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May 26, 2006

C-SPAN to air First Lady's speech at RWU graduation

The cable station C-SPAN plans to air First Lady Laura Bush's commencement speech at Roger Williams University twice tomorrow.

Mrs. Bush delivered the university's commencement address in Bristol last weekend, focusing on the school's committment to education around the world.

The 22-minute speech will air at 8:45 p.m. and again at 11:45 p.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:31 PM | Comment

On eve of season, R.I. gets first hurricane plan

Just days before the start of hurricane season, the Ocean State has its first, statewide hurricane plan.

Governor Carcieri approved the plan this afternoon after being briefed on the 68-page document by state Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Robert J. Warren.

The plan is "excellent," Carcieri said.

The next step: Convincing Rhode Islanders to take the threat of hurricanes seriously -- and prepare.

“For me, the big thing right now is outreach, making people understand this is serious,” Carcieri said by phone after the briefing. “It’s been a long time since we had a major hurricane, and we’ve gotten complacent.”

The official hurricane season begins June 1, and forecasters are predicting an unusually high number of hurricanes this year.

-- Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

Just this week, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the North Atlantic was predicted to have “very active” hurricane season this year: 13 to 16 named storms, with eight to 10 becoming hurricanes. Of those, four to six could become major hurricanes – category 3 or greater.

Meanwhile, Accuweather is predicting that Southern New England has a “very high” risk of being struck by a hurricane this season.

Rhode Island hasn’t seen a major hurricane since Hurricane Bob swung into New England in the summer of 1991. The hurricane’s105 mph winds, heavy rains and storm surge blew down trees, knocked out power for at least a week in parts of the state, and caused an estimated $780 million in damages of insured property throughout the Northeast.

-- Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:00 PM | Comment

Update: Cranston service honors fallen Marine / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Flags at the school today represent graduates who have died in battle since World War II. The flag in the foreground represents Lance Cpl. Holly Charette. The trees in background were planted years ago for soldiers who died in World War II.

CRANSTON -- Fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Holly Charette was honored this afternoon at the Hugh B. Bain Middle School, where students, friends and family planted a tree in the soldier's honor.

Charette, 21, was killed June 23, 2005 by a bomb attack in Iraq. She graduated from the middle school in 1997, and from Cranston High School East in 2001.

Charette is the 46th Bain graduate to die on active duty in the armed forces. The sapling planted in her honor today was the first since the Vietnam War.

Extra: Post a tribute to Charette via projo.com's Tribute to the Troops.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:56 PM | Comment

Insurance study: R.I. ranks last in driving test -- again

Rhode Island has the worst drivers in the nation, according to the results of an annual study released today by one of the nation's largest auto insurance companies.

Rhode Islanders on average scored 75 percent -- worst in the nation -- in an online survey testing driving knowledge, administered on the GMAC Insurance Web site. The score dropped two points from last year, in which Rhode Island also ranked last.

Around 5,300 people took the online tests, with at least 100 people from each state, according to GMAC.

"If retested today, nearly 18 million would fail the test required to get a license," including more than 25 percent of Rhode Island drivers, according to the executive summary of the survey results.

Neighboring Massachusetts didn't fare much better. It ranked third to last. Oregon, for the second year in a row, finished first.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:27 PM | Comment

Bruins hire Chiarelli as general manager

The Boston Bruins announced today that they have signed Peter Chiarelli to a four-year contract as the team's general manager. Chiarelli, who spent the past two years as assistant general manager of the Ottawa Senators, will succeed the fired Mike O'Connell.

Many fans were dismayed this week after The Providence Journal reported that the Bruins had failed to reach a deal with Nashville assitant general manager Ray Shero, who was thought to be their leading candidate for the job. The Pittsburgh Penguins hired Shero last week.

Click here to read the Associated Press story on Chiarelli's hiring.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 4:07 PM | Comment

Weather alert: Storms on way to northern R.I.

PROVIDENCE -- A line of thunderstorms and showers is moving into northern Rhode Island now, the National Weather Service warns.

The thunderstorms will be capable of producing brief heavy downpours, frequent dangerous lightning and small hail, the weather service said.

They are moving in a northeast direction at a rate of about 25 mph.

If they approach, the services says to head indoors immediately and postpone outdoor activities until they pass.

Check live radar for the position of the storms.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:38 PM | Comment

Update: Jury finds 'natural healer' guilty on all 21 counts

PROVIDENCE – A jury has found John E. Curran, the “natural healer” accused of pretending to be a doctor, guilty on all 21 counts against him – 18 counts of wire fraud and 3 counts of money laundering.

The jury returned to the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi at 2 p.m. after seven hours of deliberations. Curran stood facing the court clerk as he read the jury's verdict.

Each separate count against Curran carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Wearing a light tan jacket and dark dress pants, Curran stood with his hands clasped in front of him as the clerk read the same statement 21 times, altering just the number of the charge against Curran: “As to Count 1 of the indictment, we, the jury, find the defendant, John Curran, guilty.”

Minutes after the verdict was read, a loud sobbing could be heard outside the courtroom, prompting the judge to send someone into the hallway to investigate. According to a court sheriff, the sobbing came from Curran’s wife, who was in a hallway in the courthouse with a friend. The wailing filled the courtroom.

The jury began deliberating yesterday afternoon, the ninth day of the trial, after closing arguments in the case. Curran, who has practiced in Cranston, Providence and East Greenwich, had been under investigation by federal authorities since April 2004.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:55 PM | Comment

Judge denies Journal's bid for Biechele presentence letters

PROVIDENCE –Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. today denied The Providence Journal’s request to release letters he received before the sentencing of Daniel M. Biechele, the band manager who lit off the pyrotechnics that started The Station nightclub fire.

The week before Biechele’s May 10 sentencing date, the newspaper requested that Darigan make public the “victim impact statements,” letters to the judge from relatives of many of the 100 who died in the February 2003 West Warwick nightclub fire.

Darigan rejected that request, and the newspaper then expanded its request to include all the letters the judge received regarding Biechele’s sentencing. The Journal requested, and was granted, a hearing. Darigan said that he would not rule until after Biechele’s sentencing.

Today, the judge issued a 21-page ruling denying the request, saying that much of what The Journal requested falls under the state law that bars the court from releasing information in a defendant’s presentence report. The state Corrections Department compiles presentence reports on criminals to help judges determine a sentence. The Journal’s lawyer had acknowledged before Biechele’s sentencing date that the state law bars the release of some of the requested material.

In a detailed ruling that reviews all of the various types of communication to the court and Darigan himself that The Journal requested, Darigan denied access to all of it.

“The Court holds that even if the avenues of access were to reach the sentencing letters, the strong reasons for confidentiality of presentence reports and documents akin to presentence reports would clearly and unequivocally outweigh the release of any such letters because of the chilling effect such release would have on future honest communication,” Darigan wrote in conclusion.

“The Court further holds that if the presentence confidentiality did not apply to the letters, none of the avenues of access to judicial records would extend to reach the requested letters.

“The petition is therefore DENIED.”

Biechele was sentenced to four years in state prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:26 PM | Comment

Brown taps into clean energy to light graduation dance

PROVIDENCE -- Tonight's campus dance for graduating seniors from Brown University will be powered by renewable energy -- a first for the annual campus event.

Student organizer and graduating senior Noam Ross says student activists and alumni members have raised at least 750 dollars to pay for 25 megawatt hours of electricity that would be consumed tonight.

The money would pay for the extra cost currently generated by renewable energy facilities, such as solar power plants. Ross says buying such credits help development of renewable energy in the region.

The annual dance is part of Brown's commencement events. About 6,000 students will graduate on Sunday. School officials say the dance, which lights up the campus with more than 600 lanterns, attracts more than 11,000 people.

Can't attend the graduation? Brown will Webcast the ceremonies, between 12:10 and 2:10 p.m.

Graduation time: Browse Journal coverage of local graduations, upload your graduation photos, send e-mail cards and more ....

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:27 PM | Comment

R.I. congressional staffs in offices despite gunfire

WASHINGTON -- The staffs of Rhode Island's two congressmen have not been evacuated from their congressional office building today, despite reports of a shooting two buildings away that caused a lockdown of the Capitol complex.

Rep. James R. Langevin was not working at the complex today. Rep. Patrick Kennedy entered rehab for a problem with prescription drugs early this month.

Spokesmen for both congressmen said their staffs are working in the Cannon building, very close to the reported scene of the shooting in the Rayburn office building.

Each of the buildings is connected to the Capitol via underground tunnels.

Warnings were broadcast over the public address system this morning inside Cannon instructing staffs not to leave their offices, according to Langevin spokeswoman Joy Fox. "They did as they were told," Fox said. "They are all OK."

Kennedy spokeswoman Robin Costello said she spoke to staff members via telephone this morning and was told everyone is OK as well. But the situation is not resolved.

"[The capitol] was locked, then they unlocked it, now they just locked it up again," Costello said, calling the situation "fairly significant."

Police are investigating the reported shooting. There are no reports of arrests or injuries at this time.

Get the latest on the incident from The Associated Press ...

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:01 PM | Comment

Update: Judge lets lawyer Pine off Station fire case / Photo

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Lawyer Jeffrey B. Pine, forefront, heads out of Superior Court, with Michael, left, and Jeffrey Derderian at rear.

PROVIDENCE – A Superior Court judge this morning approved Jeffrey B. Pine's request to be removed as a lawyer for Jeffrey Derderian, one of the owners of The Station nightclub that burned to the ground in 2003, killing 100 people.

Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. granted Pine's motion after the state Attorney General's Office withdrew its objection. The state did so after the lawyer who would replace Pine, Anthony M. Cardinale of Boston, told the court he was prepared to try the case on schedule.

Darigan said that Jeffrey Derderian's case would likely start in late October or early November.

Derderian was in the courtroom today, along with his brother, Michael Derderian, co-owner of the club.

Michael Derderian is scheduled to go on trial on the same charges, starting July 31.

Darigan also emphasized today that that trial would likely last eight to 10 weeks, and not six months, as had been previously reported.

Pine, a former state attorney general and a sole practitioner in Providence, had argued that Jeffrey Derderian's case would take so long that he would not be able to adequately serve other clients. He said in his motion that he had already dedicated more than three years to the case.

For more background, read today's Journal story.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:45 AM | Comment

WWPD: What's it all mean?

PROVIDENCE – As Channel 10 is reporting that a state registry clerk is on administrative leave for taking a vanity plate, projo.com is wondering about the appeal of WWPD.

The vanity plate reportedly sold recently on e-Bay for $32.57.

One could speculate that the plate stood for West Warwick Police Department.

Perhaps.

But at a time when those “WWJD” bracelets get lots of people thinking about what Jesus would do, there might be other possibilities. Seems everyone wants to jump on the WW … bandwagon.

And WWPD has so many possibilities. Could the e-Bay buyer have wanted to question what Phoebe, pirates, Picard (as in the Star Trek captain) or Paris would do?

Plenty of gear is available on line begging the question: What would P do?

The popular UrbanDictionary.com says the letters are “undefined” and urges readers to “add a definition for WWPD.”

Perhaps we’ll never know just what the P on this plate will stand for in the mind of the e-Bay buyer. Channel 10 reports that the seller has not replied to a reporter’s e-mail and that his listed phone numbers are disconnected.

As for the registry employee, the state Division of Motor Vehicles has said she may face criminal charges and termination, according to Channel 10.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:06 AM | Comment

Hail today, gone tomorrow in time for holiday weekend

PROVIDENCE -- We’ve just got to get through a little hail and frequent lightning this afternoon and evening and possible showers and thunderstorms tomorrow morning before the weather turns downright gorgeous for the holiday weekend.

But yes, you heard that right. Hail first. The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for northern Connecticut, parts of Massachusetts and central Rhode Island.

Some thunderstorms this afternoon could produce winds gusting at more than 40 miles per hour and penny-sized hail. Otherwise, expect highs in the mid-70s today. With some areas of dense fog expected tonight, visibility could be one-quarter mile or less.

But then, Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend are still predicted to be holiday-perfect days. Sunday should see high 70s and Monday high 80s.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:04 AM | Comment