Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Tonight's City Council meeting has been postponed because of the snowstorm, and City Hall was ordered closed at 11 a.m.

The council is scheduled to convene Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, Lt. William Fitzgerald of the Police Department reminded residents and business owners of their obligation to shovel sidewalks and spread sand or other ice-fighting substances on icy sidewalks.

Journal photo/ Mary Murphy
Plows and sanders line up inside the Providence Department of Public Works garage off of Allens Avenue Wednesday morning to get loaded with salt and sand that is stored there as the snow starts to fall around the Providence area. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning, saying the Providence are could get seven to 15 inches of snow.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- A man wanted by the Woonsocket police for robbing The Convenience Store at 260 Logee St. at gunpoint Feb. 4 turned himself in to the Adult Correctional Institutions Monday, according to the Woonsocket police.

Christopher Green, 32, whose last known address was 136 Bourbon Blvd., Woonsocket, was arraigned in District Court, Providence, Tuesday on a charge of first-degree robbery. He is being held at the ACI as a Superior Court violator pending a bail review for a previous robbery charge from 2006, according to Lt. Eugene Jalette.

The police said Green entered the store around 7:50 p.m. and pointed a handgun at the store clerk, who activated a silent alarm and fled to the back of the store. He escaped with an undetermined amount of cash. No one was injured.

Jalette said that Det. John Scully recognized Green from a surveillance video and the police circulated his photograph to various media outlets.

"Maybe the pressure was too much and he just turned him self in," Jalette said.

There might not be any classes being held Wednesday at the University of Rhode Island, but a basketball game will be played. And a big one, at that.

Mike Laprey, the school's assistant athletic director for sports communications, issued a release about 10:30 a.m. letting everyone know that, snow storm or not, the URI-Richmond game is very much still on for 7 p.m.

It might be difficult for fans to make the drive to Kingston, but there should be one of the biggest student crowds ever. More than 2,000 student tickets already have been distributed. Normally, 1,500 free tickets are set aside for students. The high this year was 1,700 tickets for Satuday's Massachusetts game. Students have the day off since classes have been canceled because of the storm.

Atlantic 10 rules stipulate that games are played if the opponent and at least two officials are present. The Richmond team arrived in Rhode Island last night, and there are referees available locally.

The game will be televised on Cox Sports Television, Channel 3.

Click here to read a preview of the game, which features two of the top teams in the Atlantic 10, both looking to stay on track for an NCAA Tournament berth.

-Paul Kenyon

CRANSTON, R.I. -- Twenty trucks loaded with Budweiser sit in a warehouse ready to deliver the goods to restaurants, bars and liquor stores around Rhode Island.

But if you were anticipating today's delivery, you'll just have to wait.

Amid the school and child care closings, canceled activities and parking bans announced Tuesday and Wednesday as the winter storm approaches was one we don't hear too often -- "McLaughlin & Moran closed; no beer deliveries today."

"We usually go out, but we saw the severity of the storm coming in," said Charles Armstrong, the fleet/safety compliance manager for one of the two major distributors of alcohol in Rhode Island. "To have these trucks out making deliveries, it doesn't make any sense."

So the trucks will wait and hit the roads Thursday instead, Armstrong said. And to make up for the lack of delivery on Wednesday, they may even head out on Saturday -- a day when they don't typically make deliveries.

The company runs 17 to 18 trucks on an average day, Monday through Friday, making a total of 240 to 250 stops, according to Armstrong. They deliver the entire line of Budweiser in the state of Rhode Island -- cases, barrels and kegs, he says.

Canceling beer deliveries is a decision the company probably makes about once a year, Armstrong said.

At 6 a.m. Wednesday, the safety of the company's employees was foremost in the minds of Armstrong and CFO Sam Suls, Armstrong said.

At the state's other major distributor, Centrex Distributors in West Greenwich, no one was available to speak early Wednesday morning about the company's Wednesday delivery plans, but no announcements by Centrex have reported cancellations.

STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The Stratford Town Council has rejected a developer's plan to renovate and reopen the 1,500-seat Shakespeare Theater that has been closed for the past two decades.

The council voted late Monday to throw out a 40-year, $3 million contract with Bill Hanney, a Brewster, Mass., resident who produces the Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck, R.I. The council that was in place before the November election had approved the deal last June, but then-Mayor James Miron refused to sign it.

Council members say they agree with a town attorney's opinion that the contract would be illegal because it doesn't include a performance bond.

Hanney says he's "very disappointed" with the decision, but he acknowledged the timing isn't right for him now to do the project.

Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com

Amtrak has announced it will operate limited Acela Express and Northeast Regional service on Wednesday between Boston, New York and Washington due to "severe winter weather."

Despite limited service, the Northeast Corridor remains open, Amtrak has announced.

Details about which trains are running are available here.

Wednesday's Providence Journal front page reports that Rhode Islanders are preparing for a snowstorm.

Central Falls teachers held a vigil Tuesday to oppose a move by the superintendent to fire them.

At least 18 former officers, directors and employees of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation have received letters seeking the recovery of money that auditors say was lost as a result of "apparent misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance."

Download a copy of Wednesday's Providence Journal front page.

The Rhode Island Judiciary announced Wednesday morning that all state court calendars have been canceled for the day in anticipation of the storm, but employees are expected to report to work.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell announced in a statement that the state's courthouses will be open Wednesday.

The announcement comes on the heels of a Tuesday night announcement that jury service has been canceled for Wednesday. Superior Court Presiding Justice Alice B. Gibney has asked jurors who were expected to report on Wednesday to monitor storm developments and plan to report for jury duty on Thursday.

The Rhode Island State Police have extra patrols out for Wednesday's anticipated snowstorm and have some advice for motorists who run into trouble on the state's roads.

Stay with your vehicle and call either 911 or *77, which will connect cell phone users with the state police barracks in that area.

The state police will assist motorists -- by helping drivers get off the road if they need assistance, by arranging for tow trucks to move disabled vehicles and by staying with drivers until a tow truck arrives if they're in a hazardous situation, Lt. Paul Olszewski said Wednesday morning.

The police do plan to clear all disabled vehicles off the state roads so that crews from the state Department of Transportation can continue to plow and sand the roads, Olszewski said.

Canceled could be the word of the day at T.F. Green Airport Wednesday.

Some flights are still departing from and scheduled to arrive at the state's airport despite the winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service in advance of the snow predicted for Wednesday. However, scan through the airport's arrivals and departures pages, and many flights are already canceled.

If you've got travel plans for the day, double check with your airline carrier before heading to the airport.

At Logan Airport in Boston, the situation is similar. Check flight status here.

Video: Travelers at Green tell how the cancellations were affecting their plans.

Block Island students, wake up. It's time for school.

Otherwise, as the winter storm predicted for Wednesday looms ahead of us, nearly all schoolchildren across Rhode Island can roll over and go back to bed.

On Block Island, school officials say they'll have an early dismissal -- at 11:30 a.m. -- on Wednesday. Some southeastern Massachusetts schools also plan to have an early dismissal Wednesday.

Check out school and other closings and delays -- and local parking bans -- on this web site maintained by the RI Broadcasters Association.

Live local radar

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Here comes the snow.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning, saying "a significant winter storm will impact portions of Southern New England today and tonight with heavy snow and strong winds."

The storm warning is in effect from 8 a.m. Wednesday morning until 1 a.m. Thursday.

The snow could fall at rates of one to two inches per hour, and the weather service says the storm will probably drop nine to 15 inches of snow across Rhode Island, northern Connecticut and southeastern Massachusetts, with the higher amounts to the south. The wind will build through the day, blowing at 20 to 22 mph. Wednesday night, with gusts up to 40 mph.

"This will result in hazardous travel this afternoon and evening," the weather service says, casuing "near blizzard conditions at times."

The high temperature will reach 35 degrees during the day before dropping to about 26 degrees Wednesday night.

The snow will be heavy and wet at times, especially near the coast, and that, combined with high winds, could cause some areas to lose power, the weather service says.

For more weather and regular updates, see projo.com/weather.

On the local front:

A year ago today:
Teary mourners continue to gather at the makeshift memorial, a street-side shrine in Cranston. Conor Young, 20, of Cranston, and Richard "Ritchie" Elliott, 19, and Christopher "Trippz" Athaide, 22, both of Warwick, died five days ago when their car collided head-on with another car on Elmwood Avenue near the Providence line. All three died of "blunt impact injuries," the state medical examiner's office said after performing autopsies. The police said speed and alcohol may have played a role in the crash. Two girls who were riding with the men in a Pontiac, driven by Young, were seriously injured. Both remained in Rhode Island Hospital yesterday, according to the police, who have refused to identify them. A man and a woman who were riding in the other car, a Ford, were also hurt. Their conditions could not be learned. The police have refused to identify them.

5 years ago today:
Nine La Salle Academy students are injured when a car driven by a motorist who was attempting to elude the police hit a RIPTA bus that was taking the students to the Providence Performing Arts Center. The students were treated for minor injuries at Hasbro Children's Hospital, according to the police. Maj. Paul Fitzgerald, head of the uniform division, said the car involved in the accident, at Atwells and Academy Avenues, had no registration plates and sped off after hitting the bus. Students were hurt when the bus driver slammed on the brakes in an attempt to avoid the collision.

25 years ago today:
Two Warwick girls have been discharged from the hospital where both were admitted after they were found unconscious and freezing in a Warwick cemetery a week ago. The girls, 14 and 13, were discharged from St. Joseph Hospital. A source close to the case, which police investigated, said that traces of the drugs Elavil, a non-narcotic sedative, and Percodan, a narcotic painkiller, were discovered in the girls' blood. The girls, students at Aldrich Junior High School in Warwick, were discovered under a row of trees in Pawtuxet Memorial Park Cemetery.

On the international front:

On this day in 1763, France cedes Canada and India to England as Treaty of Paris is signed, ending French and Indian War.

Read more from the Associated Press's Today in History.

Watch a video report of highlights from Today in History.

PROVIDENCE -- Counting his backers at more than 50, Rep. Gordon D. Fox emerged from a from a private gathering at the Asia Palace on North Main Street Tuesday night with a plan to become perhaps the most powerful political figure in the state.

Among his supporters: House Speaker William J. Murphy, who hosted the gathering to announce his plans to step down as speaker on Thursday.

"I said eight years ago when I was appointed House speaker that eight years would be a good term," said Murphy, 47, when he emerged from the gathering to talk with reporters. "I'm in for eight years now."

Fox, 48, first elected in 1992, said he will call a Democratic caucus after the start of Thursday's House session, at which Democrats will choose new leaders -- a speaker, majority leader, majority whip, speaker pro tem, deputy whip and deputy majority leader.

Only the speaker's position needs approval from the full House, but with Democrats holding 69 of 75 seats, it's a forgone conclusion that the person chosen in the party caucus will be the next speaker.

Fox said he has 53 votes and needs a minimum of 38.

Murphy had planned to make his announcement on Wednesday but with a snowstorm forecast that day's session has been canceled.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A prank by a Perry Middle School student to pour dry-erase board cleaner into her teacher's water bottle ended with the 13-year-old girl in handcuffs.

Teacher Hannah Caisse was about to take a sip from her purple water bottle on Feb. 3 when one of her students warned her not to drink it, according to the police.

Several students had seen one of the girls pouring the cleaner into the bottle, and told police that the girl had tried to do it the previous day, said Lt. George Stamatakos, head of the youth services division.

The girl was charged with felony assault and released to her mother.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A registered sex offender is back in prison after police said he tried to lure an 8-year-old girl away from her parents at the American Expo Flea Market.

Victor H. Pizarro, 24, was hanging out at a friend's booth at the flea market when he noticed the little girl, whose parents are also vendors at the market, said Detective Theodore Michael.

The young Providence girl told police that the man asked her if she could show him where the restrooms were, said Michael. She told investigators that she agreed to show the man the way, because he was a friend of other vendors at the market.

But when they walked inside the enclosed hallway to the restrooms, the girl told police, the door closed and the man kissed her on the cheeks and the lips.

The girl told police she was frightened and ran out to her father's booth in tears, Michael said. Her parents told investigators that they didn't give the man permission to take the girl with him.

After investigating the Jan. 31 incident, Michael arrested Pizarro on Friday, charging him with enticing a child, simple assault, and possession of marijuana. Police found Pizarro hiding in a closet at his house at 552 Plainfield St., Michael said.

Pizarro is a Level 1 sex offender, for conviction in 2005 for third-degree sexual assault. Michael said Pizarro is being held as a violator.

WARWICK, R.I. -- Flights in and out of T.F. Green Airport are already being cancelled as a strong winter storm heads this way.

The snow is coming on the heels of a storm that crippled the mid-Atlantic region, and made travel of all sorts difficult, if not impossible.

Among the flights being cancelled Tuesday evening, according to Green's Web site, are those with stops in Baltimore, Washington and Chicago. See information on arrivals and departures here.

At Logan Airport in Boston, the situation is similar. Check flight status here.

Video: Travelers at Green tell how the cancellations were affecting their plans.

The National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., has issued a Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow across Rhode Island, from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Thursday. The warning replaces the less serious Winter Storm Watch previously in effect.

Snow is expected to develop between 7 and 10 a.m., becoming heavy at times Wednesday afternoon and continuing into the evening.

During the heaviest period, snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour are likely, making travel hazardous, especially during the late-day commute. Snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are likely across the area, with amounts up to 18 inches possible across Rhode Island and interior southeast Massachusetts.

Some 28 school systems in Rhode Island have already canceled classes for Wednesday.
Check on the latest school closings, cancellations and parking bans, from the RI Broadcasters Association.

Projo.com will be live-blogging the storm starting Wednesday morning, and as it continues through the day. A new projo.com feature, Your Daily Commute, will allow readers to select RIDOT traffic cams for a customized look at the highways.

Readers will also have the opportunity to share their storm reports, photos and more.

Get the latest weather conditions, forecasts, and more at projo.com/weather

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - If you want your mail picked up Wednesday, you'd better get it to a mailbox by noon, the U.S. Postal Service announced late Tuesday.

The blue collection boxes will not be emptied in the afternoon because of the looming snowstorm, according to a statement from Southeast New England District Manager John W. Powers III.

"But advancing the collection of your mail from these boxes, we believe we will keep everyone on the road a little bit safer. That makes sense for our employees and our customers alike," he said in a statement.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio will not be running for Rhode Island governor as anything else but a Democrat, he said in a Journal interview Tuesday afternoon.

He was responding to a Journal reporter's questions about continued speculation that he may leave the Democratic Party and pursue a bid for governor as a Republican or Independent.

"I'm running as a Democrat," he said in an interview in his State House office. "There are public polls for the last year, as recent as today, that show me in a strong position in a Democratic primary."

When pressed, Caprio continued: "There's no chance I'll run as a Republican."

When asked if he might run as an Independent or a Moderate, he said no to both questions.

MP3: Click to hear the exchange on this topic between Caprio and Journal State House reporter Steve Peoples.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Six weeks out of prison, Janssye Toucet was at the Mi Sueno nightclub in South Providence Saturday night -- with a loaded .45 caliber handgun in his pockets, according to the police.

When a fight erupted outside the nightclub, people started shouting to the police that there was a man with a gun. They pointed to Toucet, who clutched at his right pants pocket and started running when he saw the officers approach, the police said.

Toucet is out of the Hartford Park projects, where he became notorious for drug crimes and violence, the police said. Just 22 years old, he has already served time for drug possession, felony assault and carrying a pistol without a license, according to court records. He is facing a pending case from Cranston involving several drug charges and obstructing a police officer.

"He's considered very dangerous," said Capt. James Desmarais.

Toucet bolted, but police chased and caught him.

Toucet, of 110 Delaine St., is charged with possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm after being convicted of a crime of violence. The U.S. Attorney's office is reviewing his case for possible federal prosecution, Desmarais said.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It will be a normal work day for state employees Wednesday, despite the looming snowstorm.

Governor Carcieri's office released a memo from Gary S. Sasse, director of the department of administration, saying that Wednesday will not be a snow day for state workers, but urging them "to exercise caution in deciding when to leave work."

The statement from the governor's office said Carcieri also "encourages private sector employees to take similar action and, where possible, to allow employees to leave work in advance of the storm."

The storm is supposed to begin by 7 a.m., and the National Weather Service was predicting an inch or two of snow per hour beginning around 10 a.m. Twenty-seven public school systems have already canceled classes.

The Sasse memo quotes the state's policy on adverse weather conditions, which states that "In the event employees are unable to report for work on a regular scheduled workday, or are unable to complete their work schedule because of adverse weather conditions and/or other unusual circumstances, such absence shall be recorded as either annual leave, personal leave, or leave without pay at the employee's option."

Carcieri's office said "all non-essential employees should exercise caution in deciding when the leave work."

Check on the latest school closings, cancellations and parking bans, from the RI Broadcasters Association.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The City Council, frosted by the apparent reluctance of the police to enforce the snow-shoveling ordinance, has now assigned an extra cop to the beat: The Department of Public Works.

City officials have amended an ordinance that dates to 1914 in an attempt to get serious about a requirement that property owners, occupants and caretakers clear snow from their sidewalks and catch basins, as well as from around adjacent fire hydrants and pedestrian curb cuts.

"Obviously, the reason we're doing this is because the police don't [enforce] it," Councilman Nicholas Narducci.

As for the snow-shoveling requirement itself, Narducci said officials are not trying to make life more difficult for the citizenry. When sidewalks are left clogged with snow, he said, children and the elderly are forced to do something dangerous, which is to walk in the street.

Peter T. Gaynor, city director of emergency management, acknowledged, however, that the DPW is not yet ready to discharge its new duty. For the time being, he said, it's still up to the police alone.

>> Continue reading: Providence tries to enforce rule on clearing sidewalks

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Health Department will remain closed to the public Wednesday and Thursday as the cleanup continues after a weekend flood.

Cosmetology exams scheduled for Wednesday have been canceled. When they are rescheduled, the Health Department will notify participants directly.

The department urges people to use the phone rather than e-mail if they need to contact anyone at the Health Department. Many employees do not have reliable access to e-mail.

Late Saturday or early Sunday, pipes broke in a rooftop chiller and flooded the building down the first the floor. The Medical Examiner's Office and the state laboratory are in a separate building and were not affected by the flooding.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- She was just a young girl who wanted to buy some candy.

Trouble is, the police say, the 13-year-old girl from Mount Pleasant was using a counterfeit $10 bill.

The manager of the 7-Eleven at 549 Charles St. called police on Friday morning, where the girl had come over before heading to Esek Hopkins Middle School.

Instead, the girl ended up under arrest for possession of counterfeit money, according to a police report. She was released to her mother's custody and referred to Family Court.

By Tom Mooney
Journal Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Samples of material from Saturday's fatal fire in Warwick on Tuesday reached the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory, where scientists will make doubly sure that arson was not involved.

The lab, on the Kingston campus of the University of Rhode Island, tests solely for "ignitable fluids," said lab director Dennis Hilliard. Fire officials have already said the fire wasn't suspicious, so proving "a negative would be good for them," Hilliard said.

Four young adults and a seven-month-old baby girl were found dead inside a burning home on Buttonwoods Avenue early Saturday afternoon; a friend escaped and called 911.

Fire officials have said the fire had started in the space between the first-floor ceiling and the second-story floor that ran underneath a partition wall separating two bedrooms.

Hilliard said the lab does not have the expertise to test wiring; that requires an expert in electrical engineering and is usually handled by someone else, he said.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- A probation officer for juveniles was arrested Tuesday afternoon after police say he sold heroin to an undercover officer.

Michael Ayer, 49, of 46 Frank Rd. in Stoughton, Mass., was arrested on two counts of delivering heroin to a police officer and arraigned at the Rhode Island State Police Lincoln barracks Tuesday afternoon. He will be arraigned on the felony charges in Kent County District Court on Wednesday.

Capt. David S. Neill, commander of the state police detective division, said that when Ayer was arrested around 2 p.m., he was driving his state-registered vehicle and using his state cell phone to conduct the sales.

The State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force began the undercover operation last month, acting on a tip from an informant. Neill said that Ayers delivered "numerous bags of heroin" on two different occasions to the undercover officer, who met Ayers at a public area near the Cranston/Providence city line.

According to Neill, Ayers had been a probation officer with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families for the last 14 years. Neill said there was no indication that Ayers had sold to anyone he was supervising.

Providence Journal photos / Kathy Borchers
Workers removed the tarps from the salt pile on Allens Avenue in Providence Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of the coming storm.

Shelves at local retailers are well stocked in anticipation of a rush in advance of the snow. Dorothy Shorts of East Providence, above, finds a wide selection of bread at Shaws on Taunton Avenue. Benny's assistant manager Popo Ortega, below, arranges ice melt and other storm supplies at the Branch Avenue store in Providence.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- The state Department of Transportation official in charge of keeping the highways clear said Tuesday that Wednesday's snowstorm will not be severe enough to require preventive closure of Rhode Island's major roads.

Paul R. Annarummo, who was around during the Blizzard of '78, when rapidly falling snow during rush hour shut down the state's major roadways, said if the snowfall rate hits two inches per hour and there is normal traffic, it could hamper DOT's ability to keep the roads clear.

But, he stressed, there are no plans to close the roads as a preventive measure.

In 1978 "there were 54 inches of snow that day. We're only going to get 12 tomorrow, so we're going to keep them open," he said.

Traffic is not expected to be normal during the storm.

As of 4:41 p.m. 18 public school systems had already canceled classes and Providence's mayor was urging businesses to let employees be flexible about their hours so they are not traveling during the height of the storm.

During an afternoon conference call at EMA headquarters, Glen Field, of the National Weather Service, said the peak amount of snowfall should be about an inch or two per hour, beginning around 10 a.m. and continuing for the duration of the storm.

"It's very reminiscent of Dec. 13 for a nightmare traffic snowstorm," he said, referring to the 2007 storm that left dozens of Providence children stranded on snow-clogged roads for hours.

The snow is expected to start falling around 7 a.m.

EMA Director David Smith said Newport will likely suffer the worst of the storm.

"Newport is the jackpot," he said.

The National Weather Service said Tuesday afternoon that the city would receive 7 to 13 inches, Westerly would get 8 to 14, Woonsocket would see 5 to 9 and Providence, Pawtucket and Burrillville would get 5 to 11.

EMA officials said they expect to receive another briefing from the National Weather Service at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Check on the latest school closings, cancellations and parking bans, from the RI Broadcasters Association.

-- By Donita Naylor and C. Eugene Emery Jr.

This story was originally published at 3:23 p.m.

Towns and cities in Rhode Island are already preparing for Wednesday's predicted snowstorm.

As of 4 p.m., the following communities have imposed parking bans:

Bristol: Parking Ban Tomorrow; 2/10/10 AT 12 NOON
Burrillville: Parking Ban Tomorrow; BEGINNING 6AM WED 2/10
Central Falls: Parking Ban Wed 02/10/10 at 8:00am; Until Further Notice
Coventry: Parking Ban Tomorrow; effective midnight Tuesday
Cranston: Parking Ban Tomorrow; Begins WEDNESDAY at 8am
Cumberland: Parking Ban Tomorrow Morning; 8am until TBA
East Greenwich: Parking Ban Tomorrow Morning; 3AM WED TIL FURTHER NOTICE
East Providence: Parking Ban Tomorrow; Beginning Weds at 8am
Lincoln: Parking Ban Through Thursday; Wed 7AM until Thur 7AM
Middletown: Parking Ban Through Thursday; 0100 wed until 0100 thur
Newport: Parking Ban starting 2 PM Wednesday
North Kingstown: Parking Ban Tomorrow Afternoon; Begins at 12:00 pm
Narragansett: Parking Ban Tomorrow; Starting @ 07:00 am
Pawtucket: Parking Ban, Wednesday 6am, ; until futher notice
Portsmouth: Parking Ban Tomorrow; Wed 7am through Thurs 12pm
South Kingstown: Parking Ban Through Wednesday; 6 am Wed thru 1 am Thurs
West Warwick: Parking Ban Tomorrow; Parking Ban ; Wed 8 am through Thurs 12 pm
Warren; Parking Ban Through Wednesday; 2/10/10 begins at 08:00

Check on the latest school closings, cancellations and parking bans, from the RI Broadcasters Association.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Thirteen communities are expected to file a class-action lawsuit against Governor Carcieri "within the hour" for withholding automobile excise-tax money the communities were supposed to receive on Feb. 1.

The communities -- Cranston, Warren, Providence, West Warwick, North Kingstown, East Providence, Warwick, Pawtucket, Tiverton, Richmond, Barrington, Middletown and Hopkinton -- are asking that the courts require the governor to make the payments immediately.

In an effort to close a close a $219-million deficit in the 2009-10 state budget, Carcieri offered a plan that would withhold about half the $135 million that municipalities were expecting this year from the state's automobile excise-tax phaseout program.

Carcieri, Treasurer Frank Caprio, and Director of Administration Gary Sasse(, who is resigning in March ), are all named in the suit.

The lawsuit was to originally be filed by the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, said Executive Director Daniel Beardsley. But because the league as a nonprofit would not be impacted as a result of Carcieri's plan, the lawsuit needed to come from the communities themselves. While Beardsley said at least 30 communities expressed interest in joining the class-action lawsuit, the 13 chosen were the first to secure approval to go ahead with the suit.

The league plans to file a brief in support of the lawsuit and on behalf of the remaining municipalities in the state.

"He does not have the unilateral authority to do what his administration has done," said Beardsley. "Were asking that those payments be made forthwith."

Woonsocket filed a similar lawsuit last week for the $1.3 million that should have been deposited into the city's accounts. An initial hearing in that case is set for Feb. 23.

The Providence School Department announced that it will close schools Wednesday in anticipation of a large winter storm scheduled to arrive Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service Tuesday was promising treacherous driving during Wednesday's afternoon commute thanks to the storm, which is expected to dump six or more inches of snow on the region and bring wind gusts that could peak to 55 miles per hour.

On Monday, forecasters were predicting that the snow would start to fall in the early afternoon, requiring workers and school officials to make the call of whether to leave home early or dismiss students early.

But by Tuesday morning, the forecast had changed, calling for a morning start to the storm, which should make it easier to decide whether skip work or simply call a snow day.

The state's Emergency Management Agency was planning a 2 p.m. conference call with area superintendents to give them advice on whether to join Providence and call off school before the first flakes fall. Many are expected to do so.

EMA officials were scheduled to receive a briefing from the National Weather Service at 3 and hold a press conference at 4 p.m.

By 4 p.m., in addition to Providence, the following school systems were reporting:

- Burrillville Public Schools Closed Wednesday
- Central Falls Pub. Schools Closed Wednesday; 52-week employees report.
- Jamestown Public Schools Closed Wednesday; No out of town buses
- Johnston Public Schools Closed, Cancel Activities Wednesday
- Middletown Pub. Schools: Closed Wednesday
- N Kingstown Schools Closed; No Activities Wednesday
- N Prov Public Schools Closed; No After School Activities
- Scituate Schools Closed Wednesday
- Esmond Smithfield Public Schools Closed Wednesday
- Tiverton Public Schools Closed Wednesday; Parent-Tchr meetings ppd.
- Woonsocket Viola M. Berard School Closed
- Woonsocket Public Schools: Closed Wednesday

See the latest in school cancellations, parking bans and more storm closings here.

At 12:30, predicted daytime snowfalls for Wednesday were 4-to-6 inches in Woonsocket, 3-to-7 inches in Providence, Pawtucket and Burrillville, 4-to-8 inches in Cranston, 5-to-9 inches in Newport and Narragansett, and 6-to-10 inches in Westerly.

>> Continue reading: Update: Storm closing several R.I. schools Wednesday

By DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer

BOSTON (AP) -- The death of the father of Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan was ruled a homicide Tuesday when an autopsy showed he died of a heart rhythm problem after a fight with his son in which he suffered a neck injury so severe it damaged his windpipe.

AP photo In this 1994 photo, Nancy Kerrigan, a silver medalist in figure skating at the 1994 Olympics, and her parents, Brenda, left, and Daniel, right, arrive at Logan Airport in Boston.

The findings could prompt new charges against Kerrigan's brother, Mark, who has pleaded not guilty to assault and battery on a person over 60 and is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital.

Daniel Kerrigan, 70, died Jan. 24 after what authorities said was a struggle with his 45-year-old son, Mark.

The police say Mark Kerrigan told them he put his hands around his father's neck and his father fell to the floor after the two argued at their Stoneham home.

The Kerrigan family has criticized an autopsy report and insists it was not a homicide.

A Kerrigan family attorney calls the medical examiner's finding that Daniel Kerrigan died of a heart rhythm problem after a fight with his son both "premature and inaccurate." The family says it was disappointed the medical examiner would release a cause of death "without having all of the relevant facts."

The family says Kerrigan had a pre-existing heart condition and they do "not blame anyone" for his death.

The autopsy results released Tuesday by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said the elder Kerrigan also had underlying health conditions, including high blood pressure and clogged heart arteries.

"As a result of these conclusions of the medical examiner, the investigation into Daniel Kerrigan's death, and whether any charges in connection with his death are appropriate, remains ongoing," Leone said in a statement.

The findings imply a strangulation-type injury in a man already vulnerable to heart problems, said an expert not connected with the autopsy, Dr. Ian Paul, associate medical examiner for the state of New Mexico.

"The assault itself would have caused significant physiological stress," Paul said. "It would have put direct stress to the heart itself because the heart is working faster, and in somebody with underlying heart disease, they would be at a much greater risk of experiencing sudden cardiac death."

Leone said the medical examiner determined the cause of death was "cardiac dysrhythmia" after a physical altercation "with neck compression causing injury to the neck in the form of a cartilage fracture to the larynx area."

Cardiac dysrhythmia is loss or interruption of a normal heartbeat, which can lead to cardiac arrest and death.

Neither Nancy Kerrigan, nor her mother, Brenda Kerrigan, could immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. A spokeswoman said the family planned to issue a statement.

>> Continue reading: Update: Death of Kerrigan's father is ruled a homicide

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Slater Technology Fund, a state-backed venture capital fund that invests in Rhode Island start-up companies, announced Tuesday it is investing $500,000 in CytoSolv, Inc., a new company that is developing a drug to help heal wounds. The company is developing the drug from the brain cells of pigs.

And not just any pigs. CytoSolv's porcine cells come from a unique strain of pig that is found on remote Auckland Island, off the coast of New Zealand. CytoSolv is collaborating with Living Cell Technologies LTD., a company in Australia and New Zealand, that is exploring the theraputic qualities of cells from the same species.

CytoSolv was founded by scientists Dr. Moses Goddard and Christopher Thanos, who both have affiliations with Brown University.

Goddard said the money from Slater will be used to continue research, with the goal of delivering data to the federal Food and Drug Administration, which will determine whether to allow testing.on human subjects. Goddard said human testing is at least two years away.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The brother of Providence Mayor David Cicilline has been released from a halfway house in Boston, where he served part of his sentence for shaking down drug-dealing clients.

John M. Cicilline, a former criminal defense lawyer who has been disbarred, was sentenced in September 2008 to 18 months in federal prison after reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. He had been earlier imprisoned at the Fort Devens facility in Massachusetts.

WPRI-TV reports that the 52-year-old Cicilline left the Coolidge House in Boston on Monday. That's the same halfway house where former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci lived after being released from a federal prison in New Jersey.

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. -- Supt. Frances Gallo said Tuesday that the only reason she is seeking to fire the entire high school staff is that the teachers' union has refused to agree to various reforms.

Gallo would not go into detail, but did say: "We need to be able to move this school. We are persistently in the low-performing category, and therefore we have options that we must look to."
Central Falls High School has been classified as making "insufficient progress" for six years.

Gallo said that teachers can re-apply for their jobs, but said the job descriptions would be different than they are now. She did not elaborate.

Earlier Tuesday, union representative James Parisi said that Gallo had asked teachers to work a longer school day, attend after-school training sessions, and spend two weeks of the summer in professional development. Parisi said the union balked because the district is not willing to pay teachers for the additional work.

"Union and management did not reach agreement on compensation for additional time," he said.

Gallo has told the teachers union that she and the Board of Trustees will terminate all 74 teachers at the high school, one of six chronically low performing schools that the state has singled out for substantial intervention.

According to Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Allied Health Professionals, Gallo told teachers about the impending termination late last week.

The teachers are holding a candlelight vigil Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. in front of the Calcutt Middle School, 112 Washington St., Central Falls. Attending the news conference and vigil will be Jane Sessums, the Central Falls union president, Reback and Mark Bostic, northeast regional director of the AFT.

The high school is one of six struggling schools that state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist identified in January as needing a major overhaul. Gist said that the schools are among the bottom 5 percent of schools statewide.

Last month, Gallo said she had a plan for reforming the high school that included replacing the principal and offering more flexibility around the school schedule and the length of the school day.

Extra: Read RI education commissioner Deborah Gist's 16-page protocol for intervening in chronically low-performing schools

The original version of this story was posted at 12:46 p.m.

CUMBERLAND, R.I. -- Teachers and about two dozen students who were in school early were evacuated and buses bringing students to school Tuesday morning were diverted after a custodian reported smelling an odor of gas at John J. McLaughlin Cumberland Hill Elementary School, according to the Cumberland Supt. of Schools Donna A. Morelle.

The school called the fire and police departments and National Grid, and the building was tested for the presence of gas, according to Morrelle.

After testing and a check of the building, the odor was determined to come from a delay in the ignition of the heating/ventilation system on top of the school, according to Chief Kenneth Finlay of the Cumberland Hill Fire Dept. Finlay said that the flow of gas from the heating/ventilation unit was not immediately ignited as it normally is and hung in the air. The unit sits next to a vent that leads to school's kitchen and Finlay said it's likely that the odor of gas flowed through the vent into the school building where it was detected by a custodian.

Bus loads of students from the elementary school, which has about 400 pupils, were diverted to St. Joans parking lot off Mendon Road while officials checked the source of the odor, Morelle said.

Students were allowed into school at about 10 minutes after the 9 a.m. opening time Finlay said.

By W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal Staff Writer

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. -- The spokesman for the troubled Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility announced on Tuesday that his firm, True North Communications, will no longer provide public relations services for the prison.

Bill Fischer, the firm's president, said that the resignation is effective immediately.

``It has come to my attention that certain parties have attempted to influence the board on a number of occasions to terminate our contractual relationship -- the latest attempt being last week,'' Fischer wrote in a letter to the Central Falls Detention Facility Corp., the board that oversees the for-profit jail. ``This situation has certainly created an unhealthy work environment and I have decided to end it on my terms.''

Fischer sent his resignation letter to Bruce Corrigan, chairman of the governing board, on Tuesday afternoon. He declined to elaborate on what parties tried to end his contract.

Fischer, who was paid $3,500 a month, agreed to a one-year contract last April to serve as the jail's spokesman. He replaced the RDW Group a consulting and public relations firm that had worked for the prison for several years.

>> Continue reading: Spokesman for Central Falls' Wyatt jail steps aside

Just in time for Wednesday's predicted snowstorm, projo.com has added a new feature called Your Daily Commute, which lets you easily view about 100 different traffic cams operated by the R.I. Department of Transportation.

You can select the traffic views you'd like to see at morning, afternoon and evening, and save your choices so they come up automatically, in the upper right-hand section of projo.com's home page. A sample of selections is at right.

To choose views, click on and select from a drop-down menu of all cameras. The picture automatically updates every 30 seconds.

Then, click "Save your traffic cam views" and your current settings will appear. Click the time of day you want this camera view to automatically be shown. Repeat the process for the other time periods.

The feature requires "cookies" to be enabled on your browser. You can learn more about how to enable cookies at this page.

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment. Do you find this feature useful? How can we make this better?

By Mike Stanton

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state is moving forward with legal action to recover some $75 million that auditors say was squandered at Rhode Island's landfill.

Demand letters have gone out to at least 18 former officers, directors and employees of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation. The letters, signed by lawyers for Governor Carcieri, Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch and Gen. Treasurer Frank Caprio, seek the recovery of money that auditors last year concluded was lost as a result of "apparent misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance.''

The efforts stem from an audit last year commissioned by Carcieri, which found that Rhode Island's trash agency was plagued for years by waste and mismanagement, flawed multi-million-dollar construction projects, questionable land deals, cronyism, suspected fraud, apparent bid rigging, bogus workers' compensation claims and phony overtime scams.

>> Continue reading: State demands $75 million from ex-landfill directors

PROVIDENCE, R.I - During his final year in office, Governor Carcieri has chosen state budget officer Rosemary Booth Gallogly as his new director of administration.

The well-respected Gallogly will double as director of the state's Department of Revenue, as did her predecessor Gary Sasse before he served notice of his resignation from both positions, without official explanation, earlier this month.

Carcieri has also confirmed plans to elevate Gallogly's chief deputy, Thomas Mullaney, to state budget officer once all of the moves are official, which in Gallogly's case may require Senate confirmation.

Gallogly first went to work in the state budget office straight out of college in 1980 as an assistant budget analyst. In the years since, she has served under five governors, serving as president of the National Association of State Budget Officers (2004-05) along the way.

She graduated from Classical High School, the University of Rhode Island, and obtained a master's in business administration from the University of Rhode Island in 1985.

In his announcement of her promotion to the top ranks of the state department that oversees state hiring, spending, contract negotiations and contracting, Carcieri hailed Gallogly as someone who, "throughout her distinguished career ... has consistently brought common sense principles, predictability, and transparency to the state's budgeting process.

"Her efforts have resulted in a continued strong credit rating and positive cash flow management, despite challenging economic times. Rosemary is widely recognized by those in state government and the private sector as an authority on state finances, and is one of the most well respected budget officers in the nation. I am confident she will serve with great distinction and honor in her new role."

Gallogly and her husband, Bill, live in Wakefield, with their two children, Victoria, 16, and Katarina, 14.

>> Continue reading: Carcieri chooses Gallogly as new administration director

By Bryan Rourke
Journal Staff Writer

The musical ambition auditions of two Rhode Islanders continue tonight at 8 as the ninth season of "American Idol" on Fox (Ch. 25 and 64) enters its so-called "Hollywood Round."

Ellery Bonham, 16, of East Greenwich, R.I., and Amadeo DiRocco, 28 of Johnston, R.I., the youngest and oldest contestants, respectively, are among roughly 200 contestants still remaining. Bonham is a junior at East Greenwich High School. DiRocco is a 1999 graduate of Cranston East High School, and a former bartender.

The national talent search show started with tens of thousands of contestants from seven audition sites, including Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Over the next four shows, Feb. 9-10 and 16-17, the "Hollywood Round" contestants will be reduced to a field of 24 semifinalists: 12 males and 12 females.

It is unclear which of the four "Hollywood Round" shows will feature the Rhode Islanders.

The judges, led by Simon Cowell, include Ellen Degeneres, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.

In a video posted on the show's Web site, DeGeneres says Cowell is "actually meaner than I thought. It's hard to listen to him tell people things and for me not to go, 'You poor thing!'"

Beginning Feb. 23, the judges will be the viewers.

Rhode Islanders might also take a rooting interest in two other New Englanders competing in the show: Ashley Makailah Rodriguez, who attended the Berkeley College of Music in Boston, and Katie Stevens, 16, of Middlebury, Conn., who told the judges that she wants to win for her Portuguese-speaking grandmother who has developed Alzheimer's -- "I want her to see me succeed in my dream before she forgets who I am."

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The four adults and the baby who died in the Warwick house fire on Saturday died of smoke inhalation, the state Department of Health has just announced.

The Rhode Island State Medical Examiners Office has determined the cause of deaths, according to health department spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth.

WEST WARWICK, R.I. -- The West Warwick police Tuesday arrested a sex offender for failing to register his change of address with them.

Thomas Denton, 59, was listed on the Rhode Island Most Wanted Web site. A phone tip led the police to an address on East Greenwich Avenue, where they arrested Denton without incident, according to Sgt. Donald Archibald of the West Warwick police.

Denton was released Feb. 1 from the Adult Correctional Institutions, where he was serving a five-year sentence, with five years suspended, for larceny over $500, according to a spokeswoman from the ACI. He had previously served a 10-year sentence for 1st degree sexual assault.

When he left the ACI, Denton listed an address on Main St., but he failed to register the address with the police, Archibald said.

Denton was expected to be arraigned in District Court in Warwick Tuesday on a charge of failure to register a change of address with the police.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Saint Philip Church in Greenville is scheduled to hold a prayer vigil tonight in memory of the five people who died Saturday in a house fire in Warwick.

The church is located at 622 Putnam Pike. The vigil will begin at 6 p.m.

The announcement of the vigil, released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, also said a Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the church for three of the fire's victims: Amanda L. Villeneuve, 20; her fiancé, Daniel M. Janik; and their 7-month-old daughter, Anabelle.

They died Saturday in a smoky fire in a Buttonwoods Avenue house along with Nicholas M. Jillson, 24, of North Smithfield, and Tayla D. Lackey, 20, of Glocester.

All the young adults were recent graduates of Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Rhode Island receives high marks in a national report Tuesday on how states have spent federal stimulus money on highway projects.

A national association of state transportation departments highlights Rhode Island, Nevada, Michigan and Georgia for putting stimulus money to work quickly, creating or preserving jobs in the process.

"The reason why Rhode Island was spotlighted is because we were looking for exemplary states that can be held up as role models," said Tony Dorsey, spokesman for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "For a number of reasons, Rhode Island did stand out."

The association's report says that nationwide, more than 280,000 jobs on more than 12,250 projects have been paid for under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which became law a year ago this month. The association found that state transportation departments have put out to bid 77 percent of the $34.3 billion in stimulus money available.

In Rhode Island, the association found that, as of Dec. 31, the state had awarded contracts totaling $100 million dollars of the $175 million allocated under the stimulus act. Rhode Island also has received federal approval for projects totaling $149 million, including the $100 million under contract. That means 57 percent of the money has gone toward contracts that have been awarded and 85 percent toward projects that have been approved.

The association also found that, with bids running as low as 30 percent below estimates, states have been able to stretch their dollars further to fund more projects than originally anticipated.

In late January, Rhode Island's Department of Transportation announced it would add eight projects to 54 included under the stimulus program because bids here have been running 15 percent below estimates.

PROVIDENCE, RI -- March could prove to be the time Rhode Island begins an economic rebound as the capital city and surrounding communities play host to hoop hounds from around the country.

Thousands of basketball fans are due here in mid-March for the opening rounds of the NCAA's men's college basketball tournament. It's the first time since 2000 that Providence has been the site of a college-level tournament when it was the site of the Frozen Four -- the NCAA's hockey tournament and the first time since 1996 that it was part of March Madness -- the tourney that drives basketball fanatics and casual fans into a frenzy.

Business, government and academic groups have been working for months on the details of hosting the games, which will take place on March 18 and March 20, amid a week when Providence also hosts a St. Patrick's Day parade and road race, a cheerleading competition, two business conventions and top-flight performances at the Providence Performing Arts Center and Trinity Rep theater.

"This is a huge opportunity for us to play on the national stage," Kristen Adamo, vice present of marketing for the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, told attendees at tourney planning session Tuesday morning in Providence.

Gauging the economic impact at this point is tough, convention executives said, as it depends on which teams are chosen to play in Providence. And, one team with a fair shot at playing in the city could come from right down in South County -- URI sands at 19-3 and third in the Atlantic 10 as the regular season comes to a close.

TIVERTON, R.I. -- The Tiverton police have arrested a man whom they say entered a 72-year-old woman's home at night and stole her pocketbook Jan. 15. He is also a suspect in robberies in Fall River.

The woman was sleeping in her home on Bulgarmarsh Road around 10 p.m. when she was awakened by the sound of someone entering. She saw a man wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt approaching her while she was on her couch in the living room, the police said. As she stood up, the man grabbed her hands and grabbed her pocketbook, the police said. The man ripped the telephone from the wall and ran from house.

The Tiverton Police charged David Rose, 32, of 301 Bulgarmarsh Rd, lot 69 of the trailer park, with robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery as well as being a fugitive from justice in connection with the Fall River robberies. He was arrested Friday.

Rose told the police he had two co-conspirators in the Tiverton robbery so more arrests are pending, the police said. Det. Sgt. Michael Carr and Det. Sgt. Michael Miguel investigated the Tiverton robbery.

Journal photo/ Mary Murphy
After sawing a hole in the ice, Mike Hurley, a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management employee, watches as co-worker John Fiore measures the ice on Olney Pond in Lincoln Woods State Park. They found that the ice is safe for skating. But by this time Wednesday, the ice may be wearing a coating of snow, as a storm is expected to move into Rhode Island.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. James R. Langevin has named two key deputies to his Rhode Island staff -- longtime spokeswoman Joy Fox and state Rep. Ray Sullivan.

Democrat Langevin announced Tuesday that Fox is to be promoted to deputy district director for communications and community outreach, while Sullivan will join the staff as deputy district director of public policy.

"Over the last five years, Joy has become an important member of my team and valued liaison for me with the media and the community,'' Langevin said in a news release. ``Ray is also committed to public service, having been a member of my Secretary of State staff.''

Fox, of Warwick, has served as Langevin's spokeswoman since 2005. Coventry Democrat Sullivan will complete his term but will not seek reelection to the General Assembly this fall, according to Langevin's news release.

Journal Business staff

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, is proposing a new federal agency to monitor risk and exotic investments on Wall Street to head off potential threats to the U.S. economy.

The agency, the National Institute of Finance, would track companies' transactions and positions, and gauge risks within individual firms, said Reed, who heads a Senate Banking Committee panel that oversees financial markets.

"We need to bring accountability and transparency back to Wall Street,'' Reed said in a statement.

Congress is considering legislation to guard against systemic risk after largely unregulated bets tied to the U.S. subprime mortgage market led to the failures of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. and $182.3 billion in government bailouts for American International Group Inc.

Reed was part of a bipartisan team of senators crafting regulatory overhaul legislation before negotiations collapsed last week. President Barack Obama's regulatory overhaul plan released in June called on lawmakers to create a council of regulators to monitor systemic risk, as well as a method for unwinding systemically important financial firms and a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to police banks for abuses in credit card and mortgage lending.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As two Providence detectives conducted routine patrols early Tuesday morning, a man dressed all in black and wielding a cordless power saw at a construction site caught their attention.

At about 12:25 a.m., Detectives Shawn Maxwell and William Corrigan thought the man was tampering with a big electrical box behind a newly constructed building at Silver Spring Street and Branch Avenue in the Charles neighborhood, Maj. Thomas F. Oates III said Tuesday morning.

So the detectives checked it out -- quietly climbing across a metal barrier, a temporary wall that had been set up around the construction site, Oates said. They discovered the man had pried open the electrical box -- "and was in the process of stealing the copper wiring," Oates said.

The man in black is now in police custody.

Kevin Rotondo, 46, of 95 Langdon St., Providence, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday morning in District Court on charges of felony attempted larceny and malicious mischief, Oates said.

The police suspect Rotondo was going to cut the wiring from the electrical box and pull it out of the ground, Oates said.

The project manager at the building site had earlier reported to the police that his employees had discovered in the past week that about 250 feet of copper wire had been cut from the project. That wire was worth about $8,500, Oates said.

As the police continue to investigate that past theft, Rotondo is not cooperating, Oates said.

Dublin, Ohio -- A Providence artist has been selected from three finalists to produce a $150,000 public-art project to help commemorate this city's bicentennial in the fall, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Brower Hatcher

Artist Brower Hatcher, who works at Mid-Ocean Studio in Providence, plans to build a stone-and-steel sculpture on the site of a former blacksmith shop, with an old stone wheelwright table inside.

He expects to cover the structure with vines, allowing Dublin residents the chance to "reveal" the city's history by cutting back the vines, according to a newspaper article announcing the award of the project.

The award was announced Monday night at the Dublin City Council meeting.

Read more about Hatcher's work in this Providence Journal story, which calls him "the creative force of Mid-Ocean Studio." The artist has made abstractions in steel that have been installed in public parks and memorials in the United States and abroad over the last 35 years or so, according to Journal archives.

Students in Providence and East Greenwich, some as young as kindergartners, raised $3,142 in separate fundraisers to benefit Haiti.

In Providence, the Jewish Community Day School second-grade class of Susan L. Adler raised $1,450 for Haiti by sponsoring a wear-pajamas day in January.

The second-graders created a flier asking students and staff of the school at 85 Taft Ave. to wear pajamas on Jan. 29 and bring in donations for the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

With a box they decorated, the students collected donations from each classroom. They counted the money as part of a math lesson.

The staff also donated about $1,000 to the relief fund.

In East Greenwich, pupils at Frenchtown Elementary School raised $1,692.85 by doing odd jobs during the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in mid-January and bringing in their earnings to help children in Haiti.

Instead of working, some of the pupils in kindergarten through third grade donated their allowance or savings, and some of the parents donated a matching amount. The money went to Save the Children, a relief organization that provides food, shelter and water to children in impoverished areas.

First-grade teacher Maureen Kowal and nurse-teacher Bonnie Brayton-Simmons coordinated the effort.

"Frenchtown students are learning about compassion, friendship, citizenship and being part of many communities -- both local and global," Maureen Kowal said. "Save the Children was a particularly appropriate recipient, as this organization is about children helping children."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Firefighters called to a house fire Monday night in the vicinity of 17 Huldah St. discovered that it wasn't the house on fire -- at least initially -- but a 2001 Land Rover parked on the street in front of the house.

About eight feet from the three-family home, the car fire was hot enough, though, that it melted the vinyl siding on the Silver Lake building, according to Acting Fire Battalion Chief William Kenyon.

The Land Rover with Massachusetts plates was totaled, fire investigator Robert Reilly said.

About eight people living in the three units in the home were evacuated, and fire crews checked the interior of the home to be sure fire hadn't spread inside, Kenyon said. The home is habitable, and the people were allowed back inside Monday night. The owner of the building was at the scene, according to Kenyon.

The car didn't belong to anyone in the home, and no one else on the street came out to claim it, Kenyon said.

As is typical with any fire in the city, a fire investigator was called to inspect, but it's too soon to say what may have caused the fire or if there's anything suspicious about it, Kenyon said.

The police were also called to the scene to investigate, which is typical, Kenyon said.

No one was injured in the fire, which was reported at 10:43 p.m., Kenyon said.

Tuesday's Providence Journal front page reports that Democrats in the Rhode Island General Assembly are expected to vote for House Majority Leader Gordon Fox as House speaker Wednesday.

Blaming state budget cuts, East Providence plans to send 105 layoff notices to teachers in the next school year.

Nick Jillson, who died in a house fire that killed five in Warwick Saturday, was a star hockey player for Mount St. Charles, but he may be best remembered for his grace in defeat, according to Journal sports writer John Gillooly.

Download a copy of Tuesday's Providence Journal front page in .pdf format.

Live local radar

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It looks like we'll have a relatively comfortable February day with a high near 37 degrees Tuesday, but it could represent the calm before the storm.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch Wednesday for a storm that could bring more than six inches of snow and strong winds to the region.

"Snow is expected to develop over the watch area Wednesday morning or early afternoon. The snow may become heavy at times Wednesday afternoon and continue into the evening," the weather service says. "The Wednesday evening rush hour maybe quite messy with moderate to heavy snow falling."

The wind could reach 40 to 55 mph. along the coast.

The weather service is still monitoring the storm's track and says we could get more snow if the track shifts north. If it tracks to the south, it would probably confine the heavy snow to the immediate south coast, the weather service says.

Until then, Tuesday should be sunny with a north wind of 8 to 10 mph. and gusts up to 20 mph., according to the weather service.

For more weather and regular updates, see projo.com/weather.

On the local front:

A year ago today:
Governor Carcieri announces the promotion of Department of Human Services Director Gary Alexander to oversee four state departments as secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Alexander has worked in state government since 1997, and most recently was the governor's point person in negotiations with the federal government to overhaul Rhode Island's Medicaid programs. He will continue to oversee the state's unprecedented health-care agreement in his new role, according to the governor's office, in addition to assuming the secretariat position pending approval of the state Senate. The position had been open since the departure of former secretary Jane Hayward a year ago. Since that time, however, Adelita Orefice had assumed most of the secretary's duties, although she held the title of deputy secretary and had not been confirmed by the Senate. Last week, Orefice announced she was leaving within the next 10 days to work with the state Health Department.

5 years ago today:
An East Greenwhich police officer's diligence in checking out an abandoned vehicle results in the arrest of a Providence man wanted in Puerto Rico for murder. Jose Abreu, 41, of 18 Marlborough St., was arrested without incident when he tried to reclaim his impounded GMC mini-van from Mid-State Towing and Recovery, on Rocky Hollow Road. Sgt. Jon Chirnside said the van was found in the breakdown lane of Route 4 on Sunday by Patrolwoman Kerrie Mazur. He said she routinely ran the license plates through records and came up with Abreu's name. She then ran the name through a national criminal data base and discovered that an arrest warrant had been issued in San Juan. Abreu, who does not live at the address listed on his vehicle registration, phoned the Police Department to inquire about his vehicle, Chirnside said. Meanwhile, the police were communicating with officials in Puerto Rico to confirm the warrant information, he said. The towing company was told to call immediately if Abreu tried to claim his car. Chirnside said that officers responded quickly when the tow yard operator called at about 2 p.m.

25 years ago today:
A Texas judge sets a March 13 execution date for Stephen Morin, a Providence native convicted of killing three people, but ordered a psychiatric examination before ruling on the 33-year-old drifter's request that appeals be stopped. Judge David Berchelman set the date of execution by injection for Morin, who claimed to have had a religious conversion while on trial in 1982. Morin told the judge he did not want further appeals pursued. "I've made my peace with Jesus and I'm ready to die," he said. Court-appointed defense attorney Pete Torres said if a psychiatric examination finds Morin competent, he will respect Morin's wishes not to appeal further. Morin was sentenced to die in 1982 by a jury in Beaumont, where the Bexar County trial had been moved, for gunning down Carrie Marie Scott, 21, on a restaurant parking lot on Dec, 11, 1981. Morin is also under death sentence for the Dec. 3, 1981, strangulation of Janna Bruce, 21, whose body was found near Corpus Christi, and from a Golden, Colo., jury for strangling Denver waitress Sheila Whalen in November, 1981

On the international front:

On this day in 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ends with an American victory over Japanese forces.

Read more from the Associated Press's Today in History.

Watch a video report of highlights from Today in History.

LINCOLN, R.I. -- Two-hundred and eleven teachers have received notices that they could be laid off in a worst case scenario of budget problems and state aid losses, Supt. Georgia Fortunato told the School Committee Monday night.

But Fortunato emphasized that "we don't anticipate that anywhere near this amount will be laid off," once the school district gets the actual budget and state aid picture in May. Every year, under state law, communities must tell teachers by March 1 if their positions could be in jeopardy, even as the budget process is in the early stage and the question of state aid is far from settled in the General Assembly.

"If we ever laid off 211 teachers, we'd never be able to open the schools," Fortunato said, in a district that has 323 teachers.

Last February, layoff notices went to 167 Lincoln teachers, but far fewer ended up losing jobs in the school district. School districts regularly ask back some, if not most, teachers, rescinding preliminary pink slips. And in some instances, a person who loses one job can be entitled to another position in the district, Fortunato said.

Fortunato said that as far as she knew the 211 notices, which were sent to teachers on Friday, is the largest number ever in Lincoln.

Fortunato also did not want to understate the possibilities. She made clear at the meeting, held at Lincoln Middle School, that "this is probably going to be one of the worst budget cycles we've ever experienced."

Fortunato and School Committee chairwoman Elizabeth Black Robson emphasized their support for legislation in the General Assembly to push the deadline to June 1 for layoff notices.

"It saddens us to do this. We understand that we're affecting people's lives," Robson said. "Many of us have children in the system and we do share your concerns."

The School Committee has sent Town Administrator T. Joseph Almond a proposed $48.58-million education budget, which would be a 2.93 percent increase from this year. The Budget Board can make changes. Voters decide the bottom line at May's Financial Town Meeting.

Almond told the School Committee Thursday the magnitude of reductions proposed now at the state level could hit Lincoln dramatically and he urged the municipal and school sides work together at the local and state levels.

Saying he can save the state $1 million a year, Robert J. Healey announced Monday that he will return to the political fray this year and make a third run for lieutenant governor.

Should he win, he has the same plan he pitched the last time he ran: He'll take no pay, hire no staff and work to abolish the office.

"Four years ago when I proposed savings Rhode Islanders $1 million a year just by getting elected, people would say, 'It's only a million dollars,'" Healey said in a news release. "Now, in these economic times, I hear 'It's a million dollars.'"

Healey, 52, the Cool Moose Party founder who also ran for governor three times, has long argued that the office of lieutenant governor is unnecessary and amounts to little more than busy work. While the lieutenant governor takes over for the governor if the governor is no longer able to serve, Healey says he would work, if elected, to "set forth a new line of succession."

A lawyer, Healey, 52, lives in Barrington and says in his release that he has personal assets worth more than $1 million, meaning he can afford to go without pay should he win.

He is known for his unconventional approach. For his 2006 campaign, he handed out bumper stickers that displayed his face and the words "Lt. Governor? We don't need no stinkin' Lt. Governor."

In past interviews, he has described himself as fiscally conservative, socially liberal and with a libertarian streak, meaning he believes in small, efficient and open government.

The state's current lieutenant governor, Democrat Elizabeth Roberts, said last year that she plans to seek a second term.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- Cranston's two high schools have together raised at least $2,500 for Haiti.

Four Cranston West students of Haitian descent, seniors Mirvine Azor and Esther Borgelin and sophomores Rebecca Mislin and Carlynn Pierre, partnered with two student groups -- SkillsUSA and Family, Career & Community Leaders of America -- to raise more than $1,200. The money will be turned over to Partners in Health, an organization with a long-established record of working in Haiti.

Cranston East students raised more than $1,300 in a week-long fundraiser that also culminated with a dress-down day. The fundraiser was organized by Project Respect students. Those donations will be turned over to the Red Cross.

All donations are tax-deductible. To make a donation, make checks payable to Cranston East/Haiti or Cranston West/Haiti.

COVENTRY, R.I. -- An all-you-can-eat breakfast to raise money for Haiti will be served from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 20, at the First Christian Church of Coventry, also known as the Rice City Church, 63 Vaughn Hollow Rd.

The breakfast of pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, sausage,,juice and coffee, plus entertainment for children, will be $7 for adults and $4 for children.

Reservations are not required.

WEST GREENWICH, R.I. -- Christina Buckley, 15, is organizing a talent show for April to raise money for survivors of the Haiti earthquake.

The show will include local singers, dancers, a martial artist, and musicians, and held on April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Exeter-West Greenwich High School Auditorium

Everything about the production, the venue, sound system, concessions, and entertainers are all donated. Proceeds will go to World Concern and Samaritan's Purse.

For more information or to order tickets -- $5 per person or $25 for a family -- call Lisa Buckley at (401) 829-6463 or email do.re.mi.buckley@gmail.com.

With reports from Maria Armental.

TAUNTON, Mass. -- A Fall River man was sentenced to 19 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge in connection to the February 2007 fatal stabbing of 28-year-old Jason Glover on Dwelly Street in Fall River.

Christopher Fisher, 24, will actually have to spend the next 23 years in prison because his sentence will not begin until he completes sentences for two separate assaults on correctional officers.

"The sentence the defendant will now serve will closely resemble the sentence he would serve if he had been convicted after trial of second-degree murder," said District Attorney Sam Sutter. "After meeting with the victim's family, it was clear they wanted the certainty of conviction and a lengthy state prison sentence... I am pleased that Mr. Glover's family received a measure of justice for this senseless killing."

In July 2009, Fisher was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of assaulting a correctional officer. In January 2010 he was convicted in Norfolk County of again assaulting a corrections officer and order to serve an additional 2 to 2½ years on completion of the earlier sentence.

After his release from prison, Fisher will be on probation for 10 years, under the terms that were imposed Monday by Taunton Superior Court.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Lawyer Thomas W. Pearlman, an 82-year-old former Republican legislator and Providence councilman, was ordered Monday by the state Supreme Court to make $1,500 in restitution to former clients and to perform no less than 10 hours of community service.

In meting out its sanction, the high court chided Pearlman, a Harvard Law School graduate, for providing incompetent counsel to his clients, Robert and David Sisto, and for fee gouging. It noted that this was the third time that Pearlman has been been before the court on similar complaints of professional misconduct even though this was the first time in 16 years that he'd faced formal disciplinary charges.

Pearlman, who maintains a law office at 750 East Ave., Pawtucket, was censured by the Supreme Court in 1993 for fee-gouging and, in 2004, was suspended from practice for six months for charging unreasonable fees.

Monday's disciplinary order stems from a complaint filed by Robert Sisto, who hired Pearlman in connection with probate and estate matters for his late brother, Richard Sisto, of Providence who died in March 2008. The day after Richard Sisto died, Pearlman was paid $3,500 to prepare two wills, one for Robert Sisto and one for his brother, David Sisto, according to papers filed by Supreme Court Chief Disciplinary Counsel David D. Curtin.

The Supreme Court said the wills were about one page long and that Curtin presented expert testimony "that established by clear and convincing evidence that the wills were poorly drafted to an extreme extent."

The court was also critical of the way Pearlman took on representing Richard Sisto's estate. It said Pearlman had the heirs enter into a written agreement to pay him 5 percent of the value of the estate, with a $9,500 retainer plus an additional $2,500 for "costs."

>> Continue reading: Restitution and community service for lawyer Pearlman

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller has reduced Blue Cross's proposed premium increases for its Direct Pay plans to an average of approximately 7 percent.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the attorney general had agreed last month that a 9.5-percent average increase would be acceptable. But Koller said that, in his review of the proposal, he found issues that their agreement did not address, and he lowered the allowable increase.

Blue Cross may accept the decision or appeal it in court.

Direct Pay is a group of insurance plans, offered only by Blue Cross, for people who do not have access to employer-based insurance or government programs, such as Medicare. People who are self-employed or unemployed and early retirees are among those who choose Direct Pay.

Blue Cross had originally proposed an average increase of 10.2 percent.

PR Direct pay 2010

2010 Direct Pay Order and Decision

By W. Zachary Malinowski

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. --The state police are pressing forward with a public corruption investigation into the administration of Mayor Charles D. Moreau.

Capt. David S. Neill, commander of the state police detective division, said on Monday that his department's Financial Crimes Unit is doubling the number of detectives from two to four to conduct a thorough probe.

``I think that everything's in play,'' he said. ``We are looking at all the allegations that have come up. Other concerns have been brought to light and they need to be investigated.''

Two weeks ago, the Journal reported that the state police had descended on City Hall to look into allegations that Moreau had a furnace installed in his basement last winter for $6,875. It was paid for by Mike Bouthilete, a businessman, campaign contributor and longtime friend of the mayor.

At the time, Bouthilete had a lucrative no-bid emergency contract to board up dozens of foreclosed houses across Central Falls, the one-square mile community that borders Pawtucket and Lincoln. Moreau has denied any wrongdoing and his spokeswoman has said that the mayor has ``nothing to hide.''

Two media outlets, Jim Hummel's ``Hummel Report,'' on WPRO-AM radio and WJAR-Channel 10 first reported the furnance installation and Bouthilete's contract to board the houses.

Neill said that Col. Brendan P. Doherty, the state police superintendent, also received a letter outlining allegations of wrongdoing.

The news reports and letters prompted the state police to arrive at City Hall unannounced last month and begin copying records. Neill said that the investigators were provided with office space and that city officials have been cooperating with them. He said the state police have yet to seek court-ordered subpoenas to retrieve documents or computer data.

Lt. John Lemont, who heads the financial crimes unit, is spearheading the probe. Neill said that Lemont has been conferring with two veteran state prosecutors, Gerald Coyne and Patrick Youngs. They are top lieutenants in the office of Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Three teenagers who spat on and roughed up a family of four at Providence Place mall have been sentenced in Family Court to punishment varying from probation to a residential correctional program.

A 16-year-old youth who the police said is an associate of the Goonies street gang has been given the stiffest punishment as the result of the unprovoked attack: One year of confinement at the Rhode Island Youth Development Center -- part of the former Training School for Youth -- to be served in residence at the Ocean Tides correctional program, according to Lt. George Stamatakos, commander of the police Youth Services Bureau.

The trio and an 18-year-old man, all from Providence, were involved in a widely publicized incident Oct. 10, in which a man from Milford, Mass., was spat on and his wife punched as she held their baby son. The assailants were said to have been drunk on vodka.

The 16-year-old gang associate allegedly spat on Luciano O. Pires, 40, of Milford, and challenged him to fight. He was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and violation of home confinement.

In addition to the residential program, a judge sentenced the 16-year-old to 30 hours' community service and ordered that he have no contact with the victims and that he stay out of the mall.

A second teen, a 14-year-old youth, was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and trespassing, for having spat on Pires and challenged him to fight. The youth was sentenced to six months' confinement, which was suspended, and two years' probation, and he was ordered to have no contact with the victims and to stay out of the mall.

The third teen, a 17-year-old girl, was charged with simple assault and was sentenced to six months' confinement, suspended, and two years' probation. She, too, was given a no-contact order and told to stay out of the mall. The police said initially that she spat on Pires and shoved him and that she punched Pires' wife, Sonia, now 30.

Michael Brooks, 18, was convicted of disorderly conduct last week in District Court and was sentenced to serve 30 days at the state prison plus six months' probation. Brooks was accused of verbally abusing Mr. Pires and challenging him to fight.

AP photo / Kerry Rafanelli

In this family photo provided by the Rafanelli family, Amanda Villeneuve, 21, holds her daughter, Anabelle Janik, 7 months, who both died in a fire Saturday in Warwick.

WARWICK, R.I. -- Warwick Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan and state Fire Marshal John E. Chartier said Monday afternoon that two theories are being explored in the search for a cause of the fire Saturday that killed five people on Buttonwoods Avenue.

Chartier said there was no evidence to indicate that the origin of the fire was suspicious, but he declined to say which theories were being explored.

He said during a news conference that investigators are focusing on the ceiling space between the living room and the second floor, just below the bedroom, and that officials would probably return to the home to take additional samples Tuesday.

Sullivan said those samples will be sent to the URI crime lab for analysis.

There were two smoke detectors in the home, neither of which were going off when firefighters arrived, according to the first two firefighters at the scene. Both detectors are being analyzed. The one in the basement was working. The detector on the second floor, where all the victims were sleeping, was wired into the electrical system and had a battery backup, the officials said.

The house was renovated in 1999, it was up to code at the time, and there was no evidence of subsequent renovations, Sullivan said.

Killed in the fire were Amanda L.Villeneuve, 20, and her seven-month-old daughter Annabelle, both of whom had been living at the Buttonwoods Avenue house; Villeneuve's fiancé and Annabelle's father, Daniel Janik, 20, of 388 Gaskill St., Woonsocket; Nicholas M. Jillson, 24, of 14 Lincoln Drive, North Smithfield; and Tayla D. Lackey, 20, of Shaw Drive, Glocester. A fifth adult, Neil S. Leardi, 21, of Whitinsville, Mass., got out of the house and called 911. He was hospitalized after the fire.

Related links / Facebook pages:

Prayers for Nick Jillson and In Memory of Tayla Lackey

This story was originally posted at 2:58 p.m.

PROVIDENCE. R.I. -- While he is not pulling out of the race to succeed William J. Murphy as House Speaker, Rep. Gregory Schadone has acknowledged that he does not have the votes to win if the vote is called, as expected, this week.

"No one suspected this would happen so quickly,'' Schadone, D-North Providence, said Monday as Murphy, the House Speaker since January 2003, alerted his supporters to a 5:30 p.m. dinner Tuesday at which time he and his chosen successor -- House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox -- are expected to spell out their timeline for the anticipated leadership transition this week.

Two-term state Rep. Nicholas Mattiello, D-Cranston, has confirmed that Fox has asked him to be his second-in-command, as majority leader.

A lawyer who specializes in personal injury cases, Mattiello said: Leader Fox has asked me to serve as his majority leader. I have accepted. I look forward to working very closely with him to serve the citizens of the state of Rhode Island.'' In a wide-ranging interview, Mattiello hailed Fox as a "very dedicated, intelligent and compassionate human being,'' while acknowledging they don't agree on all issues, such as same-sex marriage.

"He is going to do a good job as speaker, whenever that happens,'' said Mattiello, suggesting there is still some fluidity in the timing of the anticipated vote.

A House speaker is chosen by the entire 75-member House of Representatives, but for all practical purposes is chosen by the Democrats who control all but six seats within the chamber.

And though Murphy's departure comes earlier than some in the House anticipated, he and his leadership teams clearly felt compelled to make their moves when they were confident they had the votes to win, and before heavy negotiations begin over the budget and other politically difficult issues.

>> Continue reading: Opponent acknowledges Fox has votes to be Speaker

The Health Department building will remain closed to the public Tuesday as employees and a cleanup company dig through the mess and assess the damage from a weekend flood.

Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman
Health department staff are busy sorting through documents and cleaning crews are sending truckloads of sorted papers to shredders after weekend flooding at the 3 Capitol Hill building in Providence. Watch a related video

Cosmetology exams scheduled for Tuesday will be held in the Department of Administration building, conference rooms A and C.

A broken chiller in the roof sent water gushing all the way to the first floor over the weekend, soaking some cubicles while sparing others, said Annemarie Beardsworth, department spokeswoman, whose own office had only a couple of ceiling tiles missing.

The worst damage was on the fourth floor and on the north and east sides of the building. The Office of Vital Records, the state repository of birth, death and marriage certificates, is located on the southeast corner of the first floor and was mostly unscathed, Beardsworth said.

A drying room is being set up for people to bring paperwork that can't be duplicated. Asked whether any documents were irretrievably lost, Beardsworth said, "I haven't heard of anything."

Video: RI health department cleaning up after burst pipes cause flooding

LINCOLN, R.I. - The wee hours of Friday morning was busy for security and police at Twin River.

The police arrested eight men after they got into a brawl at the Ocean Three gaming room at Twin River, according to the Lincoln police.

An hour later a man who got angry because security would not let his underage friend enter the establishment, attacked a security guard.

Sgt. Wayne N. Bouthilette said that two sets of four men playing the roulette table in the gaming room got into a heated argument and they began to fight around 1 a.m.

Bouthilette, who was the lone officer on detail radioed in for back up and the department sent five additional officers to the gambling establishment, according to Capt. Raymond Bousquet of the Lincoln police.

The officers separated the men and each group blamed the other for starting the fight. Neither side would press charges, Bousquet said. None of them had been injured, according to the police.

the police reviewed video tape from the casino and saw all eight men fighting, knocking over chairs and kicking and punching each other and refusing to comply with Twin River security.

The police arrested all eight men for disorderly conduct. Those arrested were Sourijar Phanchansiri, 26, of Franklin, Mass., Kevin Nhem, 23 and Kerwe Nhem, 21, of Woonsocket, Bosammang Mak, of Attleboro, Mass., Vuthy Kong, 29, of Providence, Derek Wynn, 19, of Attleboro, MA, Eric Peters, 18, of Attleboro, Mass. and Anthony Vargas, 22, of Woonsocket.

About an hour later a man upset that security would not allow his underage friend into the casino attacked a security guard, according to the police. Willam Baxger, of Warwick, reportedly hit a security guard in the face cutting his chin. The police arrested Baxter on a charge of simple assault and disorderly conduct

Live local radar

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- We can expect partly sunny skies and a temperature of 32 degrees Monday, but it looks like we'll get hit with a storm later this week.

A northwest wind of 9 to 16 mph. with gusts up to 20 mph. will make it feel colder Monday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Tomorrow looks warmer with a high of 39 degrees, but then it could turn nasty Wednesday afternoon when the snow is expected to start. It should continue into Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The weather service has issued a winter storm watch for Wednesday for Rhode Island.

The weather service says a low pressure area in the Carolinas is moving north and is expected to strengthen south of Long Island.

The "rapidly intensifying coastal storm...will bring accumulating snow and winds to Southern New England Wednesday," the weather service says.

The weather service says the potential for 6 or more inches of snow exists across Rhode Island. Snow is expected Wednesday morning and may become heavy at times into the afternoon and evening, with moderate to heavy snow falling during the evening commute.

After the storm, Thursday through the weekend brings high pressure and dry seasonably cold weather, the weather service says.

The temperature through the work week looks like it will be a little colder than the normal high of 38 and the normal low of 21 for this time of year.

For more weather and regular updates, see projo.com/weather.

TIVERTON, R.I. -- Rudy Pauls, second-place finisher in the last season of "The Biggest Loser," visited Tiverton Middle School on Monday to talk about his experiences on the reality TV show.

He got a warm reception from hundreds of cheering students and from his No. 1 fan -- teacher Louann Pauls, his mother. She arranged the visit.

"Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" the children chanted while waiting for him to appear.

"I know a lot of you watched 'The Biggest Loser,' " Louann Pauls said while introducing her son. But before that, she said, "He was huge. In all honesty, I was embarrassed to say he was my son."

Then a curtain on the auditorium stage opened and there stood Rudy, with three boys holding in place his old clothes draped around him -- the size 56 pants and 6X "Biggest Loser" T-shirt.

Pauls said he has gained back only 20 pounds, exactly what he had had expected to after the final weigh-in and as he had been advised to do after losing so much weight so fast at the end of the show.

"I'm about 230 right now," he said -- not quite half of the 442 pounds he weighed when the show began.

Pauls, 31, who grew up in Little Compton and now lives in Brooklyn, Conn, has returned to his job at NextEra Energy Resources. He plans to run the Boston Marathon in April.

He urged the children to eat healthfully and stay active.

(This entry was first posted at 3:27 p.m.)

CRANSTON, R.I. -- A local man accused of stabbing the owner of a convenience store during a robbery Saturday evening was arraigned Monday in Kent County District Court and held on $100,000 surety bail.

Robert Ruggieri, 58, of 85 Briggs St., Apt. 505, is due back in court April 12 after being charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to commit a felony, and possession of a bladed weapon.

The Cranston police said that a man walked into the Best Way Mart, at 280 Atwood Ave., just after 6 p.m. and tried to rob the store. The owner, whom the police did not identify, fought with the robber and was stabbed several times before the robber fled. The police did not say what injuries the owner suffered.

The store's surveillance cameras captured the robber's image, and the police identified him as Ruggieri.

This story was originally posted at 7:21 a.m.

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- Two Providence teenagers have been arrested after an armed robbery at a Domino's pizza parlor early Monday morning.

Employees at the Domino's on 19 West Main Rd. called police just before 2 a.m., saying that two masked men wearing dark clothes stormed in with a gun and robbed the the shop.

While searching for the suspects, Middletown Officer Jason Ryan overheard a radio broadcast from the Portsmouth police about trying to stop a speeding car on East Main Road. Ryan asked the dispatcher to notify Portsmouth police about the robbery, and the Portsmouth officer was able to stop the speeding car in front of St. Barnabas Church on East Main Road.

The two young men in the car matched the description of the robbery suspects -- and police also found a ski mask, handgun, and money inside the car, according to a statement from Middletown police.

Angel C. Vargas, 18, and a 17-year-old boy who had worked for Domino's were each charged with four counts of first-degree robbery, Middletown police Lt. Robert S. Nutt said. Vargas was ordered held without bail Monday in District Court, Newport, and the 17-year-old was to be be arraigned at Family Court in Providence. Vargas is due back in court Feb. 16

This story was originally posted at 10 a.m.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Tyler Baron had recently gotten out on parole for three robbery convictions.

But the police say he returned to his criminal habits Saturday afternoon, when he tried to rob two convenience stores by using a needle and syringe as a weapon. Baron was arraigned Monday in 6th District Court for both attempted robberies. He entered no plea, was held on $25,000 surety bail and is due back in court April 12.

Photo courtesy of Pawtucket police
The Pawtucket police say the image from this store surveillance camera shows Tyler Baron, who is accused of trying to rob two stores with a needle and syringe.

The robbery attempts at the Broadway Mart and Gulf Express on East Avenue, happening about 15 minutes apart, failed when one clerk refused the robber and the second clerk left the store, said Pawtucket Detective Donti Rosciti.

The clerk at the Gulf Express saw the robber take off in a white sedan, Rosciti said.

A car matching the description appeared in Central Falls six hours later. Baron was arrested when he was caught with a large kitchen knife after the car was stopped in an area known for drug crimes, said Central Falls police Maj. Kevin Guindon.

Central Falls Police Officer David Joseph was investigating an armed robbery that happened at 8:40 p.m. on Moore Street. A motorist said that a man held him up at gunpoint and took $42.

Less than an hour later, Joseph saw a man sitting in a white Oldsmobile sedan on Garfield Street and thought the man resembled the robber from Moore Street.

The man was Baron, 35, who gave an address of 2020 Elmwood Ave., in Warwick. Joseph arrested him for possession of an eight-inch kitchen knife on the front seat. That night, the officer happened to see the pictures of the robber from Pawtucket broadcast on the local news -- and realized the robber looked like Baron, said Guindon.

Baron had been released on parole on Dec. 9, after serving a little over five years of a 20-year sentence after being convicted on three counts of first-degree robbery. His record also includes arrests for domestic assault and drug possession.

The Central Falls police contacted the Pawtucket police early Sunday morning, which resulted in Baron's being charged with two counts of assault with intent to rob. The Central Falls police are also investigating whether Baron was involved with the robbery on Moore Street.

This entry was first posted at 2:08 p.m.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- The University of Rhode Island has launched
a Making a Difference Campaign to raise $100,000 by asking each student, faculty and staff member to contribute $5 for relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti.

Donation booths have been set up around in the Memorial Union and various places around campus. In addition, a men's basketball game and two benefit concerts are planned, the URI Foundation has established an account for Haiti relief, and a Web site was launched to keep track of all the efforts.

At the Feb. 20 men's basketball game, Student Athlete Advisory Committee members will collect donations from the time doors open at 3 p.m. until half time.

The two benefit concerts, both in the Memorial Union Ballroom, are "A Night for Haiti" from 6 to 9 p.m., Feb. 24, and "Rhodypalooza" from 6 p.m. to midnight on Feb 26.

The URI Foundation is also accepting donations for Haiti. Checks of any size can be made out to URI Foundation marked "URI Helping Haiti 5060," and mailed to the URI Foundation, 79 Upper College Rd., Kingston, RI, 02881 or placed in the campus donation boxes.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- A show-cause hearing will be held this evening to determine if 848 Martini Lounge & Park Café at the city's historic Park Theatre violated the terms of its licenses.

Police Chief Marco Palombo Jr. said the department called for the show-cause hearing following a Jan. 31 incident in which a person "sustained puncture wounds." Palombo said the incident remains under investigation and would not release any other details.

The incident occurred at 1:38 a.m. outside the lounge, he said. The lounge closes at 1 a.m.

The victim, whom he did not identify, is not cooperating with the investigation, Palombo said.

By Ray Henry
Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Three candidates running for Rhode Island governor are promising to sign a gay marriage bill should it reach their desk if they are elected.

Marriage Equality Rhode Island solicited the promise from Attorney General Patrick Lynch and General Treasurer Frank Caprio, both Democrats, and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, an independent.

The candidates have been invited to make their promise public at a State House rally on March 3.

Republican John Robitaille hasn't yet responded to the gay-rights group. He has said he opposes gay marriage but might support domestic partnerships.

Rhode Island is the only New England state besides Maine that does not recognize same-sex unions. Republican Governor Carcieri, a staunch opponent of gay marriage, is not seeking re-election.

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Associated Press Writers

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) -- The deputy fire marshal of the town where a power plant explosion killed five people tells The Associated Press that no one is believed buried in the rubble.

The comments by Deputy Fire Marshal Al Santostefano on Monday mean the death toll will likely stand at five from the gas explosion the day before.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano says in a statement that everyone assigned to work at the Kleen Energy plant, about 20 miles south of Hartford, is accounted for. He says there have been no recovery efforts there Monday because the site is too unsafe.

Sunday morning's injured a dozen or more others. It happened as workers were clearing gas lines of air.

Investigators returned to the scene Monday to try to begin determining the cause.

Middletown Deputy Fire Marshal Al Santostefano said he didn't know when rescue crews would be able to search the small section of the plant that is unstable.

Piles of rubble were 10 feet tall in some parts of the plant, and mounds of rubble and debris were everywhere, he said.

The explosion was so powerful it alarmed residents who heard the boom and felt tremors in their homes miles away.

An earlier version of this was published at 7:38 a.m. and updated at 10:13 a.m.

>> Continue reading: Update: No one believed under Conn. plant rubble

SCITUATE, R.I. - - Someone broke into Cindy's Diner and Restaurant over the weekend, smashed the cash register and stole 244 scratch lottery tickets worth $369, according to the Scituate police.

The incident happened sometime after 8 p.m. Saturday, when the diner at 46 Hartford Ave. near the Johnston line closed, and before 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning, when one of the workers came in to open up, according to Deputy Chief Stephen B. Lang.

Lang said someone pried the door of the diner open, went in and smashed the cash register. The register held only change.