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October 24, 2006

Poll: Whitehouse holds edge over Chafee

Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse continues to hold a slight lead over U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee in the race for the Rhode Island Republican's seat, according to a poll released today by a national pollster.

MSNBC-McClatchy released a survey conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. that gives Whitehouse a 5 percent lead -- 48 percent to 43 percent, with 12 percent undecided.

The poll of 625 registered voters was conducted Oct. 18 to Oct. 20. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Mason-Dixon's last poll showed the candidates locked in a virtual tie; Whitehouse led 42 percent to 41 percent.

The election in the nationally-watched campaign is two weeks away.

Mason-Dixon also found that Governor Carcieri enjoys a more comfortable 10-point lead over Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty -- 49 percent to 39 percent, with 12 percent undecided.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:30 PM | Comment

New trial denied for man convicted in toddler's death

PROVIDENCE -- A Superior Court judge today refused to grant a new trial to a Providence man convicted of beating a 2-year-old child to death.

Akeem King, 21, was convicted of second-degree murder earlier in the month after a jury found him responsible for the death of Marquel Davis, whom King was babysitting one night in August 2005.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 30, according to the Attorney General's Office. King has been held without bail at the ACI since his arrest.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch said in statement that according to trial testimony, Marquel Davis's 19-year-old mother, Michelle Thurmon, worked as a prostitute for Troy Figgs, King's roommate.

She left the child with King and Figgs in their third-floor apartment on Erastus Street on the afternoon of Sunday, July 31, while she went to Boston to work, and said her son was healthy when she left.

When she returned at about 11 that night, she gave Figgs money she made had made in Boston and was sent back to work in Providence. She said she saw her son lying face-down on King's bed and thought he was asleep.

He was found dead the next morning.

An autopsy showed the that the child died of acute subdural hemorrhage -- a bleeding under a membrane that covers the brain -- and brain injury caused by blunt force trauma. He also suffered contusions to his scalp, face and body.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:00 PM | Comment

UMass casino-impact researcher arrested for assault

The researcher behind University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth studies supportive of the proposed Harrah's-Narragansett Indian casino faces charges of assault and battery, intimidating a witness and marijuana possession after being arrested in Fall River over the weekend.

Clyde W. Barrow, 50, director of the UMass Center for Policy Analysis, pleaded not guilty in Fall River District Court today.

Barrow was arrested after police were called to his apartment at 3865 North St. just before midnight on Saturday, where they found Nancy Dececco, 52, of Robeson Street, outside. She was bleeding lightly from a small scratch, with redness and swelling around the bridge of her nose, according the police report.

She told officers that she and Barrow had been drinking and gotten into an argument. She alleged Barrow knocked her to the floor and began to hit and strangle her. When she tried to phone for help, the police report quotes her as saying, Barrow "smashed my cell phone and threw it in the toilet.'' She was treated and released from St. Anne's Hospital.

According to the report, Barrow, who is divorced, said the fight was over the issue of marriage. He repeatedly told police the dispute had not become physical, and he said he went to bed after she left the house, noting at one point, "She falls down all the time.''

Barrow was mentioned in a Political Scene blog item yesterday regarding his plans to speak at a Harrah's-backed conference in Las Vegas next month.

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:16 PM | Comment

Brown buys 7 buildings in Jewelry District

PROVIDENCE -- Brown University announced today that it has signed an agreement to purchase seven buildings in the city's Jewelry District, one of the largest purchases in the school's history and a major step in Brown's plan to expand from College Hill.

The purchase comprises 232,000 rentable square feet in seven buildings, as well as a 400-car parking garage and other parking areas. The school has not yet released the purchase price.

Last year, Brown bought an 11-story building -- the home of Hemenway's seafood restaurant -- on South Main Street for $31.5 million.

The university says it has not determined how to use the new space and that it will honor existing leases on the buildings, which largely consist of office space and limited retail space. Should Brown eventually convert the space into university use, the property would eventually become tax exempt.

The properties aquired by the university include:

- 196, 222 and 233 Richmond Street
- 1 and 10 Davol Square
- 339 and 349 Eddy Street

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:57 PM | Comment

Lawyer questions man who says he was raped as a boy

PROVIDENCE _ For three days, a short, stocky man with a goatee and his hair in a ponytail has taken the witness stand and testified that former East Providence City Councilman Gerald R. Lynch raped him as a boy.

This morning, for practically the first time at Lynch’s trial on first-degree sexual assault charges, that testimony was contested, with C. Leonard O’Brien, a defense lawyer for Lynch, hammering away at what he said were inconsistent statements the witness gave Pawtucket police.

The first time the witness went to the police, on Jan. 5, 2004, he told Detective William Magill that Lynch forced him to have oral sex when he was a 13 to 15-year-old boy working in the flower shop Lynch owned on Newport Avenue.

But it wasn’t until a week later, on Jan. 12, 2004, that the witness told Magill he had told Lynch no.

In between, the witness had made two calls to Lynch that police tape-recorded, the first on Jan. 7, 2004 the second on Jan. 9.

During both calls, Lynch had denied forcing the witness to have sex.

The tapes of the two calls were introduced by the prosecution and played in court yesterday.

``During this tape recording on the 7th and on the 9th, you heard Mr. Lynch say that he had not forced you, and it was after that that you went back into the police department and said you recall saying no several times, ’’ O’Brien asked the witness during cross-examination this morning.

The witness started to argue: ``Well, the first …’’

``That is a fact, is it not,’’ O’Brien demanded.

``Yes,’’ the witness replied.

On direct examination by Special Assistant Attorney General Maureen Keough, the witness explained that his statement had changed between Jan. 5 and Jan. 12, 2004 because he had had time to develop a detailed recollection of a 20-year-old set of events.

O’Brien used the Jan. 7 and Jan. 9, 2004 tape recordings to impeach that testimony, contending that Lynch’s adamant denial he had forced the witness to have sex had caused the witness to hype his testimony to incriminate Lynch.

The name of the witness is being withheld because of the nature of the crime. For the most part, he remained self-possessed during the cross-examination, giving O’Brien answers that were brief and to the point.

But every now and then, the witness became argumentative, prompting Judge Edward C. Clifton to intervene.

--- John Castellucci, Journal Staff Writer

Posted by Peter Phipps at 2:38 PM | Comment

Cranston custodian charged with 2 molestation counts

A Cranston custodian was charged today with molesting a student at the Hugh B. Bain Middle School.

John Shutt, 64, of Cranston, was arraigned today in Kent County District Court on two felony counts of second-degree child molestation. Shutt, who was arrested yesterday at the police station, was released on a $40,000 bond.

At a news conference after the arraignment, Cranston Police Chief Stephen McGrath and Superintendent M. Richard Scherza said a complaint was filed with the police on Friday. The police then investigated the complaint over the weekend.

Scherza said the school ran a criminal record check before hiring Shutt in 2000.

"We wish that these kind of things would never happen,'' Scherza said. "But we remain vigilant."

The police did not disclose any information about the victim or where the alleged crimes took place.

-- Journal Staff Writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Peter Phipps at 2:02 PM | Comment

Career fair today in Warwick

WARWICK -- A variety of local companies are at the Crowne Plaza Hotel today to conduct interviews with jobseekers pursuing careers in fields ranging from financial services and manufacturing to technology and retail sales, as part of a projoJobs' Workforce Career Fair.

The free fair, sponsored by The Providence Journal, is open until 5 p.m. It includes on-the-spot interviews and a free résumé critique. Click here for a list of exhibitors.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:46 PM | Comment

Conference addresses the city's adult-entertainment industry

PROVIDENCE – City residents seem to be trying to strike a balance between the economics and morality of the adult-entertainment industry.

A clear majority said they believe the industry gives the city a negative reputation and contributes to crime (57 percent and 54 percent, respectively), but on the other hand, more than one-third of residents (34 percent) said adult entertainment clubs make either a very or a somewhat important contribution to the local economy, according to a recent survey conducted by researchers at Brown University.

Public attitudes toward the industry and ways to regulate adult entertainment are on the docket this afternoon in a public affairs conference -- titled “Sex and the City” -- sponsored by the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University.

In preparing for the 7th annual Thomas J. Anton/Frederick Lippitt Urban Affairs conference, the Taubman Center conducted a public opinion survey Oct. 14-17.

It was the response from 46 percent of residents who said they think there are too many adult entertainment clubs in Providence that stood out for Professor Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center and the John Hazen White Sr. Public Opinion Laboratory.

In a city West says is now known as “the strip club capital of New England,” the Taubman Center thought it was time to address the economic and moral aspects of the industry.

The industry certainly provides jobs in Providence, “but whether it’s the kind of jobs people want is the debatable question,” West said.

West said the center hopes this year’s conference will focus public attention on the issue and gather expert views on what the city needs to do about the industry.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Past Urban Affairs conferences have centered on schools, the police, homeland security and last year’s – emergency preparedness. The survey in conjunction with that conference showed most people didn’t know what evacuation routes they should follow if there were a natural disaster and that they were poorly prepared for disaster, West said.

“And I think the city and state governments took that seriously and have done a lot of work,” West said. “Most cities now in the state have their emergency routes up.”

Read more about preparations for disaster in a Journal series.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:33 PM | Comment

Radio debate between Secretary of State candidates at 11

Dueling candidates for the open Secretary of State seat will debate this morning at 11 on Helen Glover’s radio talk show on WHJJ 920-AM.

Republican Sue A. Stenhouse and Democrat A. Ralph Mollis are vying for the seat vacated by Matthew Brown, who held the post for one term and unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate this year. When Brown dropped out of that race in April, he said he wouldn’t seek any other office this year.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:49 AM | Comment

North Providence room heater sparks fire

NORTH PROVIDENCE – A fire apparently caused by a malfunctioning gas heater caused just minor damage to the walls of a home at 243 Francis Ave.

Nobody was injured.

The fire was contained to the room where it began, on the first floor of the home that includes an in-law apartment, North Providence Fire Battalion Chief David Charello said this morning.

The heater, attached to the wall, was properly vented, Charello said. Some type of mechanical malfunction appears to have caused the fire, he said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 7:13 a.m. and had the fire under control by about 7:30 a.m., Charello said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:38 AM | Comment

Update: Man escapes crash on 295, with minor injuries

JOHNSTON – The driver of a 1999 Jeep Wrangler that went off the road today in an early-morning crash on Route 295 south escaped with minor injuries.

The man was traveling alone and told the police that a truck cut him off, causing the crash that occurred about a half mile north of Plainfield Pike on the Johnston-Cranston town line, state police Lt. Thomas Underhill said.

The accident was reported to the state police at about 7 a.m. The driver was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, Underhill said.

The Jeep was quickly towed, and traffic was not affected much, Underhill said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:16 AM | Comment

Update: Providence home fire injures occupant, firefighter

PROVIDENCE – An early morning fire in a three-story occupied home in the Valley neighborhood injured one resident and sent a firefighter to an area hospital.

The 30 Linton St. fire was reported at 3:58 a.m., according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department. Heavy fire was reported on the third floor.

One man in the building was found unconscious from smoke inhalation on the second floor, Taylor said. His condition at Rhode Island Hospital cannot be determined at this time.

The Red Cross was called in to assist two families in addition to the third-floor resident who was hospitalized, Red Cross spokeswoman Angie Moncada said. Two adults and two children from the second-floor unit, and three adults and one child from the first-floor unit were allowed back in to the building to gather some of their belongings, but they cannot stay in the home, Moncada said.

Both families are staying with neighbors and relatives, she said. The Red Cross provided food and other supplies for the children.

A firefighter, who injured his shoulder, was taken to Roger Williams Hospital, Taylor said.

The fire was under control at 4:34 a.m., Taylor said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:52 AM | Comment

Rhode Islanders apparently escape Triple-E threat

PROVIDENCE -- Cool weather has probably killed Rhode Island's remaining mosquitoes, largely ending the threat of mosquito-borne illness, according to the state Department of Environmental Management.

The DEM say 13 pools of mosquitoes tested positive this year for West Nile Virus or Eastern Equine Encephalitis, also called Triple-E.

But there are no reported cases here of either virus spreading to humans.

Both diseases are transmitted through mosquito bites.

Triple-E killed two people in neighboring Massachusetts this year and several more became ill, primarily in southeastern Massachusetts.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:47 AM | Comment

Mostly cloudy with a high of 52 degrees

PROVIDENCE -- The National Weather Service forecasts a mostly cloudy day today with a high near 52 degrees and northwest winds of 7 to 15 miles per hour.

The temperature should drop to 37 degrees tonight, and partly cloudy skies will obscure the stars.

For more information and updates, check projo.com/weather.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment