Unfortunately, you'll need to change your bookmarks and RSS feed to reach the new blog. This old URL -- http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/9to5/ -- will remain, but won't be updated any more. All new posts will be on the new blog.

Please bookmark the new link: http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/newsblog/ and start using it Monday. Of course, you'll still be able to reach this blog from the projo.com homepage and from projo.com/blogs

The good news about the new URL is that someday, when we move to 24/7, we won't have to break it again.

If you're up and online at 7, we'll be here.

Sheila Lennon
for projo.com

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman

A portrait of workers' rights activist Cesar Chavez looks out at the scene at Smith Hill's Davis Park in Providence after a groundbreaking ceremoney today for a memorial garden to Chavez.

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, and clocks should be turned ahead an hour.

That's right. This weekend is an hour shorter, but it means an extra hour of daylight to enjoy spring after work.

Eugene R. Fidell gave the keynote address during a law school symposium titled “Challenges and Changes to Military Law from the War on Terror.”

Before and after the speech, Fidell talked about Tuesday’s oral arguments before the Supreme Court in a case involving Osama bin Laden’s driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

Hamdan’s lawyers are challenging the military commissions set up for terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And on Tuesday justices seemed skeptical of the administration’s contention that the tribunals can be used without adhering to U.S. military procedures or the Geneva Convention.

In 2003, Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams was named to the military review panel that would hear appeals from suspected terrorists tried before the military commissions.

But, Fidell said, “If I were Judge Williams, I would not have myself measured for a uniform yet. The fate of the military commissions lies in the hands of the justices of the Supreme Court. And while it’s always hazardous to predict the actions based on oral arguments, the government certainly had its work cut out for it at the Hamdan arguments.”

-- More to come on projo.com and tomorrow's Journal

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

Lynch is urging the Rhode Island Supreme Court to examine whether Yashar truly qualified for the $120,310 annual pension she is now receiving.

“State law clearly states that former Judge Yashar is not entitled to have the eight months she spent on unpaid leave calculated into her pension benefits,” Lynch said in a statement issued today. “To heap an extra serving of this proportion on a plate that’s fully funded by the taxpayers of Rhode Island is not only costly and offensive, but wrong, under the law. It’s imperative that former Judge Yashar’s pension is adjusted to reflect her actual service to the state during her employment.”

Court officials have said that according to their interpretation of state law, they had no choice but to give Yashar credit based solely on when she started and ended her service.

Read more on this issue.

Read letters between state officials and Yashar regarding her pension.

-- With reports by Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Dry weather and wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph could spread fire quickly.

The warning is in effect until 6 p.m.

Sisters Rachel, left, and Sarah Simone of Bristol, ages 3 and 14 months respectively, enjoy today's spring weather by trying out the new see-saw at Burr's Hill Park in Warren. But like the children's ride, southern New England's weather will have its ups and downs this weekend, with rain in the forecast tomorrow, then mostly sunny with a high of 63 degrees Sunday.

The company, which provides electricity in 38 of the state's 39 communities, filed a proposal with the Public Utilities Commission this afternoon, seeking to lower its rates as of May 1.

The proposed rate for "standard offer" service, which most customers receive, would be 9.4 cents per kilowatt-hour, down from the current rate of 10 cents per kilowatt hour.

If approved by the PUC, the monthly bill for a customer using 500 kilowatts of electricity would be $77.82, down $3.12, or 3.9 percent.

-- Journal staff writer Timothy C. Barmann

Although he was hired last month, Brig. Gen. Robert Bray will be officially introduced at 2 p.m. Sunday as the head of the Guard, the head of the state Emergency Management Agency, and Rhode Island's liaison to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

There are 384 Rhode Island Guard troops deployed throughout the United States and in four countries, including Iraq, where 95 troops in the 43rd Military Police Brigade are guarding Abu Ghraib and two other prisons.

The state Department of Health this afternoon released guidelines regulating Rhode Island's recently passed medical marijuana law that details the application process, fees and special identification cards.

Rhode Island residents suffering from a debilitating medical condition may apply for the privilege online or get an application at the Department of Health offices in Providence.

Applicants need a doctor's note and an application fee of $75 (or $10 if the applicant is a recipient of SSI or Medicaid).

Once the application is approved, an ID card is issued, and the patient or caregiver can possess a limited amount of marijuana without violating state law. But federal law still prohibits use or possession or the drug.

The former president of the Soviet Union arrived in Rhode Island last night. He will stay at the Abbey until Sunday, according to a club spokesman.

There are no public appearances planned aside from Saturday evening. Gorbachev, 75, will field questions from the media tomorrow from 5 to 6 p.m., following by a question-and-answer session with club members and their guests.

The latter session will be closed to the public.

Gorbachev, who was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. His work as a world leader ended in 1991, on the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Further details were not immediately available.

James S. Richardson, 38, of Cranston, was indicted March 20 for the stabbing death of Margaret R. Duffy-Stephenson in her Warwick home.

Richardson, who entered his plea this morning in Superior Court, has been held at the Adult Correctional Institutions since Dec. 8, when a genetic test on material found under Duffy-Stephenson's fingernails identified Richardson's DNA.

-- Journal staff writer Zachary Mider

The 1 p.m. event has been organized by Providence City Councilman Terrance Hassett, who helped secure $50,000 for improvements at the park, including the Chavez garden.

Chavez was a worker's rights activists who preached nonviolence. His slogan, "si, se puede" (yes, we can), have become a mantra for today's labor rights movement.

The show, presented by the Rhode Island Salt Water Anglers Association, features lots of gear, a virtual fishing simulator, fly-casting demonstrations and more than 20 seminars on a variety of topics, including saltwater kayak fishing at 1 p.m. today.

The show opens at noon today and continues until 9 p.m. It runs from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. tomorrow and 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $10, but a $2 discount is available at the show's Web site. Children 12 and under are free.