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February 8, 2007

Update: 2 shootings may be linked, say Providence police

PROVIDENCE – Police are investigating whether a shooting this afternoon on Woodbine Street in the Mount Hope neighborhood may be linked to the shooting last night of an 18-year-old man in front of 23 Somerset St.

Det. Capt. Hugh Clements said Andrew Ortiz, 18, was walking along Somerset Street in South Providence with his younger brother around 8:10 p.m. yesterday when a dark-colored vehicle approached them from behind and fired several shots.

One bullet hit Ortiz in the right side of his lower back. He was still listed in serious condition today at Rhode Island Hospital, Clements said.

The second incident, about 1:30 p.m. today, occurred when two people emerged from a light-colored Jeep Cherokee and fired shots at Daniel Lassiter, 31, who was sitting in front of a building at 89 Woodbine St. All of the shots missed.

The police are keeping open “the distinct possibility” that the two shootings are linked, Clements said.

“We are following several leads and are investigating more as we speak,” he said.

-- Journal staff writer Richard Dujardin

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:17 PM | Comment

Central Falls students will be back on orange buses

CENTRAL FALLS – The school department has contracted with additional bus drivers and school buses following several days of bus-driver absences that left students out in the cold waiting for buses that never showed up.

To get students to school today, Central Falls school administrators hired four extra bus drivers who drove students on commercial buses to and from school. Central Falls Police followed the commercial buses to make sure children were picked up and dropped off safely.

However, the police department put Central Falls School administrators on notice that state law forbids the use of commercial buses because they are not marked as school buses with the proper signals.

The police said they would stop any commercial bus transporting children, cite the bus driver and make the bus wait until a school bus is called in to pick up the children, Chief Joseph Moran said.

-- with reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Posted by Kate Bramson at 6:25 PM | Comment

Pawtucket's probate judge held in contempt

PROVIDENCE – Pawtucket’s Probate Court judge was held in contempt today for violating a court order directing that part of the proceeds from a personal injury case involving her ex-husband be placed in an irrevocable trust for their children.

The ruling, which Judge Daniel A. Procaccini delivered from the bench in Superior Court here, came the day after Cristine L. McBurney was reappointed to the Probate Court judgeship, a part-time position she has held for 15 years.

McBurney, 52, left Judge Procaccini’s courtroom yesterday without commenting on his ruling, which followed what Procaccini described as a “contentious and sometimes confusing” hearing that pitted her against her ex-husband, former State Democratic Party Chairman Richard H. James.

But McBurney’s lawyer, Robert D. Goldberg, said, “Clearly, there’s no finding by the court of any misappropriation of these funds or any conversion to any improper purpose.”

“She never took the money and used it for anything whatsoever without court permission, and court permission was granted by the judge when requested,” Goldberg said.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

The money in question, some $150,000, was part of a $1.3 million settlement that the City of Pawtucket and two co-defendants paid James for the brain injury he claimed to have suffered in 1997, when a spotlight at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena fell on his head.

By court order, the $150,000 was supposed to have been placed in an irrevocable family trust established to benefit the couple’s three daughters, who are 15, 17 and 18 years old. Instead, the money went into three tax-free college tuition accounts that McBurney set up for the girls through Citizens Bank.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:54 PM | Comment

Senator wants lawmakers to share health costs

PROVIDENCE – Virtually every person on the state’s payroll now pays part of the cost for their heath care insurance -- except the state’s 113 lawmakers and five general officers.

One state senator wants that to change.

Sen. Paul W. Fogarty, D-Glocester, has proposed that he, his colleagues in the Senate and House as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, general treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general pay 10 percent of their premiums. Not all of those officeholders receive state-paid health insurance, but those who do would have to start contributing.

“This is going to be a year when we have to face painful budget cuts to really important social programs like the ones that provide health care to the poor. How can we do that while we get health care for free?” Fogarty said in a statement.

But don’t expect Fogarty’s bill to go anywhere.

House Speaker William J. Murphy essentially dismissed the concept in a statement today. Murphy, D-West Warwick, said that the free health insurance is part of the compensation package for the part-time lawmakers, who “work all year and have many responsibilities.”

Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano, D-North Providence, did not respond to repeated requests through his spokesman for comment.

-- Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:47 PM | Comment

Georgia murder suspect nabbed in Warwick

A man accused of murder and armed robbery in Georgia is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions after his arrest by the state police and the U.S. marshals.

