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February 1, 2007

Little Compton groundhog to take the spotlight

It’s Groundhog Day tomorrow, and when a little groundhog walks out into the Little Compton morning, he may see snow as well as his shadow.

The National Weather Service predicts a 40 percent chance of flakes overnight, mainly after 3 a.m., but not much accumulation. Then again tomorrow morning, the service predicts an 80 percent chance of snow, mainly between 9 a.m. and noon.

In Little Compton, a couple who adopted a homeless groundhog last summer and nursed him back to health plan to bring him out in a Rhode Island exploration of whether winter is here to stay.

On the Feb. 2 observance, the country typically looks to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where Punxsutawney Phil either sees his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter or does not, signaling that spring is just around the corner.

Tomorrow morning, read in The Journal and on projo.com how our local groundhog got in the act. And check back with projo.com shortly after 7 a.m. tomorrow to learn whether our winter is over -- or just gearing up.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:51 PM | Comment

Station: Nothing new from ex-fire marshal Larocque

The grand jury testimony of former West Warwick fire marshal Denis P. Larocque released today had been previously released to The Journal by Kathleen M. Hagerty, a criminal defense lawyer who represented the brothers who owned the nightclub.

Three witness statements by Larocque to state investigators and copies of memos between him and other town officials were also released today in the massive release of evidence by the state Attorney General’s Office.

All of those except one of the witness statements had been released earlier by the Attorney General’s Office or the town of West Warwick. In the witness statement newly released today, Larocque detailed how he printed for inspectors a copy of a missing memo from his computer when it couldn’t be found in town files.

In the documents, Larocque has given two different explanations for why he did not order The Station nightclub to remove highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been placed on the building's walls as soundproofing and that helped a deadly fire race through the building, ultimately claiming 100 lives.

Days after the Feb. 20, 2003, fire, Larocque told investigators that he had been blinded by anger after seeing that an illegal door he had ordered removed had been reinstalled.

Four months later, Larocque told a grand jury that he did not see the foam during that inspection because he wasn't conducting an in-depth inspection and wasn't looking to see whether the walls had been covered illegally with flammable material.

In the grand jury proceeding with Larocque, state prosecutors deflected difficult questions away from West Warwick's fire marshal several times while he testified.

The toughest questions for Larocque were about two topics: his calculation of the maximum number of people who could safely be in the building and how he missed highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been glued to the nightclub's walls as soundproofing. It was a violation of the fire code to have flammable wall coverings.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson and Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:23 PM | Comment

High school basketball melee leads to suspensions

A large number of players on both the Cranston West and Smithfield boys basketball teams will be suspended for one game, and three players have been suspended for up to three games, as a result of an on-court melee in the final minute of a Tuesday night game between the teams at Cranston West.

In addition, Cranston police may charge two non-playing students who participated in the fight with disorderly conduct.

With 13 seconds remaining in the game, and Smithfield leading 49-40, a fight broke out between a Cranston West player and a Smithfield player as the two players struggled for control of the ball. Before game officials could separate the two players involved in the fight, players from both teams and fans in the stands converged on the court.

Approximately 100 individuals -- players, non-playing students and adults -- were involved in the on-court melee. Cranston School Department event staff workers, along with the coaching staffs of both teams, were able to quell the major portion of the uprising in about five minutes. Several Cranston police officers, who were called to the scene, further stabilized the situation once they arrived and there were no further disturbances.

There were no arrests at the scene, and Cranston public schools athletic director Mike Traficante said there were no reported injuries.

However, Cranston police have reviewed a video tape of the game and Tom Mezzanotte, executive director of the R.I. Interscholastic League, said it is his understanding that two non-playing students may be charged with disorderly conduct. He said he understands that other spectators also may be charged.

Cranston West officials also viewed the tape and have taken school disciplinary action against some non-playing students who were identified as being involved in the melee. Mezzanotte also said that the non-playing students involved will be barred from attending future Interscholastic League events.

Once order was restored Tuesday night, the game officials called the game with the 13 seconds still showing on the clock and declared Smithfield the winner.

-- Journal sports writer John Gillooly

In their report to the league the game officials listed two players, one from Smithfield and one from Cranston West, as being ejected for fighting.

Under league rules, a player ejected for fighting is automatically suspended for at least one game. After viewing the tape, however, league officials identified another Cranston West player who was involved in the initial fight. Those three players have been suspended for up to three games. Under league policy, the players were not named.

In addition to the three players handed multigame suspensions, all the players from both teams who rushed onto the court from the bench have been suspended for one game.

The suspensions for all players were imposed immediately.

Only a combined total of seven players from the two teams who were in uniform Tuesday night do not received any suspensions. Mezzanotte said those seven players were individuals playing in the game at the time the fight broke out, but who were identified as not being involved in the fight.

The multi-suspensions means that both teams will need to use junior-varsity players in the next game. Smithfield, which currently leads the League Division I-North subdivision with an 8-2 record, is scheduled to play South Kingstown Friday night in Smithfield. Cranston West, which is 1-10 in Interscholastic League play this season, will play Mount Pleasant Thursday night at Cranston West.

-- Journal sports writer John Gillooly

Posted by Art Martone at 5:55 PM | Comment

Hall of Fame tennis stars to compete in Newport

NEWPORT -- Newport will be host to another tennis tournament this summer, as Hall of Famers John McEnroe, Mats Wilander and Jim Courier come to Rhode Island to compete in the Outback Champions Series at the Newport Casino from Aug. 22-26.

Pete Sampras, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July, may or may not compete in the seniors event. Sampras has committed to the Champions Series event in Boston May 2-6, and wants to see how that week goes before agreeing to play in any of the remaining five events on the fledgling circuit.

''I’m not plannng on playing (Newport),'' said Sampras. ''I’m playing Boston for now and playing it by ear on the rest.’’

Read more on this story in tomorrow's Journal and on projo.com

-- Journal sports writer Mike Szostak

Posted by Art Martone at 5:46 PM | Comment

4 girls in Woonsocket Middle School brawl expelled

WOONSOCKET — None of the female students involved in last month’s brawl outside Woonsocket Middle School will be allowed to return for the rest of the school year, said School Committee Chairman Marc A. Dubois.

In separate hearings before the School Committee last night, the four girls involved in the Jan. 8 fight were among seven suspended students who were given alternative learning placements within the public school system and out-of-district placements both in the city and outside of the state.

Meanwhile, Supt. Maureen B. Macera is waiting to hear whether the state will provide funding to bring nonviolence training and two streetworkers with the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence into the middle school to help heal a troubled community and prevent future incidents.

A hearing was not held for a fifth girl involved in the Jan. 8 fight because she and her mother had already moved back to the Dominican Republic, Dubois said.

The seven suspended students -- all in the seventh and eighth grades -- were expelled from the middle school yesterday for exhibiting violent and disruptive behavior in three separate incidents. Two other girls had been suspended for fighting on Jan. 3, and a boy had been caught with a Swiss-Army knife in his sneaker, Dubois said.

“We sent a strong message to the 99 percent good students and to the staff that we’re not going to tolerate this kind of behavior,” he said.

-- Journal staff writer Kia Hayes

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:20 PM | Comment

Sports tonight: Bruins at it again

Just two nights ago, the Boston Bruins were blown out on the road by the Buffalo Sabres. Tonight, they'll return home, carrying a four-game losing streak, to play those very same Sabres. This one doesn't look promising. The game starts at 7 on NESN.

In high school sports, Division II boys basketball pacesetter Feinstein (10-0 in the division; 16-1 overall) plays Coventry (5-4; 6-5) at 7 p.m. at the John Hope Settlement House in Providence. Projo.com's High School GameDay page will have a photo gallery and a story by Rob Lee tomorrow.

If you're going to be up late tonight, there'll be a great college basketball matchup in Los Angeles between ninth-ranked Oregon and fifth-ranked UCLA. The game begins at 10:30 on Fox Sports New England.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 3:19 PM | Comment

Station: Biechele trained by a guy named Hutch

The man who set off the fireworks that sparked The Station nightclub fire had no formal training in using pyrotechnics.

About five years before the fire, Daniel Biechele got just an hour of instruction from a guy named Hutch in Los Angeles.

Biechele couldn't even remember Hutch's last name when investigators questioned him after the fire.

But by the time Biechele, Great White's tour manager, set off the gerbs that ignited The Station nightclub, he had been using pyrotechnics for four to five years and had developed a familiarity and comfort level with the fireworks that turned deadly on the night of February 20, 2003.

"I've used these countless times before and never had a problem with them," Biechele said in an interview with investigators released in transcript form today by the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office.

He said somebody could stick their hand in front of one of the lit devices and "the sparks just bounce off."

-- projo.com staff writer Jack Perry

In May, Biechele was sentenced to serve four years at the Adult Correctional Institutions. He had earlier pleaded guilty to 100 counts of misdemeanor manslaughter, a charge imposed when a petty crime results in someone's death.

In a March 2003 interview, prosecutor William Ferland asked Biechele if he'd ever received training in using pyrotechnics.

"Not formally, no," Biechele answered.

Biechele went on to say that he did receive instructions from "a guy by the name of Hutch."

Ferland said, "And you, you don't know his real name, I take it?

"Not offhand, no," Biechele said.

Biechele was working for another band, Wasp, at the time. He said the instruction was at a Los Angeles rehearsal studio called Bill's Place.

Another prosecutor, Gerald Coyne, later pressed Biechele for details on Hutch and his training.

Biechele said, "Hutch basically showed me how to use it and what uh -- how it worked. Just -- you put the match in like such."

Coyne asked, "Did he discuss the safety aspects of using these devices?"

"To an extent, but we didn't go into any formal detail of it," Biechele replied.

Coyne asked, "What exactly did he say?"

"I don't recall," Biechele said.

Coyne asked Biechele how long the training session lasted.

"He was probably there for an hour, demoing various different pyrotechnic materials for the band," Biechele said.

Biechele said he didn't receive any other training with respect to safety of devices, aside from operating instructions on them.

Biechele said Michael Derderian had given him permission to use the pyrotechnics in a telephone conversation about a week before Great White's concert. He figured that meant the building was safe. He also said he relied on the venues to get any necessary permits when he set off pyrotechnics.

Under Ferland's questioning, Biechele acknowledged that he didn't formulate a written plan on how the pyrotechnics would be used or safety precautions. Biechele also acknowledged he didn't check to see whether the material surrounding the stage was fire or flame retardant.

"That's not something that I'm qualified to judge," Biechele said.

Ferland said, "You could've maybe lit a match and seen if it went up, right? Just for basic practical -- "

"I could've, but that wasn't something that - honestly, I think if somebody had lit a match and stuck it to that wall, the whole building would have gone up, as it did, at -- uh from what I saw at the fire," Biechele said.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:35 PM | Comment

Station: Grand jury asked to consider indicting just 3

When it came time for grand jurors to consider whether to bring criminal charges against anyone in connection with The Station nightclub fire, prosecutors submitted only three names of potential defendants for the jurors’ consideration: Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the owners of the club where 100 people perished, and Daniel M. Biechele, the tour manager for the rock band Great White who set off the fireworks that sparked the deadly blaze.

West Warwick fire inspector Denis P. Larocque, who inspected the nightclub several times before the fire but failed to cite the Derderians for deadly polyurethane foam that lined the walls and ceiling of their club, never became a subject of the grand jury’s deliberations when it came time to consider indictments.

According to grand jury testimony released this morning by the office of Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch, while reviewing evidence in connection with the Feb. 20, 2003 fire, the grand jurors asked prosecutors to bring in an expert witness who could provide information about fire investigations, including an explanation of state and local fire codes, what type of inspections the Town of West Warwick was supposed to do, if there was a difference between an annual inspection and a license transfer application and “whether there were any standards for inspections, checklists or national standards.”

The prosecutors mulled over the grand jurors’ request, then told them “before we go any further” that they wanted the grand jurors to know that under Rhode Island law, the state fire marshal or anyone assisting him or deputized by him to carry out inspections is immune from criminal or civil liability unless there is proof they acted in bad faith or with malice.

Prosecutor Michael Stone told the grand jurors, “Like I say, whether you agree with it, whether you disagree with it, it’s the law of the State of Rhode Island and the law that we must follow.”

-- Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Based on that, Stone asked, “Do you still wish to hear from a witness to answer the questions that you previously asked about the Town of West Warwick, the fire marshal’s duties, inspections and types of inspections that are done?”

One grand juror asked Stone to define “bad faith.”

Stone replied: “I think our legal interpretation of bad faith would be that the person would have to be, you know, acting and knowing that there’s something wrong and ignoring it for some particular purpose and the maliciously would be equal to an evil intent almost as in, you know, the maliciousness you need for committing any crime.

“You really have to find, and there would have to be evidence to show, that the person either knew there was something wrong and ignored it purposely or perhaps was doing it for other reasons, maybe for pecuniary gain or something like that, but as far as acting in good faith and without malice, they’re exempt from civil or criminal liability. Yes, sir.”

“Why have a fire marshal?” the grand juror retorted. “If the fire marshal did nothing, not responsible for anything, why have a fire marshal? There’s no use in having a fire marshal.”

“Sir, you would have to ask the General Assembly that,” Asst. Atty. Gen. William Ferland told him.

“Yes,” said Stone. “That’s the statute they enacted and I will say one other thing is, you know, regardless of what this yes, you know, we’re all responsible, you know, for knowing the law, I mean for – for obeying the law as it stands. You can’t get around that, so I’m telling you that this statute in this instance, in our opinion, would relieve a fire marshal [who was] performing his duties in good faith and without malice for any act or omission that he may have or may not have committed.”

A grand juror then asked the prosecutor “so for malice, I wrote down evil intent.”

“Correct,” Ferland said.

“Yes,” echoes Stone.

“What kind of words can I put down for bad faith?” the grand juror asked.

Ferland then launched into a long explanation of malice, which he said included “a conscious intent on the part of the actor.”

“What about bad faith?’’ the grand juror pressed. “Can you give us an example of bad faith?”

The prosecutors didn’t directly answer the question.

Another grand juror asked the prosecutors what the rationale was behind the General Assembly enacting a statute that, in most cases, would protect fire inspectors from being held liable.

“It would be pure speculation on our part to say what the rationale is,” Ferland said. “One thing to consider though is that many of these fire inspectors … are volunteer firefighters and they perform these duties on behalf of fire districts, local fire districts in a volunteer capacity, so one thing that the General Assembly could have had in mind – and this is mere speculation – is that you’re not going to find many people coming out and volunteering their time to conduct such inspections if they know they are going to be liable for negligently performing those tasks, and so in an effort to encourage people to volunteer their time in a day and age when we still rely heavily upon volunteer firefighters, the General Assembly may, in its infinite wisdom, have decided to provide this prophylactic protection to those people who are willing to go forward.”

West Warwick’s fire inspector was not a volunteer fire inspector. Larocque was employed as a full-time firefighter, with benefits, for the Town of West Warwick and is still employed there.

Ferland told the grand jurors: “Whether we agree with the wisdom of the General Assembly or not, it is irrelevant. We can talk about how outrageous it might be that a particular statute was enacted or not enacted but we are duty bound to follow the law whether we agree with it or we don’t.”

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:31 PM | Comment

Cranston's new mayor keeps public works director

CRANSTON -- Democratic Mayor Michael T. Napolitano will not replace Public Works Director Marco Schiappa, the first member of former Republican Mayor Stephen P. Laffey's administration that he has officially retained.

Napolitano has moved rapidly to dismiss most of Laffey's former top aides, including Finance Director Jerome I. Baron, who Laffey had praised as a principal architect of the city's fiscal turnaround that Laffey engineered.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin Gedan

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 2:08 PM | Comment

Station: Bouncer says no one blocked the back door

Mario Giamei, a bouncer at The Station the night of the fire, told the grand jury that no one prevented patrons from escaping through a door behind the stage.

Q: You testified that you actually pushed Dan Biechele through the door, is that correct?

A: Yeah.

Q: I think your fear was that he was blocking the door?

A: He was -- he was looking up at the stage which I now presume that he was looking for Ty Longley but the whole band, he was kind of funneling them out, you know, pushing them through. He was looking at the stage. I said, "you've got to get out of this dooway" and I pushed him through it.

Q: But you're implying that he was trying to block people from exiting that door?

A. No. No. Nobody, nobody was near that doorway trying to block anybody. It was all a matter I think he was trying to find Ty Longley.

-- Journal staff writer Tom Mooney

Posted by Peter Phipps at 2:00 PM | Comment

Station: Photographer's video captures flames, sirens

Photographer Daniel Davidson was there the night disaster struck The Station nightclub. In addition to photos, he was able to shoot some video of the overnight fire, showing the smoke and flames rising above the club and capturing the sound of sirens.

Davidson, a producer at Cox Communications, was the subject of a recent Sunday Journal story on his experiences, which included a slideshow of some of the photos he shot that night.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:11 PM | Comment

Station: Medical examiner explains how they died

Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, the former chief medical examiner for the state who performed autopsies on the victims of The Station nightclub fire, told the grand jurors:

"In most fire deaths what people die of is not the actual flame but they die of the atmosphere...They die of inhaling various things in the atmosphere and then their bodies can be severely burned and damaged after death so those are the things we look at in looking at a fire death."

"The second thing is there is carbon monoxide and this is usually the big killer in most fires...In a fire that is very rapidly and completely burning, it uses up all the oxygen in the atmosphere ...

"You can take about four or five breaths of an oxygen-depleted atmosphere and you'll become unconscious. The other thing in the atmosphere is it's very, very hot and when you inhale superheated atmosphere, your larynx can close off and you can die very rapidly."

-- Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Asked by Asst. Atty. Gen. William Ferland why she thinks 100 people perished in the fire and about 300 people were able to get out alive, the medical examiner said "factors of human behavior" played a role.

"If you look back at some of ... the big sort of historic fires, the Coconut grove fire, people are having dinner in one room and they saw another room burning ... Some people may say, 'oh, gee, it's a fire. I'm getting out.' Other people say, 'well, maybe someone else will put it out. I'm going to listen to the band or finish my dessert."

At the conclusion of her testimony, one of the grand jurors asked Laposata if her office was able to determine where each body was found inside the nightclub.

Laposata said investigators did have general ideas and "I can tell you who was found in the doorway areas, in the front areas and in the hallway there were about 30 there. Then there were about 10 more found in the main stage area and the rest were in the other areas of the -- of the club."

The grand juror then asked: "Were the 20 that showed evidence of cyanide in their lungs, were they pinpointed or do you have any idea of where they were?"

"They roughly correlated with being in the stage and like dance floor area. They were not the ones in the front door area," the medical examiner said.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 1:06 PM | Comment

Hearing set on high school basketball brawl

The R.I. Interscholastic League will hold a meeting this afternoon to determine what disciplinary action should be taken as a result of an on-court melee in the final minute of Tuesday night’s Cranston West-Smithfield boys basketball game in Cranston.

With 13 seconds remaining in the game and Smithfield leading 49-40, a fight broke out between a Cranston West player and a Smithfield player as they struggled for control of the ball. Before game officials could separate the two players, others from both teams along with fans from the stands converged on the court.

For about five minutes there were approximately 100 people -- players, non-playing students and adults -- involved in the on-court melee. Cranston School Department event staff workers, along with the coaching staffs of both teams, were able to quell the major portion of the uprising within a few minutes. Several Cranston police officers, who were called to the scene, stabilized the situation and there were no further disturbances.

There were no reported injuries and there were no arrests at the scene. A Cranston School Department official said, however, that the Cranston police are still reviewing a videotape of the game.

Once order was restored, game officials called the game and declared Smithfield the winner. Officials from both schools, Interscholastic League officials and game officials are expected to attend today’s meeting.

-Sports Writer John Gillooly

Posted by Mike McDermott at 11:57 AM | Comment

Station: In 2004, warning placed on state's foam order

The president of the company that sold the polyurethane foam to The Station did not believe this company gave the owners a written warning about the flamability of their product.

Aram DerManouelian, president of American Foam in Johnston, told the grand jury his company did sell fire-retardant foam to schools. And he said the company would supply a safety sheet when requested by a buyer.

But DerManouelian said he doubted the company included an MSDS safety sheet with the order. He said that was not the company's practice.

DerManouelian did read for the Grand Jury a fax from Michael Derderian on June 9, 2000 ordering the foam.

"Please accept our order for 25 blocks of sound foam. If you have any questions, please give me a call..."

The price was $580.75. (DerManouelian testified that the fire-retardant foam would have cost twice as much. )

A year after the fire, American Foam sold the state attorney general 50 sets of this same foam for its tests for $1,161.

There's a warning notice attached to that invoice. "POLYURETHANE FOAM IS FLAMMABLE. Do not expose polyurethane foam to radiant heat, open flames, space heaters, burning operations..."

Posted by Peter Phipps at 11:55 AM | Comment

Station: Bouncer Scott Vieira on back door problem

Bouncer Scott Vieira told the police that there was a problem with the back door the night of the fire.

First, there was no doorknob on the door, which was behind the stage, he said.

Prosecutor: "Um, was there a doorknob on that, do you know?"

Vieira: "No, there's no doorknob on the inside door."

Prosecutor: "What, what is it, how do you -- "

Vieira: "The hole."

Prosecutor: " You have to put your hand in the hole to open it?"

Vieira: "Yeah."

Vieira acknowledged that the door had been flagged during fire inspections. West Warwick fire marshal Denis Larocque later said he didn't notice flamable soundproofing foam on the door because he was so angry club owners hadn't removed it.

"I guess when they had the inspection there was a problem with a door being covering the fire door," Vieira says. "And the door was taken off the hinges...And I guess when they did pass code they re -- they put the door back on."

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:50 AM | Comment

Station: Video shows firefighters working scene

Video shot by Gregory Best includes closeups of firefighters working steadily at the door, call for sheets, a stretcher. The building, destroyed, is still in flames, and smoke pours from it.

According to the documents made available today by the attorney general's office, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2003, Gregory Best of Oracle Productions voluntarily provided a copy of video and still imagery of the Station Nightclub fire of Feb. 20, 2003, to the police. The document states Best responded to the fire after it started and took video.

Read the document.

-- maria caporizzo, projo.com

Posted by Mike McDermott at 11:50 AM | Comment

Station: Bouncer Scott Vieira saw the fire start

Scott Vieira, who lost his wife in the fire, remembers hearing Dan Biechele, Great White's manager, take responsibility for the fire.

In an interview with the State Police, he says after the fire started Biechele said: "Boy, I [expletive] this one up. I [expletive] it up."

Vieira said he saw the clicker and he estimated that there were 410 to 420 people in the club when the fire started. "And that's a hard number," he told the state police.

The club was licensed for a maximum occupancy of 404.

During the night, Vieira said he saw his wife working near the stage. He wasn't asked about where she was after the fire started.

Vieira told the police that immediately after the fire started he tried to direct people to the back door.

"I went, yelled into the pool room area trying to get people out, to come that way, and everybody was rushing towards the front door, and I was screaming, 'Come on people, you gotta come that way,'" Vieira said in his witness statement.

"And then I went to the back door and then I seen it wasn't as bad as it ended up being, so I went in and I called some more people and I got, like I said, maybe a dozen, 15 more people out that I know wouldn't have made it out unless I went back in and got them. There's no way they would have made it out."

After he got out, Vieira said he worked to pull people out of the pile at the door.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:44 AM | Comment

Station: Lynch's statement on evidence release

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch issued the following statement this morning:

"Shortly before the disposition of The Station fire criminal cases last September, I promised the victims' family members and loved ones that once the cases were disposed, I would move to release as much information about this tragedy as I could, as quickly as I could. Although it has presented high hurdles in the intervening months, I am very proud of the fact that to this day, my Office is fulfilling this promise. Our continuing efforts have brought to pass two prior disclosures of a significant volume of case evidence and today's historic disclosure of more than 10,000 pages of grand jury testimony and witness statements.

"I firmly believe that our disclosures of information have served the public interest and public good, but I have no illusions about the high costs they have privately exacted upon The Station fire families. I understand that the release of case information -- and particularly today's information, which describes and depicts the events of Feb. 20, 2003, in vivid detail -- could well be very traumatic and painful, and I want the victims' families and the survivors to know how much I regret any further sorrow this causes them. As we have done from the start of this process, we are trying our utmost to
balance their sensitivities and feelings with our obligations pursuant to Rhode Island's open-government laws.

"I would respectfully ask anyone who truly cares about this case to read everything we are disclosing today before forming an opinion about it. Unfortunately, experience has recently shown that a limited view of information, or the presentation of a limited point of view about information, can actually result in misinformation. I would also remind the
public that although a grand jury has broad powers, it is impaneled for a very narrow purpose: to review the adequacy of evidence, and then, based on the existing laws of the State -- not the laws that somebody might wish could be applied to a case -- to decide whether or not to indict a suspect. A prosecutor who fails to keep a grand jury focused on its purpose is misusing and even abusing his powers.

"With today's disclosure, we will have released many of the records relating to The Station fire. More information, however, is to come. We will assess how many records remain to be released and we will continue meeting this task in the most diligent, professional, and dignified manner possible."

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:30 AM | Comment

Station: W. Warwick police video of the scene / Photo

Still photo from West Warwick Police Department video

The Station fire evidence released this morning included several videos.

The following is an excerpt from West Warwick Police Department video shot on the night of the fire, Feb. 20, 2003, and the next morning, showing the charred shell of the nightclub, inside and outside. Many firefighters and police officers remain on the scene.

Editor's note: The attorney general's office has edited this video, for privacy and sensitivity, so that it does not depict victims of the fire. This video has been edited for length by projo.com.

Play the video (3 minutes, 26 seconds).

Projo.com will post more video clips as soon as possible. The Attorney General's Office is also in the process of posting more videos, in MPG format, directly to its Web site here.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 11:07 AM | Comment

Station: Michael Derderian heads to lawyer's office

The wife of Station co-owner Michael Derderian's told the grand jury that Derderian went to his lawyer's office even before going home after returning from vacation the day after the fire.

Kristina Link said she and Derderian were in Florida the night of the Feb. 20, 2003, fire. They flew back separately, she testified in her grand jury testimony released today, and she picked up Derderian at the airport at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21.

"And when you picked him up, where did you bring him?" the prosecutor asks Link, who is now Kristina Derderian.

"We took his son to his father's house and then we went to his lawyer's office," she said.

"And when you say you went to the lawyer's office, which lawyer was that?" the prosecutor asks.

"Kathleen Hagerty," Link says.

"So you and Michael went to Kathleen Hagerty's office and that was on Friday evening?" the prosecutor asks.

"Yes."

Later in her testimony, Link says that Jeffrey Derderian and his wife, Linda, also attended the meeting in Hagerty's office. Besides Link, no one else was there, she says.

"And are you prepared to talk about the substance of what was discussed at the meeting?" the prosecutor asks.

"On the advice of counsel I refuse to discuss or divulge what was discussed at that meeting because it involves confidential attorney/client communications," Links says.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:33 AM | Comment

Station: Jeffrey Derderian says pyro not OK'd

Image shows the top of the first page of Jeffrey Derderian's statement.

Station co-owner Jeffrey Derderian, in a statement to the police, said neither he nor his brother, Michael, gave permission for pyrotechnics to be used by Great White.

But Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele and leader Jack Russell, in their statements to the police, claimed the band had permission.

"At no time did I or my brother authorize or OK the use of any sparkle material or pyro by the band Great White," Derderian wrote in a 3-page witness statement for the West Warwick Police Department.

Derderian's witness statement was not released by the attorney general's office, but Derderian released it to the Journal at the Journal's request.

Read: Page One of his statement / Page Two / Page 3

Derderian acknowledges, in the statement, that his brother had several conversations with Great White's tour manager about topics including playing time, hotel rooms and food, but he makes no mention of pyrotechnics.

Biechele claimed that Michael Derderian gave him permission to use pyrotechnics during a telephone conversation about a week before the tragic night.

Biechele also said Jeffrey Derderian was standing near the stage while the pyrotechnics were being set up.

Derderian wrote that he was working at the main bar when the club caught fire. He said the band started playing around 11 a.m., and he saw flames coming from the stage shortly after they started.

Derderian said he grabbed a fire extinguisher, handed it to someone then "went to the entrance to help people get out of the building."

The club owner wrote that he believed the club's capacity was 350 to 400. He wrote that there were 250 to 260 people inside the building when he checked the club's door clicker some time around 10 p.m.

In a February 2004 report, the Journal established that 440 people were inside the club. The club's capacity, set by the town, was 404.

The statements by Russell and White were among the documents released today by the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:07 AM | Comment

Station: Derderian's wife says employees paid cash

In more than 200 pages of her grand jury testimony released today, Michael Derderian's wife -- formerly known as Kristina Link -- tells prosecutors that The Station regularly paid employees in cash.

Link, now Kristina Derderian, worked as the office manager for The Station and sometimes paid employees directly with cash, according to her testimony.

Link was asked about Irina Gershelis, a club employee known as "the shot girl" because she carried around a tray of alcoholic shots.

"Did she get cash or was she on the payroll?" a prosecutor asks in one 89-page file of grand jury testimony.

Link: "Cash."

Prosecutor: "But not on the payroll?"

Link: "I don't think so."

Posted by Steve Peoples at 10:05 AM | Comment

Station: Biechele says Derderian OK'd pyro/ Update

Great White tour manager Dan Biechele told the police that Station co-owner Michael Derderian had given him permission to use pyrotechnics before the Feb. 20, 2003 fire that claimed 100 lives.

"He said yes we could use them," Biechele wrote in a nine-page statement to the police at 7:13 a.m. Feb. 21, 2003.

He also wrote, in an initial statement, that Jeffrey Derderian was standing near the stage as the pyrotechnics were being set up before the show.

In the initial statement to the police at 1:21 a.m. Feb. 21, 2003, Biechele wrote that he had called Jeffrey Derderian and ended up talking to his brother Michael. (In the later statement, he wrote that the call would have been on Feb. 13 or 14.)

He said they went over details of the show, including times, crew, equipment, catering and using gerbs.

"I asked if we could use the gerbs and told him they were fired twice in the show," Biechele wrote in the statement.

Biechele wrote that he explained that they were like sparklers used in July 4th celebrations. He said he told Derderian they would spray about 15 feet for about 15 seconds.

On the night of the show, Biechele wrote, "Jeff Derderian was at the side of the stage multiple times while the gerbs were ... wired."

After the gerbs were set off and finished, Biechele wrote, he noticed the foam on the back wall of the stage caught fire. Biechele tried putting it out with water, but he said it spread quickly. He then went to "look for a fire extinguisher on the side of the stage and found none."

"The whole building caught flame very rapidly," he said.

At the end of the statement, he wrote, "I had spoke to Mike Derderian regarding the pyro. He said nothing about requiring ... licenses, permits, demonstrations or .... a fire marshall on hand."

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:56 AM | Comment

Station: Bouncer Scott Vieira saw the fire start

Scott Vieira, who lost his wife in the fire, remembers hearing Dan Biechele, Great White's manager, take responsibility for the fire.

In an interview with the State Police, he says after the fire started Biechele said: "Boy, I [expletive] this one up. I [expletive] it up."

Vieira said he saw the clicker and he estimated that there were 410 to 420 people in the club when the fire started. "And that's a hard number," he told the state police.

The club was licensed for a maximum occupancy of 404.

During the night, Vieira said he saw his wife working near the stage. He wasn't asked about where she was after the fire started.

After he got out, he said he worked to pull people out of the pile at the door.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 9:15 AM | Comment

Station: Derderian's wife denies removing evidence

Michael Derderian's wife -- formerly known as Kristina Link -- tells the police that she didn't remove any files from Derderian's home in Narragansett in the days before police searched the Tern Road building, which also doubled as a business office for The Station.

She also denied seeing any mention of pyrotechnics in the contract between Great White and The Station.

Link, now Kristina Derderian, worked as the office manager for The Station. She was with Derderian in Florida the night of the fire. And she spent time in the office in the days immediately afterward.

She initially cooperated with the police investigation, but following her marriage had filed a motion claiming spousal privilege, which would allow her to avoid testifying against Derderian.

In her 41-page statement to police, she denied removing any files -- at that time the Great White contract was missing -- and said that the contract, which she had reviewed, included no mention of pyrotechnics.

Link also told police that she was in charge of paying the bills and said she didn't remember any bill for pyrotechnics.

"Okay," a police questioner says in the statement recorded on Feb. 28, 2003. "We need to ask you this: Did you remove any files from the office before the police got there?"

Link: "No."

Police: "At no time, from the time you arrived back from Florida until the time the police arrived with the search warrant, at no time did you remove any records at all from the office?"

Link: "No."

Police: "Didn't shred any records?"

Link: "We don't have a shredder."

Police: "Didn't destroy any records?"

Link: "No."

Police: "Didn't give them to anyone?"

Link: "No."

Posted by Steve Peoples at 9:09 AM | Comment

Station: Julie Mellini grabbed the cash drawer

Julie Ann Mellini, identified in witness statements as a shot girl and bartender, was behind the bar when the fire started.

She told investigators stage manager Paul Vanner ran by her and told her: "Julie, get the hell out. Get the hell out now. The place is goin' up."

She said she then grabbed the register drawer and the tip jar and told the people around her to follow her out the kitchen door. She said about 20 people followed her.

Then she went around the front of the burning club. She said she ran into "my boss,'' Jeff Derderian, who took the cash drawer.

When she turned back to the front door: "I just seen piles of people trying to get over each other."

Posted by Peter Phipps at 9:07 AM | Comment

Station: Russell says band had permission for 'effects'

In a brief hand-written statement to the West Warwick police, Jack Russell, leader of the band Great White, said his band was given permission to use special effects for the show, according to documents released today by the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office.

"I came on stage at 11 p.m.," Russell wrote. "Effects in first song caught foam wall on fire. Obviously not up to speed as flame retardent. Were told by venue it was okay to use effects but the place burned. I tried to get some people out but couldn't see to get in."

In another document, written by a police officer, Russell told the police he could feel heat behind him after he took the stage and started singing. He turned, saw fire and tried throwing water on it from his bottle.

He then left the building through a stage exit, found that his sound man had been injured and tried getting him help.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:55 AM | Comment

Station evidence: AG posts info on Web site

PROVIDENCE -- The Attorney General has posted thousands of pages of Station fire evidence on its Web site this morning.

Among the materials is the nearly unprecedented release of 4,878 pages of grand jury testimony, 609 witness statements totalling 5,207 pages.

The blaze, one of the worst in the state's history, killed 100 people and injured more than 200.

The grand jury testimony is avaible for public viewing on the attorney general's Web site.

All of the materials have been edited for privacy and sensitivity, according to the Attorney General's Office, which will release the evidence -- which includes video not posted to the Web site -- separately to The Journal and other media outlets on computer hard drives.

Check back throughout the day for repeated updates on projo.com

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:35 AM | Comment

ACI guards in abuse trial expected to testify today

PROVIDENCE -- Three state correctional officers, including a captain who allegedly forced an inmate to taste his own feces on Valentine's Day, are expected to take the witness stand today in their own defense in District Court, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Capt. Gualter Botas, a 17-year ACI veteran is charged with five counts of
simple assault; Lt. Kenneth Viveiros, a 25-year veteran is charged with three counts of simple assault; and Officer Ernesto Spaziano, a 15-year veteran, is charged with one count of simple assault.

The group -- all of whom have been fired from the ACI, according to the Attorney General's Office -- is charged with abusing five prisoners over a nine-month period. Their trial began earlier in the week.

ACI Director A.T. Wall last year referred to the three officers as "renegade staff," who were "making up the rules as they saw fit" and not representative of the majority of the prison staff.

Botas is accused of forcing an inmate to taste his own feces on Valentine's Day.
The other guards are accused of whacking inmates in the head with phone books and a clipboard. Others allege that they were punched in the head, slapped in the face or had packets of soup tossed at them.

Today's court proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:32 AM | Comment

CVS quarterly profits up 3 percent

WOONSOCKET -- Drug store operator CVS says its fourth-quarter profit rose nearly 3 percent on increased sales of generic drugs.

The Woonsocket-based chain's net income grew to $413.6 million, or 49 cents per share. That's up from $402.8 million, or 48 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 24 percent to $12.07 billion from $9.73 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 44 cents per share on revenue of $12.11 billion.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:16 AM | Comment

2 men to be arraigned after stunt scares Boston

BOSTON -- Two men are scheduled for arraignment this morning after they were accused of placing electronic devices at bridges and other high-profile spots as part of a cartoon publicity stunt that threw a scare into the city yesterday.

Highways, bridges, and a section of the Charles River were closed and bomb squads were sent around the city yesterday to check out the illuminated devices.

The 38 magnetic signs, which depict a cartoon character giving the finger, were part of a promotion that had been in place for at least two weeks for the Cartoon Network TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, apologized, but authorities are still angry.

They arrested two men who put up the electronic promotions on a felony charge of placing a hoax device, and vowed to hold Turner accountable for what Mayor Thomas Menino said was "corporate greed," that cost least $500,000.

Read the full Associated Press story.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:14 AM | Comment

Corrente: Celona probe bigger than Plunder Dome

PROVIDENCE -- How does the investigation into John Celona's influence peddling at the State House compare to other major corruption cases in Rhode Island history?

U.S. Attorney Robert Clarke Corrente was asked that question on WPRO radio this morning.

"Is this as extensive as Plunder Dome?," radio host Ron St. Pierre asked of the Providence City Hall's infamous corruption probe that sent former Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. to federal prison.

"It's bigger," Corrente responded, refusing to provide details about those under investigation or when further indictments might be announced.

During Celona's sentencing yesterday in U.S. District Court, the federal government’s lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan, characterized the information Celona has provided to federal prosecutors as unparalleled.

Sullivan said there’s a possibility of 14 more criminal cases, which include seven politicians and seven corporations. He didn’t go into any details about who or what is involved. Sullivan said it’s not clear how many prosecutions will come from those 14 separate investigations.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:50 AM | Comment

Powerball winner? Not this time

Don't quit your day job.

There was no winner in last night's Powerball drawing. None of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Wednesday night matched all six numbers drawn, which were: 02-15-25-42-48; the Powerball number was 14.

Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $15 million jackpot. The prize goes to an estimated $20 million for Saturday.

And while no one took home the big prize, one lucky gambler from Colorado will pocket $200,000. That person's ticket matched the first five numbers, but missed the Powerball number.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:32 AM | Comment

Flurries today, wintry mess overnight

PROVIDENCE -- Today's commute may be a little better than tomorrow's.

This morning's weather is breezy, cold and clear. But things will start changing around 3 p.m.

That's when the National Weather Service is expecting the flurries to begin. The light snow should continue for the rest of the day, to be followed by a wintry mess overnight.

Snow accumulation by midnight will likely be less than an inch, according to the weather service. After midnight, however, up to 2 inches are expected. The snow is expected to mix with rain in the morning to produce a slushy commute.

Chance of precipitation overnight is 100 percent, says the weather service.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:03 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story on the sentencing of former state Sen. John A. Celona and two former executives for the Roger Williams Medical Center and a story on Governor Carcieri's budget proposal.

Download today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment

More Station fire evidence to be released today

PROVIDENCE -- The Attorney General's Office plans this morning to release thousands of pages of previously secret grand jury testimony, witness statements and videos associated with The Station nightclub fire criminal investigation.

The release, which is expected at 9 a.m., follows a public records' request by The Providence Journal, The Associated Press and the Boston Globe.

Among the materials will be the nearly unprecedented release of 4,878 pages of grand jury testimony, 609 witness statements totalling 5,207 pages and seven videos -- including three shot by amateurs the night of the February 2003 blaze, three videos of bands that played in The Station before the night of the fire, and one police crime scene video.

The blaze, one of the worst in the state's history, killed 100 people and injured more than 200.

All of the materials will be edited for privacy and sensitivity, according to the Attorney General's Office, which will release the evidence to the media on computer hard drives. The grand jury testimony will also be posted on the attorney general's Web site.

Check back throughout the day for repeated updates on projo.com

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples with reports from Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

The attorney general will not release a video shot by a Channel 12 camera operator at the West Warwick club that night, even though Lynch had planned to do so.

"We were prepared to release the Channel 12 video, but we had a conversation with a lawyer for the [TV] station's parent company, and he specifically asserted the copyright privilege, and we thought it wise to respect that privilege," Lynch spokesman Michael J. Healey said last week.

Late last year, Lynch released dozens of other videos that had been copyrighted by professional broadcast media. Those included NBC's Dateline, a Discovery Channel documentary about the fire, CNN's Larry King Live, Channel 6 coverage of the fire and news stories that one of the nightclub's owners had done when he worked as a reporter at a Boston television station.

The Attorney General's Office plans to release another batch of evidence following today's release, though no date has been set.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 6:59 AM | Comment