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November 2, 2006

Update: Army sergeant from Newport, 23, killed in Iraq

A 23-year-old Army sergeant from Newport has been killed in Iraq, the Rhode Island National Guard announced this evening.

Sgt. Michael Weidemann, originally of Portsmouth, was killed Tuesday "while engaged in combat operations" in Iraq, the Guard said. Weidemann was driving a military vehicle while on patrol in the Anbar Province west of Baghdad when his armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. It is unclear if anyone else was hurt in the incident.

Weidemann, the 11th Rhode Islander to die in Iraq since 2003, graduated from Rogers High School in 2001. He was an honors student and a member of the school's JROTC program. He enlisted in the Army the month after his high school graduation.

Weidemann was a member of the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

He is the first Rhode Island soldier killed in Iraq since Moises Jazmin, a 25-year-old Providence man died in late August. He was also killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near his armored vehicle.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed issued a statement this evening regarding Weidemann's death.

“This is a moment to reflect on the courage and dedication of one brave American who has given his all for this country," said the Rhode Island Democrat who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Our hearts go out to Sergeant Weidemann’s family and friends as they bear this terrible loss.”

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:12 PM | Comment

Wakefield man killed in Gloucester fishing accident

GLOUCESTER, Mass. -- The body of a fisherman found floating in Gloucester Harbor today has been identified as a Rhode Islander.

Essex County authorities say a fishing company's security camera shows Robert Harris trying to jump from a pier to the fishing boat on which he worked.

Instead, the 44-year-old Wakefield man fell about 30 feet down into the water. His body was discovered shortly before noon floating in the harbor off State Fish Pier.

Authorities say foul play is not suspected.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:24 PM | Comment

WPRI poll: Casino opponents ahead by 13 points

PROVIDENCE -- The Narragansett Indian casino referendum is trailing by 13 points just days before Tuesday’s election, according to a public opinion survey conducted by Fleming & Associates and released tonight by Channel 12, WPRI-TV.

"Thirteen is a big number and I think the Narragansetts are in a very difficult position," said Joe Fleming. "They are really running out of time and they have tried everything to get their message out. They have spent a lot of money and they have done media and tried everything."

The random sample of 400 registered voters statewide puts opposition to the proposed West Warwick casino at 52 percent, support at 39 percent, with 9 percent undecided. The poll interviews were done between Oct. 27 and 30.

Opposition to the casino is deepest among older voters. Among those 60 years old and over, 57 percent oppose the casino, 32 percent support it and 11 percent are undecided.

Among those 40 to 59, 51 percent are opposed, 40 percent are in favor and 9 percent are undecided. Younger voters are more supportive; 48 percent of those 18 to 39 support it, 45 percent are opposed and 7 percent are undecided.

-- Journal staff writer Scott MacKay

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:21 PM | Comment

Carcieri, Fogarty debate tonight for last time

PROVIDENCE -- During the gubernatorial campaign, Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty has fought with Governor Carcieri over everything from college tuition costs to Carcieri's ties to President Bush, who's deeply unpopular in heavily Democratic Rhode Island.

Still, Democrat Fogarty is trailing the Republican incumbent in the polls. Tonight, he gets one last opportunity to debate Carcieri, just five days before the general election.

Political analysts said the debate is Fogarty's last change to differentiate himself from Carcieri, with whom he shares many political positions.

Tonight's debate will be aired live on NBC 10 at 7 p.m.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:55 PM | Comment

More R.I. Guard members going back to Mideast

CRANSTON -- The Rhode Island National Guard is planning to send another 27 soldiers to the Middle East next week, according to an announcement released today by Major General Robert T. Bray.

Currently, 48 members of Rhode Island Air National Guard's 143rd Airlift Wing are serving in the Iraq conflict, expected to return in January of next year. They will be joined by 27 additional soldiers this Sunday.

The deployment marks the last scheduled rotation for the state's Air National Guard, which has been providing "flight crews, maintenance, and support personnel" in the Middle East since January 2003, acording to today's announcement.

The soldiers generally serve in the region for 60-day rotations. Some members of the Rhode Island group have deployed six times since 2003, according to the Guard.

The public is invited to a send-off ceremony in the All-Ranks Club at Quonset Air National Guard base Sunday at 8 a.m.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:03 PM | Comment

Democrat York backs GOP Chafee

PROVIDENCE -- Three-time Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Myrth York endorsed U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee today, telling a horde of media gathered at an afternoon press conference that Chafee would be the first Republican she voted for in a federal election in 40 years.

"I cannot imagine voting for any other Republican than Lincoln Chafee," she said. "What I know is I want Lincoln Chafee in Washington for the next six years representing me...Senator Chafee brings a unique perspectie on how to solve problems and work together."

York is the second political figure with strong ties to the Democratic Party to endorse Chafee in recent weeks. The first was former U.S. Attorney Margaret Curran, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, Curran sat next to Chafee at a recent press conference similar to today's in the same downtown restaurant, Federal Reserve.

Chafee today echoed themes from one of his recent television advertisements, saying that voters like York face a "real conflict" in deciding between the candidate or the party when voting next Tuesday. Chafee's opponent, Sheldon Whitehouse, argues that Rhode Island must elect a Democratic senator to help shift the balance of power in Washington.

"In this political debate we've gotten away from character, and I think character is important," Chafee said.

York was asked whether her endorsement of Chafee might be attributed to "sour grapes" over the 2002 gubernatorial election, when she and Whitehouse were competitors. York won the primary, but lost the election to incumbent GOP Governor Carcieri.

"It has nothing to do with what happened four years ago," York said.

A Zogby International poll released today shows Chafee trailing his Democratic challenger Whitehouse by 14 points.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:49 PM | Comment

State seizes nearly 9,500 cigarette packs in crackdown

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- The police this week netted the largest stash of contraband cigarettes to date at a pair of Wakefield convenience stores in the state’s continuing campaign to crack down on illegal tobacco sales.

The police and state tax officials confiscated 9,466 packs of name-brand, clove and natural cigarettes from the South Kingstown Convenience Store and Wakefield Food Mart, both owned by Mian M. Aslam, said David Thomas, of the state Division of Taxation.

The police have accused Aslam of intending to sell the cigarettes and then pocket the state-tax money. The cigarettes, with an estimated retail value of $56,779, would have brought in $27,072 in state taxes, Thomas said. The state alleges that fake tax stamps had been affixed to the packs, he said.

It was the state’s largest seizure yet. In August, the police discovered 1,500 packs of unstamped cigarettes hidden in a drop ceiling at Bada Bing Pizza And More, tax officials said. Weeks later officers removed cartons of unmarked cigarettes from a Cumberland convenience store.

Packs of cigarettes sold in the state must have a tax stamp on the bottom to show that retailers have paid the state's cigarette tax. Those costs are then passed on to consumers.

``We have a problem. There’s no question about it,’’ Thomas said. ``It’s lucrative. That’s why people are getting into it.’’

The state Division of Taxation hired full-time inspector James Galvin, a retired police officer, in June to deal with increasing complaints about people buying unstamped cigarettes brought in from New Hampshire, Thomas said.

Galvin was doing a routine inspection at South Kingstown Convenience Store, 540 Kingstown Rd., on Tuesday, when he noticed that the cigarette stamps were counterfeit, Thomas said. He found 600 more cartons in the basement.
Galvin called the police to seize the contraband tobacco and learned Aslam also owned Wakefield Food Mart, at 79 Old Tower Hill Rd., he said. Officers confiscated more similarly stamped packs and others without or with Massachusetts stamps there.

The police arrested Aslam, 47, of 854 Middlebridge Rd., at 9:45 p.m. last night and charged him with two felony counts of forging stamps, a misdemeanor charge for operating without a retail sales permit, and selling unstamped cigarettes, a misdemeanor, said Capt. Jeffrey Allen.

Aslam was held overnight and appeared today in District Court, Wakefield, where he was released on $10,000 personal recognizance.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:16 PM | Comment

Reed: Democratic Congress could push changes in Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed and Michigan Sen. Carl Levin stepped up their attacks today on U.S. policy in Iraq, painting Tuesday's elections as a chance to change the course of the war by putting Democrats in charge of Congress.

“Iraq is rapidly becoming a chaotic, failed state,” said Reed, who sits with fellow Democrat Levin on the Senate Armed Services Committee and has made repeated visits to the war theater.

Levin said the House and Senate elections will be "a major watershed event." A Democratic Congress would be ``very much determined to put greater pressure on the Iraqis'' to make political compromises that might improve stability by sharing power and resources among all of that nation's warring religious and ethnic groups.

The election of Democratic majorities to the House and Senate would also send ``a very strong message'' to President Bush, said Levin, who stands to become chairman of the Armed Services Committee if the GOP loses its Senate majority.

The election of Democratic majorities will bring an ``opportunity to lay out a different approach'' to the war, said Reed, who co-authored with Levin a Senate resolution last summer calling on Mr. Bush to begin at least some troop withdrawals from Iraq this year if military conditions so warrant.

Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee cast the lone Republican vote for the Reed-Levin resolution, which was defeated in June.

Democratic candidate Sheldon Whitehouse said he would have voted for the Reed-Levin resolution. Whitehouse also said he would have voted for a measure by Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., that would have forced the withdrawal of U.S. troops by July 2007.

Reed, Levin and Chafee all opposed that measure.

(Read more about the positions Chafee and Whitehouse have taken on Iraq.)

Reed and Levin covered much familiar ground in their telephone news conference with reporters, stressing what they have long depicted as the need to complement U.S. military muscle in Iraq with political action to engender popular support for the new government.

Their message has become more explicitly political, however, with the approach of the final congressional elections of the Bush presidency.

-- Journal staff writer John Mulligan

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:42 PM | Comment

Frank Beazley, advocate for disabled, honored for leadership

CRANSTON -- Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty was among those who praised advocate, poet, and artist Frank Beazley during an awards ceremony today hosted by one of Rhode Island’s leading disabilities organizations.

Beazley, 77, has lived at Zambarano Hospital in Burrillville since 1967, when an accident left him permanently paralyzed.

``I’ve had the privilege to know Frank not only in his role as the head of Patients for Progress at Zambarano Hospital but as a friend for the past 16 years. And there’s no finer person that I know,’’ Fogarty said.

The Community Provider Network of Rhode Island presented Beazley with its Josie Avery Leadership Award, in honor of the late Jo-Ann Elizabeth Avery, a longtime advocate for the developmentally disabled. Several hundred people attended the morning-long ceremony at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet.

Beazley’s life’s story was told in The Journal’s recent 12-part series, ``The Growing Season.’’ More than 400 readers reacted to the series in calls, letters, emails and Web postings.

Read the series.

-- Journal staff writer G. Wayne Miller

Posted by Jack Perry at 1:14 PM | Comment

New Zogby poll puts Whitehouse up 14 points

Just five days before Election Day, Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse leads the incumbent U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee by 14 points, according to a poll released today by the national independent pollster Zogby International.

While Whitehouse has led consistently in recent polls, his lead over the Republican Chafee has never been larger than 10 points.

Whitehouse leads 53 percent to 39 percent with a margin of error of 4 percentage points, according to Zogby. The survey of 601 likely voters was taken Oct. 24 to Oct 30.

A new local poll is expected to be released tonight.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:10 PM | Comment

Former Beacon executive released after arraignment

Former Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. executive David R. Clark pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of conspiracy, insurance fraud and computer crime at his arraignment this morning in Kent County Superior Court.

Clark, 57, charged as a result of investigations stemming from the unfolding Beacon Mutual Insurance scandal, was fired from his position as the company's vice president of loss prevention and underwriting in April after an audit of the company found evidence that Beacon gave preferential treatment to some of its largest policy holders.

As his wife, Pamela Clark, watched from the gallery, Clark entered his plea before Associate Justice Vincent A. Ragosta. He is accused of not only conspiring to commit insurance fraud but also attempting to cover up evidence of the crime by blocking investigators' access to computer data.

After a quick exchange between attorneys, the judge and the defendant, Clark was released on $10,000 personal recognizance. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for December 5.

Correction: An earlier item incorrectly stated Clark's age.

-- Journal staff writer Arthur Kimball-Stanley

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:08 PM | Comment

CVS stock flat in early trading

The day after a $21-billion deal that could transform the pharmacy business, shares of CVS Corp. show few signs of recovery from yesterday's sudden drop.

In late-morning trading, CVS was trading up 9 cents, or about .3 percent, at $29.15.

Yesterday, the Woonsocket drugstore chain's shares fell more than 7 percent as investors worried about its purchase of pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx Inc.

Posted by at 11:53 AM | Comment

Man stabbed in Providence's West End

PROVIDENCE – A man who was stabbed in the back this morning in the West End has been taken to Rhode Island Hospital.

Emergency crews were called at 9:10 a.m. to the corner of Dexter and Althea streets, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

No information on the man’s identity or condition are yet available.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:18 AM | Comment

Download today's front page

The $21 billion CVS deal and follow-up stories on Sen. Kerry's "botched joke" lead today's newspaper.
Download file

Posted by Peter Phipps at 9:57 AM | Comment

Funeral Saturday for mother, daughter who died on Cape

A funeral has been set for the Warwick mother and daughter who died in a murder-suicide Monday on Cape Cod.

The funeral for Cheryl Ann Donnelly, 38, and her daughter, Jenna Lynne Donnelly, 4, is Saturday at 8:45 a.m. from the Thomas Quinn & Walter Quinn Funeral Home, Warwick, with a 10 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Catherine Church, 3252 Post Road, Warwick.

Visiting hours will be 4 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at the funeral home, 2435 Warwick Ave., Warwick.

Law enforcement and court officials confirmed Tuesday that the mother and daughter were the victims of what authorities have called a murder-suicide.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, who has not named the mother and daughter, has said that the mother killed her child and herself with a handgun that the police found inside a cottage in Dennisport.

In lieu of flowers, the obituaries for both mother and daughter ask that contributions be made to the Impossible Dream for Chronically Ill Children, 575 Centerville Rd., Warwick, RI 02886.

Online guestbooks allow people to post memories and condolences for the mother and daughter.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:51 AM | Comment

Busy morning: Providence firefighters at another blaze

PROVIDENCE – Firefighters have responded to the second fire in the city this morning at 69 Althea St.

Fire in the two-story, vacant wood-frame building was reported at 7:42 a.m., according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

A firefighter has been taken to Rhode Island Hospital with a back injury.

Firefighters earlier this morning extinguished a fire in the Charlesgate East apartment complex.

Also last evening, a basement fire in a three-family dwelling at 90 Waldo St., in the West End, displaced seven adults and three children. Reported at 7:24 p.m., the fire was under control at 7:53 p.m., according to Taylor.

No one was injured, and that fire is under investigation.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:08 AM | Comment

Update: Foul play not suspected in Doyle Ave. death

PROVIDENCE – Foul play was apparently not a factor in the death of a man whose body was discovered this morning behind an apartment building off Doyle Ave.

"No foul play is evident," Providence Police Sgt. Carl Weston said at the scene.

A man walking his dog near 65 Doyle Ave. discovered the body in an area known as Bugbee Court. The dead man was wearing pajamas, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

Providence Det. Maj. Stephen Campbell said, "It does not appear from a preliminary examination of the body that there's any traumatic injury that would have caused the death."

Still, he said, the state Medical Examiner's Office will take custody of the body and is expected to do an autopsy this morning. Detectives also took photographs and gathered evidence from the scene.

The police are still trying to determine the man's identity and find out where he lived.

Campbell believes the man is in his 50s and lived in the area because he was wearing pajamas. He believes the body had not been there long, "probably just hours."

The body was found behind a one-story gray building at Doyle Avenue and Carver Court bearing a sign that says Mount Hope Court Apartments.

The police and firefighters were called at 6:14 a.m. The police cordoned off the area with yellow tape. A representative from the state Medical Examiner's office went to the scene, and the body was covered with a sheet.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:07 AM | Comment

Traffic: Fog, rain will affect the morning commute

Commuters should allow extra time this morning because of widespread and dense fog affecting the region, primarily south and east of Route 195, the National Weather Service says.

Drivers in fog should also use low headlight beams, the weather service advises.

Rain should clear the fog, but that could bring another set of traffic problems.

Check the state Department of Transportation's Web site for traffic information.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:39 AM | Comment

Resident, firefighter injured in Providence apartment fire

PROVIDENCE – A resident and a firefighter were taken to Rhode Island Hospital early this morning after a fire at Charlesgate East Apartments.

A fire in apartment 8E was reported at 3:36 a.m., according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department. It was under control at 3:59 a.m.

A cigarette started the fire, according to the fire department.

Taken to the hospital were a 45-year-old man with smoke inhalation and second-degree burns and a firefighter with smoke inhalation, Taylor said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:03 AM | Comment

Rain moving in, but at least it will clear out the fog

Rain moving into the region this morning should clear areas of dense fog affecting Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to the National Weather Service.
The fog is primarily affecting areas south and east of Route 195

Rain should move east into the Boston-Providence corridor between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., but should not amount to more than one-quarter of an inch.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment