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November 14, 2006

Providence Equity Partners to sell BlueStone TV

Providence Equity Partners has agreed to sell BlueStone TV Holdings Inc., a company that owns or operates 14 television stations in eight U.S. markets.

Diamond Castle Holdings LLC will buy the BlueStone stations for $230 million, Diamond Castle chief executive Randall Bongarten confirmed today in an e-mail. The stations are expected to generate more than $50 million in revenue this year, Bongarten said.

New York-based Diamond Castle was formed two years ago and primarily invests in the media, energy, health-care and financial-services industries.

The Providence group, which specializes in media investments, formed BlueStone in 2002 to acquire television stations. Most BlueStone stations are in Tennessee and Virginia markets.

The BlueStone transaction is expected to close in the first half, Diamond Castle said, and must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

Providence Equity Partners is a Providence-based buyout firm with $9 billion in assets.

-- Bloomberg

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:11 PM | Comment

Buffy Sainte-Marie's turn to take the stage at URI

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- The folk singing continues on the University of Rhode Island campus tonight.

Native American musicians Buffy Sainte-Marie and Bill Miller, both entertainers and social activists since the 1960s, will appear at URI's Edwards Auditorium tonight.

The university's Honors Colloquium, "Songs of Social Justice," has featured performers and activists nearly every Tuesday night this semester. Previous acts include Tom Paxton, Peggy Seeger, Rosalie Sorrels, and Ronnie Gilbert.

Tonight's show begins at 7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:01 PM | Comment

Cranston woman, 85, apparent victim of kitchen fire

CRANSTON — An 85-year-old woman was found dead in her Blue Jay Drive home today, the apparent victim of a kitchen fire that burned itself out without spreading to the rest of the home, according to fire officials.

Assistant Fire Chief James Gumbley said that the incident is being investigated by the state Fire Marshal’s Office, the Cranston Fire Department and Cranston Police. He said that once relatives are notified, officials will release the name of the woman found in the kitchen of the raised ranch house at 26 Blue Jay Drive.

Gumbley said that there were no exterior signs of a fire, and that firefighters were called to the house shortly after 8 by a relative who wanted them to conduct a “well being” check on the woman who lived there since she had not been heard from in more than a day.

Once inside, firefighters found the woman in the kitchen, scorched from what appeared to be a contained blaze, he said. Gumbley said that sometimes interior fires will extinguish themselves after they consume all available oxygen.

-- Journal staff writer Barbara Polichetti

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:57 PM | Comment

Update: Judge rules on Cranston ballots

Superior Court Judge Stephen Fortunato ruled this afternoon that the state Board of Elections must photocopy and set aside the copy of any ballot rejected by voting machines during Thursday's scheduled recount in the Cranston mayoral election.

The decision came over the strong objection of the Board of Elections, which is poised to recount the 32,140 ballots cast in the general election. Approximately 500 ballots were rejected last Tuesday.

The Board of Elections will appeal Fortunato's decision to the state Supreme Court, the board's lawyer, Raymond A. Marcaccio, said.

Lawyers for Republican candidate Allan W. Fung, who trails Democrat Michael T. Napolitano by 71 votes, had argued that it may be possible to determine the voter’s intent on ballots rejected by voting machines.

“The paper ballots are the way to verify that the machines are working properly,” said Fung’s campaign lawyer, Angel Taveras. “That’s why we have paper ballots.”

The Board of Elections and Napolitano’s lawyers criticized the ruling, arguing that segregating those ballots would dramatically slow the recount and introduce a review process that does not exist in Board of Elections policy. That human review would compromise the objectivity of the election, they argued.

“You are throwing the objective electronic system down the tubes,” Marcaccio said.

Fortunato’s decision has implications for the entire state, the Board of Elections said. If Fung’s campaign is able to view rejected ballots, then every candidate would have that right, the board argued in court today.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Fortunato issued his ruling today after a lengthy session in chambers with lawyers for both sides and brief oral arguments in open court.

The judge did not definitively rule that Fung’s campaign can view the photocopied ballots. He is scheduled to take up that issue on Nov. 29.

“The complaint raises complex and important issues,” Fortunato said. “It goes to the heart of our democracy.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:08 PM | Comment

Teen jailed after shooting boy in neck with BB gun

WOONSOCKET - A teenage boy was ordered held at the Training School today following an incident Sunday in which he shot a 12-year-old in the neck with a BB gun.

The shooter, who has not been identified because he is 16 years old, faces a felony assault charge as well as several gun-related charges.

At the teenager's Family Court arraignment yesterday, his probation officer told the court that the boy has a prior arrest record and requested that he be held at the Training School until Dec. 1, when he will return to court for a probable cause hearing.

The police say the 16-year-old and a 14-year-old friend shot the younger boy with the pellet gun while he was walking down Rockridge Drive on Sunday afternoon.

The victim suffered minor injuries, including a red welt on the back of his neck. He was transported to Landmark Medical Center where he was treated and released. He identified his attackers to the police.

The 14-year-old friend was charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and conspiracy. His arraignment information was not available today.

-- Journal staff writer Cynthia Needham

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:01 PM | Comment

Sen. Reed gains power in D.C. committees

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jack Reed was assigned today to the Senate Appropriations Committee, winning a seat at the table where money is distributed for many government programs.

Reed also kept his high-profile seat on the Armed Services Committee, plus his slots on the panels with jurisdiction over health care and banking.

Taken together, Reed's gains boost his ability to bring federal dollars home to Rhode Island and consolidate his influence across a broad range of issues, all at a time when he is viewed as one of the new Democratic majority's leading voices on military issues.

"This is a great time to be Jack Reed,'' said congressional analyst Norman Ornstein. " Jack has become as much of an opinion-leader and a bridge-builder on Iraq as any other Democrat.''

Senator-elect Sheldon Whitehouse was assigned to the committee on Environment and Public Works, and the Judiciary, Intelligence and Budget Committees, according to the office of incoming Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. He was also assigned to the Special Committee on Aging.

The Judiciary Committee reviews nominations to the federal bench including the U.S. Supreme Court. The Budget Committee each year draws a broad blueprint for federal spending that guides other committees in writing budgets for the agencies under their control.

The outgoing Sen. Lincoln Chafee served on Environment and Public Works, Foreign Relations and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees.

House leaders will make committee assignments later in the week.

-- Journal staff writer John Mulligan

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:26 PM | Comment

Police probe death of man in Jamestown home / Photo

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Employees of the state medical examiner's office removed a body from a home at 96 Reservoir Circle in Jamestown today.

JAMESTOWN -- State and local police are investigating the death of an elderly man found this morning in a Jamestown home.

Someone called local police today at about 9:15 to ask authorities to check on the man's well-being, according to Police Chief Thomas Tighe. The man's body was soon discovered.

While there were more than six police cars on the scene today, the authorities would not release the man's name or say whether they suspected foul play. State and local police officials said they were waiting for the state medical examiner to rule on the cause of death.

The home, located at 96 Reservoir Circle, is owned by Daniel Donahue, according to property tax records. A neighbor said that Donahue is a retired Cranston teacher.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Randal Edgar

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:24 PM | Comment

Elections board indefinitely postpones all recounts

PROVIDENCE -- The state Board of Elections has indefinitely postponed all recounts, after a Superior Court judge said today that candidates may have the right to review all ballots rejected by voting machines during a recount.

Today's decision postpones eight recounts of ballots cast in elections last Tuesday, according to Kerry Brusini, special projects manager for the Board of Elections.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:38 PM | Comment

Man get 15 years after trading crack for guns in Westerly

WESTERLY – A Connecticut man was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison for trading crack cocaine for guns outside a Westerly restaurant last year.

The man, Richard Vanenburg, 36, of New London, had pled guilty in January to three charges of distributing crack cocaine, being a felon in possession of firearms and using firearms in connection with a drug-trafficking crime.

Due to prior drug-trafficking convictions in Connecticut, Vanenburg faced a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the crack cocaine offense. Using a gun during a drug-trafficking crime carries an additional five-year sentence.

-- Journal staff writer Maria Armental

Westerly Police and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested Vanenburg on May 25, 2005, after a brief investigation and charged him with negotiating with an undercover ATF agent to trade crack cocaine for two handguns.

The undercover agent, with other ATF agents and Westerly police standing by, met with Vanenburg at a restaurant on Post Road in Westerly. Outside the restaurant, the agent showed Vanenburg two handguns in the trunk of the agent’s car. Vanenburg took the guns – a 9 mm pistol and a .380-caliber pistol – and gave the agent a package containing approximately five grams of crack cocaine.

At that point, ATF agents and Westerly police arrested Vanenburg. He had two prior drug trafficking convictions in Connecticut.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi imposed today's sentence.

-- Journal staff writer Maria Armental

Posted by Steve Peoples at 3:24 PM | Comment

Westerly school board head, lawyer hit by car

WESTERLY – The head of the Westerly School Committee remains hospitalized today, a day after she and the committee solicitor were hit by a car while crossing the street.

Police have charged a Hopkinton man with failing to yield to pedestrians at a crosswalk in connection to the traffic accident yesterday. The man, Stephan Bliven, 49, of 6 Maxson Hill Road, Ashaway, was given the citation and released pending a municipal court appearance.

The School Committee chairwoman, Nancy Burns-Fusaro, 55, of 21 Salt Pond Way, suffered broken ribs and other injuries in the accident. She was transported by ambulance to the Westerly Hospital, where she is listed in satisfactory condition.

The School Committee solicitor, William Nardone, who was also struck, was treated and released at Westerly Hospital.

Police said Bliven was turning left from Broad Street to Main Street at approximately 11 a.m. when he hit both Burns-Fusaro and Nardone, who were on the Main Street crosswalk.

-- Journal staff writer Maria Armental

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:40 PM | Comment

Patriots switching to artificial surface at Gillette

The field at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium, which has been in poor condition since the beginning of the Patriots' season (and wasn't improved much by a resodding that was completed before the Patriots' game against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 5), is being replaced by an artificial surface called FieldTurf. The installation began this afternoon, and the new field will be ready for New England's next home game (Nov. 26 against the Chicago Bears).

Nobel laureate in literature to speak at Brown tonight

PROVIDENCE -- Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, the winner of the 2006 Nobel prize in literature, will be among a group of international authors speaking at Brown University today.

Pamuk's appearance is part of a three-day conference of the International Writer's Project entitled, "Strange Times, My Dear: A Freedom-to-Write Literary Festival."

Other featured authors will include Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, and Iranian novelists Shahrnush Parsipur and Shahryar Mandanipour.

Today's schedule includes a 3 p.m. roundtable discussion with Pamuk, Mandanipour, and other officials and authors from around the world. Pamuk will also host a reading at 8 p.m.

There are no tickets available for either event, though the public is invited to watch simulcasts in Sayles Hall. Seating in Sayles is first-come-first serve; Brown encourages people to arrive at least an hour early.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:58 PM | Comment

Seinfeld's J. Peterman to sign at Border's tomorrow

Elaine’s eccentric boss from the sitcom Seinfeld will be in Providence tomorrow signing copies of his latest book.

The award-winning actor John O’Hurley, who played J. Peterman on Seinfeld and now hosts The National Dog Show presented by Purina, will read from his book at Borders at the Providence Place Mall at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Borders describes his book, “It’s Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump,” as a “funny, profound book about the enduring wisdom of dogs.”

The dashing O'Hurley, a Providence College graduate, was also a popular contestant on Dancing with the Stars.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:28 PM | Comment

Judge kicks off juror in Cape Cod slaying trial

BARNSTABLE, Mass. -- The judge in the trial of a trash collector accused of killing a fashion writer removed a female juror today after she was recorded in calls with her jailed boyfriend saying police officers were "dumb" and talking about media reports of the murder case.

The removal of the juror - as the deadlocked panel was about to begin its sixth day of deliberations - means the deliberations must start all over again. The decision prompted an outcry from Christopher McCowen's defense attorney, who immediately moved for a mistrial.

Judge Gary Nickerson denied the motion, and replaced the juror with a female alternate.

-- The Associated Press

The panel had deliberated five days when they told the judge yesterday they were deadlocked in the case against McCowen, charged in the January 2002 killing of Christa Worthington. Nickerson ordered them to keep working to hammer out a verdict, and sequestered the panel last night in a hotel.

Concerns about the juror first surfaced yesterday morning, but the judge spoke to her and the attorneys and decided to keep her on the case.

However, in two phone conversations recorded last night between the juror and her boyfriend, Kyle Hicks, 23, a suspect in a shooting over the weekend, the juror disparaged police officers for interviewing her about him, and spoke of Court TV coverage of the Worthington case. Hicks is being held in the same Barnstable jail as McCowen.

"I am so mad that somebody leaked it out about me" being a juror, she told Hicks, though there was no indication her name or image had been used in media reports.

She also complained that officers had interviewed her about Hicks' involvement in a shooting Saturday morning, calling them "dumb."

The judge said the juror, when questioned by him yesterday, had said she had only a distant relationship with Hicks. The judge also agreed with prosecutors that she had ignored his admonitions to avoid media coverage, and that her statements showed a potential bias against police, requiring her removal from the jury.

Nickerson told the remaining jurors the woman was being removed for personal reasons unrelated to the case, and ordered them to start deliberations anew. He warned them to destroy any charts or paperwork from their earlier deliberations and said that simply bringing the new juror up to speed would not be enough.

McCowen's lawyer, Robert George, was denied permission by the judge to appeal his decision to remove the juror to the Supreme Judicial Court.

"Altering the composition of this jury at this point absolutely destroys the defendant's right to a fair trial," he said.

Worthington, 46, was found lying in a pool of blood in her Truro home, dead from a single stab wound to her chest, with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Ava, clinging to her body.

McCowen, who was Worthington's garbage man, initially denied having any physical contact with her. But after police showed him a DNA report linking him to the crime scene, he told eight different versions of the events leading up to Worthington's death, according to a state police trooper who testified during the trial.

McCowen said he had consensual sex with Worthington and beat her during an argument, but claimed his friend, Jeremy Frazier, stabbed and killed her. Frazier was never charged.

Prosecutors told the jury that McCowen's DNA was found on Worthington's body and said his own statements to police amounted to at least a partial confession.

The first jury panel said it was deadlocked on all three charges: first-degree murder, aggravated rape and aggravated burglary.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:14 AM | Comment

Hearings on dredging for LNG ships to start tonight

TIVERTON — As part of the review process for a controversial plan to dredge Mount Hope Bay to clear room for tanker ships that would supply a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management is holding two public hearings starting tonight.

The hearing will be at Tiverton High School, 100 North Brayton Rd., and is scheduled to start at 6:30 and end at 10. The second is set for next Monday at Mt. Hope High School, 199 Chestnut St., Bristol. It will also run from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The public may attend the hearings and comment on the dredging plans.

Journal staff writer Alex Kuffner

Read the full story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:17 AM | Comment

Traffic update: All clear at S curves in Pawtucket

PAWTUCKET – An accident that slowed traffic on the Pawtucket s curves has been cleared, according to the state Transportation Management Center.

Traffic slowed after a car spun out and slid underneath on Route 95 North between exits 29 and 30.

Pawtucket and state police, as well as Pawtucket fire rescue crews responded to the accident, which happened between 8:15 and 8:20 a.m.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 10:06 AM | Comment

Update: Bumpy Hope Street changing for the better

PROVIDENCE -- Driving down Hope Street on the East Side these days is a bit of an obstacle course, dodging the raised manhole covers since the top layer of the roadway has been stripped away.

As you’re bumping along the roadway, try thinking of how nice and smooth the once-potholed road will be once the work is completed. The city's Department of Public Works hopes to start repaving the 1.2-mile stretch of Hope Street between Fifth Street and Lloyd Avenue next Monday or Tuesday, if weather permits, department director John Nickelson said today.

The road project -- which also includes nearly a mile of both Hawkins Street and Woodward Road -- includes repaving, sidewalk repairs and the installation of curb cuts to make intersections accessible for people in wheelchairs.

Check out a list of other road projects on the state Department of Transportation's Web site.

For other traffic needs, check out the state roadways, via the Department of Transportation's online traffic offerings.

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.

Correction: An earlier item incorrectly stated the government agency working on the Hope Street project.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:28 AM | Comment

Deadlocked jury to try again in Cape murder trial

BARNSTABLE, Mass. – Jurors who were sequestered last night after saying they could not agree on the case of a trash collector accused of raping and murdering fashion writer Christa Worthington are to resume deliberations this morning.

The panel spent Monday night sequestered at a hotel after telling Judge Gary Nickerson earlier in the day they were deadlocked in the high-profile case despite more than 28 hours of deliberations.

Christopher McCowen, 34, is charged in the January 2002 killing of Worthington, who had left a glamorous life in New York for the quiet of a tiny Cape Cod town to raise her daughter. Worthington, 46, was found lying in a pool of blood in her Truro home, dead from a single stab wound to her chest, with her 2 ½-year-old daughter, Ava, clinging to her body.

McCowen said he had consensual sex with Worthington and beat her during an argument, but claimed his friend, Jeremy Frazier, stabbed and killed her. Frazier was never charged.

-- The Associated Press

For more trial coverage, check out the Cape Cod Times coverage of the case.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:56 AM | Comment

Man suffers steam burns in Providence

PROVIDENCE – A 22-year-old man with second-degree burns to his face and hands was taken to Rhode Island Hospital from Silver Lake early this morning.

Called to apartment No. 3 on 240 Clarence St. at 3:33 a.m., crews requested the hospital to set up a trauma room for the man’s steam burns, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

Investigators are at the three-family house now, trying to determine what happened, Taylor said. More details are not yet available.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:30 AM | Comment

Rain, rain won't go away

PROVIDENCE – It’s raining again today and should for the rest of the work week.

Is it any consolation that Saturday looks like it will be partly sunny? Well, maybe. But you better hunker down the rest of the week.

Today, we could get a thunderstorm before noon and fog before 9 a.m.

Also, there’s a small-craft advisory through Wednesday afternoon for the region.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts from projo.com.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:08 AM | Comment

Correction: Louis Salvatore was not racing

North Providence teen Louis Salvatore was not racing another car when he was killed on Route 295 two years ago. The 17-year-old boy swerved to avoid a car that pulled in front of him in the middle lane of the highway and braked suddenly.

Salvatore died after his Jeep Cherokee rolled three times. The driver of the other car, Jacob Bilodeau, 25, of Providence, drove off and was later arrested.

Bilodeau was convicted last month of driving to endanger, death resulting, and leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting, for his part of the July 2004 accident. He has yet to be sentenced.

A previous story said Bilodeau was racing Salvatore's car.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 7:01 AM | Comment

Download today's front page

A $100 million budget gap and calls for change in Iraq lead today's newspaper.

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Posted by Peter Phipps at 6:59 AM | Comment