Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Katherine Gregg, Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- In an unusual move in a non-election year, Governor Carcieri has hit the radio airwaves with an ad that asks listeners not to be fooled into thinking the arrival of hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars will solve Rhode Island's budget problems.

In an unusual twist, the state's severe budget crisis has given Republican Carcieri the best chance he has had since taking office to make headway on his cost-cutting agenda, which includes major rollbacks in pension benefits for state and local public employees. At every budget hearing, Rhode Island lawmakers are hearing from union leaders and advocates for the poor that financial help is on the way.

In response, Carcieri went on air with an ad that begins: "This is Governor Carcieri. With a federal bailout on its way, some may think Rhode Island's budget crisis will soon be over. But don't be fooled by those who would ignore the real issues, and simply patch the budget with this new found money. Such sudden windfalls may solve our immediate budget problem, but in the long run they will only make things worse.

In what he calls his own recovery plan, Carcieri says he has proposed "real relief to our cities and towns -- relief from costly unfunded mandates, minimum staffing levels and unaffordable employee pensions and health-care benefits. With less state money available, our mayors and town managers urgently need these tools to balance their budgets without raising your property taxes.''

While some savings are possible this year, even the governor's staff acknowledges that most of his municipal cost-cutting proposals -- which include repeal of a school bus monitor requirement -- are unlikely to save enough money this year to offset the mid-year state aid cuts of at least $74 million that he recently proposed to help plug the state's own deficit.

But his ad says: "Let your voice be heard. ... Call your state representatives and tell them you support my plan to balance the budget. It's the only real plan that our children and grandchildren will be able to afford.''

The ad is being paid for by TransformRI, an advocacy group for which Carcieri serves as the honorary chairman. He also has been the voice on previous radio ads for the group.

TransformRI has not disclosed the source of its advertising dollars, saying it is not a political-action committee in the traditional sense. It was created as a 501c4 "nonprofit corporation" by Anthony W. Bucci Jr., the finance director for Governor Carcieri's last reelection campaign, and two of Carcieri's other financial backers, John Treat and Anthony Marouchoc.

The articles of incorporation filed in late April place the organization at the same West Warwick address as Bucci's insurance company, A.W. Bucci & Associates, also known as the Bucci Insurance Group. It lists Bucci, Treat and Marouchoc as directors of this new organization created to "provide leadership and educate the public regarding responsible and growth oriented public policy in the state of Rhode Island."

Bucci confirmed today that the text was written by Carcieri's communications director John Robitaille "on his own time.''

He said the ad began airing on January 26, and has been booked to run for five weeks.
He declined to disclose how much TransformRI paid for the airtime, while acknowledging the "organization exists primarily to support Governor Carcieri's agenda.''

It remains unclear how much Rhode Island may receive from the federal stimulus package, though the possibility exists that a recently approved Medicaid agreement forged by the Carcieri and Bush administrations may shut out the state from a piece of the stimulus package.

By Katherine Gregg, Journal State House Bureau

Democratic Party chairman William Lynch is hoping to join his brother, Patrick -- the state's attorney general -- in the top prosecutorial ranks.

Lynch, the party chairman, confirmed today having sent the state's senior U.S. senator, Jack Reed, a letter, expressing his interest in becoming U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, and getting a letter of recommendation from -- of all people -- state Republican chairman Giovanni Cicione.

Cicione would not make his letter public but acknowledged sending it to Reed to convey his belief that despite his current partisan role, he believes "Lynch is more than capable of being fair.'' And Lynch noted that former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee's onetime nominee, Bradford Gorham -- who ultimately withdrew his name for health reasons -- was a sitting Republican state chairman when he was nominated, so there is precedent.

Lynch, 51, spent two years working under former Atty Gen. Dennis Roberts, as a special assistant attorney general and head of Roberts' consumer protection division. He now has what he describes as a general litigation practice.

Asked how Rhode Islanders should view the prospect of two brothers serving as the top state and federal prosecutors, he said, there would probably not be much of an overlap since confirmations take time, and his brother, Patrick Lynch, is in the last two years of his second and final term. Beyond that, "I've always felt the U.S. attorney and the attorney general's office should work very closely...(so) I don't see where that should be an issue.''

Lynch said he was prompted to throw his name in after getting a call from "someone connected with the Obama soon-to-be administration,'' whom he would not identify. The job is currently held by Bush-era nominee Robert Clark Corrente, who is expected to be replaced by a Democratic nominee.

The brothers, from the storied Pawtucket Lynch family, actually split during the presidential primary sweepstakes, with Bill Lynch initially supporting U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and brother Patrick supporting President-elect Barack Obama. Bill Lynch said he "talked to [President-elect] Obama personally about why I committed to Hillary early on and I think they were fine with that.''

By Tracy Breton
Journal Staff Writer

A court-appointed master has proposed a plan for distributing $176 million in settlement money to those who lost loved ones or suffered injuries in The Station nightclub fire.

The plan of distribution devised by Duke University Law Prof. Francis E. McGovern would give everyone who sued a share of the money, including those who suffered mental trauma but never sought medical treatment for their injuries.

Under the plan, the survivors who were most badly burned and were hospitalized the longest will receive more money than several of the families who lost loved ones in the fire.

Although McGovern's plan has not yet been submitted for court approval, victims of the fire have been meeting with their lawyers in recent days to review it. None of the victims has been given precise figures on what he or she might actually receive once attorneys' fees and expenses are subtracted. Some have been told that they can expect to receive several hundred thousand dollars, while others may receive less than $20,000. Some are expected to receive more than $1 million.

The Providence Journal has obtained a copy of the proposed plan that is being circulated among the more than 300 plaintiffs in the 11 federal lawsuits brought in connection with The Station fire. The fire was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. One hundred people died in the blaze on Feb. 20, 2003; more than 200 others suffered injuries.

>> Continue reading: Station fire victims reviewing plan for cash settlements

By Paul Edward Parker, Journal Staff Writer

Is the sky falling? Or is a cloud passing overhead?

People passing by One Citizens Plaza around lunchtime today offered varying opinions on the shakeup in the financial markets. Citizens Plaza is the headquarters of Citizens Financial Group. It is also home to branches of UBS Financial Services and to Merrill Lynch, which is one of the firms whose woes helped touch off today's Wall Street sell off.

"I think it's pretty scary," said Stella Martin, an assistant to the treasurer at Citizens. "We don't know what the future brings, and I know a lot of people have been affected by this, and it's very negative."

Ron Loeser, of Merrill Lynch, had a brighter take on things. "The market is going to find a way to fix itself. It always does, it always has in the past, and it'll continue to do so."

Diane Longo, of Citizen's Bank, wasn't so sure. "It's very disturbing, I think, what's happening on Wall Street. It's affecting some many lives, and I wish that the people that are responsible for this, hopefully, they plan on doing things better in the future so these things don't happen again."

Jeff Bucci, also of Citizens, also thought the future looked dim for investors. "Of course they should be afraid. From what I read, there's not as much volatility coming through as everyone expected, but the government's not going to step in on this one. If we have too many mergers like that, eventually you're only going to have two or three world banks running the whole world market, and the next thing you know, they can't bail each other out anymore."

But Joe Cipolla, a financial adviser at UBS, had a more measured reaction.

"These are scary times, of course, uncertain, and people are concerned, plenty of troubles within the industry, now and in the near future," he said. "I wouldn't panic, that's for sure, and I think people should use common sense in this kind of a market, stay away from speculations, and it's common sense, when prices go down the way they are, that's a time you can pick up some good values. As I say, good companies should be bought here. Many of them have dropped just because of emotion, not because of fundamental reasons."

By Richard Salit,
Journal Staff Writer

Three communities will be reporting their election results the old-fashioned way tonight.

Most cities and towns will be conveying their vote counts electronically, sending the information via phone lines to a computer system at the state Board of Elections. But Burrillville, Charlestown and North Smithfield will have to deliver their results by automobile to the elections board headquarters in Providence, according to executive director Robert Kando.

Kando said that a telecommunications glitch is responsible. The three communities have switched to digital phone systems, but the elections board computer system can only interact with analog systems.

Kando said that the board has cautioned communities about the problem of switching to digital systems and that most have heeded the warning by retaining an analog phone line to transmit election tallies.

"I'm told these communities were assured [by vendors] they would get an analog line, but they didn't," he said. "We expect these communities will have an analog line by the general election."

Tonight, however, the three communities' final results will be delayed. Kando said a state trooper will drive the results in from Charlestown, the community farthest from the election office. Election officials in Burrillville and North Smithfield will drive into Providence with the votecount.

Still, Kando said, given communities with much larger turnouts, "I don't expect these to be the last" numbers coming in tonight.