Voters had been “dribbling in all day,” said Arnold, but if past years were any indication, she said the biggest crowds would come after work, beginning at about 4 p.m. and lasting until the polls closed. During the last presidential primary, 137 voters out of 2, 795 registered voters had cast ballots.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

GLOCESTER -- Town Clerk and Board of Canvassers Clerk Jean M. Fecteau said the town's single poll at Town Hall saw 960 voters cast ballots as of 3 p.m., a number that tripled the total amount from the previous presidential primary, she said.

During the last presidential primary, 245 voters out of 6,070 registered voters had cast ballots. This year’s surprisingly large turnout has meant longer than normal lines at cast a vote, but the crowds have remained patient, she said. “The people have been pleasant and nice.”

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

JOHNSTON -- The ebb and flow of voting left the parking lot of the Ferri Middle School near full capacity through the mid-day hours.

Mayor Joseph M. Polisena, a stalwart of the Clinton campaign, hung around outside, talking to people and campaigning.

He wasn’t the only mayor in the parking lot: Joseph Curtatone, mayor of Somerville, Mass., had joined Polisena for his rounds. The two mayors said they met each other while campaigning for Clinton over the weekend. They planned to campaign together this afternoon and through the evening.

Clinton visited Johnston late last month, and Polisena has forecast an overwhelming victory for her in town.

As of this afternoon, the Board of Canvassers’ clerk, Laurie aRusso, didn’t have any numbers on turnout, but she suspected it was unusually high.

Through the day, the canvassers office fielded a steady stream of inquiries from people who want to know where to vote. That’s unusual during a presidential primary, aRusso said.

aRusso acknowledged one problem with a voting machine in the gymnasium of Ferri Middle School, the busiest of Johnston’s polling places yesterday.

The machine in question takes each paper ballot and scans the necessary information off it. Earlier in the day, the scanner on the machine had jammed.

The machine has an emergency chute that receives any ballots that do not feed into the scanner during a jam, aRusso said. Each of those ballots would be scanned and counted, she said.

As it turned out, the jam was fixed and a new machine was brought in as a backup in the event of any additional trouble, aRusso said.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

BURRILLVILLE -- Town Clerk Louise Phaneuf noticed the arrival of professional exit polling companies. One of the companies was working for CNN, she said.

“That’s so unusual up here,” Phaneuf said.

“It’s nice to see an exciting election,” she added.

At that point, around 3 p.m., about 1,000 residents had voted at four different polling places, Phaneuf said.

In the 2004 presidential preference primaries, she said, canvassers tallied 401 votes from Democrats and 21 votes from Republicans.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

PAWTUCKET -- Turnout was heavy in here, where the local Board of Canvassers opened half of the city’s usual 34 polling places, never anticipating that the Democratic primary would be such a hot race.

“I think we could have opened more (polling places) – maybe not all of them,” City Registrar of Voters Kenneth R. McGill said when asked whether he regretted the decision.

“Then again, who knew we were going to be in the mix? We thought it would all be over by Super Tuesday,” McGill said.

Instead, the Democratic primary in a city of 73,000 that used to be solidy pro-Hillary Clinton has has become part a possible make-or-break contest between Barack Obama and Clinton.

McGill predicted that 30 to 35 percent of the city’s voters would cast ballots, compared to the 9 percent who came to the polls in the primary in 2004.

At St. Teresa’s, a Catholic Church on Newport Avenue where three polling places were consolidated, lines got so long that the poll warden juggled letters of the alphabet, shuffling voters whose names began with common letters like “W” over to lines reserved for those whose names began with less common letters like “X, Y or Z.”

With consolidation, 5,000 people were eligible to vote at St. Teresa’s. By noon, about 700 people had cast ballots. Poll warden Pete Mecchi predicted the number would double: “I would say we’ll probably do at least 1,500,” he said.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

RICHMOND -- About 25 voters were lined up outside at the town's single polling place before its doors opened at 9 a.m. And they've been arriving in a steady stream ever since, Town Clerk Mary Morgan said shortly after 11:30 this morning.

By that time, about 320 people had already cast their vote at the H.L. Arnold Fire Station on Richmond Townhouse Road. That's a rate of more than 100 per hour, Morgan noted. In previous presidential primaries, the total for the day might hit 400.

"It's really unbelievable," she said.

The lines were relatively long at the poll in the semi-rural town, with about a half-dozen or so people waiting to be checked in before the two registrars, who had split their lists in half alphabetically.

Once through that process, they moved to one of 10 voting stations, where they quickly filled out their short ballots.

The only problem that Morgan had seen so far is that some voters had overlooked instructions on the ballot and picked more delegates than allowed. The single voting scanner then spit back their ballot, and they had to start again.

Asked what she thought of the strong turnout, Morgan, a longtime town official, said diplomatically, "I think it's very interesting." Then, she added, "That's good. It shows you people are listening."

-- projo.com staff

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Voters at Rumford Towers on Newman Avenue in East Providence had to deal with a lack of parking this morning, and, in some cases, a long wait if their last name began with letters that seemed to draw more voters.

While some lines, such as that for last names beginning with A or B, were often empty, others, such as the line for C, D or E were long and sometimes out the door, with a wait of about 30 minutes.

An election worker, asked about the situation, said the letters were divided so that each line would have about the same number of voters. Since there was only one book with names and addresses for each line, there was no way that poll workers at the slow lines could help workers at the busy lines, she said.

PORTSMOUTH -- At Portsmouth Town Hall, 1,284 people had voted by 11 a.m., which is already more than the total number that had voted in the 2004 primary, according to Nancy Peveler, executive assistant to the board of canvassers.

At the Ferri Middle School in Johnston, the entire voting process took about 23 minutes late this morning.

The polling place has just one scanner and a long line formed at the scanner as voters waited to turn in their ballots.

-- With reports from Journal staff writers John Castellucci, Gregory Smith, Meaghan Wims, Arline Fleming, Randal Edgar, Gina Macris, and Paul Edward Parker, and projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Click below for more reports ...

>> Continue reading: Primary turnout update: Unusually strong, fairly smooth

Projo.com is keeping tabs on turnout at primary polls around the state today. Here are reports so far:

CRANSTON -- Officials said voting appeared to be smooth early in the day. But there were some complaints.

The city reduced polling stations to 10 this year, down from 20 in the 2004 presidential primary. And Robert Giardina, a 59-year-old priest, said he was frustrated to learn that he could not vote his normal polling station at Budlong Manor, a retirement home.

“I went up there this morning and the sign said go to City Hall,” he said, adding later, “I wasn’t happy about it.”

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- At the Davisville Middle School polling place, where a large portion of voters from the northern section of town cast ballots, more than a thousand voters had turned out by late afternoon.

In addition to veteran voters, conversations in line revealed first-timers who came to take part in the presidential preference primary. Also, the disaffiliation table -- where voters could change their party affiliations after their vote today -- was busy at the DMS site.

-- projo.com staffer Pam Cotter

CUMBERLAND -- At the St. Joseph’s Parish Center, the lines were longer than previous primaries even thought the site had received double the number of voting booths than in previous years.

Moderator Charles Alves said people had been waiting in line 10 minutes before polls opened at 7 a.m. “We’ve been moving them right along with no holdups,” he said.

There were 450 votes cast at the polling site as of 1:15 p.m, a number that would have taken the entire day at that site during previous primaries, according to John Koniezny, of the town Board of Canvassers.

Koniezny said the large turnout could be attributed to the fact that this year the church community center was the site for two polling places.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

FOSTER -- At the Moosup Valley Fire Station, the town’s lone polling site, Board of Canvasser’s Chair Natalie Arnold said that 449 voters had cast ballots as of 2:55 p.m, a “much higher number” than the last primary election.

Voters had been “dribbling in all day,” said Arnold, but if past years were any indication, she said the biggest crowds would come after work, beginning at about 4 p.m. and lasting until the polls closed. During the last presidential primary, 137 voters out of 2, 795 registered voters had cast ballots.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

GLOCESTER -- Town Clerk and Board of Canvassers Clerk Jean M. Fecteau said the town's single poll at Town Hall saw 960 voters cast ballots as of 3 p.m., a number that tripled the total amount from the previous presidential primary, she said.

During the last presidential primary, 245 voters out of 6,070 registered voters had cast ballots. This year’s surprisingly large turnout has meant longer than normal lines at cast a vote, but the crowds have remained patient, she said. “The people have been pleasant and nice.”

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

JOHNSTON -- The ebb and flow of voting left the parking lot of the Ferri Middle School near full capacity through the mid-day hours.

Mayor Joseph M. Polisena, a stalwart of the Clinton campaign, hung around outside, talking to people and campaigning.

He wasn’t the only mayor in the parking lot: Joseph Curtatone, mayor of Somerville, Mass., had joined Polisena for his rounds. The two mayors said they met each other while campaigning for Clinton over the weekend. They planned to campaign together this afternoon and through the evening.

Clinton visited Johnston late last month, and Polisena has forecast an overwhelming victory for her in town.

As of this afternoon, the Board of Canvassers’ clerk, Laurie aRusso, didn’t have any numbers on turnout, but she suspected it was unusually high.

Through the day, the canvassers office fielded a steady stream of inquiries from people who want to know where to vote. That’s unusual during a presidential primary, aRusso said.

aRusso acknowledged one problem with a voting machine in the gymnasium of Ferri Middle School, the busiest of Johnston’s polling places yesterday.

The machine in question takes each paper ballot and scans the necessary information off it. Earlier in the day, the scanner on the machine had jammed.

The machine has an emergency chute that receives any ballots that do not feed into the scanner during a jam, aRusso said. Each of those ballots would be scanned and counted, she said.

As it turned out, the jam was fixed and a new machine was brought in as a backup in the event of any additional trouble, aRusso said.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

BURRILLVILLE -- Town Clerk Louise Phaneuf noticed the arrival of professional exit polling companies. One of the companies was working for CNN, she said.

“That’s so unusual up here,” Phaneuf said.

“It’s nice to see an exciting election,” she added.

At that point, around 3 p.m., about 1,000 residents had voted at four different polling places, Phaneuf said.

In the 2004 presidential preference primaries, she said, canvassers tallied 401 votes from Democrats and 21 votes from Republicans.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

PAWTUCKET -- Turnout was heavy in here, where the local Board of Canvassers opened half of the city’s usual 34 polling places, never anticipating that the Democratic primary would be such a hot race.

“I think we could have opened more (polling places) – maybe not all of them,” City Registrar of Voters Kenneth R. McGill said when asked whether he regretted the decision.

“Then again, who knew we were going to be in the mix? We thought it would all be over by Super Tuesday,” McGill said.

Instead, the Democratic primary in a city of 73,000 that used to be solidy pro-Hillary Clinton has has become part a possible make-or-break contest between Barack Obama and Clinton.

McGill predicted that 30 to 35 percent of the city’s voters would cast ballots, compared to the 9 percent who came to the polls in the primary in 2004.

At St. Teresa’s, a Catholic Church on Newport Avenue where three polling places were consolidated, lines got so long that the poll warden juggled letters of the alphabet, shuffling voters whose names began with common letters like “W” over to lines reserved for those whose names began with less common letters like “X, Y or Z.”

With consolidation, 5,000 people were eligible to vote at St. Teresa’s. By noon, about 700 people had cast ballots. Poll warden Pete Mecchi predicted the number would double: “I would say we’ll probably do at least 1,500,” he said.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

RICHMOND -- About 25 voters were lined up outside at the town's single polling place before its doors opened at 9 a.m. And they've been arriving in a steady stream ever since, Town Clerk Mary Morgan said shortly after 11:30 this morning.

By that time, about 320 people had already cast their vote at the H.L. Arnold Fire Station on Richmond Townhouse Road. That's a rate of more than 100 per hour, Morgan noted. In previous presidential primaries, the total for the day might hit 400.

"It's really unbelievable," she said.

The lines were relatively long at the poll in the semi-rural town, with about a half-dozen or so people waiting to be checked in before the two registrars, who had split their lists in half alphabetically.

