|
|
« April 5, 2006 | Today | April 7, 2006 » April 6, 2006Johnston council to mull Trump exclusivity dealJOHNSTON – The Town Council is expected to decide tonight if Johnston should agree to negotiate exclusively with Donald Trump’s development company – and no other competing casino firm -- until June 30. The 7 p.m. meeting is at the Johnston Municipal Court, 1395 Atwood Ave., Suite 109. Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:01 PM | Comment Two $10,000 PowerBall winners sold in R.I.Two $10,000 winning tickets were sold in Rhode Island for last night’s PowerBall drawing, the Rhode Island Lottery announced today. The tickets were bought at the Stop & Shop on Mineral Spring Avenue in North Providence and at Stateline Wine & Spirits on Central Avenue in Pawtucket. The numbers drawn were: 3 9 24 29 39, with PowerBall 42.
Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:43 PM | Comment Blackstone water chief details water contaminationBLACKSTONE, Mass. -- Pranksters who tampered with the water supply last week urinated into a holding tank, officials say, though the water has since been deemed safe to drink. Shane Moody, water and sewer superintendent for the town, said that teenagers accused in the incident also threw a road flare into the tank. Moody would not comment on how he knew the information, just that the tank was taken off line shortly after the town learned of the break-in and the water has since been tested and is safe to drink. Calls to the Blackstone Police Department today have not been returned. -- Journal staff writer Talia Buford Last Tuesday, police arrested two 15-year-old boys and charged them with trespassing, malicious destruction of property, polluting a water supply and tampering with a public water supply. The boys were arraigned in Juvenile Court in Worcester. A 15-year-old girl was also expected to face a trespassing charge last week. Rhode Island and Massachusetts customers of the Blackstone water system were initially told to avoid all contact with their tap water after a security breach at the department's Bellingham Avenue facility was discovered early last Tuesday. -- Journal staff writer Talia Buford Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:45 PM | Comment Coventry police probing report of gem theftCOVENTRY – Police are investigating a report that a thief made off with more than $350,000 in cash and gems from a Stamford, Conn., man in the parking lot of the Home Depot at 700 Centre of New England Blvd. According to a statement police issued today, the man told police he is a jeweler who was traveling to Boston to sell the jewelry. He said he was approached from behind, forced into the backseat of his vehicle at gunpoint and bound and gagged. Police said they have spoken with witnesses, one of whom observed the complainant and another man sitting in the rear of the vehicle. That witness and another said they later saw the man bound and gagged in the back of his vehicle. Police said no suspect has been identified, and Stamford Police have told Coventry detectives that they have experienced similar robberies. Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:53 PM | Comment Governor pushing N.E. Gas to clean up Tiverton landPROVIDENCE - State authorities are trying to block the $498 million sale of New England Gas's Rhode Island assets until the firm submits a plan for cleaning up contamination affecting more than 100 properties in Tiverton. "It's very frustrating when you have a gas company that's dragging its feet," Governor Carcieri said at a news conference today. "No one's going to run away from their responsibility as far as I'm concerned." The threatened government intervention came as a group of Tiverton residents led by Gail Corvello presented Carcieri and Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch with 700 petitions requesting that the sale to National Grid be blocked until their land is clean. Carcieri today authorized the state Department of Environmental Management to file a motion to intervene. -- Associated Press Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:53 PM | Comment Providence educators try hand at designing futurePROVIDENCE -- What should an urban high school look like in the 21st century? How will technology change the way students are taught? Should we think about schools as community hubs that stay open long after the final bell? These were a few of the challenging questions that more than 100 Providence teachers and administrators tackled today during a forum run by DeJong, an educational planning company hired to help the city decide what to do with its aging school buildings. Armed with felt pens and drawing paper, teachers sketched out the dream school of the future: airy, light-filled spaces with atriums, student lounges and wireless classrooms. The goal is to provide the architects with plenty of raw information from which they can design the schools of the future. -- Journal education writer Linda Borg Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:59 PM | Comment Education bills on House Finance panel's plateThe House Finance Committee plans to discuss a number of education bills this afternoon, including bill that would establish regional county superintendents and a bill that would ban teacher and municipal contracts from making the choice of employees’ health insurance providers an item that’s eligible for contract bargaining.
Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:51 PM | Comment Pats pick up kicker, safetyTebucky Jones is back with the New England Patriots. And they've finally found a replacement for departed kicker Adam Vinatieri. Veteran kicker Martin Gramatica, who last kicked in the National Football League in 2004, has agreed to contract terms with the Pats. Gramatica kicked for Tampa Bay from 1999-2003, and was with the Colts in 2004. Jones, a former No. 1 draft choice with the Pats, will return as a safety. He spent 2003-04 with New Orleans and 2005 in Miami. Jones played for the Pats from 1998-2002. More in tomorrow's Providence Journal and in projo.com... -- Journal sportswriter Tom E. Curran Posted by Art at 2:46 PM | Comment Photo: PawSox to roll out new season tonight
Prepwork for tonight's Pawtucket Red Sox' season opener at McCoy Stadium started well before today. Workers were out in force last week. Groundskeeper David Catalan, of Bristol, was mowing the outfield grass. Others were rolling the infield dirt, painting and stocking shelves. The PawSox take on the Indianapolis Indians at 7 p.m. tonight. Posted by Jack Perry at 2:11 PM | Comment Patriots' 2006 schedule releasedThe New England Patriots will welcome Adam Vinatieri back to Foxboro on Sunday night, Nov. 5, when they host Vinatieri's new team, the Indianapolis Colts, in a nationally televised game, one of at least three prime-time appearances for the Patriots in 2006. The National Football League released the 2006 schedule this afternoon, and the Pats will open at home against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sept. 10. They have a Sunday night game at Foxboro on Sept. 24, hosting Denver, and will play one Monday night game (at Minnesota on Oct. 30). The Sunday night games this year will be televised on NBC, and the Monday night games on ESPN. The NFL reserves the right to switch Sunday afternoon games to Sunday nights during Weeks 10-15 and in Week 17. The Pats thus may have more night games if the league switches any of their games. The complete schedule: Sunday, Sept 10: Buffalo, 1 p.m. Posted by Art at 2:07 PM | Comment Owners of contaminated Tiverton land protest at State House
PROVIDENCE -- They say they have been prisoners in their homes since the state discovered toxic soil in their neighborhood in 2002. Residents of Tiverton's Bay Street neighborhood gathered at the State House this morning to protest the sale of the Rhode Island portion of New England Gas Co. until a plan is in place to clean up the contamination. Leaders from a neighborhood group delivered a petition to state leaders at the 11 a.m. rally, asking the attorney general and the governor to intervene. Yesterday, Attorney General Patrick Lynch said he will ask state regulators to ensure the Tiverton contamination is addressed as part of the gas company's pending sale to National Grid. Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:41 PM | Comment Photo: Fire hits 3-decker in Providence's West End
A fire late this morning at 93-95 Ellery St. in Providence's West End appeared to have caused extensive damage to the multi-family, three-decker house. Firefighters were working to put out the remains of the fire around 11 a.m. Posted by at 12:25 PM | Comment Ch. 10 confirms Vieira as Couric's replacementLocal NBC affiliate WJAR-TV, Channel 10, confirmed during its noon broadcast that Rhode Island native Meredith Vieira will replace Katie Couric on NBC's Today show. Vieira worked for Channel 10 early in her career. Anchor Frank Coletta recalled her as a hard worker and said she was a good choice for the job. Coletta cracked that Vieira had the "sloppiest desk in the newsroom" when she worked for Channel 10 -- even sloppier than his own. Posted by Jack Perry at 12:09 PM | Comment Source: R.I's Meredith Vieira to replace CouricNEW YORK -- A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC has chosen Meredith Vieira as Matt Lauer's new partner on the Today show. NBC scheduled a news conference for this afternoon to announce its new Today host, and a person close to the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that it was Vieira. -- Read the full Associated Press story. Posted by Jack Perry at 10:59 AM | Comment Updated / WJAR sold to Media GeneralRhode Island television station WJAR-TV, Channel 10, the local ratings leader, has been sold to Media General, a multimedia conglomerate that owns newspapers and television stations primarily in the Southeast. Media General announced today that it paid $600 million cash for WJAR and three other NBC stations in Columbus, Ohio, Birmingham, Ala., and Raleigh, N.C.. "While the Columbus and Providence stations we are aquiring are outside the Southeast, our station portfolio will benefit from their strength in audience and revenue share and from their position in growing, larger" markets, Media General said in a press release. WJAR employs 150 people, according to the state Economic Development Corporation. Channel 10 investigative reporter Jim Taricani said that he and others at the station were pleased that the buyer is a media company that emphasizes good journalism. ``We're all really glad it's a journalism organization both with television stations and newspapers,'' Taricani said in a telephone interview. ``We have a pretty dedicated staff, and we were hoping for a company like that that focuses on journalism.'' Media General, based in Richmond, Virginia, owns three metropolitan newspapers -- The Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal -- 122 daily and weekly community newspapers, and 26 network-affiliated television stations. WJAR was first a radio station, going on air in 1922. Then, in 1949, WJAR-TV became Rhode Island's first television station. The TV station was originally affiliated with the Outlet Department Store, in downtown Providence. In 1980, the department store was sold and Outlet Communications, which had acquired additional stations, became strictly a broadcasting company. In 1996, NBC acquired Outlet Communications - which owned a station in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., as well as Channel 10 -- in a deal valued at $396 million. -- With reports from Journal business writer Timothy Barmann Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:47 AM | Comment Driver in Providence Place mall crash speaksThe driver of the mall security vehicle that nearly plunged from the fourth level of the Providence Place parking garage earlier in the week has been hospitalized since the Tuesday incident. 
