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« May 12, 2006 | Today | May 16, 2006 » May 15, 2006R.I. lawyers sue over release of phone records to NSAPROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island lawyers filed class-action lawsuits against Verizon Communications Inc., BellSouth Corp. and AT&T Corp. today, claiming the companies illegally turned over phone and Internet records to the National Security Agency as part of a secret government surveillance program. On Thursday, USA Today reported that the NSA has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, using data provided by the three telecommunications companies. Since then, class-action lawsuits have been filed against the companies in New York, California and Oregon. And as soon as the U.S. District Court clerk’s office opened at 9 a.m. today, Warwick lawyer Michael A. St. Pierre and Providence lawyer Amato A. DeLuca filed a single class-action complaint against Verizon and BellSouth on behalf of 20 plaintiffs and “all other similarly situated.” The lead plaintiff is Charles F. Bissitt, of North Providence. At about 2 p.m., Providence lawyer Peter N. Wasylyk filed separate class-action complaints against Verizon and AT&T on behalf of plaintiff Pamela A. Mahoney, of Warwick, and other customers. -- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick “The phone companies’ release of their customers’ records has implicated the most widespread invasion of privacy in history,” Wasylyk said in a news release. The suits seek damages of no less than $1,000 per violation, plus punitive damages, and they ask the U.S. District Court to stop the phone companies from turning over any more records to the National Security Agency without authorization.
Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:12 PM | Comment Update: Fallen police officers honored in D.C. / Photo
“I wish there was some way I could heal the hurt in your heart,” Bush said. All the officers have been honored in ceremonies over the last several days, including the midday proceedings near the Capitol and a candlelit vigil last weekend at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial . On a wall at that site, the names of the officers slain last year have been carved in stone among those of 3,700 officers so honored over the years. -- John E. Mulligan, Journal Washington Bureau About 65 to 70 active and retired Providence police officers were expected to be in Washington this weekend and today to honor the inscription of Allen’s name on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at Judiciary Square. Allen, 50, was shot to death with his own gun as he questioned Esteban Carpio at police headquarters about the stabbing and attempted robbery of an elderly woman. Carpio is accused of wresting Allen's gun from him, then shooting the detective. Posted by Jack Perry at 5:50 PM | Comment 2 arrested in Cranston on charges of DVD piracyCRANSTON -- State police announced today they arrested two people and seized more than 3,000 pirated DVDs, computer equipment and supplies used as part of a illegal DVD distribution operation. Pablo Calderon, 29, of 212 Smith St., and a juvenile were arrested as they were unloading boxes of pirated DVD movies from a Cranston garage on Saturday. Many of the movies that were seized have not been released on DVD and are currently playing in the theaters, according to the police. Calderon's garage was considered a lab or distribution point, according to police, which was believed to be supplying several local area flea markets and street vending locations.
This investigation was the result of collaboration between the state police, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry of America to address the the distribution of counterfeit movies and music CDs across Rhode Island. Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:29 PM | Comment DEM: No evidence of wasting disease in R.I. deerPROVIDENCE -- The Department of Environmental Management today announced that a round of recent testing has found no evidence of chronic wasting disease in the state's deer population. DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife last fall collected nearly 200 samples from the state's deer herd for testing as part of a nationwide effort to monitor the spread of the deadly neurological disease. "This is very good news," Michael Lapisky, acting chief of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, said in a statement. "CWD has been detected in some eastern states such as New York and West Virginia." Like many states, Rhode Island is actively working to prevent the disease, which has not been seen to affect humans. DEM will continue testing samples provided by hunters and road kill. Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:26 PM | Comment Update: Cleaning up mercury spill at RISD / Photo
Officials said the poisonous material wasn't stored or used in the building, and that its origin was a mystery. One state official said it appeared to him as though the mercury was put where it was deliberately, rather than being spilled. Alan Cantara, RISD's director of environmental health and safety, said students noticed the puddle of mercury, about two inches across by an eighth of an inch thick, about 4:30 p.m. yesterday on a wooden floor in a stairwell. He guessed that it contained from two to four ounces of mercury. The Fletcher Building, where the mercury was found, is at 169 Weybossett St., and contains graduate student art studios and classrooms. By the time the substance was noticed, a student said, it was tracked "everywhere" about the building. -- Journal staff writer Bruce Landis Some of the students and staff, meanwhile, were standing in their socks today while the cleanup crew, from Clean Ventures, of Framingham, Mass., cleaned mercury from their shoes. "They cleaned them once," said Shelly Bergeron, a computer support specialist. "They weren't clean enough, so they've got to clean them again." -- Journal staff writer Bruce Landis Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:24 PM | Comment Judge: Release arrest record in Woonsocket girl's slayingThe Attorney General's Office and the City of Cranston must turn over the city's 15-page arrest record of Joshua A. Davis, who is charged with the murder of an 8-year-old Woonsocket girl, a Superior Court judge ruled today in a public records lawsuit. At the direction of the attorney general, the City of Cranston had blacked out portions of the report before releasing it. The Providence Journal sued, arguing that public records law is clear that arrest records are public documents. Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. sided with The Journal this afternoon, saying that the document, which lists several witnesses and pieces of evidence obtained by police, must be turned over. The judge ordered personal information of several witnesses -- phone numbers and birth dates -- redacted. He stayed his order 24 hours to allow the state time to appeal to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, a wake for the victim, Savannah Smith, is being held today. About 40 people, many wearing butterfly pins with pink and blue ribbons, arrived before the wake began at 4 p.m. and waited in the rain for the doors of the funeral home to open. Several Woonsocket police officers, including Police Chief Michael Houle, attended the wake, which lasts until 8 p.m. Savannah's funeral is tomorrow. -- Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault, with Associated Press reports Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:00 PM | Comment Update: Pawtuxet nears flood stage / Photo
As of 9 a.m. today, the river had risen to 8.7 feet. The river will reach flood stage, which is 9 feet, by 4 p.m., and will rise to 9.2 feet by 8 p.m., the weather service says. "Minor lowland flooding will occur along the river as it flows through Warwick and Cranston," reads an alert issued this afternoon by the National Weather Service. The Blackstone River is expected to overflow tomorrow afternoon. Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:15 PM | Comment Hatch to be sentenced on tax counts tomorrowPROVIDENCE -- Former reality-show star Richard Hatch will learn tomorrow morning how much time he'll spend in a federal prison for tax evasion. Hatch, 44, is facing 33 to 41 months in federal prison, though prosecutors plan to argue for an additional 10 months, claiming that he lied on the witness stand during his trial. The sentencing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in U.S. District Court, Providence. Hatch, who previously lived on Aquidneck Island, has been held at the Plymouth (Mass.) County Correctional Facility since his conviction in January. Hatch was found guilty of two counts of tax evasion and one count of filing a false tax return. The charges were linked to the more than $1 million in prize money he received after winning the first season of the Survivor show.
Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:00 PM | Comment Flutie announces retirementNew England's own Doug Flutie has announced the end of a professional football career that spanned 21 years. Flutie, the 43-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner from Boston College, had spent the offseason deciding whether to come back for one more season as Tom Brady's backup quarterback. Instead, he said he will begin a second career as a college football commentator on ABC and ESPN. Born in Maryland, Flutie moved to Natick, Mass., when he was 6 years old. He retires as one of the best-loved sports figures in the region. His Hail Mary touchdown pass that gave Boston College an improbable Black Friday victory over Miami in 1984 remains one of the most iconic plays in football history. At a news conference today at Gillette Stadium to announce Flutie's retirement, Patriots chairman Robert Kraft lauded Flutie's work raising money for autism research, a cause Flutie took up in honor of his son, Doug Jr., who has autism. Kraft announced a $22,000 gift to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation -- an amount picked because Flutie wore number 22 in college. Flutie said he always looked at the sport as fun. "I just love playing football," Flutie said. "I love competing, I enjoy playing and it's still a game to me." Flutie later added that he is still a "big kid." Although he was a college superstar, Flutie was dismissed by some in the NFL because of his relatively small stature; he stands 5 feet 9 inches tall. Flutie started his pro career with the New Jersey Generals of the now-defunct United States Football League. He entered the NFL in 1986 as a backup with the Chicago Bears. The following year, he joined the Patriots, where he played for three seasons, appearing in 11 games in 1988. But after sitting most of the next season, Flutie left for the Canadian Football League, where he was Most Outstanding Player for six seasons. Flutie's NFL career took off when he returned, a decade later, to play for the Buffalo Bills. Flutie thrilled Buffalo fans for three years with his exciting style of play, before being bumped for the starting job by the larger quarterback Rob Johnson. The next stop for Flutie was San Diego, where he played for four years, seeing gradually less playing time with the emergence of young quarterback Drew Brees. Flutie returned to New England last year to serve as Brady's backup. He saw little game action, but he did give fans an enduring memory when he dropped-kicked home an extra point during a game at Gillette Stadium against the Miami Dolphins. Flutie appeared in 91 NFL games, completing 1,177 of 2,151 passes for 14,715 yards, with 86 touchdowns and 68 interceptions. His best season came in 1998 with Buffalo, when he threw a career-high 20 touchdowns and led the Bills to the playoffs. Posted by Mike McDermott at 12:35 PM | Comment Bridge demolition delayed againState transportation officials have decided yet again to delay the second controlled demolition of the old Jamestown Bridge. Wet weather has forced the state to push back the second round of controlled explosions one day to this Thursday. “The relentless rain has made it difficult for the Department to load the explosive charges on the bridge,” said Department of Transportation Director James R. Capaldi in a statement. “While the Jamestown side is all set to go, we still have to finish placing the controlled explosive devices on the North Kingstown side as well as in the center piers. We apologize for any inconvenience, but safety comes first.” Demolition teams plan to detonate the deck trusses and six girder spans as well as the top of two center supporting piers between 10 a.m. and noon Thursday. A set of explosions will remove 2,200-feet of the deck trusses and girder spans, 1,100-feet on either side of the gap created during the first round of detonations last month. Seventy-two pounds of explosives have been positioned on the deck trusses and girder spans of the bridge and the controlled demolition charges will take only seconds to go off. Traffic will be stopped along the new Jamestown-Verranzzano Bridge for up to four hours during the demolition. Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:31 PM | Comment Wie receives exemption for U.S. Women's OpenNEWPORT, R.I. -- Teenage golfing sensation Michelle Wie has received an exemption to the U.S. Women's Open, which will begin June 29 at the Newport Country Club. The special exemption was hardly a surprise. USGA executive director David Fay had said this year that officials would consider where Wie, 16, would be ranked on the LPGA Tour money list. Wie finished third in the Fields Open and tied for third at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, both times missing a playoff by one shot. She has earned $181,449, which would place her 16th on the money list. The top 35 players are eligible for the Women's Open. She does not appear on the official money list because she is not an LPGA member. -- The Associated Press Posted by Jack Perry at 12:19 PM | Comment Body found in Woonasquatucket River / Photo
The police were still on the scene, near Aleppo Street, late this morning after a state medical examiner's van left with the body. No further information was immediately available. The body was found near the site of a planned park for the Woonasquatucket River Greenway. The river is running high from recent heavy rain, and it's full of debris. -- With reports from Journal staff photographer Steve Szydlowski and Journal staff writer Gregory Smith. Posted by Jack Perry at 11:52 AM | Comment Students honored for business studiesThe state’s general treasurer is honoring 45 students from throughout Rhode Island this morning for outstanding performance in business studies. The students have attained a B+ average or equivalent for the first three years of high school and the first semester of their senior year, and they have demonstrated leadership potential for “future success in the business world,” according to the office of General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares. They were chosen by high school principals and guidance counselors. Award recipients and their families were invited to have breakfast with Tavares and tour the historic State House this morning before a ceremony in the House Chamber. A list of the students is included in the extended entry. Here's a list of the students: Barrington High School, Christopher Breen Bishop Hendricken High School, Robert A. Sherman Bishop Keough Regional High School, Amanda Roque Central Falls High School, Doris Moret Central High School, Guillermarie Rivera Chariho Regional High School, Melissa Landry Coventry High School, Matthew Hicks Cranston Area Career & Technical Center, Isabel Dueri Cranston High School East, Kyle Pirolli Cranston High School West, David G. Ricci Cumberland High School, Ann-Marie Schlindwein East Greenwich High School, James Mason East Providence Area Career & Technical Center , Ashley M. Mann East Providence High School, Amy Medeiros Exeter-West Greenwich High School, Chelsea Perry Hope High School - Leadership, Jonathan Drew Johnston High School, Sean Burdick La Salle Academy, Matthew Fortin Lincoln High School, Robert Mainelli Middletown High School, Lindsey Vidinha Mount Hope High School, John Coletta Mount Pleasant High School, Emilia Molina Narragansett High School, Shawn Hainer Nichols Newport Area Career & Technical Center, Yesenia N. Fuerte North Kingstown High School, Anna Miniutti North Providence High School, Tiffany Shorey North Smithfield Junior - Senior High School, Brendan Zwolenski Our Lady of Fatima High School, Tanya M. Darosa Pilgrim High School , Jarred Burrell Ponaganset High School, Ashley Winsor Portsmouth High School, Kyle Coleman Saint Raphael Academy, Kayla Wall Scituate High School, Craig Auker Charles E. Shea High School, Jennifer Quiroz Smithfield High School, Mary Katherine Carey South Kingstown High School, Sean Meehan Tiverton High School, Alexander James Walsh Toll Gate High School, Brian Plamondon William E. Tolman Senior High School, David Andrews Warwick Area Career & Technical Center, Briana Perez Warwick Veterans Memorial High School, Andrew Morris West Warwick High School, Kylie M. Nightingale Westerly High School, Adam Comolli Woonsocket Area Career & Technical Center, Yoreidy Velez Woonsocket High School, Jennifer Lynn Savage Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:32 AM | Comment Gas prices climb another 8 centsGasoline prices in Rhode Island jumped an average of eight cents per gallon last week, and Rhode Islanders are now paying more than $3 per gallon in many places, according to AAA Southern New England. The average price for regular, unleaded gasoline is 2.999 per gallon at the self-service pump, according to AAA’s May 15 survey. The state Energy Office reports the average at $3.01. The average price is now 74 cents more than it was at the beginning of the year. Posted by Jack Perry at 10:17 AM | Comment Flooding help-line available to Mass. residentsIf you’re a Massachusetts resident dealing with flooding today, and you’re not sure where to go for help, the Secretary of State’s office wants to lend a hand. They’re operating a 24/7 emergency operations center to help people navigate the kinds of help that exist. So if you need help getting your basement pumped out, if you have a problem with a utility, if you’re looking for someone who might be in a shelter somewhere or you want to know about bus schedules, but you don’t want to make 14 phone calls before you find the answers to your questions, call (800) 293-4031. The number is for flooding emergency calls only. People should still call 911 for life-threatening emergencies, the department said. Secretary of State staffers and volunteers will refer callers to the best department or agency to handle their problem, spokesman Peter Judge said. “Essentially, we’re a clearinghouse more than anything else,” Judge said. “People don’t necessarily know who to call for help.” However, be prepared. The number has been ringing busy as projo.com has tried to get through. Judge said staffers are all working and answering calls and people may need to be patient. The office has worked over the years, he said, to determine the best system. An older system that allowed people to leave messages didn’t work that well because the department discovered that most people didn’t want to leave voice mail, he said. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006