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May 11, 2006

Rainy forecast cancels this Saturday's WaterFire

PROVIDENCE -- The rainy forecast has washed out the first full WaterFire of the season, which had been set for this Saturday.

Orgnanizers late this afternoon announced the cancellation of the popular performance art event.

The next WaterFire is set for Saturday, May 27, along the riverfront in downtown Providence at sunset.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:12 PM | Comment

Yashar finally served with pension lawsuit

It has taken more than a month, but Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office has found former Traffic Tribunal Judge Marjorie R. Yashar and served her with a lawsuit seeking to reduce her pension.

Lynch's office had tried sending the complaint by certified mail, but never heard back from Yashar. Next, they hired somebody to hand-deliver the summons. But after 11 attempts, still no success. Then, last week, Lynch got permission from a Rhode Island judge to tack the summons onto Yashar's front door in Florida.

Which method was successful is not clear.

Lynch's spokesman Michael J. Healey today could only say that Yashar was "personally served'' Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Healey had no details about how Yashar was served and he was unable to say if the notice was ever tacked on her door.

-- Journal State House bureau writer Scott Mayerowitz

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:02 PM | Comment

Update: Bending to their task / Photo

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Students from local technical schools try to diagnose and repair deliberately bugged Ford cars in the AAA/Ford Auto Skills competition today.

WARWICK -- Ten teams of high school automotive technology students were trying to diagnose and repair deliberately "bugged" cars this morning at the Warwick Mall.

The 20 students participating in the annual AAA/Ford Auto Skills state finals are competing for prizes, scholarships and a chance to represent Rhode Island in the national finals next month in Dearborn, Mich.

The test began at 10 a.m. before a row of cars parked by Firestone.

There's a nationwide shortage of trained service and repair technicians estimated at 60,000, according to AAA. Annual salaries can range from $35,000 to $75,000, AAA says.

Posted by Jack Perry at 4:25 PM | Comment

CVS shareholders reject several proposals

WOONSOCKET -- CVS Corp. shareholders today voted down a number of proposals that could have changed the way the drugstore chain does business -- including initiatives to change its corporate governance and one to alter some of the cosmetics it sells.

Shareholders rejected calls for an independent chairman and, in a close vote, for board nominees to receive a majority of the votes cast, rather than a plurality.

By a wide margin, the shareholders killed a proposal to study whether it would be feasible for CVS to reformulate its private-label cosmetics to free the products of chemicals linked to cancer and other ill health effects.

The votes were announced during CVS’ annual meeting, held at the drugstore chain’s headquarters in Woonsocket.

-- Journal business writer Paul Grimaldi

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:10 PM | Comment

Lester pitches well as PawSox win

Jon Lester gave up one earned run over five innings and struck out six to get the win as the Pawtucket Red Sox defeated the Syracuse Sky Chiefs, 8-4, today at McCoy Stadium. The PawSox got two home runs from designated hitter Jeff Bailey and another dinger from third baseman Rodney Nye. The PawSox scored in each of the first three innings, including four runs in the third inning, to take an early 7-1 lead.

The win moves Pawtucket to 17-18 on the season, four and a half games behind division-leading Scranton/Wilkes Barre.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 3:42 PM | Comment

URI's 22 intercollegiate sports spared budget ax

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- Swimmers, gymnasts, golfers, runners and volleyball, tennis and baseball players at the University of Rhode Island can breathe easier. They will compete again next year.

Despite the state budget crisis that has forced university administrators to consider painful cuts in every department, officials announced today that URI would continue to sponsor 22 intercollegiate sports for the 2006-7 academic year.

More to come tomorrow on projo.com and in The Journal ...

-- Journal sportswriter Mike Szostak

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 3:41 PM | Comment

Judge ordered Biechele held in minimum security

PROVIDENCE -- The band manager sentenced yesterday for his role in setting off the deadly Station nightclub fire in West Warwick should be housed in minimum security at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, according to paperwork filed today in Superior Court.

The commitment papers filed for Daniel M. Biechele show that Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. ordered Biechele to be committed to minimum security. The judge also ordered Biechele to pay $1,650 in court costs.

Darigan sentenced Biechele to 15 years, with 4 to serve and 11 years to be suspended. In addition, Darigan sentenced Biechele to 3 years of probation, which would begin after he serves the four years.

The club owners, brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, still face criminal charges stemming from the fire.

Today, in the case against Jeffrey Derderian state Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has requested the Keeper of Records at Channel 7, WHDH-TV, in Boston to produce a television news story that aired in 2001.

The story, which was reported by Jeffrey Derderian, was called "Getting Out Alive" and focused on emergency evacuations. The subpoena includes a written version of that broadcast. After leaving WHDH-TV, Derderian was a reporter for WPRI-TV, Channel 12, in Providence, which was filming a report at the club when the fire broke out.

Subpoenas were also filed in Kent County Superior Court today to compel four out-of-state witnesses to testify in the case against club co-owner Michael Derderian.

The Derderian brothers, each facing 200 counts of manslaughter, are to be tried separately. Jeffrey Derderian's trial date has not been scheduled, but a trial has been scheduled for Michael Derderian, on July 31, at Kent County Superior Court.

In the case against Michael Derderian, the attorney general is requesting as material witnesses four people from outside Rhode Island who were at the club on the night of the fatal fire.

They are: Kris Somers, 28, of Pembroke, Mass.; Deborah M. Peduzzi, 37, of Sutton, Mass.: Craig Fontaine, 34, of New London, Conn.; and Craig A. Ballard, 44, of Norwich, Conn.

The paperwork includes a police interview with Ballard three months after the fire. Ballard said he went to the concert with his ex-wife, Sarah Jane Telgarsky. He escaped the fire, but she didn't.

Ballard told the police how he saw fire moving quickly up the wall and across the ceiling as he tried escaping with Telgarsky.

"It was moving fast," he said. "And my girl was getting scared, and I tried telling her, 'We have to get...This is the way out.' She wanted to go out the back way where the band was going. I told her, 'No, it's too small' and all this stuff. And she got away from me and went there anyway," he said.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:22 PM | Comment

Rally to protest social services cuts in governor's budget

PROVIDENCE -- Hundreds are expected to rally at the State House at 3 p.m. today to urge legislators not to make cuts to the state budget that they say would hurt Rhode Island mothers and children, said Karen Jeffreys, director of communications for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

People who would be affected if Governor Carcieri’s proposed budget is approved are expected to speak at the rally, Jeffreys said. They’ll talk about proposed cuts to services such as RIte Care and Medicaid, the court-advocates program for survivors of domestic violence, child care assistance for the low-income and services for children in state custody, she said.

“We’re doing this around the whole Mother’s Day theme,” Jeffreys said. “On Sunday, we all take our mothers out, we send her chocolates, but if our state really honors mothers, we wouldn’t be passing a budget that puts so many mothers at risk, and their children.”

The coalition is organizing the rally along with Parents for Progress and Sisters Overcoming Abusive Relationships (SOAR). Jeffreys said the groups are also supporting the Emergency Campaign for Rhode Island’s Priorities and One Rhode Island, two groups that represent about 150 other organizations.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:43 PM | Comment

Man's body found in Providence

PROVIDENCE -- The body of a man who has not been identified was found around 11 a.m. today near the intersection of Charles and Ashburton Streets, according to police Maj. Paul Fitzgerald.

The police do not suspect foul play and do not know yet how long the man had been dead, Fitzgerald said. He was carrying no signs of identification, and the police believe he was homeless.

When the body was located, police detectives and representatives from the state medical examiner’s office and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation went to investigate, Fitzgerald said.

By 11:30 a.m., the police had left the area.

-- With reports from staff writer Linda Borg

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:40 AM | Comment

Providence seen as a top arts destination

Readers of a national magazine consider Providence one of the top 25 arts destinations in its mid-sized cities category.

In the June issue of AmericanStyle, Providence has slipped a tad in the ranking, to 19 from last year’s spot of 18.

Mayor David N. Cicilline reports in a press release that the magazine’s publisher, Wendy Rosen, said in a letter to Cicilline that “the arts in your city continue to draw the support and appreciation of both natives and visitors alike.”

Buffalo, N.Y., tops the list for cities with populations of 100,000 to 499,000, the category for Providence. In the magazine’s other categories, New York City tops the big cities and Santa Fe, N.M., tops the small cities.

According to the magazine’s Web site, AmericanStyle is available at large retail bookstores and newsstands.

Providence also makes the cut in another magazine’s listing, but it has slipped on that ranking as well.

The annual Forbes list of best places to do business and have careers ranks Providence 46. According to Journal archives, Providence landed at No. 37 on that list last year.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:14 AM | Comment

No sunshine in 7-day forecast

More rain on the horizon today. Highs in the upper 50s expected.

Were you hoping for a better forecast? Sorry to say, but it could be a while before we see the sun again. The National Weather Service’s 7-day forecast has no sunshine in it.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:07 AM | Comment