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January 25, 2007

Rep. Kennedy backing Dodd for president

PROVIDENCE -- Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy said tonight he will endorse, raise money and work for the underdog campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination of Connecticut's Sen. Christopher Dodd, a veteran senator who is also close to Kennedy’s father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

“Chris Dodd has a breadth of experience in both the House and the Senate,” the Rhode Island Democrat said in an interview.

Kennedy cited Dodd’s leadership on children’s education and health care issues, his foreign policy expertise and service in the Peace Corps. He also noted that Dodd is bilingual; he speaks fluent Spanish.

“He answered President Kennedy’s call to serve in the Peace Corps, in the Dominican Republic,” said Kennedy, whose uncle was the late President John F. Kennedy. “I think that being fluent in Spanish in this day and age is such a powerful asset that it cannot be overvalued.”

Kennedy said Dodd has a deep understanding of domestic programs, especially those that affect children.

“Every major piece of legislation with regard to children he has been deeply involved with,” Kennedy said. “The Head Start Association voted him the senator of the decade.”

Dodd is also familiar with military matters because his state is home to major defense contractors. Like Patrick Kennedy, Dodd is the son of a U.S. senator, the late Thomas Dodd, who once represented Connecticut.

Kennedy’s father has long been a close political ally and personal friend of Dodd’s, but Patrick Kennedy said tonight that his endorsement of Dodd should not be seen as a harbinger of his father’s intentions.

-- Journal staff writer Scott MacKay

Edward Kennedy was supporting his fellow Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. John Kerry, but Kerry announced earlier this week that he would not run for president in 2008.

Edward Kennedy is chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Also sitting on that committee are Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, both of whom have announced their intention to run for the presidency.

Patrick Kennedy and Dodd also share an alma mater -- Providence College.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:58 PM | Comment

Warwick man claims $30K PowerBall prize

CRANSTON -- The $30,000 winning ticket sold in Rhode Island for yesterday’s PowerBall drawing has been claimed.

Kevin Gilchrist of Warwick arrived at Lottery Headquarters late this morning to collect the prize, the Rhode Island State Lottery announced today.

Gilchrist’s ticket matched four numbers and the PowerBall number. The standard payout for this type of win is $10,000. However, he opted to purchase the Power Play feature for an additional dollar, so the $10,000 prize was multiplied by 3, Wednesday’s Power Play number, to equal $30,000.

Gilchrist purchased the ticket from Lakewood Liquors at 774 Warwick Ave. in Warwick, where he says he always takes his lottery business. For good reason -- this past August, he scratched his way to $60,000 on a “Hit by Lightning” instant ticket, sold by Lakewood Liquors.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:55 PM | Comment

Bundle up as bitter cold comes our way

PROVIDENCE – Brrrr! It’s 18 degrees out there, and temps are dropping.

Perhaps for the first time this winter, it’s time to pull out your real cold-weather gear, like the stuff you took on that trip to Norway or piled on when you lived in northern Minnesota.

Bitterly cold air is expected to surge across southern New England tonight and tomorrow, according to a special weather statement issued this evening by the National Weather Service.

Temps will fall into the single digits across most of our region tonight, with readings below zero across higher terrain in southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts.

Across higher elevations, high temps tomorrow will not get out of the single digits. In Providence, Boston and Hartford, high temps will struggle into the teens, according to the National Weather Service.

Combined with sustained northwest winds of 15 to 20 mph, these bitter cold temperatures will produce below-zero wind chills. Late tonight, wind chills will drop to between 5 and 15 below zero. They will remain below zero tomorrow.

Exposing your skin to such conditions can cause frostbite in a very short time, and prolonged exposure can also lead to hypothermia, the weather service warns. So dress in layers. Wear hats and gloves. Cover your face as much as possible. Stay indoors when you can.

Check the latest conditions here, and figure out the wind chill yourself here.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:48 PM | Comment

Update: Video confession shown at murder trial

WARWICK -- A video showing Gerardo E. Martinez confessing to killing his 23-year-old girlfriend, apologizing for the slaying and begging forgiveness from his mother and father was shown at his murder trial today.

The recording was presented by prosecutors to jurors in Kent County Superior Court as the final piece of evidence before closing statements, which are scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Martinez is accused of killing his girlfriend on Sept. 13, 2005, by slitting her throat with a 6-inch knife.

"Mom and Dad, forgive me for what I did," Martinez said in Spanish on the recording, filmed in his bedroom.

As he spoke, the body of his girlfriend, Lindsay A. Burke, lay in a pool of blood in the bathtub one floor below. After Martinez was arrested in New Hampshire later that day, the police found Burke’s body and the video in Martinez’s Warwick home.

"To everyone, I'm sorry," he said on the video.

The prosecution called its final witness today in the murder trial. The defense attorney, Mark L. Smith, does not plan to call any witnesses, so the case is scheduled to go to the jury tomorrow afternoon following closing arguments.

The prosecution contends Martinez killed Burke at his Warwick home in a jealous rage after discovering photographs of another man in her purse.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

CORRECTION: An earlier item incorrectly stated where Burke was killed.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:24 PM | Comment

Harbor project dredging up more than planned / Photo

Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Rope, fishing gear, old beer cans, rubber boots and gloves are among the litter washed up along the shoreline from East Matunuck to Roy Carpenters Beach in the wake of the harbor dredging.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The beach replenishment project is surely bringing sand to Matunuck’s shores, but along with it are coming reams of rope, rubber gloves and pop-top beer cans galore.

Lobster bands littered the beach like confetti today as concerned citizens and environmental officials inspected the coast line near Deep Hole, a popular fishing and surfing spot. It appears that the dredging project under way at the Harbor of Refuge is digging up three decades of trash that has fallen or been thrown off boats.

Now, that waste is landing on the beaches as a result of a plan to dump the dredged material just offshore to restore Matunuck’s storm-stripped beaches.

“This was supposed to be clean sand and gravel from Point Judith Pond. … We were under the understanding there was no garbage,” said John Torgan, baykeeper with Save The Bay.

Save The Bay, which was contacted by residents, is asking that the project be suspended until it is determined to be safe to proceed.

Laura Ricketson, spokeswoman for the state Coastal Resources Management Council, said the refuse was not hazardous. “None of it’s contaminated. This is all stuff that has been either lost overboard or tossed overboard,” she said.

A tour of the beach in the vicinity of Deep Hole and the Ocean Mist found fishing nets, rubber gloves and boots, hoses, a leather belt, and hundreds of pop-top beer cans, some apparently dating back 30 years to when the harbor was last dredged.

Ricketson said there was no plan to stop the dredging. CRMC is the state sponsor of the dredging operation, which is being overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“If we pull out now the channel will not be navigable,” she said. “We have to weigh having non-hazardous material wash up on the beach and having the channel not be safe.”

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:59 PM | Comment

Health Dept: Restaurant worker has hepatitis A

The state Health Department announced today that a male restaurant employee who works at both The Cheesecake Factory in Providence and the Texas Roadhouse in Cranston has a confirmed case of hepatitis A, which is a liver disease caused by a virus.

After consulting with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health department decided to dispense preventive immune globulin (antibody) shots to the employee’s co-workers over the next few days to ensure the safety of those restaurant employees.

Because the employee with hepatitis A was not a food handler at the restaurants, the health department said there’s no need for preventive measures for the public or people who dined at the restaurants.

The worker is receiving medical treatment and is recovering.

Both restaurants are cooperating with the health department and “continuing to monitor for and ensure safe food handling practices,” according to a news release issued by Director of Health Dr. David R. Gifford.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

“Both establishments are safe and open for business,” Gifford said in the statement.

Hepatitis A is uncommon in Rhode Island, where the health department says there are approximately 25 cases reported a year. The disease is spread when people do not wash their hands well after going to the bathroom. Germs on people’s hands can spread to others and cause the infection.

Most people who get hepatitis A recover in a few weeks, according to the health department. Once you recover, you cannot contract the disease again.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:26 PM | Comment

Elusive carjacking suspect arraigned / Photo

PROVIDENCE -- For more than a day, carjacking suspect Gregory Coffey refused to come out of his cell at police headquarters so his fingerprints and mug shots could be taken. As a result, his District Court arraignment was postponed until this afternoon.

“He’s just getting a little belligerent,” said Sgt. Paul Brousseau, who oversees Providence police prosecutions. “But this (resistance) is kind of getting to the extreme.”

The police generally try to avoid holding anyone at headquarters for more than 48 hours. Suspects either are released or transferred to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

The police did not press the issue at first, and Coffey relented this morning, submitting to fingerprints and mug shots. He was brought to court this afternoon. As he stood before Judge Michael Higgins, he pulled up his sweatshirt in an attempt to hide his face from news photographers.

Providence and East Providence police lodged 13 charges against him, including charges that he broke into his mother’s house and stole her car, and that he later carjacked his girlfriend and led East Providence and Providence police on separate chases Tuesday and Wednesday.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Providence police finally captured him at about 5 a.m. yesterday, after he ran across Route 95 and climbed a fence. Officers caught up to him when he slipped and fell on ice.

In court today, lawyer John Bevilacqua said Coffey, who has an extensive criminal record, “has a history of mental health problems.” Bevilacqua said he will seek a competency examination to test Coffey’s capability to face the charges against him.

Because some of the charges are felonies, no plea was entered on Coffey’s behalf. Higgins ordered Coffey held at the ACI pending a court hearing Feb. 8 regarding bail and his status as an alleged probation violator.

Given the concern about Coffey’s mental health, Providence police inspector David Brien said Coffey will be kept under special observation at the ACI Adult Intake Center.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:09 PM | Comment

Next release of Station fire evidence on Feb. 1

The state Attorney General’s Office said today it plans to release next Thursday all of the testimony heard by the grand jury that indicted the three defendants in The Station nightclub fire case.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch will also make the third disclosure of case evidence to news media outlets through the state’s Access to Public Records Act. The releases are in response to open records requests by The Providence Journal, The Associated Press and The Boston Globe.

This latest release will include hundreds of witness statements and several video clips, including: footage taken of the crime scene by the West Warwick Police Department early on the morning after the Feb. 20, 2003, fire; three amateur clips of the exterior of The Station at the time of the fire, and additional clips of bands that played at the nightclub before the fire.

The fire killed 100 people and injured more than 200. The cases against the club's co-owners and band manager who lit the pyrotechnics that started the blaze, never came to trial, however, after each submitted pleas.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:40 PM | Comment

Update: Yashar to learn outcome of traffic case Monday

CRANSTON – Former Traffic Tribunal Judge Marjorie R. Yashar, who is accused of causing a minor traffic incident herself, should know the outcome of her case Monday.

Yashar did not attend today’s proceedings at the new Traffic Tribunal complex here. She was not required to be there, as long as her lawyer attended.

Lawyers for both sides addressed Judge George E. Healy Jr., who said he will issue a written decision in the matter by the end of Monday.

Yashar is accused of bumping a car in the court parking lot, at its former home in Providence, and leaving without notifying the car's owner, Magistrate Domenic A. DiSandro III. She is accused of causing minor damage.

The incident occurred in June 2005. Yashar retired as a traffic judge in September 2005.

Healy, the chief judge of the state Workers’ Compensation Court, heard the matter in court today because all of the Traffic Tribunal judges and magistrates recused themselves from the proceeding, according to courts spokesman Craig N. Berke.

The trial began on Monday, Berke said, with the testimony of some witnesses. Yashar also did not attend that day. The matter was adjourned until today.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson, with reports from Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault

Posted by Kate Bramson at 4:08 PM | Comment

Sports today...and tonight

After a couple of full evenings, there's not much going tonight for our local pro and college sports teams.

There is a pretty big high school event going on this afternoon at the Bayside YMCA in Barrington, when the Hendricken boys swim team takes on the hometown Eagles. Both squads come into the meet at 6-0. Click here to read what John Gillooly said recently about the threat that Barrington poses to Hendricken's 17-year reign as boys champion. Projo.com will present a gallery of photos from the meet tomorrow.

On TV tonight, you can see the NBA's top team, the Dallas Mavericks, in action on TNT. The Mavs (35-8) visit Chicago to take on the Bulls (24-19). The game starts at 8. Also, the nation's third-ranked college basketball team, UCLA, visits unranked California in a game on Fox Sports New England at 9.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 3:05 PM | Comment

Fall River Co. fined $480K for dumping wastewater

BOSTON -- A Fall River textile company has agreed to pay a $480,000 federal fine after the Environmental Protection Agency found three of the company's plants illegally dumped polluted wastewater into the city's sewer system.

Duro Textiles makes camouflage and high-performance sports fabrics in a process that produces large amounts of highly acidic and highly alkaline wastewater, according to the New England office of the EPA.

The EPA alleged that three of Duro's plants repeatedly violated legal limits on the acidic and alkaline wastewater discharged into the Fall River sewer system. Such wastewater is corrosive and can damage sewer piping and water treatment plant equipment.

The agency also accused Duro of failing to routinely inspect potential sources of stormwater contamination, such as outdoor fuel tanks, and failed to keep an incinerator temperature high enough to sufficiently destroy certain emissions that cause ground level ozone, a serious air problem in New England.

A company spokeswoman had no immediate comment today.

The EPA said the company agreed to the $480,000 fine, has made changes to comply with federal pollution laws, and also agreed to further penalties if it commits future violations.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:31 PM | Comment

Lane reopens for first time since Big Dig accident

BOSTON -- A short section of the High Occupancy Vehicle lane on Interstate 93 reopened this morning for the first time since last summer's fatal accident inside a Big Dig tunnel.

The HOV or car-pool lane just north of Exit 20 provides access to South Station and Kneeland Street. It can be used by private vehicles with two or more passengers.

State transportation officials say the remainder of the HOV lane is expected to reopen in the spring when all repair work is completed.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:21 PM | Comment

State going paperless for unemployment, TDI checks

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Adelita Orefice (left), director of the state Department of Labor and Training, holds a replica electronic payment card while discussing how it will work during a press conference.

To save money and improve service, the state of Rhode Island will do away with all paper unemployment checks as of March 26 and instead will deliver unemployment benefits via direct deposit or “electronic payment cards,” which can be used at ATMs, grocery stores and other retailers.

The move is expected to save the state about $500,000 a year in printing and processing costs and reduce the potential for delays or theft, said the state Department of Labor and Training’s director, Adelita S. Orefice.

Electronic payments, including payment cards, also will begin to replace the paper checks used for Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) in July, in hopes of eliminating all paper TDI checks by Sept. 20, said the department’s assistant director, income support, Raymond A. Filippone.

-- Journal staff writer Lynn Arditi

The state will offer unemployment and temporary disability recipients a choice of receiving their benefits via direct deposit or the payment cards being issued in cooperation with JPMorgan Chase.

JPMorgan Chase will supply about 50,000 debit cards a year carrying unemployment insurance benefits approved by the state. The cards function similarly to VISA cards, allowing holders to withdraw cash from participating ATMs or make point-of-sale purchases anywhere VISA is accepted, the department said in a news release.

Nearly 100,000 people received unemployment or TDI paychecks from the state last year, Filippone said. About 42 percent of the state's TDI and UI recipients -- or roughly 41,500 people -- are “unbanked,” meaning they have no bank account, he said.

The payment cards will eliminate the need for those without bank accounts to use check-cashing stores, which charge fees to cash checks. People with the payment cards will be allowed one free withdrawal per deposit each week. They can also use the card free of charge to pay for items in stores, as long as it's a "signature" transaction. Cardholders will have to pay some type of fee if they use the card's debit function (which does not involve a signature) or if they make additional ATM withdrawals, Filippone said.

Currently, about 8 percent of the people who receive UI or TDI benefits have their funds deposited directly into their bank accounts, he said. The state has been offering that function since about 2000. The figure is relatively low, Filippone said, because many recipients have no bank accounts.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:07 PM | Comment

Catholic school calls for silent lunch

WARWICK -- The chapel isn't the only place where silence is expected at one Rhode Island Catholic school.

The Saint Rose of Lima School in Warwick has new lunch rules that require students to remain silent during lunch.

The move comes after three recent choking incidents in the school cafeteria.

All three students are fine -- but school Principal Jeannine Fuller said in a letter to parents that ``the school's priority is the safety of each child.''

The letter says all students must remain silent during lunch. Students who don't follow the policy will receive a lunch detention.

Providence Diocese spokesman Michael Guilfoyle says the school is enacting a temporary safety measure. He says the school doesn't expect complete silence but enough quiet to keep students safe.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 1:32 PM | Comment

Mrs. Carcieri won't attend anti-abortion rally

PROVIDENCE -- It was almost a year ago that Sue Carcieri led a group of anti-abortion advocates in saying of the rosary amidst placards displaying images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary inside the State House rotunda.

This afternoon, another rally will be held at the State House to promote the anti-abortion agenda. But the governor's wife isn't planning to attend.

"She will not be participating," said the governor's spokesman Jeff Neal this morning. Asked why, Neal responded that he wasn't sure if the first lady had been invited.

Carcieri's role at last year's rally, led by the group Catholics for Life, drew criticism from some political leaders, including Senate President Joseph Montalbano, who questioned whether it violated the separation between church and state.

Today's rally also will not be held inside the State House. The group RI Right to Life is scheduled to meet from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. outside the Capitol building off Smith Street. Alveda King, niece of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., will be a featured speaker.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:59 AM | Comment

Some Powerball luck for R.I. after all

Rhode Island missed out on the $254 million Powerball jackpot last night --since the big winner was sold in Missouri -- but one $30,000 winning ticket and five $10,000 winners were sold in the Ocean State, according to the Rhode Island Lottery.

All six winning Rhode Island tickets matched four numbers and the Powerball number, according to the Rhode Island Lottery. The standard payout for that type of win is $10,000, but one player also purchased the Power Play feature for an extra dollar, tripling the award.

That ticket was sold at Lakewood Liquors, 774 Warwick Ave. in Warwick.

The other five tickets were sold at the following stores: Gold Mart, 1531 Newport Ave., Pawtucket; Brooks Pharmacy, 1200 North Main St., Providence; Hess Express, 1112 Post Rd., Warwick; Colbea Enterprises, 1207 Pontiac Ave., Cranston; and Sherwood's Shell, 10 Post Rd., Warwick.

The tickets haven't been claimed yet.

The winning numbers were 9-19-29-42-53; the Powerball number was 17, and the Power Play was 3.

Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball share the $254 million jackpot. But there was just one big winner.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:55 AM | Comment

Foster man recovering after nearly severing leg

PROVIDENCE -- The 71-year-old Foster man who nearly severed his leg yesterday in a brush-cutting accident is recovering at Rhode Island Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Andrea Barbosa.

Richard Simons is in good condition this morning, Barbosa said.

He was rushed to the hospital yesterday afternoon after cutting nearly 80 percent through his right leg while cutting brush with a gas-powered saw on his property. Simons was expected to undergo surgery today, his wife said yesterday.

Alone and without a cell phone, Simons, a former Marine and Korean War vet, made a rudimentary tourniquet and dragged himself across the ice, his backyard and driveway — nearly 300 yards — to his house and the nearest telephone.

For more, read the story from today's Journal.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:26 AM | Comment

Conn. woman quickly captures world's oldest title

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Emma Faust Tillman, who marked her 114th birthday last fall by crediting God for her longevity, has become the world's oldest known person.

Tillman, born in 1892 to former slaves in North Carolina, earned the distinction Wednesday after the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro at his home on the northern coast of Puerto Rico.

Tillman, of East Hartford, had been the world's third-oldest person until 115-year-old Julie Winnifred Bertrand of Montreal, Canada, died in her sleep last week.

With del Toro's death yesterday, Tillman became the world's oldest validated "supercentenarian" in records maintained by the Gerontology Research Group in Los Angeles and other organizations.

At 114 years and 63 days old, Tillman reached the top spot more quickly than the average "oldest known" person verified by Guinness World Records, who is usually closer to 114.5.

Tillman is the youngest title holder in six years, said Robert D. Young, senior consultant for gerontology for Guinness World Records.

Her ascent - from sixth-oldest in August 2006 to the top position Wednesday - was particularly speedy. The average time for a person to be the world's oldest is about eight months, Young said.

"I think everybody's astounded that the other people died as quickly as they did," he said.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 9:28 AM | Comment

Hundreds gather at municipal conference

WARWICK -- Hundreds of municipal leaders across the state won't be at work today.

That's because the 7th annual convention of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns kicks off this morning. More than 700 city and town employees are expected to attend.

Attendees will have a chance to visit more than two dozen departments and agencies of state government over the course of the day, which also offers 20 workshops.

"The exposition is the most cost-effective way to have face-to-face meetings with major vendors and state agencies who will showcase their products and services in a setting designed exclusively for city and town officials," reads the conference's Web site.

Today's conference, which is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, began at 8:30 a.m. and is scheduled to run through this afternoon. Attendance is free.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:42 AM | Comment

No more paper unemployment checks?

CRANSTON -- State officials will unveil a plan this morning to change the way 100,000 Rhode Islanders get paid.

Officials at the state Department of Labor and Training will hold a 10:30 a.m. press conference to talk about a new method to distribute unemployment and temporary disability insurance checks.

Paper may soon be a thing of the past.

Rhode Island plans to be the first state in New England to do away with printed checks. The new system -- the details of which will be unveiled this morning -- is set to begin in the fall.

The state hopes to save $500,000 each year by eliminating check printing, processing and mailing.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:39 AM | Comment

1 hurt, 8 displaced by fire at apartments for elderly

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Fire crews responded to a blaze at an elderly housing complex overnight in which one resident was hospitalized, but dozens more spared as firefighters quickly moved residents and contained the fire.

Firefighters arrived at the Taunton Plaza apartments, 20 Whelden Ave., just after midnight, according to Fire Chief Robert Jobin.

At that time, the fire was burning in apartment 124 on the first floor of the four-story complex.

Jobin said that the fire alarm had been triggered and the sprinkler system was working. But that wasn't enough to extinguish the fire, which was started by unattended candles left in an elderly resident's bedroom.

Firefighters moved the residents -- many of whom were "disabled and mobility-impaired" out of immediate harm and into another section of the building. They were reluctant to move them outside because of the cold, Jobin said.

Firefighters were able to confine the flames to the single apartment, which sustained heavy fire damage.

"The firefighters did an outstanding job," he said. "They contained that fire. There was a lot of potential with the elderly in the building."

One resident was hospitalized after suffering smoke inhalation.

Jobin said there was heavy smoke damage to the second, third and fourth floors and water damage to the first. Fire crews were on the scene of the two-alarm fire until around 3:30 a.m.

At least eight residents were displaced, according to Jobin. Some are staying with neighbors, he said, and the Red Cross is working with others to find hotel rooms.

"We're very, very lucky," Jobin said.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:07 AM | Comment

No luck for R.I., winning Powerball sold in Missouri

DES MOINES, Iowa -- One of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Wednesday night in Missouri matched all six numbers drawn, which were: 9-19-29-42-53; the Powerball number was 17, and the Power Play was 3.

Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball share the $254 million jackpot. But there was just one lucky winner. There's no word yet on who that winner is.

Tickets that match the first five numbers, but miss the Powerball, win $200,000 each, and there were 20 of those. They were sold in: Arizona (2), District of Columbia (1), Iowa (1), Kentucky (1), Minnesota (1), North Carolina (2), New Mexico (2), Pennsylvania (5), Tennessee (4), and Wisconsin (1).

The prize goes to an estimated $15 million for Saturday.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:12 AM | Comment

Enjoy the 20s -- it's going to be freezing

PROVIDENCE -- Today's high temperature isn't supposed to top 30 degrees. Enjoy the mild weather.

It will be "dangerously cold" by the end of today.

Arctic air is going to pour into Rhode Island tonight, according to the National Weather Service. The temperatures will plummet to 10 to 20 below zero taking into account the wind chill.

"These bitter cold temperatures will combine with sustained northwest winds of 15 to 30 mph to produce dangerously cold wind chills," reads a special statement issued this morning by the weather service. "Wind chills will drop to between 10 and 20 below zero late tonight and remain well below zero on Friday."

But temperatures are supposed to be in the high 20s for most of today. A north wind from between 5 and 10 mph is expected. And there's a slight chance of snow showers before 3 p.m.

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

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story on a U.S. Senate resolution opposing President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq and a local story on a state lawmaker's proposal to ban smoking in cars containing children 6 or younger.

Download today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment