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July 16, 2007

Rhode Island man killed in Cape Cod crash

FALMOUTH, Mass., -- A driver killed in a multi-car crash that killed two people in this Cape Cod town Saturday has been identified by the police as Edward Kipp, 48, of Providence.

The crash happened Saturday night at the intersection of Route 151 and Sandwich Road. Kipp was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:58 PM | Comment

Update: Papitto incident generates e-mail reactions

E-mails representing the school president, law school dean and student activists were sent today to the Roger Williams University community in the wake of a Providence Journal report that the former chairman of its Board of Trustees Ralph Papitto used the "n" word at a trustees meeting during a discussion on the board's diversity.

Copies, obtained by The Journal, are as follows:

From RWU President Roy Nirschel, saying in part:

"There is no place in the life of this University for anyone who uses inappropriate or derogatory language toward any individual or group."

Read the full e-mail.

From RWU's Papitto Law School Dean David A. Logan, saying in part:

"I am writing to assure you that such behavior has no place in the Roger Williams educational community."

Read the full e-mail.

Students Majessire Smith and Matt Jerzyk, asking students to sign a petition calling for RWU to rename the law school, which is named after Papitto:

Read the full e-mail.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 6:41 PM | Comment

Power back at Pastore Complex, minus AC at 1 site

CRANSTON -- With other state department buildings up and running at the Pastore Complex, crews late today were working on the damaged air conditioning system at Barry Hall.

On July 8, fires broke out in underground power lines, cutting several buildings off from the complex’s power plant. Phones and Internet service also went down.

Then on Wednesday, an electrical surge blew out underground power lines serving 23 buildings. On Friday, smoke and flashes of light, caused by another power surge, shut down Barry Hall, where the administrative offices are housed.

The latest update on the power failures from the Department of Administration today said:

Department of Administration:
* All campus buildings have grid or generator power and are fully operational with the exception of Barry Hall, an administrative building, which is without air conditioning. The air conditioning system took damage during Friday’s incident. Crews are evaluating the system.
* Electrical crews continue to monitor the status of all generators on the Pastore Campus to assure that they are running properly.
* Crews continue to work on replacing damaged feeder lines so that campus buildings can be converted to the electrical grid.

Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals:
* All patient care areas are stable.
* All administrative spaces with exception of Barry Hall are fully operational.

This morning:
* The auxiliary generator at Barry Hall was started and power was moved to an auxiliary generator.
* The Cranston Fire Department and facilities staff were at Barry Hall and deemed it safe for Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals employees to re-occupy the building.
* Electrical crews went through the building, office by office, checking electrical outlets, reconnecting equipment, and assessing damage.
* The fire alarm system and emergency lighting system were checked by Facilities and Maintenance.
* The department will keep monitoring its buildings and procedures "to assure that patients and employees are safe and secure," the news release said.

Department of Corrections:
* All Department of Corrections buildings are running normally.
* The High Security Center, Dorothea Dix Women's Minimum Security Facility and the Pinel Building (Community Confinement) continue to be powered by generators, but are fully functional.
* Regularly scheduled activities continue as planned.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:40 PM | Comment

Linking crime-victim aid to past crimes to end

PROVIDENCE -- Facing a lawsuit, General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio is repealing a regulation that allowed his office to deny or reduce compensation to crime victims who were convicted of unrelated drunken-driving or drug-dealing offenses.

Caprio’s predecessor, Paul J. Tavares, adopted the regulation last year after a convicted drug dealer successfully appealed a denial of crime-victim compensation.

The new regulation allowed the state to deny or reduce compensation if, in the preceding five years, crime victims had been convicted of or pleaded no contest to charges of driving while intoxicated, selling or delivering drugs, or possessing drugs with the intent of selling or delivering them.

The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Superior Court on behalf of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island, saying it was “unfortunate that the general treasurer has turned a program that is supposed to aid crime victims into one that punishes them for past misdeeds.”

Caprio, who took office in January, decided to repeal the regulation within the past month or so, and the repeal takes effect on Thursday. The ACLU plans to then drop the lawsuit.

Caprio’s spokesman, Peter Kerwin, said, “We looked at it and we didn’t want to be in a situation where the program was unfairly or inappropriately revictimizing victims.”

-- Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick

The state will still be able to deny or reduce compensation if a victim’s criminal record is directly related to the incident for which they are seeking compensation, Kerwin said. But, he said, “We did not want to have an overly broad policy that would impact them now for something that happened in the past.”

Steven Brown, executive director of the local ACLU affiliate, said, “I am very pleased the general treasurer had an open mind about repealing this troubling regulation, which had caused a lot of concern in the alcohol and substance-abuse treatment community.”

Under the regulation adopted by Tavares, “a victim of a sexual assault could find herself denied compensation simply because she was a drug addict who had been convicted of selling drugs in the past — something totally unrelated to the crime for which she was seeking compensation,” Brown said. “There was an element of cruelty to the regulation that we never really understood.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:39 PM | Comment

Cab driver critical after being shot in Central Falls

CENTRAL FALLS -- A cab driver is in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital after he was shot in the head at midday, according to Central Falls Police.

The man was apparently shot on Fuller Avenue between Garfield and Summer Streets, according to Police Chief Joseph Moran. The cab driver is in his 40s, Moran said, but he would not name him pending notification of relatives.

Central Falls Police are searching for a suspect, Moran said.

It was not known if the man was shot by a customer or someone else.

-- Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:23 PM | Comment

One of the feuding sisters faces a contempt hearing

PROVIDENCE -- A Superior Court judge today scheduled a hearing for Aug. 7 to determine whether Laurette Borduas Eifrig’s Virginia daughter will be held in contempt.

The daughter, Francine Ardito, is accused of taking steps to tie up her mother’s trust funds so a court-appointed guardian can’t use the money for Eifrig’s care in Rhode Island.

But Ardito, reached by telephone at her home in Reston, said “that is not a date I can make” so she will not show up for the hearing. She said she made plans a long time ago to be on vacation the first two weeks in August and that she notified Judge Alice B. Gibney weeks ago that she would not be available to come to Rhode Island until the end of next month.

“But they just go ahead and do whatever they feel like doing,’’ Ardito complained.

Her mother’s guardian, lawyer Paula M. Cuculo, needs money from Eifrig’s trust to pay for her 90-year-old ward’s assisted-living at Capitol Ridge on Smith Street. But Ardito wants to move her mother, who suffers from blindness and dementia, back to Virginia, where she lived for 13 years until May 2006.

Last month, Ardito filed a lawsuit in Virginia to undo orders issued by Gibney -- including one that removed her as co-trustee of her mother’s trust and her power of attorney. She is asking a Virginia judge to make her sole trustee of the Eifrig trust and to block Cuculo from receiving any more disbursements.

Gibney scheduled the Aug. 7 contempt hearing at the request of Providence lawyer Richard Boren who represents Eifrig. In a previous hearing, the judge rejected Ardito’s request for a nine-week postponement.

Boren contends that Ardito’s legal maneuvering is harming her mother, a retired school teacher.

Eifrig’s July bills at Capitol Ridge remain unpaid. Smith/Barney, the brokerage that holds most of Eifrig’s $400,000 trust fund, has told Cuculo that it plans to send the rent but Ardito has instructed it not to forward any money to Cuculo and to release all of the funds to her instead.

Today, Boren received permission from Gibney to add Smith/Barney as a defendant in the case here in Rhode Island. He says he is suing the brokerage in an effort to force it to turn over all of Eifrig’s money to Cuculo -- so that neither of Eifrig’s daughters can try to assert control over the trust funds.

Gibney appointed Cuculo as Eifrig’s guardian last month after finding that neither of her grown daughters -- Ardito or Suzette Gebhard, of Warren, was fit to assume that role. For more than a year now, the sisters, who don’t speak to each other, have been engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over their mother’s residence and money.

-- Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Gebhard, former president of the Rhode Island League of Women Voters, moved Eifrig to live with her last May without consulting her sister. She then secreted Eifrig in her house and refused to let Ardito or Cuculo visit with her. In January, the police had to knock down Gebhard’s door to remove Eifrig.

Gebhard was arrested though later acquitted of an obstruction of justice charge. All of her visits with her mother must now be supervised. She is not allowed to take her mother out of her current residence.

Ardito is not allowed to visit her mother at all. She could face a prison term if found in contempt at next month’s hearing.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:34 PM | Comment

Is Papitto's name on the way out? Feinstein's is in

A group of students at Rhode Island’s only law school, the Roger Williams University Ralph R. Papitto School of Law, want the school to drop Papitto's name.

About 75 law students signed a petition this afternoon, demanding university officials remove Papitto’s name.

The campaign was launched after it was reported that Papitto, the former chairman of the university's board of trustees, uttered a racial slur at a board meeting in May.

“We want to immediately express our outrage and condemn the outrageous statement by former Chairman Papitto,” said Matthew Jerzyk, a third-year law student who helped start the petition. “We have a collective desire to have his name taken off our school.”

Papitto, 80, admitted on talk radio that he used the "N" word at a May 2 meeting. He refused to discuss the incident with The Journal during two interviews late last week.

“It just slipped out,” Papitto told John DePetro on WPRO 630 AM. Papitto also spoke this afternoon on Dan Yorke's radio show on WPRO

Philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein said he will donate $1 million to start a diversity scholarship program, as a way to encourage more minority students to attend Roger Williams University.

“I would like to help make Roger Williams a leader in diversity,” Feinstein said.

Papitto said he was the one who called the May special meeting at which he apologized for his remark.

-- Journal staff writer Jennifer D. Jordan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:12 PM | Comment

Homicide site, La Rumba, must close for 30 days

PROVIDENCE – The nightclub La Rumba, which was the scene of the city’s seventh homicide on July Fourth, must close for 30 calendar days, the city’s Board of Licenses ruled today.

Once the club reopens, management must provide a mandatory police detail, of an undetermined number, on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until further order. The only other day of the week that the club is open is Sunday.

The licensee must also present to the Board of Licenses a monthly report of all proposed events in advance, the board ruled today after a hearing last week in response to the police department’s request that the club be stripped of its liquor license.

The board promised at the hearing to issue its ruling within five days.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

In presenting its decision today, the Board of Licenses reported that it had established the following facts, which are the basis of the board’s decision:

The licensee was responsible for a lack of security and supervision on the night of the murder;

At least two of La Rumba’s patrons (standing in line waiting to get into the club) participated in the assault;

By state law, the club is responsible for what occurs in the vicinity of its premises, not just inside; and

The misbehavior of the party’s promoter, Lowell Williams, could have incited more violence.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 2:17 PM | Comment

Traffic Tribunal unaffected by Pastore power failures

CRANSTON -- The state Traffic Tribunal is unaffected by the electrical problems that plagued the Pastore Campus, where several state departments are based, last week.

The power failures did affect the Division of Motor Vehicles' office of operators control, but the Traffic Tribunal is part of a different agency.

As of last night, all but two buildings had electrial power, though some were relying on generators, according to a statement from the state Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals.

The tribunal, which opened in January at 670 New London Ave., was built with electrical and communications systems that are independent from other state buildings at Pastore Center, according to a news release from the Rhode Island Judiciary.

"There has been no disruption of service to the public. It is open for business," the release states.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:40 PM | Comment

Bakery owner: Thermostat may be behind fire / Photo

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
This photo shows fire damage to the back of the bakery. A house rented by the family next door was saved.

JOHNSTON – The owner of D. Palmieri's Bakery, which was destroyed by fire early yesterday morning, said today he believes a malfunctioning thermostat on an oven caused the fire.

Stephen Palmieri, who has owned the bakery for 36 years, said the oven was getting hotter and hotter early yesterday morning and employees could not get the temperature to go down. He said an employee believes he turned the oven down or off but it still wasn’t cooling off.

Palmieri said today that he plans to rebuild on the same site. He said the bakery, which was famous for its pizzas and spinach pies, was insured.

Prior to the fire, a two-story blue building with blue awnings housed the popular bakery. Now, Palmieri’s is little more than a foundation with just one story of outer walls still standing, filled in with debris. A backhoe was digging through the rubble earlier today.

Your Turn: What will you miss most while Palmieri's is closed?

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

Posted by Kate Bramson at 1:37 PM | Comment

Emergency crews go to Pawtucket car crash

PAWTUCKET – Emergency crews have responded to the scene of a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Main and Water streets.

Details aren’t yet available about how serious the crash is, according to a Pawtucket fire dispatcher.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 12:01 PM | Comment

Sen. John Kerry to meet with employees losing jobs

FALL RIVER, Mass., -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry is scheduled to meet this afternoon with Quaker Fabric Corp. employees who lost their jobs when the 62-year-old company suspended operations on July 2.

The company, one of the largest surviving textile firms in New England, has been unable to pay interest on more than $32 million in loans.
In its July 2 announcement, Quaker Fabric said there was "significant uncertainty" about whether the company's 900 workers will be recalled.

-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:53 AM | Comment

Photo: This Jack Reed is powered by twin 150s

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Senator Jack Reed unveils the name of the Coastal Resources Management Council's new research vessel, Jack Reed. The 27-foot boat was christened this morning at the Brewer Greenwich Bay Marina in Warwick and will be used by CRMC staff to develop underwater maps. CRMC Chairman Michael M. Tikoian says the boat is "a fitting tribute to a man who has always supported coastal management issues and the CRMC."

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:47 AM | Comment

NAACP leader doesn't buy Papitto's excuse

PROVIDENCE – The president of the Providence branch of the NAACP isn't buying former Roger Williams University Chairman Ralph R. Papitto's excuse for using a racial slur during a trustees meeting.

During an interview this morning with WPRO 630 AM, Papitto said the "N" word "kind of slipped out" during a board meeting. He said he'd never used the word before.

But NAACP President Clifford R. Montiero, in an interview later with projo.com, said such words don’t slip out unless they’re part of someone’s vocabulary.

“If something’s in your vocabulary, you use it,” Montiero said. “It has to be in your vocabulary to use it. … It’s not the word that’s the problem. It’s the attitude of the word that’s the problem.”

Montiero said he needs to do more research before issuing a formal statement from the NAACP.

Montiero also said the university must use this issue as a chance for growth.

“I think it’s a golden opportunity for growth,” he said. “I don’t think it’s an opportunity for failure. We can’t fail. We have to succeed.”

Full story ...

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 11:18 AM | Comment

Gas prices increase 4 cents

Gas prices increased an average of four cents a gallon in Rhode Island last week, the second straight week of increases, according to AAA Southern New England.

The average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline is $2.979 at the self-service pump, according to AAA's weekly survey.

AAA attributes the increase to stronger demand and rising crude oil prices.

Rhode Island is eight cents below the national average of $3.059.

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:09 AM | Comment

RIPTA to exchange old RIPTIKs today

PROVIDENCE – Today marks the beginning of a two-week exchange period for public transit users with old-style RIPTIKs.

As the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority works to install new, electronic “smart” fare boxes on its fixed-route buses, trolleys and “flex” vehicles, the agency is offering riders a chance to exchange their old RIPTIKs for new electronic RIPTIKs.

People can go to the RIPTIK Exchange Window in Kennedy Plaza from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays this week and next. RIPTA had earlier said this week’s exchange period had to be canceled, but the vendor has since managed to get enough of the electronic RIPTIKs to allow the agency to hold the exchange this week, spokeswoman Karen Mensel said this morning.

Read more about the exchange program.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:38 AM | Comment

Papitto says 'N' word just 'kind of slipped out'

Ralph R. Papitto is talking with John DePetro on WPRO 630 AM, about a Providence Journal story on Saturday saying that the longtime chairman of the board of trustees at Roger Williams University has stepped down.

The university said the man for whom the Roger Williams law school is named retired because he is 80 and because he wanted to spend more time with his family.

But a former trustee says Papitto, a board member for about 40 years and chairman for the last 18, was forced to resign after he uttered a racial slur at a May 2 trustees meeting. The trustee, along with two other trustees who demanded Papitto’s resignation, has since been removed from the board.

She says they were terminated — two without explanation — as retaliation for pushing for Papitto’s removal.

The Journal reported that at the May 2 meeting, the trustee said, Papitto and the trustees were discussing a sternly worded report criticizing the board’s lack of diversity — of its 16 members, 14 are white men. Papitto became agitated, trustee Dr. Barbara H. Roberts said, and used the word “n-----” while talking about diversifying the board.

Papitto said to DePetro today that the word just slipped out – but it’s not something he has ever said before.

“I happened to use the word … It kind of slipped out," he said. "I don’t use that word."

He said the first time he heard it was on the radio – in rap music.

Papitto has taken issue with the criticisms leveled by the board member in The Journal story.

“This is the first time she’s ever mentioned anything like this,” he said.

Papitto refused last week to comment to The Journal on the epithet and maintained that he left the board of his own accord.

“This is a private institution and we consider board-meeting discussions confidential,” he said. “I stepped down because the time has come.”

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

Posted by Kate Bramson at 9:29 AM | Comment

Spats restaurant in Providence damaged by fire

PROVIDENCE – A late-night fire in a local restaurant has drawn the Health Department in for inspection of Spats Restaurant & Pub at 182 Angell St.

Fire in the three-story wood-frame building was reported at 11:25 p.m. last night and was under control by 12:26 a.m., according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.

The impact of the fire on the business is unknown at this time.

The fire was mostly contained to the restaurant, but there was smoke damage throughout the building, Taylor said. Power to the second floor was shut off.

Any time there’s a fire in a restaurant, the Health Department is called in to inspect. Officials were at Spats last night, Taylor said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:13 AM | Comment

Rip currents pose moderate risk today

The National Weather Service warns there’s a moderate risk of rip currents today and early tonight along south-facing beaches in southern Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts.

If you’re planning on sunbathing, surfing or swimming today, check the area beach status by going to the state Department of Health’s beach-monitoring siteor call (401) 222-2751 for recorded information.

If you’re looking for marine weather information, check out the National Weather Service’s interactive coastal marine map for this region.

Also, for all your nautical needs, boaters love the Maine Harbors site, which is packed with tide charts, marine weather news, information on fishing tournaments and links to local boat builders, charter operators, lighthouses and publications. The tide charts on this site are so well done that boaters rave about them. Check out Rhode Island’s chart.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 8:11 AM | Comment

Partly cloudy with a high near 85

Today should bring partly cloudy skies with a high near 85 degrees in the Providence area, according to the National Weather Service.

There's a slight chance of showers tonight after midnight.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:01 AM | Comment

R.I. mosquito tests find no signs of West Nile Virus

Another summer week gone, and another round of testing with no mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus.

Results from 52 mosquito pools from 32 traps around Rhode Island during the week of July 2 came up negative for the virus. Results from one sample are pending.

But the state Department of Environmental Management encourages residents to protect themselves by getting rid of mosquito breeding grounds and avoiding mosquito bites.

Remove anything that holds standing water, where mosquitoes breed.

Put screens on windows and doors and cover up at dawn and dusk. Place mosquito netting over baby carriages and playpens when children are outside.

Officials also recommend using mosquito repellent.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:55 AM | Comment

Download today's front page

The Puerto Rican festival in Providence and a story on ospreys are the lead local stories in today's Journal.

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Posted by Peter Phipps at 6:47 AM | Comment