LaBoy, who has worked as a security guard at the mall for about a year and a half, said he doesn't remember driving his patrol car through a barrier on the edge of the parking garage, nearly plunging over the edge. "I remember driving around doing regular patrols," LaBoy said, talking on a cell phone this morning from his hospital bed. "The next thing I know the EMTs were pulling me out of the [patrol car]. The doctors are saying possibly that I had a seizure when I was driving, or I fainted." There were no skid marks found at the scene that would have indicated LaBoy tried to stop the vehicle before hitting the parking garage barrier. He said he didn't know how serious the accident was -- that he could have been killed had the security vehicle moved a few more feet -- until he saw a picture of the car dangling from the garage later that day. The doctors have not found any evidence of a medical condition that could have caused a blackout, LaBoy said. Nor does he have a history of anything like this. "I’ve never had any type of fainting spells, blackouts, seizures, that’s why they aren't sure what happened," he said.
Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:32 AM | Comment Photo: Fire at a Providence bakery
Sarah Archembault, an employee of Johansson's Bakery at the Arcade in downtown Providence, waits for the Providence firefighters to clear the scene after putting out a fire in an oven at the bakery this morning. Posted by Jack Perry at 9:25 AM | Comment To avoid shortage, state raises pay for lifeguardsTo attract more lifeguards to Rhode Island beaches, the state decided to boost their hourly pay by more than 15 percent in some cases. According to a salary restructuring plan endorsed by the governor, pay for the guards this summer will range between $9.25 and $11.75 per hour, depending on experience and seniority, up from $8 to $10.50 last year. The Department of Environmental Management has announced the raises, noting that it has been difficult in recent years to find enough guards -- around 150 are needed each year -- because of a strong economy and lagging salary rates. DEM is actively recruiting to fill its complement of lifeguards for the upcoming season, and still needs to fill several lifeguard positions in critical areas, including Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, Beach Pond at the Arcadia Management Area in Exeter, Lincoln Woods in Lincoln, and World War II Memorial State Park in Woonsocket. Lifeguard positions all require certification and special training in first aid, CPR, and senior lifesaving. DEM will administer both conditional surf and non-surf lifeguard certification tests beginning next month. Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:25 AM | Comment Doctor's sex-assault trial resumes todayWARWICK -- The trial of a Kent Hospital anesthesiologist accused of sexually assaulting a patient during surgery will resume this morning. Superior Court Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg dismissed the jury yesterday, halting the proceedings to determine whether a witness had tainted the jury. Russel J. Aubin, 40, of Jamestown, is accused of fondling a patient during a knee surgery at Kent Hospital in December 2004. He has argued that anesthesia could have caused her to hallucinate the incident. Thunberg spent most of yesterday questioning each juror in her chambers after a former anesthesiologist, Kathleen C. Hittner, testified that she didn't think the victim had hallucinated -- speculation on her part that nearly caused a mistrial. The trial resumes at 10:30 this morning at Kent County Superior Court. Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:04 AM | Comment "Oil Can" won't play for Nashua, N.H., team after allNASHUA, N.H. -- Former Red Sox pitcher Dennis ``Oil Can'' Boyd won't be playing with the Nashua Pride after all. The team has voided an agreement with Boyd to play this season, less than a week after announcing a tentative deal last week. The deal was contingent on a favorable resolution to Boyd's legal problems in Mississippi, where he has been indicted on charges he threatened his former girlfriend and her son Pride manager Butch Hobson said the minor-league team decided to void its agreement with the former East Providence resident after Hobson reviewed the indictment. -- The Associated Press with information from the Nashua Telegraph Posted by Jack Perry at 7:17 AM | Comment Good news: No snow todayPROVIDENCE -- Snow is not in today's forecast. That's right. After parts of Rhode Island saw a dusting of April snow yesterday (while the Red Sox were playing baseball in the Texas heat), today's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high near 52 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. Fans who plan to attend tonight's Pawtucket Red Sox opening game should bundle up. The temperature will drop to 37 degrees, the weather service says. |
|
ADVERTISING |
|
|
|
|
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 |
ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006