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August 23, 2006

Update: Fire at Providence's LaMoia Restaurant

PROVIDENCE – An apparent electrical fire heavily damaged LaMoia Restaurant and Tapas Bar, located at 292 Pocasset Ave., early this morning, fire officials said today.

The establishment, which hosted a fire department fundraiser last year, suffered extensive smoke and water damage during the fire, which began just after midnight.

One firefighter suffered burns to his neck while fighting the blaze. He was treated and released from Roger Williams Hospital today.

The fire was under control at about 12:48 a.m., but fire crews were on the scene until about 2 a.m.

In other news today, the Fire Department battled a blaze at 207 Hanover St. Called to the scene at about 5:15 a.m., fire crews had the fire under control within a half-hour, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson with reports from Gregory Smith

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:36 PM | Comment

Patriots cut Gramatica; Rookie will be the team's kicker

The New England Patriots released veteran kicker Martin Gramatica, who was signed four months ago as a possible replacement for Adam Vinatieri.

Gramatica's release leaves rookie Stephen Gostkowski as the only kicker on the Patriots' roster.

Gramatica, 30, made both of his field goal attempts during the team's first preseason game. Gostkowski, 22, made his only attempt in the opener and was 3-of-3 on field goal tries in last week's exhibition win against Arizona.

Gostkowski joined the Patriots as a rookie out of the University of Memphis, where he kicked three field goals of more than 50 yards during his senior season.

-- Bloomberg News

Posted by Peter Phipps at 5:25 PM | Comment

Urciuoli says he hasn't been adequately represented

Lawyers for Robert A. Urciuoli, the embattled former president of Roger Williams Medical Center, argued today that federal corruption charges should be dismissed against him because the hospital stopped paying his legal bills.

Urciuoli is charged with 36 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and other corruption charges, including stealing the honest services of former state Sen. John A. Celona.

The crux of Urciuoli's argument is that his constitutional rights were violated when the hospital, as part of a plea agreement with the government, stopped paying his legal bills.

Had the government not pressured the hospital to stop the payments, his lawyers argued that they would have filed motions and examined thousands of important documents that they haven't had the financial resources to pursue. The lawyers would not specify which motions or documents they were referring to.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres did not rule on the motion to dismiss this afternoon. He continued the matter until tomorrow morning to hear more evidence and take testimony.

Torres asked several skeptical questions at today's hearing.

"Are we going to do this in every case that comes down the pike?" Torres asked. "Are we going to exclude plea agreement testimony, saying it was all coerced?”

In April, Torres dismissed federal corruption charges against Roger Williams -- the first ever leveled against a Rhode Island nonprofit agency. As part of an agreement with the government, the hospital took responsibility for the "criminal misconduct" of its executives, including Urciuoli.

Tomorrow's hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:40 PM | Comment

Cicilline to meet residents tonight on Elmwood Ave.

PROVIDENCE -- Mayor David N. Cicilline will meet one-on-one with city residents tonight on Elmwood Avenue as part of his "Mayor's Night Out" initiative.

Beginning at 5 p.m. at the Center for Hispanic Policy and Advocacy on 421 Elmwood Ave., Cicilline will meet privately with residents for 10 minutes each on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no set agenda, and residents are free to discuss whatever they want.

Cicilline's next "night out" will take place Sept. 19.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:30 PM | Comment

Langevin again calls for Rumsfeld to resign

WARWICK – U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin today called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

“Secretary Rumsfeld was a key architect of the war in Iraq, and he has mismanaged it from the start,” said Langevin, a member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, in a statement issued this afternoon.

“Instead of enhancing our national security as he promised, the conflict has led to an overstretched military, frayed alliances and the prospect of civil war in an important global region.”

Langevin said the decision to call up 2,500 Marines from the Individual Ready Reserve “further illustrates the extreme burden that our operations in Iraq are placing on our service members and our military readiness, and the need for civilian leadership changes to be made at the Pentagon.”

Langevin also called for Rumsfeld’s resignation earlier this month and has criticized the Bush administration for excessive use of the National Guard and for “running our military equipment into the ground.”

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:25 PM | Comment

Two Cranston police officers arrested

The state police have arrested two Cranston police officers, charging them with one count each of simple assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly fighting last week outside a police training facility.

Sgt. Ralph Palmieri and Patrolman Daniel Nuey were arraigned last night at state police headquarters on the two misdemeanor charges and released on $1,000 personal recognizance.

According to state police Maj. Steven O'Donnell, Cranston Police Chief Stephen McGrath filed a complaint last week after the incident at the Phenix Avenue training facility, which includes a firing range.

A rescue vehicle was called to the training facility, O'Donnell said.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:52 PM | Comment

Urciuoli to appear in court this afternoon

PROVIDENCE -- The former head of Roger Williams Medical Center will ask a federal judge this afternoon to dismiss corrpution charges lodged against him.

Longtime Roger Williams Medical Center president Robert A. Urciuoli and two others were indicted on corruption charges for allegedly using former state Sen. John A. Celona to do their bidding at the State House. Celona has admitted to charges of selling his office to Roger Williams, and is expected to testify when the three go to trial this fall.

Today's hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the U.S. District Court in Providence.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:27 PM | Comment

More bridge blasts this morning

JAMESTOWN -- The explosions keep coming in South County.

Demolitions crews blasted four more underwater piers at about 10:45 this morning on what's left of the old Jamestown Bridge, according to Department of Transportation project engineer Wilfred Hernandez, who said there would be no more explosions or traffic delays today.

In contrast to the first series of underwater explosions earlier this month, today's blasts went off without any problems, Hernandez said.

State troopers slowed traffic on the new bridge for about 10 minutes before and after the blast, but there were no significant delays, Hernandez said.

During the first series of underwater explosions earlier in the month, an underwater line was disconnected during the first detonation, forcing crews to reconnect the line before conducting a second explosion.

More than a dozen underwater piers remain, according to Hernandez. Demolition teams will conduct more blasts next week, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Minor traffic delays on the new bridge are expected.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:45 PM | Comment

Power back on after failure stalls T.F. Green Airport

WARWICK -- An approximately 20-minute power failure brought airline passengers to a standstill this morning at T.F. Green Airport and left about 4,000 residential and commercial National Grid customers in the dark.

The power came back on at about 9:15 or 9:20 a.m., and passenger lines at the airport are moving again.

An airport spokeswoman said that no flights were delayed as a result of the outage.

The problem lies at the National Grid substation on Kilvert Street in Warwick, but the company does not know yet what exactly happened, spokesman David Graves said. Technicians on scene are trying to determine what kind of equipment problem caused the power to go out at about 8:55 a.m. today, Graves said.

Warwick streets affected by the failure include Bretton Woods Drive, Sagamore Road, Tome Street, Selma Street and Hazelton Street.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson and Journal staff writers Elizabeth Gudrais and Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:29 AM | Comment

URI scientists: Volcano among history's largest

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island scientists say a volcanic eruption that devastated the ancient Mediterranean was bigger than originally thought.

That's according to a study published today in a geophysics newspaper.

Researchers at the University of Rhode Island, working with Greek scientists, charted undersea volcanic debris left by an eruption on the Greek island of Santorini.

The team now calculates that in about 1600 BC the volcano spewed as much as 60 cubic kilometers of earth, almost twice the size of a previous estimate.

That means the eruption on Santorini rivals the 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, which is regarded as the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. That explosion flung between 50 to 100 cubic kilometers of earth skyward.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:06 AM | Comment

Nice end-of-summer temps, but a touch of rain, too

PROVIDENCE – It still should be a nice partly cloudy-partly sunny day today, as we’ve had the last few days, but expect some scattered showers after noon as well.

With a high around 83 and a low around 57, we’ll see the same kind of temps we’ve had earlier this week.

As for the rain, the National Weather Service predicts a 30 percent chance of precipitation, with less than a tenth of an inch of rain possible.

The rest of this week, Saturday looks like the next best day. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain again tomorrow, a 10 percent chance on Friday and sunshine on the horizon for Saturday.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:00 AM | Comment