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November 22, 2006

Update: Heavy rains, winds to usher in Thanksgiving

PROVIDENCE -- Cancel your post-turkey stroll around the block. Tomorrow's going to be nasty.

The National Weather Service is calling for a powerful storm to arrive in Rhode Island some time after midnight. The most severe weather is scheduled for Turkey Day.

The weather service says there will be northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph tomorrow with gusts up to 45 mph. As much as two inches of rain will fall. Minor coastal flooding is possible.

And it's going to be cold. Temperatures tonight are expected to be around 40. Tomorrow's high could reach 48.

Already, three of the traditional holiday high school football games have been rescheduled: Woonsocket, Cumberland; Toll Gate, Bishop Hendricken; and Warwick's Pilgrim and Warwick Veterans Memorial.

"It is recommended all travel be completed this evening if possible," reads a weather service advisory.

Get the latest conditions and forecasts here, and keep up tomorrow with high school football reports here.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:45 PM | Comment

Photo: Waiting to trade their wheels for wings

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Valerie Keffer, of Mattapoisett, Mass., waits today with her daughters, Alexandra, 7 months, and Caitlin, 2 1/2, for her husband, Reilly, to park their car before the family flies out of T.F. Green Airport in Warwick to spend their Thanksgiving holiday with Reilly's brother in Moyock, N.C. Most flights out of Green were marked as on time as of 6:10 p.m., according to the airport's Web site. But some from cities west of here, such as Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia, were showing as delayed. Check the latest on arrivals and departures here.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:10 PM | Comment

Cases of staph infection at ACI intake center

CRANSTON -- One correctional officer and around 20 inmates have contracted an infectious bacteria known as MRSA inside the Adult Correctional Institutions intake center.

"We have what I would consider an outbreak of MRSA," said Richard Ferruccio, the head of the correctional officers union, who also works as an officer at the intake center. "When you're talking about an infectious disease, this is something we can take home to our families or loved ones. This is scary."

Ferruccio said a female correctional officer contracted the infection through a cut on her mouth last week. She was hospitalized Friday and released three days later.

The state Health Department today confirmed the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at the ACI, but said the situation was not out of control.

"At this point there’s no outbreak," Health Department spokeswoman Maria Wah-Fitta said. "We are aware of the situation. They do have some cases."

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

MRSA is a type of bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Staph infections like MRSA occur most frequently in institutional settings such as hospitals or prisons and among people with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of the infection usually include skin rashes such as pimples or boils, according to the CDC.

Wah-Fitta said today that despite the infection, there is no public health threat.

"The state epidemiologist has been in touch with the medical director there," she said. "We are working with them on their infection control practices. They're keeping us informed."

A spokeswoman for the ACI did not return calls for comment.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:00 PM | Comment

Murder victim was facing sex assault charges

EAST PROVIDENCE -- The 26-year-old man stabbed to death in his apartment Saturday was scheduled to stand trial for one count of third-degree sexual assault next week, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office confirmed this afternoon.

Michael R. McKenna Jr., of 280 Roger Williams Ave., lived alone in the Rumford section of East Providence. The police have released very few details about the crime, the subsequent investigation, or McKenna's criminal history.

At this time last year, McKenna was charged with one count of third-degree sexual assault, which is defined as an adult having sexual intercourse with another person over the age of 14 but under the age of 16.

McKenna had pleaded not guilty to the charge. His trial was scheduled to begin Monday, according to Beryl Kenyon, the attorney general's spokeswoman.

"Yes, the victim of the East Providence murder was facing trial on one count of third-degree sexual assault," she said.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:09 PM | Comment

Update: ACI escapee to face disciplinary board

CRANSTON – A man who escaped from a state prison work program is back at the Adult Correctional Institutions today.

Ralph Jennings, 42, had been at the ACI for less than a month when he walked away from a West Warwick senior center where he was working Monday on a work-detail program, according to ACI spokeswoman Tracey Poole.

“He took the trash out and didn’t come back,” she said today.

In the prison’s minimum-security unit, Jennings had been deemed a low-security risk and was, therefore, among a group of inmates who didn’t require a high level of supervision, Poole said. During his work detail, Jennings was supervised by the senior center’s staff.

Jennings began serving an 18-month sentence at the ACI on Oct. 27 for a breaking-and-entering charge, Poole said.

Now he must appear before a disciplinary board within the Department of Corrections, Poole said. He will likely be moved to a higher-security unit at the ACI.

A fugitive task force for the state police and the ACI’s special investigation unit caught Jennings near the Providence Performing Arts Center downtown around 5 p.m. yesterday, about 24 hours after he escaped, Poole said.

The last time an inmate escaped from an ACI work detail was on Oct. 16. Kevin Garrappa led more than a dozen state and local police officers on a three-hour pursuit through woods and neighborhoods after he ran away from a crew picking up litter along Route 138 in South Kingstown.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:59 PM | Comment

State police to crack down on seatbelt use

The Rhode Island State Police issued a warning today that troopers will be cracking down this Thanksgiving on drivers and their passengers who don't wear seatbelts.

The crackdown began Monday, according to a state police press release, and will extend through the coming weekend. The ticket for not wearing a seatbelt is $75.

"The upcoming Thanksgiving week is one of the most heavily traveled and one of the most dangerous and deadliest times of the year on America’s roadways, due to low seat belt use," reads the state police announcement. "To ensure motorists arrive alive for Thanksgiving dinner, your police stand unified with this message, ‘Click-it-or-Ticket.’"

Posted by Steve Peoples at 2:56 PM | Comment

Providence fire chief to retire

PROVIDENCE – The city’s fire chief is retiring from the department after 27 years of service, prompting a nationwide search for a new chief.

Chief David D. Costa, 48, who began his career in the Providence department as a firefighter in the city’s West End, will retire at the end of the year, Mayor David N. Cicilline announced today.

The mayor credits Costa with professionalizing the department and developing its first merit-based system for promoting senior officers. Cicilline tapped Costa to lead the department in 2004.

“Chief Costa really distinguished himself by leading the 450 men and women of the Fire Department with honor and distinction under sometimes challenging circumstances,” Cicilline said in a statement.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:20 PM | Comment

Football coaches: Call in Thanksgiving results early

Tomorrow's weather forecast is not looking promising, but if your high school team ends up playing tomorrow, projo.com wants to report about it. High school coaches can call in results to (401) 277-7340, beginning at 1 p.m. tomorrow. We'll post the results and summaries on our High School Sports Blog as they come in, until 7 p.m. The blog will also have information about postponements.

Also, weather-permitting, you'll be able to find our photo galleries of the East Providence-La Salle, East Greenwich-Narragansett and Lincoln-Johnston games.
And we'll have a special slideshow where you can post your own Thanksgiving Day photos.

So far, three games have been postponed: Toll Gate at Bishop Hendricken, Warwick Vets vs. Pilgrim and Woonsocket at Cumberland. All three have been moved to Friday: Toll Gate and Hendricken will play at 2; Warwick Vets and Pilgrim will play at 6; and Cumberland and Woonsocket will play at 7.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 1:10 PM | Comment

More jail time for driver in Westerly fatal accident

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- A woman who spent 10 days in prison for hitting and killing an elderly Rhode Island woman is going back for 100 days more behind bars.

Britney Anderson, 20, of Stonington, Connecticut, has accepted a plea bargain on charges she violated probation by driving a car.

Anderson originally pleaded guilty to negligent homicide with a motor vehicle in the 2004 death of 73-year-old Sophie Pellegrino of Westerly. Pellegrino was walking to church.

Anderson was sentenced in July 2005 to ten days in prison and two years' probation and ordered not to drive for a year.

In recent months police say Anderson had been spotted driving, in apparent violation of her probation.

Anderson had denied driving and said the police were out to get her.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:33 PM | Comment

Students protest guidance counselor's removal

PROVIDENCE -- About 150 students from Perry Middle School staged a brief sit-in this morning to protest the removal of a guidance counselor.

The students are upset because Brian Cabral, who was recently appointed head of guidance, is being removed because he technically doesn't meet the qualifications for the position.

He was appointed late in September, but the school department's administration reviewed the appointment when another guidance counselor filed a grievance. The review revealed that Cabral didn't meet the requirement, because he hasn't been a guidance counselor for three years, according to Maria Tocco, a school spokeswoman.

The students, some carrying signs, refused to go to class this morning and sat by their lockers, but they agreed to return after about 20 minutes when Frances Rotella, principal, told them she would have a representative of the superintendent's office talk to them if they returned to class.

However, Tocco later said nobody from the superintendent's office would be addressing the students, and it would be up to the principal to explain the situation if necessary.

Meanwhile, Cabral's future is uncertain, and he doesn't know whether he will remain at Perry Middle School.

-- Journal staff writer Linda Borg

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:19 PM | Comment

Weather could make Thanksgiving travel messy

The busiest air travel day this week is now colliding with predictions for messy weather.

Some 3,500 passengers are expected to be moving through T.F. Green Airport tomorrow morning before 8 a.m., but the National Weather Service is urging travelers to complete their Thanksgiving treks home by sunset today if at all possible.

If the weather threatens to cancel or postpone flights tomorrow, travelers must check with their airlines about alternative options, airport spokeswoman Patti Goldstein said this morning.

“Our airlines will do everything in their power to get people home to their loved ones, but they’re going to have to check with their carriers,” Goldstein said. “Weather is something we can’t control.”

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Certain factors the airport can control should make travel smoother from here on in for passengers, as long as the weather is not problematic, Goldstein said.

Green is in the midst of an $83.5-million terminal improvement project, which has already reconfigured the area where passengers wait in line for security screenings, Goldstein said. The old main staircase has been covered and moved forward to provide more room for security screening lines, and the airport has added an additional lane at the security checkpoints, she said.

“We were targeting this first phase so we’d be ready for the holiday travel,” Goldstein explained.

Now it’s up to the weather to cooperate.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:41 AM | Comment

New York Times Co. spurns local bid for Boston Globe

BOSTON -- The New York Times Co. has spurned a proposal from a group of prominent Boston businessmen to buy The Boston Globe.

Times Co. Chief Executive Janet Robinson wrote in a letter dated Nov. 17 that the Globe remains an important asset and the company was not interested in pursuing the sale, two executives who have seen the letter told a Globe reporter.

Robinson's letter was in response to a letter from retired General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jack Welch asking for exclusive rights to negotiate with the Times Co.

-- The Associated Press

Welch could not be reached for comment and a Times Co. spokeswoman refused to comment to the newspaper.

But executives close to Welch's group, which includes Boston advertising executive Jack Connors and Boston concessionaire Joe O'Donnell, told the Globe that the three had no plans to abandon their effort.

Welch, Connors, and O'Donnell began discussing a potential bid for the Globe several months ago. An analysis done for them by investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co. valued the Globe at $550 million to $600 million, about half the $1.1 billion the Times Co. paid for the paper in 1993.

The Times Co. reported last month that advertising revenue for its New England Media Group - led by the Globe - fell 10 percent in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period a year earlier, while circulation revenue fell 6.2 percent.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:21 AM | Comment

Bank to donate 50K to R.I. food bank

The Citizens Bank Foundation plans to announce at $50,000 grant to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank this morning.

During the 10 a.m. event at the food bank on Niantic Avenue, Citizens' employees, including Joseph J. MarcAurele, president and CEO of Citizens Rhode Island, will help the food bank's Community Kitchen students prepare turkey dinners for area children.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:45 AM | Comment

Newport considers pipeline to avoid beach pollution

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Town authorities are considering a new pipeline to carry storm water away from popular beaches in Newport and Middletown.

The goal is to keep Easton's Beach in Newport and Atlantic Beach in Middletown from being polluted with fecal bacteria. Bacteria sometimes floods the harbor when drainage systems are deluged with rainwater.

Regulators at the state Department of Environmental Management aren't sure the plan is a good idea.

One DEM engineer says the proposed pipeline would just move a pollution source from one place to another. He says the pipeline won't be approved if it dumps human sewage into the water.

Still, the state is paying for about half the cost of a study exploring the idea.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:27 AM | Comment

Travel today if possible, storm moving in for Thanksgiving

Get to your Thanksgiving destination by sunset today if you can.

That’s the National Weather Service’s recommendation, given a vastly altered forecast for the rest of this week than was predicted on Monday. A strong coastal storm located off the North Carolina coast this morning seems to have spoiled our plans for a mostly sunny Thanksgiving.

It now looks as if we could have heavy rain, strong winds and minor coastal flooding on Thanksgiving Day and night, as this storm should being tracking northeast today.

The storm has brought heavy rain to the mid-Atlantic and southeast states, with more than 3 inches of rain in some locations and strong winds across the mid-Atlantic region with winds greater than 50 miles per hour along the coast.

If you haven’t booked plane tickets for tomorrow morning – as many have, you still have time to avoid traveling during this messy weather. This morning’s dry weather across southern New England should persist through daylight hours, but a large rain shield offshore will then begin to cover the region.

That’s why the National Weather Service is encouraging people to travel today to their Thanksgiving destinations if possible.

Check back with us for the latest conditions and forecasts throughout this holiday week.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:13 AM | Comment