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October 31, 2006

CDC watching salmonella strain that infected six in RI

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health said today that six people from Rhode Island have been infected with a recent strain of salmonella that has affected 172 people across the country.

The Rhode Island cases involved only the strain of salmonella of concern to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they arose separately over several months, according to health department spokeswoman Maria Wah-Fitta.

Salmonella is a fairly prevalent infection; 112 cases were reported in Rhode Island in 2005. The illness typically lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.

To reduce the risk of infection, Wah-Fitta urged Rhode Islanders to wash their produce and cook their meat thoroughly.

-- Journal staff writer Felice J. Freyer

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:48 PM | Comment

Man arrested at airport with gun, brass knuckles

WARWICK -- A former reserve police officer was arrested this morning at T.F. Green Airport for trying to bring a gun, ammunition and a set of brass knuckles past security.

Everett Almeida, 64, of Dighton, Mass., had an unloaded .25 caliber handgun stored with ammunition in the same container, alongside a pair of brass knuckles, according to Lt. Kevin Hopkins, Airport Police acting police chief.

As Almeida attempted to check his bags before boarding a flight around 8:30 a.m., the weapons were discovered, and the airport police were notified, Hopkins said. Almeida, a former reserve police officer in Everett, Mass., submitted to Airport Police without incident.

Weapons and ammunition may not be kept in the same container, and any weapons must be declared to the Transportation Security Administration prior to the security screening.

Almeida was charged with felony possession of a pistol without a permit and misdemeanor possession of brass knuckles.

He was arraigned at Kent County Courthouse and released.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:26 PM | Comment

Verizon cuts down on free 411 calls

Verizon Communications is cutting down on the number of free directory assistance calls its customers can make from home.

As of tomorrow, the company will provide three free 411 calls each month to its residential customers in Rhode Island, instead of the previous limit of five per month.

Customers still can request up to two numbers per call. Calls beyond the free allowance remain 72 cents each.

The company stopped providing free directory assistance calls for its business customers in 2003.

-- Journal staff writer Tim Barmann

Posted by Tim Barmann at 5:12 PM | Comment

DOT workers spend Halloween moving bodies

CRANSTON -- Four bodies were uncovered near a Department of Transportation construction project, the latest of nearly 70 corpses discovered in the former state insane asylum, infirmary and poor house cemetery along Route 37.

Several state workers spent Halloween morning moving the bodies -- three infants and one adult -- which surfaced yesterday in an embankment along a DOT drainage project off Sockanosset Cross Road, after this weekend's heavy rains.

“There were several small pieces of bone showing, so we knew we had to do something quickly,” said Michael Herbert, an archeologist for the DOT.

The first seven bodies surfaced in June. Today’s four brings the total to 69.

Hebert said that moving the bodies isn’t a particularly unnerving task -- even on Halloween -- especially “when you’re used to moving human remains.”

“At least they’ve been dead quite awhile,” he said, noting there’s no skin.

In fact, most of the people were buried in their hospital gowns, Hebert said, leaving behind virtually no remains aside from their bones and buttons from the gowns.

Today's remains include those of a one-month old infant who died in 1890, the youngest corpse to surface so far, Hebert said.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:08 PM | Comment

Update: PUC OKs 5.4 percent natural gas rate decrease

WARWICK -- The Public Utilities Commission today approved a 5.4 percent decrease in natural gas rates charged by National Grid. The new rate goes into effect tomorrow.

The annual bill for a typical heating customer who uses 1,035 therms a year will decrease to $1,609 a year -- down about $92, or 5.4 percent -- from the current bill of $1,701, according to the PUC.

This is the first rate change since the 17.3 percent rate hike one year ago that added $20.83 a month to a typical customer’s bill.

The decrease is more than the 3.9 percent decline originally requested by National Grid on Sept. 1. The PUC asked National Grid to recalculate the rate decrease to take into account more recent figures of its collections from customers and the actual costs it incurred to buy gas.

If the market price of natural gas remains at current levels, there could be another rate decrease this winter, said Steve Frias, an attorney for the PUC.

Posted by Tim Barmann at 4:44 PM | Comment

Laffey blasts Democratic council for 'power grab'

CRANSTON -- Republican Mayor Stephen P. Laffey is opposing proposed changes to the City Charter that he has described as a power grab by the Democrat-dominated City Council.

The proposed amendments would increase the council's ability to appropriate money, limit the mayor's authority to promote employees and make it more difficult for the mayor to dispose of city property.

"The Charter, by its nature, should not be an issue-driven document -- one which is at the whims of City Councilors who are angry that the current language didn’t work in their favor when they wanted to hand away taxpayer money or erode management rights,” Laffey said today in a statement.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:31 PM | Comment

Download today's front page

Attorney general profiles and Whitehouse-Chafee debate

Download file

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:22 PM | Comment

N. Providence newborn death a criminal investigation

NORTH PROVIDENCE -- The police are pursuing a criminal investigation in connection with the death of a baby girl found yesterday in a Lori Drive home.

The newborn was discovered at about 9:30 a.m. Preliminary results from the medical examiner's office indicate the death was not accidental, according to North Providence Police Deputy Chief Paul Marino.

Marino said authorities executed a search warrant at the family's 6 Lori Drive home yesterday. Marino would not release any details regarding the condition of the child or how the police had been alerted.

Local authorities are working with the state attorney general's office on the case, Marino said.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples, with reports from Journal staff writer Richard Dujardin

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:09 PM | Comment

Fundraiser set for tow truck driver killed on Route 4

WARWICK -- A rally has been set to raise money for the children of the Warwick tow truck driver, Daniell Steinberg, who was killed Oct. 16 while assisting a motorist whose vehicle had a flat tire on Route 4 north, near Exit 6 in East Greenwich.

Tow truck drivers from Maine to New York will be invited to bring donations to the Nov. 26 rally at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, Rhode Island Public Towing Association president Jim Robbins said.

The towing association and Herb’s Towing Service Center in Warwick, where Steinberg worked for 5 years, are sponsoring the rally, Robbins said. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the pavilion at the park.

All donations will go to the Daniell Steinberg Memorial Fund for Tomorrow, which has been set up by Citizens Bank, Robbins said. The fund will benefit Steinberg’s three daughters.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:07 PM | Comment

Update: Driver jailed after Woonsocket fatal crash

Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Patrick G. Coyle, center, the man arrested after Sunday night's accident that killed three Woonsocket men, listens to his lawyer in District Court this morning at his arraignment before Judge Michael Higgins.

PROVIDENCE -- The driver in the crash that killed three Woonsocket men Sunday night agreed this afternoon to be held without bail, awaiting a probation violation hearing next week.

It was Patrick G. Coyle's second court appearance today.

Coyle, 21, of 41 Congress St., Woonsocket, also appeared in the courtroom this morning on charges of driving to endanger, death resulting and driving under the influence, death resulting.

Because Coyle is already on probation -- serving an 8-year
suspended sentence for a 2005 drug charge -- prosecutors charged him in Superior
Court this afternoon with violating the terms of that probation.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Regine asked that Coyle be held
without bail, a standard request for cases involving violators. Coyle's lawyer,
Mark Smith, reluctantly agreed, given that the court had already agreed to
hold a violation hearing on Nov. 8.

"I don't like it, but I have an objection to the state's request," Smith said.

Coyle's face was badly cut and swollen and he said little in court this morning. His family, including his sister, cried quietly in the audience when they saw him.

The three men killed in Sunday night's crash are brothers Victor and Steven Vasquez, 24, and 21, and Travis Thifault, 20.

Witnesses reported seeing Coyle crawl out of the car. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

He faces three counts each of driving to endanger, death resulting, and driving under the influence, death resulting.

-- Journal staff writer Cynthia Needham

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:51 PM | Comment

Photo: Shiver me timbers!

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
This pirate seems to have lost his sea legs, and opted for six feet under instead of six fathoms deep, as part of the Halloween decorations lining Sprague Avenue in Cranston today.

Want to share your own spooky decor? Upload photos of your pumpkin carvings and pets in costume, plus find more ways to have fun tonight, at: projo.com/seasonal/halloween/

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:18 PM | Comment

N. Kingstown woman, 21, killed in crash on 95

The state police this morning identified a 21-year-old North Kingstown woman who died last evening in a single-car crash on Route 95 North in Warwick.

Sarah Allyn was pronounced dead at the scene after she lost control of the car she was driving and struck a guard rail in the median after the car rolled over several times, State Police Lt. Joseph DelPrete said.

The accident, which happened around 6:15 p.m., is still under investigation, DelPrete said. The police believe that inattention may be the cause, he said.

Allyn was traveling north in the high-speed lane, between exits 9 and 10 in Warwick, when she lost control of the 1996 Saturn about 3,000 feet south of the Cowesset Road overpass, DelPrete said.

According to witnesses, the car swerved to the left, into the breakdown lane. Allyn apparently overcompensated to the right and then overcompensated again, swerving back to the left. The car rolled over several times and then struck the guard rail, DelPrete said.

The evidence does not suggest that “excessive speed” was a factor, and neither alcohol nor narcotics appear to be the cause, DelPrete said.

Allyn was apparently traveling to a class, although DelPrete said he does not know exactly where she was going.

She was wearing her seatbelt, the police said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:43 AM | Comment

Correction: Demolition Thursday for old Jamestown Bridge

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- More demolition of the old Jamestown Bridge will happen Thursday, not today, as the Associated Press previously reported, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Several piers have already been destroyed in previous underwater demolition efforts.

Get more information about the demolition and check out photographs on the DOT's Web site.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:21 AM | Comment

Police investigate baby's death in North Providence

NORTH PROVIDENCE – The police worked through the night investigating the death of an infant at a home on Lori Drive in the Graystone area of town.

Investigators this morning are waiting for the results of an autopsy, Deputy Chief Paul Marino said. The state medical examiner’s indicated that would be completed sometime today, Marino said.

The police learned yesterday morning of the child’s death, but Marino did not say when the child died.

There have been no arrests in connection with the death, Marino said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:35 AM | Comment

Commuters, watch out for smashed pumpkins

A few smashed pumpkins on Hope Street caused a little swerving this morning – and a sigh of sadness for the children who lost their Halloween decorations overnight.

Hope your commute’s smooth this morning. Before you head out, check the state roadways with help from the Department of Transportation.

You can find any traffic alerts describing accidents here, browse traffic cams to see real-time photos of the highways and check out the DOT’s road construction schedule here.

Also, check out congestion mapping -- i.e., how heavy the traffic is -- here.

To report a traffic incident, call the Transportation Management Center at: (401) 222-5826 and choose option #2.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:05 AM | Comment

Trick-or-treating kicks off early in Olneyville

PROVIDENCE -- Some little ones will have plenty of candy to eat at lunch.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Providence plan to bring pre-school and kindergarteners to trick or treat at the businesses in the Rising Sun Mills Complex this morning in the city's Olneyville section.

The children, ages 3 to 5, will stroll through the complex in costumes between 10 and 11 a.m.

Check projo.com's Halloween page for more information on today's holiday and more events.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's forecast: Definitely a treat

We lucked out with the warmest day of the week on Halloween, so get out those costumes and enjoy the late-afternoon trick-or-treating.

We’ll have a high of 68, with winds initially light at 12 to 15 miles per hour.

However, winds could gust as high as 29 miles per hour today. A little blustery atmosphere for the holiday? Fine, we’ll take it. Later on, after midnight, we could get a little rain.

Check back with us throughout the day for the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:00 AM | Comment