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October 13, 2006

Disney holding casting call tomorrow in Warwick

WARWICK -- Are you a tough-looking guy? A teenage girl? A woman older than 75?

If so, you have a chance to appear in an upcoming Walt Disney Pictures movie, which is due to start filming in Newport at the end of the month.

The studio is holding an open casting call tomorrow in Warwick for "featured background performers" for the movie, Dan in Real Life.

Disney is looking for a wide variety of people, according to an announcement released earlier in the week. The studio wants "tough looking guys, college guys, teen girls," and women older than 75.

It's also looking for photo doubles and stand-ins for several actors. Disney suggests checking the Internet Movie Database to learn more about the actors.

The casting call is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1473 Warwick Ave. People should bring a picture of themselves that Disney can keep.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:02 PM | Comment

Sharp words kick off Chafee-Whitehouse debate / Photo

Journal photo / Ruben W. Perez
After a contentious start, Whitehouse, left, and Chafee, joke with radio show host Dan Yorke, during a two-minute break midway through the debate.

EAST PROVIDENCE -- The first debate between the two candidates for U.S. Senate got off to a contentious start this afternoon.

Republican incumbent Lincoln Chafee and Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse began the debate by talking over each other.

Chafee accused Whitehouse of being an ineffective state attorney general and turning a blind eye to corruption.

Whitehouse says Chafee is going negative because he has had few accomplishments.

The live, hour-long radio debate started at 4 p.m. on WPRO.

Both candidates are critical of the war in Iraq, support legalizing gay marriage and oppose tax cuts for the rich. So instead, the campaigns have focused largely on party.

Whitehouse has asked whether voters in this heavily Democratic state want a Senate dominated by Republicans. Chafee argues that his conscience guides his votes, not GOP leaders.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:55 PM | Comment

Update: Rudy Giuliani speaks to 'first responders' / Photo

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, right, shakes hands with audience members at a "town meeting" on homeland security, held today at the Providence Marriott. Much of the audience was made up of local "first responders."

Giuliani, who held office at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, was in town on behalf of fellow Republican Governor Carcieri's re-election campaign.

“We are honored to have Rudy Giuliani in Rhode Island to discuss critical homeland security issues,” Carcieri said in a statement. “Mayor Giuliani obviously has unparalleled experience in protecting America’s homeland. I believe he can impart some important insights to Rhode Island’s first responders and to our citizens.”

Giuliani appeared at a luncheon fundraiser for Governor Carcieri earlier in the day.

Carcieri is battling the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, in the contest for the state's top elected official.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:47 PM | Comment

Update: Victim of barroom fight ID'd as Providence man

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
At the scene of the killing, police Maj. Stephen Campbell, center, talks with Providence firefighters.

PROVIDENCE – The police have identified the man killed early this morning after a bar fight in the Elmwood neighborhood.

David De La Rosa Ruiz, 36, of Providence, was found in the middle of Public Street lying in a pool of blood when authorities responded to the Comfort Zone nightclub at 702-704 Public St., according to police Capt. Hugh Clements.

Authorities have not yet determined how Ruiz was killed but say the murder was connected to a fight in the barroom of the nightclub around the 1 a.m. closing time.

No one has been arrested at this point, and the police continue to interview others in the nightclub last night, Clements said.

The state Medical Examiner’s Office was to have conducted an autopsy on the body this morning, Clements said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:05 PM | Comment

Cranston post office to be dedicated to Holly Charette

CRANSTON -- The United State Postal Service expects several hundred people, including all the state's senators and congressmen, to attend a ceremony this Sunday to dedicate a post office in Cranston to Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette.

The 21-year-old Marine was killed in June 2005 in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq.

At least 150 Marines are expected to attend Sunday's dedication, including several who served with Charette, according to Christine Dugas, a postal service spokeswoman.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at 57 Rolfe Street.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:14 PM | Comment

Update: Fight outside Pawtucket methadone clinic ends in stabbing death

PAWTUCKET – A Pawtucket man was stabbed to death today after an early-morning fight outside a methadone-maintenance clinic that began when the victim stood up on the behalf of a woman who tried to get back in line.

The police are charging John M. Duffy, 30, of 3 Sailor Lane, Norton, Mass. with first-degree murder in the death of Ronald R. Leone, 32, of 23 Lucas St., Pawtucket.

Duffy was arrested within minutes of the stabbing, according to police Maj. John J. Whiting. He was arraigned this afternoon and ordered held at the Adult Correctional Institutions without bail pending a hearing later in the month.

The police received a 911 call around 5:50 a.m., Whiting said, from a woman who had accompanied Leone to the Addiction Recovery Institute this morning.

Several people were lined up outside the clinic waiting to receive a dose of methadone -- a drug used to wean addicts off heroin -- when a fight broke out.

A woman, who stepped out of line, then tried to reclaim her spot. Leone stood up for her. Duffy objected, Whiting said.

The men began to fight, moving from the line down into the street. Whiting alleged that Duffy stabbed Leone in the head and side. Leone was pronounced dead a short time later.

-- Journal staff writers John Castellucci and Tatiana Pina and projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:47 PM | Comment

U.S. attorney: Corruption probe now 'bigger and more active'

PROVIDENCE -- U.S. Attorney Robert Corrente said this afternoon that following today's conviction of two former Roger Williams Medical Center executives, the government will expand its investigation into allegations of public corruption in Rhode Island and that more officials and companies could be implicated.

"There was a good deal of testimony of our dealing with other companies and with other members of the General Assembly," Corrented said in an afternoon news conference. "In January, I told you this was a big investigation that was extremely active. It is now even bigger and more active."

He said he gave his staff the rest of today off given the convictions of former Roger Williams head Robert Urciuoli and former vice president Frances Driscoll. They and a third defendant had been accused of abusing the honest services of former state Sen. John Celona.

"But Monday morning our work will continue on all fronts, full speed ahead," he said.

Corrente refused to name the other companies or individuals being investigated.

Read the related story on the convictions.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:56 PM | Comment

Man shot in Providence's Mount Hope neighborhood

PROVIDENCE -- A man was shot just before noon today at Camp and Cypress streets in the Mount Hope neighborhood.

Police at the scene called the Providence Fire Department at 11:59 a.m. for rescue assistance. The fire crew took the man, who was shot in the buttocks, to Rhode Island Hospital, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

More details were not yet available.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:12 PM | Comment

Update: Motiva dock reopens

PROVIDENCE --The Motiva dock at the Port of Providence is unloading its first fuel shipment since a major fire in July.

The terminal, owned by Motiva Enterprises, has been undergoing repairs since a fire erupted about three months ago while a Danish tanker was unloading gasoline during a thunderstorm.

Company officials said this afternoon that a barge had begun unloading 5 million gallons of gasoline.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:40 PM | Comment

Update: Urciuoli, Driscoll convicted in hospital corruption case / Photo

Journal photo / Sandor Bodo
Former hospital president Robert A. Urciuoli leaves federal court in downtown Providence after the verdict against him. His lawyer says he will appeal.

PROVIDENCE -- The jury in the corruption trial of three former Roger Williams Medical Center executives has returned a mixed verdict.

Former hospital president Robert A. Urciuoli has been found guilty on most counts, including conspiracy, Peter J. Sangermano was found not guilty on all counts and Frances P. Driscoll was found guilty of one count of mail fraud and not guilty of conspiracy.

The three had been charged with concealing the true work of former state Sen. John Celona – using his political muscle to further the hospital’s ends.

Urciuoli and Driscoll were both freed on bail, pending their sentencing, scheduled for March 9, 2007.

Michael Connolly, one of Urciuoli's lawyers, said, "We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the verdict. We're anxious to apply to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to have this overturned. We are all extremely disappointed.''

Urciuoli had no comment.

Outside court, Driscoll's lawyer Kevin Bristow said: "Fran is just devasted." He went on to say that "it's incomprehensible to us how the jury came to that verdict."

Sangermano's lawyer, John Pappalardo, called the prosecution "flawed." Asked what Sangermano will do next, his lawyer said, "What he's always done." When asked what that was, Pappalardo replied, "Conduct himself appropriately."

Both Sangermano and his wife, Diane, appeared with their lawyer outside court. Urciuoli came out next, and Driscoll appeared last.

It was announced shortly after 11 a.m. that the verdict was coming in. It was read at 11:50 a.m., and the jury was dismissed just past noon.

A press conference will be held by the U.S. Attorney's Office at 3 p.m.

Get more details, updates here.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 1:40 PM | Comment

It's Friday the 13th; Are you scared or overly enthused?

If you’ve got triskaidekaphobia or triskaidekamania, today’s your day.

Fear it or love it, it’s Friday the 13th, the second such day in 2006. [The last one this year was in January.]

Your turn: Do you fear Friday the 13th?

Some people may be avoiding signing contracts today, eating dinner with 13 folks around a table or otherwise doing something they believe could bring them bad luck. What about you? Test your phobia knowledge in this online quiz.

Steeped in history and mythology, Friday the 13th has long been considered an unlucky day – by many Christians because Friday was the day Jesus was crucified and 13 was the number of people at The Last Supper. In Norse Mythology, the evil god Loki caused the death of Balder – the god of light, joy and reconciliation – after Loki was not invited to a party for 12 at Valhalla, the banquet hall of the gods.

While there’s plenty of fear and superstition associated with the day and the number 13 in general – which is known as triskaidekaphobia, others are popularizing the term triskaidekamania, or the excessive enthusiasm for the number 13.

At Brown University in Providence, a longstanding tradition continues. Today is “Carberry Day,” named for Josiah S. Carberry, the fictional professor of psychoceramics (the equally fictional study of cracked pots).

Ever since the university received an anonymous gift of $101.01 on Friday, May 13, 1955, for the professor’s “future late wife,” Brown folks have donated loose change in various brown jugs around campus to buy books that Carberry “might or might not approve of.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:11 AM | Comment

Cool today with a frost advisory on the way

PROVIDENCE – It’s colder, and the days are getting shorter, that’s for sure.

Now we also have to worry about frost, so if you have any last-minute gardening that needs to be done, get out there this afternoon. The National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory for much of coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including Narragansett Bay but not Block Island or Nantucket.

In effect from midnight tonight to 8 a.m. tomorrow, a frost advisory means frost is expected to develop during the growing season. Be advised to harvest or protect tender vegetation and to protect potted plants normally kept outside by covering them or bringing them inside away from the cold.

Aside from the frost worries, it’s just a chilly day today. It’s currently about 39 degrees and expected to rise to 60 degrees later today – the warmest predicted temperature for the next five days.

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

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:00 AM | Comment