State Police Capt. Stephen J. Lynch said the marshals in Georgia yesterday alerted the marshals here that Warren W. Smith, 24, was in Rhode Island.

Smith was arrested about 10 last night at 14 Rutherford Court in Warwick.

U.S. marshals and state police detectives, members of the state police Violent Fugitive Task Force, were all involved, Lynch said.

Smith, from Marietta, Ga., is at the ACI pending extradition procedures. In Rhode Island, the state police have charged Smith with one count as a fugitive from justice out of Georgia.

The armed robbery and murder charges stem from a Jan. 5 incident in Georgia, Lynch said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 5:15 PM | Comment

Coast Guard on the way to rescue New Bedford vessel

BOSTON - The Coast Guard is assisting a 74-foot New Bedford fishing vessel with three people aboard that was disabled approximately 35 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket.

The Coast Guard Cutter Campbell, a 270-foot ship based in Kittery, Maine, was expected to reach the Creole Belle this afternoon.

This evening's offshore forecast calls for 30-knot winds and 6 to 10-foot seas.
The crew of the Creole Belle called the Coast Guard for help Wednesday night.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 4:37 PM | Comment

Update: Seal moves, bridge blast goes forward / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
This view of the explosion looks west from the Tiverton shore toward Common Fence Point in Portsmouth. At the moment of detonation, salt spray shot many feet into the air and yellow smoke rose from the rubble of the old concrete supports, now mostly underwater.

After waiting for almost an hour for a seal to get safely out of the way, the state Department of Transportation blew up two concrete piers that were part of the old Sakonnet River Railroad Bridge.

The explosion had been set to go off at 12:30 p.m., but was postponed when the seal made its appearance.

The blast, which sent up rubble, dust and smoke, went off about 1:24 p.m. Spectators heard a boom, and the ripple effect was just that, as waves churned toward the Tiverton shore.

The bridge had featured a span that could swing in and out along a central axis to allow boats to pass up and down the river.

The Coast Guard had deemed the remnants of the structure, which lay to the north and underneath the Sakonnet River Bridge next to Route 24, a hazard.

The DOT established a 500-foot safety zone around the bridge, temporarily blocking traffic on Route 24 along the Sakonnet River Bridge for a short time during the blast.

Portions of Evans Avenue and Riverside Drive in Tiverton were closed temporarily. Boats were also prohibited from traversing the Sakonnet River in the area.

The bridge was taken out of commission in 1980, after an overweight train chugged along its tracks and caused damage, according to DOT records, spokesman Charles St. Martin said. Then in 1988, a barge struck the old swing bridge.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Alex Kuffner

The DOT planned to use a controlled explosive demolition similar to the 11 underwater demolition events that removed the old Jamestown Bridge last summer and fall. However, the Sakonnet demolition was using small explosives.

The $1.6 million railroad bridge removal contract must be completed before the DOT can proceed with its plans to replace the Sakonnet River Bridge. The old Sakonnet River Bridge will remain in place as the new bridge is built nearby, and then, expect another demolition of an old bridge, according to Dana Nolfe, the DOT’s communications director.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:16 PM | Comment

Providence police nab suspected con artist

Providence police have arrested John P. Kluth Jr., a professional criminal who they say has been conning people for decades.

Kluth, 47, is being held on two local arrest warrants -- one out of West Warwick, the other out of Warwick. But Massachusetts police have 13 outstanding warrants for his arrest and Stonington, Conn., two.

Kluth is expected to be arraigned tomorrow afternoon in District Court.

Police, working on a tip, arrested Kluth this morning outside a city methadone clinic after he stepped out of a cab. Kluth initially fled from officers but was caught attempting to climb a fence behind the clinic.

-- Journal staff writer Tom Mooney

Kluth was released on bail from the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston in mid-December, according to Providence police Sgt. Dan Gannon.

Earlier this week, police said Kluth had been re-posted to the "Rhode Island Most Wanted" list -- just three months after being crossed off.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 3:53 PM | Comment

Sports tonight: Rams in the teeth of the A-10

If the Rhody Rams remain in first place after tonight's matchup with UMass in Amherst, no one will be able to call it a fluke. For URI (7-2 in the Atlantic 10, 14-9 overall), it will be the fourth straight game with first place in the conference at stake. The Minutemen (6-2, 16-6) will be hosting Black-Out Night, just two weeks after falling to the Rams on Pink-Out Night at the Ryan Center. Tonight's game won't be on TV, but you can hear it beginning at 8 on WHJJ (920-AM) and WJZS (99.3-FM). Paul Kenyon will have a game story in tomorrow's Journal.

The Boston Bruins are looking for their third straight win tonight, as they host the Carolina Hurricanes. Boston beat Carolina on Saturday to get this little streak going. Check Joe McDonald's BruinsBlog for reports before and after the game. You can watch the action on NESN beginning at 7.

It's high school hockey night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, which features a double header of boys hockey action. First, it's Division II foes Cumberland (4-6-1) and East Providence (2-9-0) at 6, followed by a Division I matchup between La Salle (6-4-0) and Mount St. Charles (8-2-1) at 8. Check projo.com's High School GameDay page for a gallery of photos and a story by Carolyn Thornton.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 3:26 PM | Comment

French company gains EU approval to buy APC

Schneider Electric SA, the world’s biggest supplier of circuit breakers, won European antitrust approval to buy West Kingston-based American Power Conversion Corp.

Schneider had to agree to sell its power supply business.

The European Commission, the 27-nation European Union’s antitrust regulator in Brussels, said the sale would be “suitable” to remove a potential threat to competition.

“This decision is a major milestone toward the successful completion of the acquisition,” the companies said in a joint statement today.

American Power and Schneider, based in Rueil Malmaison, France, expect the $6.1 billion transaction to close in the next two weeks.

-- Bloomberg

The commission’s concerns focused on small uninterruptible power supply devices, which are used mainly to protect individual computers and devices for small businesses.

Schneider’s power supply business has about $195 million in annual sales and represents 6 percent of the combined companies’ operations in that area, the companies said in the statement.

The purchase of APC will double Schneider’s sales of electrical-surge protectors and emergency-power systems, a market that’s growing 8 percent a year as clients – including Microsoft Corp. and Boeing Co. – seek to guard against blackouts.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 3:19 PM | Comment

Update: Mother arraigned in bus-stop fight / Photo

PROVIDENCE -- A 36-year-old Woonsocket mother pleaded not guilty this morning to a simple assault charge stemming from a fight at a school bus stop.

Police allege Robin Sevigny hit and slapped her niece and then held the girl down while her daughter punched the girl at the bus stop Friday afternoon.

Sevigny, of 26 Bernice Ave., was released on bail this morning and ordered to have no contact with her niece.

Both Robin Sevigny and her daughter were charged with simple assault for that fight, and the two 14-year-old girls were suspended from Woonsocket High School for three days.

Sevigny’s lawyer, Terry Livingston, said his client is “factually innocent.” She had “absolutely no contact in a criminal manner … she tried to break up the fight,” he said outside Sixth District Court after the arraignment.

Judge Michael A. Higgins ordered Sevigny back to District Court for her next appearance on Feb. 26.

She was in court this morning with her husband, Paul Sevigny, the former head of the Woonsocket Police Department’s juvenile detective division. She quietly answered a few questions posed by Higgins.

The daughter's case has been turned over to the Juvenile Detective Division.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Kia Hall Hayes

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 1:51 PM | Comment

Update: Auction begins at Paramount Cards / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Auctioneer Salvatore Corio Jr., president of the SJ Corio Company, takes a bid during the auction this morning.

PAWTUCKET -- Staplers, computers, video projectors, frames and figurines are among the more than 2,000 items left over from Paramount Cards Inc. being auctioned off today at the former company headquarters at 400 Pine St.

The bidding for the two-day auction was scheduled to start today at 10:30 a.m. and tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

Doors at the auction site will open at 9 a.m. on both days to allow potential bidders to inspect the items. All bidders must register in person and provide a $100 deposit to participate in the bidding. Most of the computers and other electronics will be sold tomorrow, according to the auction company, SJ Corio Company, of Warwick.

In August, the nation's largest gift and card store chain, Hallmark Cards Inc., purchased $8 million worth of machinery, equipment and other assets of Paramount, which shut down July 21, just shy of the company's 100th anniversary. Paramount was forced to close after it failed to reach an agreement with its lenders and investors for more money and could not make payroll.

Soon after, Paramount's main lender, Citizens Bank, petitioned a Superior Court judge to place the company in state receivership. Paramount's closing stranded more than 1,200 employees, including 127 at its Pawtucket headquarters and 550 in Canada.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 1:42 PM | Comment

Friars land big-name hoops prospect

Jamine "Greedy" Peterson, a 6-6 jumping jack forward from New York City, has verbally committed to Providence College.

Peterson also considered Cincinnati, Illinois, Rutgers and Miami. He is PC's first recruit for the fall of 2007.

Peterson is rated among the top 125 high school prospects in the nation and his stockis rising after a strong season at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. Peterson is a high-flying, athletic wing who'll be the best athlete to join PC's program since Rob Sanders.

``I feel that I'm a good fit at Providence,'' he said today. ``I like the way that their team isn't selfish and pass the ball. I can be the missing peice to the puzzle.''

Peterson and Notre Dame will play at this weekend's National Prep Invitational at URI on Friday at 1:30 and Saturday at 4 p.m.

More on Peterson in Friday's Journal
- Sports Writer Kevin McNamara

Posted by Mike McDermott at 1:11 PM | Comment

CVS ad claims rival offer for Caremark a losing deal

WOONSOCKET -- Drugstore giant CVS ran a full-page ad in today's Wall Street Journal claiming a rival offer for pharmacy benefits manager Caremark is a losing proposition for shareholders and consumers.

Woonsocket-based CVS is competing with Express Scripts to acquire Caremark.

CVS is offering about $24 billion while Express Scripts is offering about $26 billion.

Caremark rejected the Express Scripts offer over concerns that regulators might not approve the deal.

The CVS-Caremark merger has already met with antitrust approval.

Caremark shareholders are scheduled to meet Feb. 20 to consider the CVS deal.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:19 PM | Comment

3 hurt in fire in Providence apartment complex

PROVIDENCE -- Three people have been hospitalized with minor injuries after a morning fire at their apartment complex.

Fire crews responded to 937 Smith St. at about 9:30. The fire, which was confined to the kitchen on the second floor of the six-unit building, was under control 10 minutes later, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Fire Department.

Two adult residents have been transported to Rhode Island Hospital, Taylor said, while one child is being treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

The injuries are not considered life threatening, Taylor said.

It's unclear how the fire started.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:34 AM | Comment

Crews control fire in Warren multi-family building

WARREN -- Fire crews battled a fire in a multi-family building in downtown this morning.

A call for the fire at 81 Market St. was reported at 8:12 a.m., according to the police department dispatcher. The blaze was under control by 9 a.m., he said.

There's no word of any injuries or residents who may be displaced from the multi-family building. The fire chief wasn't immediately available to answer questions because he was at the scene.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 9:37 AM | Comment

School bus accident at Routes 37, 95 junction

CRANSTON -- A school bus accident was reported this morning just before 8 o'clock. No serious injuries have been reported, though rescue officials were still on the scene about 15 minutes later, according to the Cranston Fire Department dispatcher.

The bus apparently collided with a car, the dispatcher said, noting that the accident took place at the intersection of Route 37 and Interstate 95. The dispatcher did not know which school district the bus was serving.

More details were not available. Check back with projo.com for updates.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 8:54 AM | Comment

Shooting reported in Providence last night

PROVIDENCE -- Authorities responded to a shooting last night on the city's South Side.

Police and fire crews were alerted to a shooting at 28 Somerset St. at about 8:30 p.m., James Taylor, chief of communications for the Fire Department, said this morning.

A male was shot, Taylor said, though he wasn't immediately sure if the wound was related to a crime or whether any suspects were being sought.

But one male was transported to Rhode Island Hospital. It's unclear how serious his injuries are.

Check projo.com later for more details.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:59 AM | Comment

Today's front page: Jury award, hand gels, more

PROVIDENCE -- The front page of today's Journal features the latest development in Operation Dollar Bill, the State House influence-peddling probe.

Federal authorities have questioned two Rhode Island banks in recent weeks that used Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano for legal work. Journal staff writer Mike Stanton has the full story.

There's also a story about a $21.5 million malpractice case, thought to be the highest jury award in Rhode Island since a lawyers' publication began tracking that information. And another article follows the installation of hand sanitizers in Rhode Island schools following a recent health scare in West Bay.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:15 AM | Comment

Sub-zero wind chills continue

PROVIDENCE -- The deep freeze continues.

The National Weather Service is calling for a high temperature today of about 28 degrees. That doesn't sound so bad, right?

While pastel light is making downtown feel relatively mild this morning, later today, the wind, as it has all week, will make it feel a lot colder. A west wind is expected to blow between 17 and 20 mph today, with gusts as high as 36 mph.

That will put the wind chill as low as negative 1 degrees, according to the weather service, which has issued a wind advisory for this afternoon.

And while there's no snow in the immediate forecast, the weather service says there's a chance for the white stuff next Wednesday -- that's Valentine's Day.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 7:00 AM | Comment