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October 12, 2006

Man charged with felony assault after downtown fight

PROVIDENCE – A 28-year-old man is charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana after an early-morning fight downtown that left two men injured.

As patrol officers stopped their car and responded to a fight they observed at 1:48 a.m. this morning at Weybosset and Clemence streets, they saw a man get out of a red van, run toward the fight with a bottle in his hand and assault a man, according to a police report.

Police caught the man with the bottle, later identified as Thomas J. Jeffreys, of 65 Broadway St. #4 in Taunton, Mass.

Those involved with the fight, including the man Jeffreys allegedly assaulted, began to flee, the police said.

They later found a man identified in the police report by two different spellings -- Samuel Rodrigues and Samuel Rodriquez, 18, of 188 School St. in Taunton, Mass. – bleeding in the front seat of Jeffreys’ van. He had been stabbed with a sharp object in the right rib cage area and was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where a hospital spokeswoman said he was in good condition this afternoon.

The police later found another victim at Pine and Garnett streets with a cut on the left side of his face. Sean Nelson, 18, of 26 Highland St. in Taunton, was treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital, spokeswoman Nancy Cawley said this afternoon.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:02 PM | Comment

Family: No word yet from runaway mom

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- The mother of four who hopped a flight to Las Vegas after vanishing from her family's campsite Sunday still has not been in touch, leaving her relatives mystified and distressed.

"We haven’t heard a thing,’’ said Roseanne Henry, mother of Bonnie Fernandes.

Fernandes’s disappearance from Worden Pond Family Campground sparked a massive search over the holiday weekend.

The effort was called off late Monday when police learned the 36-year-old stay-at-home mother had spent Sunday night at the National Hotel on Block Island. On Tuesday, she caught a 6 a.m. flight to Las Vegas.

"Until she contacts somebody, there’s nothing we can do,’’ said Maureen Cabral, her aunt. Fernandes, of Ludlow, Mass., had lived with her aunt in Easthampton, Mass., for a while while growing up.

Family members have decided against trying to track her down in Las Vegas. "It’s a big place. Nevada’s a big state,’’ Henry said.

Her sister has even offered to pay for her flight back to the East Coast, she said.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:44 PM | Comment

R.I. companies share in record-high Dow

It was a good day for Wall Street -- and for some publicly traded Rhode Island companies.

The Dow set a record high today after closing up 95 points at 11,947.70.

Stocks rallied after several major companies, including McDonald's Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp., and motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc. reported earnings that topped estimates.

Various Rhode Island companies joined the fun, including the Journal Register Co., which gained 11.5 percent; Kopin Corp., up 6 percent; LIN TV, up 4 percent, and KVH Industries Inc., up 3.7 percent.

See a full list of Rhode Island's Impact 50 companies. And check any stock quote on projo.com's market report.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:58 PM | Comment

Hope cook's recipe wins national competition

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Gina Marino with children Rachel, 10, and Luca, 8, at home in Scituate’s Hope village. For the contest, she’s cooking the pizza she made for Luca’s First Communion.

Gina Marino of Hope won a cook-off Wednesday at the Culinary
Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif., sponsored by Sargento, the cheese company.

Marino edged out Lisa Patrin of Chanhassen, Minn., and Andrea Laguna of Los Angeles, Calif., after the three judges --­ Emmy-winning chef Michael Chiarello, Bon Appétit contributing editor Mara Papatheodorou, and Sargento
corporate chef Guy Beardsmore ­-- decided that Marino's Caramelized Onion and
Mushroom Pizza recipe demonstrated the best creativity, use of Sargento
cheese and overall taste.

Marino will now have her collection of cheese recipes published as a cookbook.
It will be sold next year.

-- Journal Food Editor Gail Ciampa

Posted by maria caporizzo at 4:29 PM | Comment

Roger Williams jury again fails to reach a verdict

PROVIDENCE – The jury in the Roger Williams Medical Center corruption case has been dismissed after the sixth day of deliberations without a verdict.

The jury will resume deliberations tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., according to Thomas Connell, spokesman in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Providence.

Former hospital president Robert A. Urciuoli, Frances P. Driscoll, a former hospital vice president, and Peter J. Sangermano Jr., a partner in the hospital's assisted-living center, are facing conspiracy and mail fraud charges.

Prosecutors say the officials conspired to steal the honest services of former state Sen. John A. Celona by hiring him to do the hospital's bidding at the General Assembly.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:28 PM | Comment

Fidelity marks start of expansion in Smithfield

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Workers at the site of the new building use machinery today to break up ledge.

State officials, including Governor Carcieri, were scheduled to attend a ground-breaking ceremony this afternoon at the Fidelity Investments campus in Smithfield.

The event will mark the start of construction of a third building on the Fidelity campus. The new building is being constructed as the company brings 1,000 workers to Rhode Island.

The company is taking advantage of tax breaks approved by the General Assembly in the state's efforts to lure more Fidelity jobs to the state.

Posted by at 1:21 PM | Comment

Update: Conn. man charged with DUI in Smithfield crash

SMITHFIELD – A 20-year-old Fairfield, Conn. man was arraigned this morning on a felony count of driving under the influence, serious injury resulting, in connection with a three-car crash late last night on Douglas Pike.

One woman is in critical, but stable, condition.

Joshua Lipton, who received minor injuries in the crash near Lydia Ann Road, was arraigned before Judge Michael Higgins, and bail was set at $25,000 with surety, pending an appearance in Superior Court.

Jade R. Combies, 20, of Lincoln, the driver one of the other cars, is in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital. She was trapped and had to be freed from the car by members of the Smithfield Fire Department.

Four other people suffered minor injuries in the accident, which happened at about 10:50 p.m. in heavy rain, the police said.

-- projo.com staff writers Jack Perry and Kate Bramson

Combies’ passenger, Amber Rocha, 23, of Woonsocket, was treated for minor injuries at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence and was released.

Two passengers in Lipton’s car received minor injuries but refused medical treatment. The police identified them as Kimberly Dragon, 20, of Ludlow, Mass., and Timothy Frame, 21, of North Haven, Conn.

The passenger of the third vehicle involved in the crash was also treated for minor injuries at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and was released. The police identified him as Douglas Fowler, 22, of Cranston. He was alone in his vehicle.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:58 PM | Comment

Update: Station fire jurors' questionnaire released

The Providence Journal may see a copy of the blank questionnaires that prospective jurors for the trial of Station nightclub owner Michael A. Derderian completed before the parties reached a plea agreement last month.

However, The Journal will not see the completed questionnaires, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. has ruled. His decision was filed this morning in Superior Court.

The questionnaire was released shortly after the ruling. Its first question: "Did anyone you know, or with whom you were acquainted, die or become injured in the Station fire?"

The Feb. 20, 2003, fire at the West Warwick nightclub killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others.

The Journal had sought the release of the questionnaires answered by 421 prospective jurors, arguing that jury selection is an open process protected by law.

The office of Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch objected to releasing the 32-page questionnaires, saying the release would violate the privacy of the prospective jurors.

See the blank questionnaire, and read the 21-page judge's decision. (Both in PDF format, wait for download.)

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:55 PM | Comment

Woman, 19, arrested after baby found in clothes hamper

WEST WARWICK -- A 19-year-old woman has been arrested after police found her baby wrapped in a towel stuffed in a clothes hamper at the woman's apartment, according to a press release issued today.

The baby, who was in good health, was taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital, where the Department of Children, Youth & Families took custody of the child.

The woman -- whose name was listed as both Ivana Brooks and Ivena Brooks in the press release -- was charged with cruelty to or neglect of a child and arraigned in Family Court yesterday.

The police learned of Brooks after she came to the Kent Hospital emergency room and staffers found she was suffering from post-pregnancy complications. Brooks denied giving birth, according to the release. The hospital staff called the police, who searched Brooks' apartment yesterday and found the baby in the clothes hamper, the release states.

She is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston on $10,000 bail.

The police have not immediately returned phone calls to confirm the spelling of the woman's name or provide more details.

-- Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:30 PM | Comment

Providence firefighters put out fire on Hugo Street

PROVIDENCE – A kitchen fire on the first floor of a 2.5-story house at 70 Hugo St. has been knocked down.

Firefighters remain on scene checking if the fire has spread into the walls of the home, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

Everyone got out of the home safely, Taylor said.

The fire was reported at 11:53 a.m. Fire crews have shut off the electricity and utilities into the home, Taylor said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:16 PM | Comment

Pumpkins replace pitches at McCoy

PAWTUCKET – More than 5,000 illuminated pumpkins make their debut tonight at McCoy Stadium, where the Citizens Bank Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular returns to Rhode Island and remains nightly through Halloween.

The stadium has been transformed into a true “field of dreams” for the event, Pawtucket Red Sox President Mike Tamburro said. The ball field has been decorated with corn stalks and hay bales, in addition to 150,000 pounds of hand-carved pumpkins.

A team of professional pumpkin carvers has spent the past six weeks carving intricate portraits and scenes on hundreds of pumpkins, as well as traditional jack-o’-lantern patterns on thousands of others.

This year’s theme is a time line, tracing the history of baseball from the mid-1800s — when the game was introduced — through the Red Sox and Yankees teams of today, according to the show’s creators, John and Travis Reckner of Oxford, Mass.

The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular opens at 6 p.m. each night and closes at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 10 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday.

Tickets cost $12 for adults and $7.50 for children ages 3 to 12. Children under 3 are free. Citizens Bank is offering coupons for $1 off the admission price. Group rates are available.

Read more in today’s Journal.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:10 AM | Comment

Illinois Sen. Obama visits R.I., stumps for Whitehouse

PROVIDENCE – U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, will deliver the Gov. Frank Licht Lecture at 9 p.m. tonight at Brown University, an event that is free and open to the public.

“An Evening with Barack Obama” is sponsored by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions. The lecture will be in Room 101 of the Salomon Center for Teaching.

Obama also will be featured in two campaign fundraisers today for Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee.

Obama will be at a fundraiser rally at the Rhode Island College Recreation Center, at 5:30 p.m., and then at a $1,000 Whitehouse and Democratic Party fundraiser at the home of Providence lawyer Jack McConnell.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:05 AM | Comment

Deliberations in hospital corruption trial to enter 6th day

PROVIDENCE — A U.S. District Court jury will begin its sixth day of deliberations this morning in the Roger Williams Medical Center corruption trial.

Jurors worked on the case for more than six hours yesterday before Chief Judge Ernest C. Torres dismissed them about 4 p.m. They had deliberated in a private room on the second floor of the courthouse on Kennedy Plaza.

No questions were posed to Torres so there was no indication that there were major obstacles that the jury was dealing with to decide the fate of Robert A. Urciuoli, Frances P. Driscoll and Peter J. Sangermano Jr.

Urciuoli, the former president of Roger Williams, is accused in a 38-count indictment of conspiring with Driscoll, a former hospital executive, and Sangermano, a partner in the hospital’s assisted-living center, to steal the honest services of a former North Providence state senator and of committing mail fraud.

The ex-legislator, John Celona, was hired in 1988 as a consultant to the assisted-living center, The Village at Elmhurst, and was paid $257,000 over the next six years.

Celona, who has admitted his guilt, was the government’s key cooperating witness.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:03 AM | Comment

Showers should clear out by noon

A chance of showers continues until noon today, according to the National Weather Service.
The temperature should climb to 74 degrees under partly cloudy skies.

Tonight should bring mostly clear skies and a low of 44 degrees.

For more weather and regular updates, see projo.com/weather.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment