« October 31, 2006 | Today | November 2, 2006 »

November 1, 2006

Chafee staffer behind anti-Whitehouse e-mails

PROVIDENCE -- A staffer for Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee distributed a series of negative e-mails criticizing his Democratic challenger, Sheldon Whitehouse, from her Senate computer, a violation of Senate rules, the staffer acknowledged Wednesday.

Lammis Vargas, a staff assistant in Chafee's district office in Providence, told The Associated Press she sent the e-mails from a personal account on Yahoo but used her Senate computer to do so.

The e-mails, sent under the name "Noname Nolast," began Monday, a little over a week before the Nov. 7 election. Polls show Whitehouse apparently leading Chafee, although still within the margin of error. Democrats hope a win in Rhode Island will help them in their goal to take a majority in the Senate.

Vargas, 25, sent at least three e-mails critical of Whitehouse for his work as attorney general, specifically his handling of two cases, one in which a teenage witness in a murder trial was killed and one in which a man was shot by a police officer.

"WHITEHOUSE, AG at the time did nothing.......," said a message Vargas wrote Monday.

The e-mails were sent to a large number of reporters in Rhode Island and elsewhere. Chafee's campaign connected the AP with Vargas after a blogger traced the e-mails back to a Senate computer.

The e-mails violate rules prohibiting Senate equipment from being used for political purposes, said Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that encourages compliance with federal election laws and ethics rules.

"That's government paid and you're supposed to be doing only government work on it," said Potter, who is also a former chairman of the Federal Elections Commission.

Vargas said that at the time she sent the e-mails, she did not see them as a campaign-related issue.

"I was very naive to be using a U.S. Senate computer," she said. "If I would have sent it from a different computer, perhaps home, anywhere else, this wouldn't have happened."

Chafee spokesman Stephen Hourahan said Chafee was at campaign appearances all afternoon and had not yet been informed of the e-mails. He said a decision on whether to discipline Vargas would be made after that.

"We are going to have to talk to the senator," he said. "It's not something that we've ever dealt with before. We take it very seriously."

Hourahan pointed out that Vargas did not break any laws, but broke Senate rules, which could lead to her firing.

Vargas has worked in Chafee's district office since January 2005, answering phones, greeting visitors and often serving as a Spanish interpreter, she said.

Matthew Jerzyk, editor of "Rhode Island's Future," a Democratic blog on state politics, said he and the blog's technological administrator decided to trace the e-mails' origins Wednesday after the appearance of the third message, which he called vile and distasteful.

After they traced the message back to a U.S. Senate computer, he sent out a message to reporters showing the source of the message.

A top aide to U.S. Rep. Charles Bass resigned in September after admitting he posted misleading messages to political blogs using a government computer. Tad Furtado posted messages that professed support for Bass' Democratic opponent, but discounting his chances of winning in the election.

In 2004, a staffer to Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine was fired for using Senate computers to post details of her sex life on the Internet.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:01 PM | Comment

Flooding forces Providence immigration office to close

PROVIDENCE -- The Providence office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is closed for the rest of this week because of flooding, according to an announcement released by the office.

The office at 200 Dyer St. provides Rhode Island residents with immigration services and benefits, such as legal permanent residency and U.S. citizenship.

Those with interviews scheduled this week will be notified by mail of their rescheduled appointments. Emergency assistance is available at the organization's Boston office, according to the announcement.

The Providence office is scheduled to re-open on Monday. It's unclear what caused the flooding.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:45 PM | Comment

Barack Obama to return to RI for Whitehouse

PROVIDENCE -- The political stars keep coming.

The Sheldon Whitehouse campaign confirmed this afternoon that Barack Obama, the Illinois junior senator who drew thousands to Brown University for a late-night speech last month, will return to Rhode Island this weekend.

Obama, who delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, appeared at a Whitehouse fundraiser three weeks ago before speaking at Brown.

He's scheduled to return Saturday morning for a free "get out the vote" rally at the Temple to Music at Roger Williams Park. The event, slated for 10 a.m. to noon, is open to the public.

Voters will head to the polls three days later as Whitehouse tries to unseat the incumbent Republican, Lincoln Chafee.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples, with reports from Journal staff writer Scott MacKay

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:52 PM | Comment

Chafee loans himself $298,000 more

Senator Lincoln Chafee has loaned his campaign another $298,000, according to paperwork filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission.

Chafee, who is listed among the 10 richest members of Congress, had already dipped into his personal fortune twice -- once for $300,000 and then for $200,000 -- during the general election cycle, bringing his personal contributions to just under $800,000 in the last three weeks.

Election Day is six days away. Rhode Island's U.S. Senate race has attracted national attention as Democrats seek shift the balance of power in Washington.

Chafee's initial loans had triggered a provision in federal election law known as the Millionaire's Amendment, adopted in 2004 to prevent wealthy candidates from having an unfair financial advantage in expensive races.

The amendment allows Chafee's Democratic opponent, Sheldon Whitehouse, to seek additional funds from donors who had previously hit the $2,100 personal contribution limit.

Chafee's first round of personal loans, which totaled $500,000, allowed Whitehouse donors to give triple the normal limit, or $6,300. The latest loan of $298,734.25 lets Whitehouse donors give a total of $12,600 for the general election cycle, or six times more than usual.

Campaign finance reports filed last week showed that the Whitehouse campaign had a 6-to-1 advantage in cash on hand for the home stretch of the U.S. Senate race.

For the reporting period that ended Oct. 18, Whitehouse reported having $984,000 in the bank; his opponent Sen. Lincoln Chafee had $152,000.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:35 PM | Comment

CVS agrees to buy Caremark for $21 billion

CVS Corp. of Woonsocket has agreed to acquire pharmacy benefits manager Caremark RX Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., in an all-stock deal worth about $21 billion.

The new company will be called CVS/Caremark Corp. and headquartered in Woonsocket, the companies announced in a joint statement.

The combination will create a pharmacy powerhouse at a time when drugstore chains face competitive pressure from Wal-Mart, which recently began a program to sell some generic drugs at deep discounts.

Under the deal announced just after 2 p.m., Caremark investors will receive 1.67 shares of CVS stock for each share of Caremark stock they own. Based on a CVS midday trading price of $29.20, that makes the deal worth about $21 billion.

Amid deal speculation, trading in CVS stock was halted on the New York Stock Exchange 24 minutes before the agreement was announced. Trading resumed at 2:19 p.m.

The deal agreement calls for CVS chairman, president and chief executive officer Tom Ryan to become CEO of the new company and his Caremark counterpart, Mac Crawford, to become chairman.

Posted by at 2:40 PM | Comment

Defense begins in Cape fashion writer murder trial

BARNSTABLE, Mass. -- Attorneys for the trash hauler accused of killing a Cape Cod fashion writer started building their case for reasonable doubt Wednesday, calling as their first witness a man who was questioned as a suspect in her death.

Keith Amato, one of several men investigated by police in the 2002 murder of Christa Worthington, said police badgered and confused him so much during an interrogation that he vomited in the parking lot of the police station.

Lawyers for Christopher McCowen, 34, who is charged with raping, beating and killing Worthington, claim he was badgered into making incriminating statements.

-- The Associated Press

Amato is the former son-in-law of the shellfish constable who fathered Worthington's baby. He said the first two interviews he had with State Police after the slaying were routine, but that during a third interview troopers accused him of lying about the condition of his marriage and about him of having an affair with Worthington.

"I was realizing I was turning into a suspect. I felt like they were trying to establish something about me that wasn't true," Amato said.

At one point during the third interview, a state trooper slammed his hand on the table and said, "This is a murder investigation. And if we so choose, we will turn your life inside out," Amato testified.

Amato said he felt so pressured by police that he eventually admitted he had not told the whole truth about his marriage and an incident when he used an outdoor shower at Worthington's house, even though he said he didn't believe he lied.

"I would have told them anything at that point to end the interview. I was feeling really intimidated," he said.

Amato said he ended the interview by saying, "You're not going to pin this murder on me."

Under cross examination by prosecutor Robert Welsh, Amato said he never told police he killed Worthington. He also said he was never arrested or charged in case.

McCowen claims a friend, Jeremy Frazier, killed Worthington after the two men went to her Truro home in the early morning hours of Jan. 5, 2002. He says he had sex with her and beat her but did not kill her.

Worthington, 46, a single mother, was found stabbed to death with her 2-year-old daughter clinging to her body.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:22 PM | Comment

Update: AG advising police in probe of newborn's death

NORTH PROVIDENCE – In the ongoing criminal investigation into the death of a newborn at a home on Lori Drive, the police met today with the attorney general’s office.

"Our role is that we’ve been providing legal advice and we’ll continue to do so," said Michael Healey, a spokesman for the attorney general. "It's too early in process to comment on possible charges."

The police have not said how the baby girl died or how the police found out there was a body inside the home. They completed a search of the home last night, executed under a search warrant, Maj. Paul M. Martellini said today.

With six detectives working on the case, Martellini said he expects more information to be available later today or tomorrow.

"North Providence police are continuing to investigate," Healey said. "Ultimately if probable cause exists for police to announce a charge, they will announce a charge."

-- projo.com staff writers Kate Bramson and Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:33 PM | Comment

Bristol man charged with stabbing brother

BRISTOL -- Brian Aldrich, 21, of 24 Basswood Rd., was arrested early this morning and charged with felony domestic assault after he allegedly stabbed his 19-year-old brother during an argument in his family’s home.

The police, who were alerted to the victim’s injuries about 1:15 a.m., hunted for the suspect for four hours before finding him ``hunkered down in some briars and trees’’ in the woods behind the Rhode Island Veterans Home, according to Lt. Nicholas Guercia.

At midday, Guercia said the victim was being treated at Rhode Island Hospital for stab wounds to the leg and chest.

Although Guercia said the injuries did not appear life-threatening, he declined to release the victim’s name until he knows more about his medical condition.

Brian Aldrich was arraigned this morning in District Court, Providence, where bail was set at $25,000 with surety, Guercia said. He said Aldrich did not immediately make bail.

Guercia said he did not yet know why the two brothers argued. The brothers’ parents apparently were home at the time, Guercia said, but he declined to elaborate.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:29 PM | Comment

EMC buys Avamar Technologies for $165M

HOPKINTON, Mass. -- Data storage provider EMC Corp. today said it agreed to pay $165 million in cash to acquire Avamar Technologies Inc., the latest in a string of deals to bolster EMC's information security and data backup offerings.

The purchase of Irvine, Calif.-based Avamar is the 12th acquisition by EMC this year, for a total investment of $2.8 billion to help move the 31,000-employee company beyond its core storage hardware business into faster-growing data storage software and services.

The acquisition of privately held Avamar is expected to be completed within 30 days, and is not expected to have a material impact on EMC's revenue or profit this year.

Avamar provides data backup technology to business customers, including software to identify redundant backup data in a company's systems and free up storage space.

When the deal is complete, Avamar will become part of EMC's Storage Product Operations group, with Avamar CEO Ed Walsh reporting to Mark Sorenson, head of EMC's information management software unit.

Shares of EMC rose 5 cents to $12.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:01 PM | Comment

Car stolen, shot fired outside Pawtucket gas station

PAWTUCKET -- The police are looking for three men who stole a car from another group of men and fired a shot at them as they took off early Wednesday at Joe’s Cedar St. Shell.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Paul Avarista, 18, Justine Pine, 18, and Robert Rose, 20, all of Pawtucket, had pulled into the gas station at 71 Cedar St., at 12:32 a.m. and were pumping gas when they were approached by another group of men in a silver Intrepid, the police said.

The groups exchanged words, which escalated into an argument, according to the police. The men in the Intrepid went to their car and returned, allegedly with a shotgun, Detective Sgt. Todd Stonely said.

Avarista, Pine and Rose told the police the men took their cell phones, wallets, chains and their car, according to Stonely. The men then took off down Cedar Street, driving the victims’ car. One of the men allegedly fired a shot at the victims.

The stolen car was recovered by Massachusetts State Police where it had been abandoned on Route 95 in Walpole.

Stonely said the police do not believe this was a random act.

``We have not made any arrests, but we are following up several leads,’’ Stonely said.

The police ask that anyone with information contact detectives at (401) 727-9100.

-- with reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:42 AM | Comment

Download today's front page

Murder-suicide on the Cape and profiles of the candidates for general treasurer lead today's newspaper.

Download file

Posted by Peter Phipps at 10:53 AM | Comment

Update: Cranston police probing early morning shooting

CRANSTON – The police are investigating an early morning shooting outside a home at 60 Allen Ave. that has sent one man in his 40s to Rhode Island Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

More information about the man is not available because the police are still trying to identify him, Maj. Ronald Blackmar said.

The man was in surgery this morning, according to Sgt. Kevin Antonucci, who responded to the 12:30 a.m. shooting.

No arrests have been made, Blackmar said. A team of detectives, at work on the case through the night, is talking to “everybody involved,” he said. Blackmar said he does not know if there are any suspects at this time.

As soon as the police have positively identified the man who was shot, they will release his name, Blackmar said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:35 AM | Comment

CVS, Caremark confirm talks of possible 'merger of equals'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Prescription benefits manager Caremark Rx Inc. and drugstore chain CVS Corp. said today they are in talks about a combination of the companies.

The companies said in a statement that they are discussing a possible "merger of equals" transaction."

The New York Times reported earlier today that CVS, based in Woonsocket, was in advanced talks about buying Caremark, of Nashville, Tenn., for more than $21 billion to boost its drug-benefits management business. It cited unidentified people close to the negotiations.

A purchase may help CVS defend against competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CVS has added walk-in medical treatment and other services to add sales outside of drug retailing. Since 2004, CVS has spent more than $5 billion on acquisitions to boost retail and drug-benefits revenue in the U.S.

The companies said in the statement there can be no assurances that any agreement will be reached or that a transaction will be consummated, and they don't plan to comment further until discussions are complete.

-- The Associated Press and Blooomberg

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:36 AM | Comment

Showers should clear early this morning

PROVIDENCE – This morning’s rain showers should clear by about 8:30 a.m.

Until then, motorists should beware of slick roadways and some light fog, according to the National Weather Service.

We should see a high near 67 today, with cloudy skies. Tonight’s low should be around 47.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:06 AM | Comment

Wet roads could slow morning commute

The rain is supposed to stop this morning, but will it dry out in time to save the morning commute?

As of 6:30 a.m., Route 195 in Providence was wet and traffic slowed near Exit 2, which might not bode well for the commute later this morning.

For more traffic information, check out the state Department of Transportation's Web site.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment