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May 25, 2006

R.I.'s senators vote in favor of immigration bill

WASHINGTON -- Rhode Island's senators both voted in favor of the comprehensive immigration reform bill that the Senate approved early this evening.

Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed were among the 62 voting "yea" on the measure. It was opposed by 36 senators; two did not vote.

The vote, which crossed party lines, was considered a triumph for President Bush.

The vote cleared the way for summertime compromise talks with the House on its version that focuses on border enforcement - with no guarantee of success.

View the full roll call vote here.

-- With reports from the Associated Press

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:59 PM | Comment

Update: 'Natural healer's' fraud case in hands of jury

PROVIDENCE -- The jury in the federal trial of a "natural healer" accused of fraud began its deliberations today after listening to closing arguments this morning.

It wrapped up for the day at about 4:30 p.m. and will continue tomorrow.

John E. Curran, of Exeter, had been indicted by a federal grand jury on 19 counts of wire fraud and 4 counts of money laundering.

The grand jury accused Curran of posing as a doctor, falsely diagnosing people with frightening conditions, and selling them $1.4 million in purported remedies, including nutritional supplements, drinks he called Green Drink and E-water, and sessions inside various machines applying heat, water, oxygen, massage or infrared lights.

The current jury must sift through the testimony given by dozens of witnesses and hundreds of exhibits as it makes its decision.

-- With reports from Journal medical writer Felice J. Freyer

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:10 PM | Comment

Update: Rally wraps up walk for homeless / Photo

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Marchers, many carrying signs with the names of R.I. towns, gathered at the State House this afternoon.

PROVIDENCE -- A group of more than 50 people arrived at the State House at about 3:30 this afternoon, ending a 57-mile, five-day walk across the state to fight homelessness.

The activists left Westerly on Sunday, averaging 2 mph on the trek.

Several hundred people have gathered outside the State House for an afternoon rally to bring attention to the plight of the homeless, and to the high costs of housing.

Find out more about the walkers from today's Journal story.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:37 PM | Comment

Carcieri moves ahead with Beacon board appeal

PROVIDENCE -- An attorney for Governor Carcieri filed a notice of appeal in state Supreme Court this afternoon as part of the governor's bid to overturn an order blocking his firing of two Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. board members.

Earlier in the week, Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. invoked an injunction barring Carcieri from dismissing George Nee and Henry Boeniger, both long-time board members for the embattled workers' compensation insurer.

No date has been set for a hearing in the Supreme Court.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:32 PM | Comment

House begins debate on casino amendment

PROVIDENCE -- The House of Representatives has begun debating a controversial amendment to the state Constitution that would allow the Narragansett tribe to operate a casino in West Warwick.

"The Rhode Island Constitution is not the Ten Commandments," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Timothy A. Williamson, D-West Warwick, as debate commenced at about 4:30 p.m. "It is a living breathing document" that citizens can change if they see fit, he said.

Legislators are preparing for a long debate tonight and the introduction of various amendments to the bill.

In just the first few minutes, Rep. Nicholas Gorham, R-Coventry, introduced an amendment that would prohibit state legislators from profiting from the casino while in office and for five years afterward.

Read more about the bill and the casino proposal in today's Journal story ...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:13 PM | Comment

$25k cleans up nursing home's waste-water bill

WEST WARWICK -- The president of Haven Healthcare personally delivered a $25,000 check to West Warwick Town Hall today to stop officials from shutting off the waste-water removal system at a nursing home the company owns in Coventry.

The Connecticut-based company had not paid its waste-water bills since last December, and officials at the regional sewage-treatment plant in West Warwick said all attempts to collect the money had been fruitless.

The Journal reported on the dispute yesterday and this morning. Haven Healthcare President Anthony Scierka submitted the payment.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:00 PM | Comment

Hearing Tuesday on Biechele's bid for work release

PROVIDENCE -- A Superior Court judge will hear arguments Tuesday over whether Daniel M. Biechele, who pleaded guilty to Station fire manslaughter charges, should be allowed to leave prison during the day to work.

Biechele's attorneys have filed a motion requesting that he be allowed to participate in a work release program open to non-violent criminals held in minimum security facilities. The Attorney General's Office opposes the request.

Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. scheduled a hearing to consider the request for next Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

Earlier this month, Biechele was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in igniting the pyrotechnics that started The Station nightclub fire in 2003.

Biechele's attorneys said their client has been offered a job in Rhode Island as an accountant or bookkeeper, though they would provide no details regarding the offer.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:15 PM | Comment

Update: Amtrak getting back on track / Photo

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Morning trains from the Providence station were cancelled or delayed, except for the commuter MBTA to Boston. People were getting refunds and looking for alternative transportation.

PROVIDENCE -- As Amtrak service was being restored after a major power outage stopped trains between Washington and New York this morning, a handful of delays remain among afternoon trains passing through Providence.

But "everything's starting to fall back into place," Amtrak ticket agent Kimberly Lasso-Menezes said this afternoon, and most trains now won't be affected.

Hundreds of Providence commuters were stranded or unable to reach their final destinations after the power outage between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. halted service along the Northeast Corridor.

About a dozen would-be passengers were waiting for their trains at the station here when the notice board began flipping, showing trains delayed and then canceled, at about 10 a.m. Several said they were caught completely by surprise by the announcement, but seemed to adjust quickly to finding an alternative to the train.

The outage stranded thousands of commuters this morning and left some trains stopped on tracks and in tunnels between New York and Washington.

-- With reports from staff writers Amanda Milkovits and Kate Bramson

Late this morning, Amtrak said it restored power. By early afternoon, Amtrak said its trains were operating, and delays were expected to decline as more trains are put in service. By mid-afternoon today, full Amtrak train operations are expected to resume.

The cause of the outage is not yet known, Amtrak officials said.

Click here to check the status of trains in the Northeast Corridor.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 3:44 PM | Comment

Update: Derderian lawyer Pine asks to drop out of fire case

PROVIDENCE - Lawyer Jeffrey Pine announced today he plans to withdraw from representing Station nightclub co-owner Jeffrey Derderian in the criminal case stemming from the disastrous fire at the club.

A Boston-based defense attorney whose clients have included mob figures has asked to take his place.

Jeffrey Derderian is charged along with his brother, Michael, in the fire that killed 100 people and was sparked by a rock band's pyrotechnics.

Pine's request to withdraw comes as the Derderians await trial on 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Jeffrey Derderian is expected to stand trial at some point after his brother, whose trial has been scheduled for July 31.

"My specific concern was the extended commitment that would be required to go forward on my part, and the potential impact upon my responsibility to other clients," Pine said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That's my primary concern."

Pine's request has been filed in Superior Court, where Judge Francis Jr. Darigan Jr. will hear the motion tomorrow morning. The state Attorney General's Office will object to the request, a spokesman told The Journal today.

In a statement released today, Pine said he still believed in Derderian's innocence and that Derderian agreed with his decision to withdraw.

-- Associated Press, with reports from Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Pine, a former Rhode Island attorney general, is requesting to withdraw from the case in Providence Superior Court.

Attorney Anthony Cardinale has asked a judge's permission to take Pine's place. He has represented New England mafia boss Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, and Timothy Mello, the ringleader of an organized crime ring in southeastern Massachusetts.

Jeffrey Derderian's other lawyers still include Kathleen Hagerty and Thomas Dickinson.

The Feb. 20, 2003, fire at the West Warwick nightclub began when pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited flammable foam lining the club's walls. Besides the 100 killed, more than 200 others were injured.

The Derderians were charged with having the flammable soundproofing foam that fueled the fire, and for alleged negligence in their management of the club. They have pleaded not guilty.

Daniel Biechele, the former tour manager for the band, was sentenced to serve four years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges stemming from his role in setting off the explosives.

Biechele has asked to be assigned to work release. Darigan will be hear that motion in court next Tuesday, according to information obtained today by The Journal.

-- Associated Press, with reports from Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 11:52 AM | Comment

Woonsocket High students nabbed for jaywalking

WOONSOCKET - More than two dozen Woonsocket High School students walking home after school got a ride - right to the police station.

Twenty-two police officers, detectives and undercover officers were waiting yesterday to nab students in a jaywalking crackdown police say was aimed at deterring bad after-school behavior.

Two students also now face criminal charges stemming from the sting: One boy was charged with disorderly conduct for spitting at a police captain, and another boy was charged with a weapons violation for walking with an exposed folding knife, The Call of Woonsocket reported.

Police organized the sting after police officers and neighbors complained about the rowdy after-school crowd.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 11:46 AM | Comment

Reacting to complaints, Hasbro pulls plans for doll line

PAWTUCKET – Local toymaker Hasbro Inc. listened when a national advocacy group for fathers and daughters this week urged 13,000 on its e-mail list to speak out and complain about the toymakers’ plans to release a line of dolls based on the Pussycat Dolls.

The Pussycat Dolls, a six-woman music group, perform what the advocacy group Dads & Daughters characterizes as highly eroticized dance routines and songs.

Just hours after Dads & Daughters, based in Duluth, Minn., and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood at Harvard University jointly launched a campaign urging those on their e-mail lists to write complaint letters to Hasbro, the company began blocking the e-mails that came in via the advocacy group’s site, Dads & Daughters president Joe Kelly said this morning.

And just 48 hours after the e-mail campaign began, Kelly said that Hasbro issued a short statement saying the company had pulled the plug on plans to create the dolls.

“Hasbro and Interscope have jointly agreed that Hasbro will not move forward with the line of dolls based on the recording group, The Pussycat Dolls,” read the statement that Hasbro’s Gary Serby e-mailed to Kelly yesterday afternoon. “Interscope’s current creative direction and images for the recording group are focused on a much older target than we had anticipated at the time of our original discussions, thereby making a doll line inappropriate for Hasbro.”

Kelly said the campaign against the planned dolls was unusual for Dads & Daughters. The seven-year-old advocacy organization began running e-mail campaigns about a year after it began, but they’re more often targeted at marketing campaigns or public policy. A very small number of the approximately 10 e-mail campaigns that Dads & Daughters does each year are targeted at products, Kelly said.

He called Hasbro's decision “a very nice victory.”

“And I think it was a smart decision by Hasbro,” he said. “But more important, I think it was the right decision because what we asked Hasbro executives to do was to put their own children and grandchildren in the picture.”

Dads & Daughters is in the midst of a much longer-term advocacy project called See Jane, Kelly said. Working with actor Geena Davis, the organization is analyzing the content of movies and television shows aimed at children 11 and younger.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:18 AM | Comment

R.I. Guard major returns from Iraq for son's graduation

CRANSTON -- A Rhode Island National Guard major has returned from duty in Iraq to attend his son's graduation Saturday from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Guard announced today.

Maj. Anthony Desmarais, of Glocester, is a member of the 43rd Military Police Brigade, which was deployed to Iraq in October 2005.

His son, Anthony Desmarais Jr., will be graduating from West Point with an engineering degree and will be commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Maj. Desmarais will return to Iraq in early June.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:32 AM | Comment

Scenes of R.I. calendar to benefit local hospitals

Governor Carcieri plans to unveil what his office is touting as the “first ever” Scenes of Rhode Island desk calendar at 5:30 p.m. today at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

The work of local artists is featured in the calendar. Its proceeds will benefit the Healing Arts Program at Lifespan hospitals.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:12 AM | Comment

Here's to a beautiful weekend

The forecast for this long weekend has gotten even better. That’s right. The National Weather Service now predicts that Memorial Day Monday should be a high of 87 and mostly sunny. Just yesterday, meteorologists were only predicting high 70s. So if you haven’t done so yet, pull out your grill and start planning your holiday weekend barbecues.

We just have to contend with potential showers on Saturday, mainly before 3 p.m., and a little fog that morning, and then the weekend is golden. Sunday should see a high of 79 and sunny skies.

What about today, you say? Well, it’s looking good, too, with a high of 75 and mostly sunny. Now if you could just kick out of work a little early, huh?

Keep an eye on the latest conditions and forecasts at projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:06 AM | Comment