Once through that process, they moved to one of 10 voting stations, where they quickly filled out their short ballots.

The only problem that Morgan had seen so far is that some voters had overlooked instructions on the ballot and picked more delegates than allowed. The single voting scanner then spit back their ballot, and they had to start again.

Asked what she thought of the strong turnout, Morgan, a longtime town official, said diplomatically, "I think it's very interesting." Then, she added, "That's good. It shows you people are listening."

-- projo.com staff

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Voters at Rumford Towers on Newman Avenue in East Providence had to deal with a lack of parking this morning, and, in some cases, a long wait if their last name began with letters that seemed to draw more voters.

While some lines, such as that for last names beginning with A or B, were often empty, others, such as the line for C, D or E were long and sometimes out the door, with a wait of about 30 minutes.

An election worker, asked about the situation, said the letters were divided so that each line would have about the same number of voters. Since there was only one book with names and addresses for each line, there was no way that poll workers at the slow lines could help workers at the busy lines, she said.

PORTSMOUTH -- At Portsmouth Town Hall, 1,284 people had voted by 11 a.m., which is already more than the total number that had voted in the 2004 primary, according to Nancy Peveler, executive assistant to the board of canvassers.

At the Ferri Middle School in Johnston, the entire voting process took about 23 minutes late this morning.

The polling place has just one scanner and a long line formed at the scanner as voters waited to turn in their ballots.

-- With reports from Journal staff writers John Castellucci, Gregory Smith, Meaghan Wims, Arline Fleming, Randal Edgar, Gina Macris, and Paul Edward Parker, and projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Click below for more reports ...

>> Continue reading: Primary turnout update: Unusually strong, fairly smooth

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Voters and non-voters of all ages gathered to hear former President Bill Clinton speak the Chace Athletic Complex at Bryant University this afternoon, where he was campaigning on the behalf of his wife and Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton.

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Voters and non-voters of all ages gathered to hear former President Bill Clinton speak the Chace Athletic Complex at Bryant University this afternoon, where he was campaigning on the behalf of his wife and Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton.

The scene in Warwick this afternoon.
Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

Wednesday night – there’s going to be a great, prime-time sky show: a total lunar eclipse visible throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa and, if you miss it, you'll have to wait more almost three years for the next one, in December 2010.

The National Weather Service says sky should be clear across Rhode Island for at least par tof the show.

At about 8:25 p.m., the moon will begin moving into the edge of the earth’s shadow, the penumbra. About 20 minutes later, the real show begins when the moon moves into the darker part of the shadow, the umbra.

At about 10 p.m. the moon will be fully within the shadow as it lines up opposite the sun, on the other side of the earth.

A story on the memorial park planned for the Station fire site leads today's Journal. Download file

Journal photo/ Kathy Borchers
Robert Payette is arraigned before Judge William Carnes. At right is his lawyer Collin M. Geiselman, public defender.

Superior Court Judge William Carnes this morning ordered murder suspect Robert E. Payette to continue to be held in prison without bail.

The judge also sentenced Payette to four years in prison for the violation of his probation.

At the arraignment today, Payette pleaded not guilty to a single charge of first-degree murder. He is charged with stabbing a 66-year-old West Warwick man to death in a dispute over a debt last November.

The stabbing occurred seven months after Payette had been released from the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Payette, 44, has spent 20 years of his life in jails in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New Jersey. His first stint came when he was just 19 on a breaking and entering charge.

His pre-trial hearing on the Rhode Island is set for April 1.

ALDI Supermarkets, the German-based company that plans to open five stores in Rhode Island is recruiting cashiers and shift managers for stores in Warwick and Cranston.

The company held a job fair on Monday and is holding interviews today. Resumes can be sent by email to aldiswncareers@yahoo.com

ALDI said it plans to open stores in Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, East Providence and Providence. ALDI, also known as Albrecht Discount, has 7,500 stores worldwide and 850 in the U.S. The company is making a push to expand its presence in New England and is building a distribution center in South Windsor, Conn.

A pair of dissident investors this week resumed their fight with the management of Bank Rhode Island and will once again try to force a sale of the Providence bank.

The two men who lead PL Capital LLC, an Illinois hedge-fund investment firm, are once again seeking seats on the board of directors of Bancorp Rhode Island, the bank's parent company. It is the second time the men, Richard Lashley and John Palmer, have sought board seats.

PL Capital has a history of taking on the management at banks it considers underperforming. It seeks to profit from improved earnings, a quick run-up in stock prices or the sale of its targets.

Lashley and Palmer lost a bid last May to gain seats on the Bancorp Rhode Island board (BARI: Nasdaq) as company shareholders sided with the bank's management in a proxy fight.

This year, the two men are joined by former investment banker Daniel Mullane, of Connecticut, who headed Advest Group Inc. before its sale to the Merrill Lynch brokerage house. He is also being nominated for a board seat.

Bancorp Rhode Island's management has nominated its own slate of board candidates, headed by company founder and board chairman Malcolm G. Chace. The company's shareholders will vote on the board nominations May 21, during their annual meeting.

This year, they are joined by Daniel Mullane, who was head of Advest Group Inc. before its purchase two years ago by the Merrill Lynch brokerage house.

Now that Super Tuesday is over, campaigns are focusing on the remaining primaries – including the increasingly relevant March 4 Rhode Island primary.

The Clintons are well known here. Bill Clinton and Hillary came to the state more than a dozen times during the eight years of the Clinton presidency. Bill Clinton raised money at Mark and Susan Weiner's house in East Greenwich. He campaigned for Myrth York, Jack Reed and Patrick Kennedy.

In turn, Rhode Island voters delivered big numbers to Clinton in 1992 and 1996.

Thursday in projo.com and in print, staff writers Scott MacKay and Mark Arsenault will talk to the Clinton and Obama campaigns about their plans for Rhode Island. The story will also catch up with the Romney and McCain organizations.

What is the appropriate mourning period for a Super Bowl loss?

Under normal circumstances, I'd say 10 days. But this time, when an unknown catches a pass with one hand on top of his helmet, it's not worth being down for more than a few days.

On top of his helmet! What are you supposed to do about that?

Besides, on Thursday the URI Rams go for their fifth win in a row against U. Mass. The Pats aren't the only winners around here.

The Rams are 19-3 and a good bet to make the NCAA tournament.

Not only that, but Spring Training starts for the Red Sox in less than two weeks. The defending World Champions play their first exhibition game Feb. 28.

So hang in there. This too will pass.

-- Peter Phipps, projo.com

PROVIDENCE — Former Lincoln town administrator Jonathan F. Oster’s trial on bribery and conspiracy charges will begin Monday. Lawyers for the state and the defendant agreed on the makeup of the jury this afternoon.

Asst. Atty. Gen. William Ferland and defense lawyer C. Leonard O’Brien culled out 15 potential jurors, including at least three Lincoln residents, during today’s morning session with Associate Justice Gilbert V. Indeglia. The process had begun Wednesday with jurors filling out questionnaires and the followed with the lawyers questioning randomly selected jurors on specifics yesterday. The questions usually centered on the potential juror’s attitudes toward the police, whether they would hold it against a defendant if he didn’t testify on his own behalf and their feelings about tape-recorded evidence.

The 12-woman, four man panel — twelve jurors and four alternates — was ordered to ignore news accounts and not discuss the case with anyone.

Oster is facing two counts of bribery and two counts of conspiracy dating back to his 2000-2002 tenure in office. The case was delayed for several years while pre-trial disputes over evidence, some of it gathered for the first time under the state’s wiretapping laws, were appealed to the state Supreme Court.

That appeal resulted in many of the tapes being thrown out because of they were not stored in accordance with state law and the judge’s orders.

PROVIDENCE - Brown University is the latest elite institution to consider expanding financial aid to help more middle-class and upper-middle-class families afford steep college costs, which total more than $48,000 a year for Brown undergraduates.

In the last month, several colleges with large endowments have announced dramatic increases in scholarship money for middle-income students, following the high-profile announcements of Harvard and Yale.

Brown's governing board is expected to discuss the matter when it meets Feb. 23, said James Tilton, the university's financial aid director.

"We are constantly looking for ways to improve our financial aid awards, not only for needy students but for all students," Tilton said.

Tilton declined to release details about what changes Brown might make. About 43 percent of Brown's freshman class - the largest percentage in the university's history - received financial aid, with the average scholarship being $25,500 a year.

"We are looking very closely at making adjustments to our financial aid programs," Tilton said, "and will discuss those issues with our corporation in February."

Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer

>> Continue reading: Brown to cut its bill even for the upper middle class

PROVIDENCE _ State transportation officials have begun recalculating the designs of a small but vital structural part in 15 Rhode Island bridges after a federal warning that a design flaw affecting similar parts may have caused the fatal collapse of the Minneapolis Bridge across the Mississippi River last August.

Kazem Farhoumand, the acting chief engineer of the state Department of Transportation, said the bridge at the top of the list for review is the Sakonnet River Bridge, connecting Portsmouth to Tiverton, which already has a reduced weight posting because of deterioration and is to be replaced.

The other 14 Rhode Island bridges are scattered across the state, from Woonsocket to Westerly. Farhoumand said the DOT reviews will be completed within 60 days, with an outside engineering company, Commonwealth Engineering, evaluating the Sakonnet River Bridge and DOT staff engineers doing the rest.

The National Transportation Safety Board urged the review last week after investigators studying the wreckage in Minneapolis found that 16 gusset plates, at eight joints in its main span, had fractured. Gusset plates are flat, often roughly rectangular, steel plates. They are bolted or riveted to the sides of joints where a steel bridge's beams come together. They reinforce the joints, helping to resist the complex forces that alternately push and pull at them as traffic passes over the bridge and the load on it shifts.

The plates are easily visible on the joints on the Sakonnet River Bridge. Farhoumand said there are 250 such joints on that bridge alone.

Along with the plates, all but one of the Rhode Island bridges are supported by steel trusses and are considered "fracture-critical," or vulnerable to collapse if key structural elements fail.

(The exception, the C.L. Hussey Memorial Bridge in North Kingston, is a concrete arch bridge, not a truss bridge, but has parts like gusset plates, the DOT said. A truss is a structure composed of triangular units built of relatively slender straight members.)

The NTSB urged the owners of similar bridges to calculate whether the gusset plates and other structural elements were designed to be strong enough.

The Rhode Island bridges were already on a list of 37 "fracture-critical" bridges the DOT put together for inspections last year, also at the urging of federal officials, after the Minneapolis collapse, which killed 13 persons and injured 145.

List of bridge on next page.
-- Bruce Landis, Journal staff writer

>> Continue reading: 15 bridges in R.I. are similar to fatal Minneapolis bridge

PROVIDENCE -- A judge has ruled that Carpionato Properties can knock down the food and produce terminal on Harris Avenue, denying an attempt by state lawyers to stop the demolition.

The Johnston developer had obtained a demolition permit last week from the Providence Building Official, allowing them to destroy the building as soon as asbestos removal work is complete.

The permitting surprised state officials, who had sold the historic 1929 building to Carpionato in February 2007 with the understanding that it would be reused. The day after the demolition permit was issued, state lawyers filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order preventing Carpionato from knocking down the building.

This afternoon, Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein denied that motion, saying that the state would be unlikely to prove its case in the long term.

“The court has concluded that it is unlikely here… that plaintiff has a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits,” Silverstein said.

“The court inescapably has concluded here that it must find against the plaintiff’s position,” Silverstein said.

Carpionato Senior Vice President Kelly Coates said that two canopies hanging over the bui

“We will take the canopies off and continue to remove the asbestos,” Coates said.

Carpionato’s attorneys speculated that full demolition could take as long as four months.

State Lawyer Michael Mitchell declined comment.

—Staff Writer Daniel Barbarisi

Pitcher Roger Clemens, accused in the Mitchell report of using steriods and human growth hormone, holds a press confernce. Watch the conference.