« August 16, 2006 | Today | August 18, 2006 »

August 17, 2006

Chafee-Laffey debate: Character, tactics dominate

The personalities and campaign tactics of Rhode Island's Republican candidates for U.S. Senate dominated the air waves this afternoon as the two primary challengers met for a second in a series of debates.

WPRO radio host Dan Yorke asked incumbent Lincoln Chafee if he wanted to end the political career of his opponent, Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey.

“Absolutely, I helped start it,” Chafee said, noting that he encouraged Laffey to run for Cranston mayor years ago.

Laffey acknowledged the meeting but dismissed Chafee’s impact. “Senator, you had no role in my decision-making process,” Laffey said. “I don’t mean that in a rude way.”

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Laffey criticized Chafee’s work as a career politician, saying that Chafee was “out of touch” with the real world.

“I do think that people should have a real career before they enter into public service, and I did,” Laffey said. “Too often in Rhode Island we see people going form office to office starting at a young age.”

Chafee, the son of the late U.S. Sen. John H. Chafee, former mayor of Warwick and, at one time, a blacksmith, dismissed the criticism.

“Ever since I was in high school, I had a summer job,” he said. “I have over 20 years of private sector experience.”

The candidates also clashed several times over allegations made in negative political advertising aired in recent weeks by both sides.

“These personal attacks that are mischaracterizations don’t serve you well and they need to stop,” Laffey said of Chafee’s commercial that depicts a confrontation between Laffey and city firefighters during a public meeting. “The lies in your commercials like that do not serve you well.”

But Chafee defended the ads. “If that’s not you in the video…I’ll take them down,” he said.

During the first half of the hour-long debate, Laffey dismissed poll results that show him far behind Sheldon Whitehouse, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate candidate.

"After the primaries are over, things will change radically," Laffey said.

Chafee said he should be the Republican candidate to face Whitehouse in November.

“The polling numbers are not in Mayor Laffey’s favor,” he said. "Thirty points difference, that’s gigantic."

As it was during their first debate last week, the candidates were civil throughout the first half hour, in which they discussed personal character and campaign advertising.

When asked Yorke, Chafee said he wanted to end Laffey's political career, or at least "put a bump in the road" for him.

Laffey, when asked if he would leave politics if he loses in September, said, "I don't think that way. There is no Plan B."

Today’s debate was the second of four scheduled meetings of the candidates. The next --- set for Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. -- will be the first televised debate.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:22 PM | Comment

Photo: A journey back to the past

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Gloria Austin, of Weirsdale, Fla., takes her coach, Park Drag, built by Healey & Co., around Ocean Drive, Newport, today -- the first day of a three-day Weekend of Coaching that comes once every three years to the city known for its Gilded Age mansions and waterfront. Find out more about the tradition and how you can see it, including a free demonstration this Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Elms.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:56 PM | Comment

Warwick teachers to vote on new contract tonight

WARWICK -- The union representing 1,125 Warwick public school teachers is scheduled to vote tonight on a contract that would end a three-year stalemate between the union and school officials.

Most union members will get their first look at the proposed agreement when they meet at 7 p.m. tonight at the Rhode on the Pawtuxet in Cranston.

If approved tonight and then at a special school committee meeting tomorrow afternoon, the proposed three-year contract would be in effect until 2009 and would include retroactive raises for the last three years that the teachers have been working without a contract.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:33 PM | Comment

Brady addresses Balco questions

Tom Brady long since has become accustomed to drawing crowds, but even by his standards yesterday was big. And this was not one of his most pleasant sessions.

As soon as the Patriots finished practice this afternoon, television camera people set up in a circle in the interview area to get position for Brady. The Pats' quarterback knew what was coming, knew what everyone wanted to ask about. He greeted the crowd with, ``Nice day today, nice of you to come out. All right, so who wants to start?' ''

As expected, the focus immediately was on Brady's name coming up on a list people who have had contact with Greg Anderson, the trainer at the center of the Balco investigation in San Francisco.

``Any time, as an athlete, you're even mentioned in something like this, it's disappointing,'' Brady said. ``But it was long time ago. I was back in the Bay area. I wanted to work out for a day. I knew he had a gym. I called, he wasn't around. That was about it. That was the first of it and the last of it. Five years later, I guess it's a big deal. That's kind of the entire extent.''

Brady said he was not aware his name had come up in the investigation until this morning.

``It's just one of those things. I don't make anything of it,'' he said. ``Something like that is not what I stand for. I represent a lot of things. Certainly fair play and me trying to be a role model is what I'm all about.''

_Paul Kenyon

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:59 PM | Comment

Beacon Mutual gets new board member

PROVIDENCE -- Carol Saccucci, vice president of Saccucci Lincoln Mercury Honda in Middletown has been named to Beacon Mutual Insurance's board of directors as
a policyholder appointee.

The state's dominant workers' compensation insurer announced the appointment today.

Beacon board chairman Carl Hayes says Saccucci understands workers' compensation and its impact on the Rhode Island business community.

Saccucci says she looks forward to reforming Beacon Mutual and searching for a new chief executive officer.

According to a company commissioned report, Beacon Mutual gave improper price breaks to favored policyholders. Beacon's board of directors has since fired its then CEO, Joseph Solomon, and several members have resigned.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:45 PM | Comment

Alleged brothel manager "Big Sister MaekDo" in jail

PROVIDENCE -- A federal magistrate ordered alleged Providence brothel manager "Big Sister MaekDo" held in prison today pending a hearing in a New York court.

The woman, 54-year-old Kyong Polachek argued in court this afternoon that she was not the woman federal authorities were looking for. Her defense attorney Edward Roy told Magistrate Judge David Martin that his client was only a cook at the downtown Providence establishment Down Town Spa, located on the fourth floor of One Custom House St.

Martin rejected the argument, ordering Polachek to appear in a federal court in New York to answer charges related to a human trafficking sex slave operation across the Northeast.

-- With reports from Amanda Milkovits

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:01 PM | Comment

Mohegan Sun hosts downtown celebration today

PROVIDENCE -- The Mohegan Sun casino will hold its 10th anniversary celebration this afternoon at Providence's Waterplace Park.

The Connecticut casino is sponsoring a 4 p.m. concert by Blood, Sweat & Tears and special guest Chuck Negron at 7:45 p.m. Also, there will be a Taste of Mohegan Sun, a collaboration of Mohegan Sun restaurants serving samples from their menus.

In the coming days, the casino will also host free festivals in Hartford and New Haven to celebrate its October anniversary.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:42 PM | Comment

Seats available for next week's Chafee-Laffey debate

PROVIDENCE -- The general public can reserve seats to the Aug. 23 debate between Republican Senate opponents U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee and challenger Stephen P. Laffey, which is being co-sponsored by The Providence Journal.

The debate, also co-sponsored by WPRI-TV, will be broadcast live and commercial free at 8 p.m. on WPRI (Channel 12) and be picked up by C-SPAN.

To attend, e-mail your full name, address and daytime phone number to debates06@projo.com by noon tomorrow.

Requests also can be mailed or dropped off to The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain Street, Providence, R.I., 02902, c/o Promotion.

Reservations are limited to 200 seats and two names per request. Registrants will be notified by phone on Monday.

The candidates are also scheduled to debate from 5 to 6 p.m. today on The Dan Yorke Show on WPRO (630-AM), their second live debate.

Posted by Jack Perry at 1:59 PM | Comment

DOT again delays Providence River Bridge move

PROVIDENCE -- State transportation officials have again postponed plans to move the new Providence River Bridge, putting off the first step -- jacking up the bridge -- until at least Saturday.

Citing preparation delays, the state Department of Transportation issued a statement today revising the scheduled for moving the bridge by barge from where it is now, sitting on the pier at Quonset Point where it was assembled, to its destination just south of the Providence Hurricane Barrier.

The center part of the bridge, which was largely assembled in Quonset, is 164 feet wide, 400 feet long and 80 feet high.

Officials plan to place the massive strucuture on two barges Aug. 22. The DOT will issue an update about the moving schedule this Saturday.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:48 PM | Comment

Update: Providence warns residents of lead in water

PROVIDENCE -- Due to slight increases in the levels of lead in the water it supplies to its customers, the Providence Water Supply Board is launching a mandatory public education program to urge its customers to flush their water systems each morning before drinking.

People should turn on their faucets -- any time they have not been used for six or more hours -- and run the water until it's as cold as it will get, which could take one to five minutes, said Maria E. Wah-Fitta, spokeswoman for the state health department.

The Providence Water Supply Board supplies water either directly or through wholesale sales to some 600,000 Rhode Islanders, but it is focusing its campaign on a portion of its 300,000 retail water users who live in older homes supplied by lead service pipes.

-- Journal staff writer Peter Lord

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:47 PM | Comment

Red Sox trade for Eric Hinske

The Boston Red Sox' trade for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Eric Hinske became official today. Hinske, the 2002 American League Rookie of the Year, is hitting .264 this year with 12 home runs and 29 RBIs. The Red Sox will send the Blue Jays a player to be named later.

The 29-year-old Hinske also can play first and third base. He will give the Red Sox a valuable left-handed batting option going into this weekend's five-game series with the New York Yankees.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 1:29 PM | Comment

Woman due in Providence court today after brothel bust

PROVIDENCE -- A 54-year-old woman described in court papers as a brothel owner/manager is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court, Providence, this afternoon following the bust yesterday of 20 brothels in the Northeast, including at least one in downtown Providence.

Kyong Polachek is among 31 people arrested yesterday and charged in a wide-ranging human trafficking operation. With the arrests, officials said, more than 70 enslaved sex workers have been freed. They are now being questioned in secret locations, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This afternoon, she faces an identity hearing in U.S. District Court in Providence before Magistrate Judge David Martin. In that hearing, the U.S. government has to prove that she is the person identified in the complaint issued by the United States Attorney’s Office for the eastern district of New York, according to Martin’s office.

Polachek is identified only as a brothel owner/manager, age 54, who is also known as “Ji-yeon Kim,” “Jennifer” and “Hana” in U.S. District Court documents. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the eastern district of New York described Polachek as being from Rhode Island.

The complaint also identifies a Rhode Island brothel, “Downtown,” owned by “MaekDo,” where a brothel worker identified as Kyung-Jin was arrested during a previous raid. Another of the defendants listed in the complaint spoke of the possibility that Kyung-Jin could be deported after she was detained by Immigration because she did not have a green card, according to the complaint.

The defendants are charged by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the southern and eastern districts of New York with crimes including conspiracy to engage in human trafficking, conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation of women for the purpose of prostitution and interstate transportation of women for the purpose of prostitution, conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and transportation of illegal aliens and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:59 AM | Comment

Vt. woman facing charges today for flight outburst

BOSTON (AP) -- A 59-year-old Vermont woman faced federal charges today for interfering with a flight crew, after her outburst on a London-to-Washington flight prompted a massive security scare and raised questions about the thoroughness of passenger screening.

Catherine Mayo, of Braintree, Vt., muttered incoherently, occasionally saying "Pakistan," as she paced up and down the aisle of United Flight 923 yesterday, passengers said. She was eventually tackled by two plainclothes men and flight attendants, who threw her to the ground and handcuffed her, passengers said.

Her behavior - just a week after London authorities said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights - caused the pilot to declare and emergency. The flight, with 182 passengers and 12 crew members, was diverted and escorted by two F-15s into Boston's Logan International Airport, federal officials said.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:31 AM | Comment

Poll: Lamont gaining support, but still trailing Lieberman

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Ned Lamont, whose anti-war campaign rattled the political landscape by toppling Sen. Joe Lieberman last week in Connecticut's Democratic primary, is gaining support in November's three-way Senate race, according to a poll released today.

But the Quinnipiac University poll shows that Lamont still has an uphill battle against Lieberman, the 2000 nominee for vice president who is now running an independent campaign.

Lieberman leads Lamont among registered voters 49 percent to 38 percent. Republican Alan Schlesinger gets support from 4 percent.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:03 AM | Comment

The weather: Déjà vu all over again

PROVIDENCE – We’ve got another beautiful day on the horizon, with the high expected to be near 83 on this partly cloudy day.

Expect lows in the 60s tonight.

Then, let’s do that all over again tomorrow and Saturday.

If you’ve got plans for outdoor activities this weekend, try to schedule them on Saturday, as there’s a 50 percent chance of rain on Sunday, with thunderstorms possible in the afternoon.

All you allergy sufferers, the pollen count is creeping up. We’ll have a medium-high count today and tomorrow and a pretty high pollen count on Saturday, according to pollen.com.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:05 AM | Comment