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October 19, 2006

Millville woman disappeared during Bonnie Raitt concert

Jessica McGuirk

PROVIDENCE _ A Millville, Mass. man is seeking police help in finding his wife, who disappeared Tuesday night while attending a concert at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Jessica Anne McGuirk, 29, was last seen at a Bonnie Raitt concert while with her husband, Patrick, and two friends.

Patrick J. McGuirk, a Smithfield dentist, told police he and his wife had argued briefly towards the beginning of the concert. At approximately 8:30 p.m., Jessica McGuirk reportedly got up from her seat and never returned.

Her husband filed a missing person’s report with the Providence police the next day.

State police Maj. Stephen O’Donnell said his department is also aware of McGuirk’s disappearance.

Jessica McGuirk, a mother of two young children, works as an emergency room nurse at Sturdy Memorial Hospital. A hospital official said she was aware of McGuirk’s disappearance but could not provide any further information.

--- Cynthia Needham, Journal Staff Writer

Posted by Peter Phipps at 5:58 PM | Comment

'Roger Williams' helps casino proponents make a point

PROVIDENCE -- Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas accused an anti-casino group of misleading voters about how often the state constitution has been amended during a campaign rally today that was attended by a former mayor dressed as the state's founding father, Roger Williams.

Thomas said the group, Save Our State, has repeatedly claimed that constitutional amendments are rare and unprecedented ``when the truth is that Rhode Islanders have voted to amend the state constitution on 60 separate occasions.’’

Thomas made his point at an afternoon news conference -- with visual aid assistance coming from former West Warwick mayor and casino lobbyist Michael Levesque.
Levesque -- dressed in a powered wig and colonial-era costume for his starring role as Rhode Island’s founding father Roger Williams -- climbed a step ladder and unfurled a magnified copy of the constitution with all its amendments.

Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Save Our State, said in response to Thomas’s charges: ``We’ve never made a claim that the Rhode Island constitution hasn’t been amended, so I’m unclear where they are coming from with that. What we’ve said is it’s inappropriate to allow our state constitution to be put up for sale and I’m hopeful the voters of Rhode Island agree with that on Nov. 7.’’

-- Journal staff writer Tom Mooney

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:07 PM | Comment

Homeless, advocates march to State House

PROVIDENCE – About 70 homeless people and advocates for the homeless are entering the State House after holding a rally this afternoon that began at the Beneficent Church, 300 Weybosset St.

They are hoping to meet with Governor Carcieri and deliver some 200 cards, each signed by a homeless person, that call for the state to focus on creating transitional and affordable housing rather than creating a warehouse-like facility for the homeless.

The group includes homeless residents of the Welcome Arnold Shelter, which is Rhode Island’s largest shelter and has been marked for demolition as the state prepares to build a new state police barracks on the site of the shelter. State officials have said the shelter won’t be touched until a replacement location has been found.

At the rally today, the groups People to End Homelessness and Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere and other advocates are calling for the state to move away from housing like the William Arnold Shelter.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Richard C. Dujardin

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:58 PM | Comment

Lynch, Harsch get aggressive in first debate

EAST PROVIDENCE -- The Republican candidate for attorney general launched an aggressive attack this morning on Patrick C. Lynch in their first debate, accusing the incumbent Democrat of protecting insiders and calling his handling of The Station nightclub disaster a fiasco.

But Lynch touted what he said was a "record of accomplishment" during his first term as the state's top law enforcement official and said his opponent lacked crucial courtroom experience.

"Our streets, our elders, our schools, our people, our environment is safer because of work I've done over the last four years," Lynch said.

In a caustic forum recorded at the Channel 12 (WPRI -TV) studios, Harsch said he had been practicing law since Lynch, 41, was still in diapers. But Lynch told Harsch, a private attorney, that the only exposure he had to a grand jury came from courtroom television shows.

The two candidates tangled over the outcome of The Station nightclub fire criminal case, which ended last month when club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges. Michael Derderian was sentenced to four years in prison, and Jeffrey Derderian was spared jail time.

Relatives of the 100 people killed by the fire have been infuriated by the plea deals and what they believe are overly lenient sentences.

The debate airs Sunday morning on Channel 12 and later in the day on FOX 64 (WNAC-TV).

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:05 PM | Comment

Update: Suspect, 18, nabbed in fatal shooting / Photo

Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Flowers and candles today mark the scene on Burnside Street where Michael Goncalves was killed. City police are in the background.

PROVIDENCE – The police are charging an 18-year-old city man with murder and firearms charges today after the fatal shooting last night of 21-year-old Michael Goncalves, also of Providence.

Juan Rivera will be arraigned in Sixth District Court, Providence, this afternoon on charges of murder, possession of a firearm without a license and discharging a firearm, death resulting, police Maj. Stephen Campbell said this morning.

Goncalves was shot around 11:20 p.m. outside 39 Burnside St. while riding a bicycle, Campbell said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Campbell would not discuss the motive for the shooting but said it was “not a random shooting.”

The police have additional suspects and much work remains to be done in the investigation, Campbell said. No one else was injured.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:31 PM | Comment

Trial opens in sex-assault case against ex-youth club director

PROVIDENCE -- The trial of former youth club director Gerald R. Lynch opened in Superior Court this morning with the testimony of a man, now 37, who alleges that Lynch sexually assaulted him as a teenage boy.

Taking the witness stand and making eye contact with the jurors, the man, whose name is being withheld because of the nature of the crime, said that the first sexual contact between himself and Lynch occurred in the summer of 1982 when he was 12 years old.

Although Lynch, 62, of East Providence, a former East Providence city councilman, worked at two youth clubs -- the Pawtucket Boys & Girls Club and the East Providence Boys & Girls Club -- none of the charges involves a youngster at either of the clubs. All of nine the first-degree assault charges he is facing are said to have occurred in the early 1980s with the same teen, who worked at his flower shop.

At the time, the witness testified, he was working for Lynch at Blease Florists and Greenhouse on Newport Avenue in Pawtucket. On Memorial Day that year, he and Lynch drove down to South County, the witness testified, where they spent the day planting geraniums and other flowers at the summer home of one of Lynch’s customers.

After they finished, they drove to Wakefield, where the witness testified Lynch pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store and bought some beer. Lynch gave him a beer, the witness testified, and drank several himself.

Then, after the boy went into the bushes to relieve himself, the man testified, Lynch reached into the boy's bathing suit and briefly fondled him.

The testimony was elicited by Maureen Keough, special assistant attorney general prosecuting the case. One of Lynch’s lawyers, C. Leonard O’Brien, objected when Keough asked the witness to state his and Lynch’s respective ages.

The trial opened this morning with opening statements by Keough and O’Brien.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

O’Brien, who said in his opening statement that the defense would offer evidence that the alleged sexual encounters took place after the alleged victim turned 18, had earlier gotten Judge Edward C. Clifton to caution the jury that the “age differential” between Lynch and the victim and their employee-employer relationship were not elements of the crime of sexual assault.

O’Brien said during colloquy before the testimony opened this morning that a key element in proving the crime of sexual assault is that the victim had been physically coerced or forced. O’Brien said during his opening statement that evidence and testimony presented by the defense would show that there was no physical force or coercion. He repeatedly objected when Keough sought to elicit testimony suggesting that the alleged victim felt overpowered by Lynch because of the employer-employee relationship or the difference in their ages.

The witness is expected to resume testimony in Superior Court this afternoon at 2.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:24 PM | Comment

Belo 3Q profits down, stock prices move up

Newspaper and television station owner Belo Corp. said today that third-quarter profit dropped 13 percent due to charges, as revenue edged up slightly amid weak results from the company's newspaper group.

Belo, publisher of The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal, said its net income fell to $19.2 million, or 19 cents per share, from $22.1 million, or 20 cents
per share, during the same period last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been looking for third-quarter earnings of 18 cents per share.

The results reflected $5.4 million, or 3 cents per share, in severance charges at the Dallas Morning News, and $10 million, or 6 cents per share, in transition costs associated with technology initiatives and $2.9 million, or 2 cents per share, in stock-based compensation costs.

Revenues rose 0.8 percent to $376.4 million from $373.4 million, missing analysts' estimates of $386.3 million. Television group revenue rose 6.9 percent, while newspaper group revenue fell 4.2 percent.

At midday, Belo's shares had risen 22 cents to $16.97 on the New York Stock Exchange.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:53 PM | Comment

Chafee, Whitehouse meet tonight in first TV debate

PROVIDENCE -- With less than three weeks until the election, the two candidates battling to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate will meet tonight for their first live televised debate.

With time running out and polls showing the Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse with a slim lead over the incumbent Lincoln Chafee, the candidates have recently ratcheted up attacks against each other.

Chafee held an unusual press conference on the federal court steps yesterday to accuse Whitehouse of intentionally ignoring corruption to protect his party when he served as attorney general six years ago.

Tonight's debate -- co-sponsored by The Providence Journal -- will start at 7 p.m. Journal reporters Mark Arsenault and John Mulligan will be among the questioners.The hour-long meeting will take place at Warwick’s Toll Gate High School.

Seats are no longer available, but WPRI-TV will air the debate live on Channel 12, and wpri.com and projo.com will stream the event live on the Web.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:43 PM | Comment

CBS pulls the plug on Waterfront

PROVIDENCE -- CBS has decided to pull the plug on Waterfront, a drama series shot in Rhode Island that was supposed to begin airing next year.

Producers had already filmed four episodes of the program, which starred Joe Pantoliano, of the Sopranos, and William Baldwin. Today's news means the episodes likely will never be seen by the public.

The head of the state's Film and TV Office, Steven Feinberg, was told that virtually all of CBS' fall shows had been successful, leaving no room for Waterfront in next year's lineup. Also, Feinberg learned that the show didn't fit into the network's "demographic plans."

Waterfront starred Pantoliano as Jimmy Centrella, the flamboyant mayor of Providence; Baldwin played Paul Brennan, the state's ambitious attorney general.

While Waterfront is dead, Feinberg noted that several film and television projects remain. They include the Showtime series Brotherhood and the films, Evening, and Dan in Real Life.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:40 PM | Comment

Update: Boy in intensive care after being struck in Cranston

CRANSTON – The 12-year-old boy struck by a vehicle last night on Narragansett Boulevard is being treated in the intensive care unit at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

The boy, who was unconscious and lying in the middle of the road when rescue crews arrived two minutes after the 6:54 pm. accident, was taken to the hospital with “potentially life-threatening injuries,” police Maj. Ronald Blackmar said this morning.

The police have not released the name of the boy or the male driver, who was traveling north on Narragansett Boulevard when the boy walked into the roadway from the eastern curb at the intersection of Smith Street. The investigation into the accident continues.

No charges have been filed at this time, Blackmar said, and the man’s identity will not be released until the investigation is complete.

Cranston rescue crews transported the boy to Hasbro Children’s Hospital at 7:16 p.m., Deputy Fire Chief Leo Kennedy said this morning. Kennedy said he does not believe the boy regained consciousness while in the care of the Cranston rescue crew.

A van at the scene was believed to be involved in the accident, Kennedy said.

The fire department assisted the accident reconstruction team last night by sending over a ladder truck and a special hazards truck, which each have flood lights that allowed the police team to work at the scene after the accident.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:30 AM | Comment

LIN TV sells Puerto Rico stations

LIN TV Corp., based in Providence, said this morning it agreed to sell three television stations in Puerto Rico to InterMedia Partners L.P. for $130 million in cash.
The stations are WAPA-American, WJPX-TV and WAPA-American.
Vincent L. Sadusky, president and chief executive of LIN TV, said the sale of the Puerto Rico assets will sharpen the company's focus on its business strategy in the continental U.S.
LIN TV (TVL:NYSE) owns and operates WPRI-TV, Channel 12 in the Providence market.

Posted by at 9:14 AM | Comment

Textron profits boosted by jet sales

PROVIDENCE -- Strong sales of Cessna business jets in the third quarter propelled profits at Providence-based Textron to $176 million, or $1.36 a share, from $146 million, or $1.07 in the year-ago period.

Cessna Aircraft Company, which is among Textron's businesses, posted 18 percent revenue growth and said the company will deliver 300 business jets in 2006 and 370 in 2007 as solid corporate earnings spur demand for the aircraft.

Overall, Textron's third quarter sales were $2.84 billion, up 18 percent from last year. The company said revenues also rose because of sales of its Bell helicopters and armored security vehicles used in Iraq.

Posted by at 7:14 AM | Comment

Sun to emerge from the morning clouds

PROVIDENCE – This morning’s cloudy sky should turn to a mostly sunny one later today, with a high near 68.

We’re getting much nicer weather than was predicted earlier this week, so enjoy it. Tomorrow, we’ll likely have to endure lots of showers throughout the day and possibly thunderstorms, too, between noon and 3 p.m., but then the weekend looks glorious for late October.

The National Weather Service predicts Saturday will be drenched with sunshine. Temps should be about 60. Sunday will be partly cloudy, with a high around 59. Sounds perfect for some great fall activities.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:12 AM | Comment