« July 24, 2007 | Today | July 26, 2007 »

July 25, 2007

Brown U. play opens and a blues band hits a beach

Tonight, a New Musical -- from the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre -- opens a summer series that features Brown playwrights working with actors and directors from the Brown/Trinity Consortium.

The play starts at 8 p.m. at Brown’s Leeds Theatre, 77 Waterman St., Providence. Tickets are $10. Call (401) 863-2838.

There's also plenty of places to catch some tunes.

The Atwater-Donnelly Duo play folk at Gazebo, Main Street, in Hope. Call 647-3366. The show is from 6:30 p.. to 8 p.m. Free. Bring seats. May be canceled if it rains.

In Westerly, there's Blues on the Beach. Al Copley and His Band perform at Westerly Town Beach, 365 Atlantic Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The show will be held at Windjammer Restaurant if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Or go through the list of bands playing around the state tonight.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:55 PM | Comment

Report: State employee fired for going to second job

PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island Human Resources Department has suspended a supervisor and fired a state employee for routinely leaving work early to go to a second job.

WLNE TV (Channel 6) says its two-month investigation showed Sylvia Curry, an aide at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery, leaving early three days a week to go to her second job as director of welfare in the town of Exeter.

The station says Curry signed in for 40 hours a week on her state time card, even though she often worked only 33 or 34 hours.

The supervisor at the cemetery who approved her time cards, Thomas Podgurski, has been put on leave until the state's investigation is complete.

The human services department says it's reviewing Curry's time cards since last fall.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:31 PM | Comment

Cleanup after Uxbridge fire recovers oil from river

Ongoing cleanup efforts on the Mumford River, a tributary of the Blackstone River, in the aftermath Saturday's blaze that leveled the Bernat Mill complex in Uxbridge, Mass. have recovered over 700 gallons of oil from that river.

But high levels of metals and organic compounds will not endanger wildlife there nor in the Blackstone, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The 400,000-square-foot mill, located along the banks of the Mumford in the center of Uxbridge, was home to 65 businesses, including a chemical maker and a polystyrene manufacturer. The eight-alarm fire destroyed 80 percent of the facility, which was built in the 1820s.

The Mumford River flows east 11 miles from Douglas, Mass., and joins the Blackstone River in Uxbridge.

Environmental officials watched the river closely his week for signs of major contamination since the recently renovated mill housed at least two active manufacturers and a number of small businesses, including photography studios and furniture makers, that used toxic chemicals.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:08 PM | Comment

Lawmakers call for grant for former Quaker workers

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Several federal lawmakers from Massachusetts today called on the U.S. Department of Labor to award a National Emergency Grant to Fall River to help the city assist hundreds of former Quaker Fabric Corp. employees who lost their jobs earlier this month.

The lawmakers -- U.S. Senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy and U.S. Representatives James P. McGovern and Barney Frank -- urged Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao to provide $2.2 million that was requested last week by the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Massachusetts recently provided $250,000 for the City of Fall River to open a special training facility for Quaker employees. The National Emergency Grant would support that facility, according to Linnea Walsh, a spokeswoman for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

"The goal is to get this center fully operational by mid-August," Walsh said. "There's a great need in Fall River."

Tomorrow, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is scheduled to meet with former Quaker employees at the site of the planned training center.

There were at least 62 Rhode Island residents among the 900 Quaker employees who lost their jobs when the Fall River plant closed.
-- Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:47 PM | Comment

House committee passes submarine-spending bill

WASHINGTON -- A key House panel has recommended the purchase of parts for a second Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2008, a step toward doubling the production rate and potentially stabilizing the workforce at Electric Boat’s shipyards at Quonset Point and Groton.

As part of a shipbuilding boost that military panels have negotiated for months, the House Appropriations committee added $588 million for advance procurement of the submarine components to its overall $459.6-billion Pentagon spending measure for the fiscal year that begins next Oct. 1. That’s on top of the $2.65 billion that President Bush requested for a single submarine and associated costs.

If the Senate accepts the added spending in its still-pending defense appropriation, EB and it’s shipbuilding partner, Northrup-Grummun’s Newport News (Va) Shipbuiilding, will step up to the two-subs-per-year production rate in 2009, three years earlier than the Navy had sought.

The submarine program is ``essential to the future not only of the Navy but of this country, to continue to project force’’ on the seas as a way of deterring potential foes, said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., the influential chairman of the spending panel’s defense subcommittee, told reporters in a telephone conference.

-- John Mulligan of the Journal Washington Bureau

Murtha and Rep. Gene Taylor, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower subcommittee, have negotiated with other key legislators and Navy officials since early this year to beef up shipbuilding and reverse the decline in the size of the fleet that has been underway since the end of the Cold War.

While the full House must still consider the spending bill next week and the Senate must complete work on its version of the legislation, today's action was ``a huge milestone for building up the Navy,’’ said Rep. Joe Courtney, the freshman Democrat who represents the Groton-New London area. Hee spoke during the news conference with Murtha.

Navy noted that top Navy officials were at first skittish about the proposal to accelerate the submarine construction schedule, out of fear that the service could not afford such a major budget commitment. But Murtha said Defense Department officials have not objected to the higher appropriation.

Thee extra money in next year’s submarine budget will purchase the nuclear reactor and propulsion system for a second sub to becompletely financed in fiscal year 2009.

Overall, the appropriators added $1.6 billion more for shipbuilding than Mr. Bush had requested, adding money for an added an amphibious transport and a cargo ship. Counting the extra fund toward a second sub, the House budget called for 10 new ships in fiscal 2008, three more than the Navy had budgeted.

Rep. James R. Langevin, who represents the Quonset Point area and many constituents who work at EB, called today’s action ``extremely encouraging for the future of shipbuilding in southeastern New England.’’

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:07 PM | Comment

This cat is familiar with death

PROVIDENCE -- Oscar the cat seems to sense death approaching for the residents of Providence's Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Dr. David M. Dosa, a Rhode Island Hospital geriatrician and Brown University professor, writes in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine that Oscar has "presided over the deaths of more than 25 residents on the third floor" of the rehabilitation center.

Since the center staff adopted him as a kitten, Oscar "has had an uncanny ability to predict when residents are about to die," Dosa writes.

He adds: "His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing-home staff as an absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notfiy families."

The article offers some anecdotes.

In one, a nurse's aide comes out of a room carrying linens, sees Oscar and asks, "Are you going inside?"

Oscar does go inside, where one of the patients suffers from cancer. Her daughter sits nearby reading and says, "Hello, Oscar. How are you today?"

Oscar gets onto the bed. Then he gets up and leaves.

He goes into another room, where another woman, surrounded by family photos, rests. This time he stays on her bed. A nurse notices and gets out the woman's chart. She begins making phone calls.

The family comes and takes seats in the room. The priest arrives. One family member explains to her son that the cat is there "to help Grandma get to heaven."

A half-hour later, the patient dies.

Outside the door there's a plaque that says: "For his compassionate hospice care, this plaque is awarded to Oscar the Cat."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:00 PM | Comment

Pawtucket man, charged with molestation, is held

PROVIDENCE -- A 21-year-old Pawtucket man charged with first degree child molestation for allegedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl he met on MySpace.com pleaded not guilty in Superior Court today.

Otensi Dekargai, of 10 Anthony St., was ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston until his next court date, on Oct. 25. Magistrate Joseph A. Keough issued Dekargai a no contact order with the victim.

A Providence County grand jury indictment dated July 6, 2007, alleges that Dekargai committed first-degree child molestation on a victim 14 years old or younger between March 1 and April 30.

-- Journal staff writer Philip Marcelo

According to the police, both Dekargai and his victim, who is from Providence, lied about their age. The girl told Dekargai over the Internet that she was 16; he claimed to be 17.

The police said the girl and Dekargai conversed on line for a few weeks before they met. In April, the two apparently agreed to meet on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence, the police said.

Dekargai drove the girl to Pawtucket, where the two allegedly had sex, the police said. Later, he gave her cab fare home, the police said.

The Pawtucket police were contacted after the girl’s mother became concerned for her daughter’s health and took her to Women & Infants Hospital in Providence on June 4. The hospital notified the police.

The girl identified Dekargai through his posting on MySpace, a social networking website, the police said. Dekargai was arrested by the Pawtucket police on June 11.

Because she is 11, it does not matter whether the victim consented to sex or that there is no allegation that force was used, the police said. Under the law, she cannot consent. It is also not relevant that the girl lied about her age, the police said.

First degree child molestation carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Under the Jessica Lunsford Child Predator Act of 2006, convicted first degree child molesters must be electronically monitored via an active global positioning system for life.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:29 PM | Comment

Zoo exhibit: 7 feet long and daily diet of 35,000 bugs

PROVIDENCE -- A giant ant-eater, up to seven feet from stem to stern, will be coming to Roger Williams Park Zoo, the zoo announced today.

The zoo promises ant-eater-themed activities during "Giant Anteater Weekend, Aug. 4 and 5.

A Giant Anteater is the biggest anteater species and each one can weigh up to 80 pounds.

"But the truly unique thing about this animal is of course, its diet," the zoo news release says. "Using its long snout and two-foot tongue (the largest in relation to its body size than any other animal), the Giant Anteater can devour up to 35,000 insects per day."

The exhibit will go next to the zoo’s Tropical America building and features an outdoor habitat with a shallow pool and tropical-style plants.
There will be close-up viewing areas, including a "walk-in termite mound."

The exhibit also will have small buildings in the style of a South American village, including the "Anteater Cantina, which will be an education station for visitors.

All activities free with regular admission. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors (62+) and $6 for children ages three to 12. Children under three and zoo members are admitted free. Call (401) 785-3510.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:08 PM | Comment

Pelosi to visit Rhode Island

WASHINGTON (AP) _ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Rhode Island on Saturday at the invitation of Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

Kennedy's office says he and the California Democrat will meet with a small group of residents at the Child and Family Supportive Housing Center in Newport.

Pelosi will also attend a "Women in Leadership'' public reception at Newport's Belcourt Castle, then appear with Kennedy at a fundraising event for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Pelosi has been an ally of Kennedy's, supporting his push for legislation that requires equal health-insurance coverage for mental illness. She also made a public appearance with him last year as a show of support shortly after he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:52 PM | Comment

Worker dies in Scituate industrial accident

SCITUATE -- A worker died this morning in an industrial accident at a Scituate water treatment plant.

The accident happened as the employee, who worked for a contracting firm, returned to the work site to dismantle equipment that was used to complete a project for the Providence Water Supply Board.

Officials say the worker was killed when a crane-like device called a gantry collapsed on him.

The worker's name has not been released, but he worked for Eastern Piping and Engineering, which is based in Fall River.

Representatives from the the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were in Scituate to investigate.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:27 PM | Comment

RIPTA's RIde program to automate dispatching

An Atlanta company has gotten the $1.6 million contract to automate the scheduling and dispatching of the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority's of RIde program, which gives door-to-door transportation for elderly and special-needs travelers.

RouteMatch Software, Inc. announced in a news release today that the contract "positions RIPTA to provide citizens with the latest transportation technologies to improve efficiencies, save operating costs and enhance customer service."

The news release states that RIPTA will be able to automate coordination with state agencies, "vehicles and driver management, invoicing, reporting and communication with riders."

The RIde program, which includes the para-transit vans, makes some 3,500 trips a day, five days a week. It also make some weekend trips, Karen Mensel, a RIPTA spokeswoman, said in an interview.

Known as "intelligent transportation technology," the new system will allow RIPTA to automatically identify where every para-teansit van is with a global positionining satellite system, Mensel said.

If plans change for a customer, Mensel said, the new technology will allow a driver to be notified in real time. That could mean not having to make a trip that turns out to have been called off or making a different trip than originally scheduled.

Mensel said that in the event a vehicle had mechanical problems during a series of pickups, the system could allow quick contact with another RIde vehicle nearby that could pick up some or all of the passengers from the other one.

Mensel said she did not know a firm date when the new technologies will be in place.

"We had simply outgrown our software solution and realized that we needed something not only flexible, scalable and powerful, but a real turnkey transportation management system that would satisfy our paratransit and Flex service requirements," said Doug Wood, RIde program director, said in the release.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:07 PM | Comment

Governor will sign Sudan divestment tomorrow

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri tomorrow afternoon will sign into law the requirement that Rhode Island divest state funds from companies that do business with Sudan, where government-supported militias have carried out what observers say is genocide.

The signing, in the State House's State Room, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., the governor's office announced today.

The militias have been targeting non-Arabs in Sudan's Darfur region.

Rhode Island joins 13 states in divesting from Sudan in an international effort to end the Sudanese government’s genocide in Darfur, according to a news release from the governor' s offce.

According to a news release, Carcieri will be joined by General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio, who submitted the divestment legislation, Rep. Joseph Almeida, who sponsored the legislation in the House of Representatives, and Scott Warren, a Brown University student who was an advocate for the law.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:50 PM | Comment

Restoring some W. Warwick phones may take days

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
David Olbrys (left) of West Greenwich, and John Peterson (right) of Tiverton, splice service technicians for Verizon, work to splice together 1,800 pairs of phone wires on Main Street in West Warwick, this morning.

It could take at least two to three days to have all of customers who've lost phone service in the West Warwick-Coventry area back and working, according to a Verizon spokeswoman.

As of last night, spokeswoman Lillian McGee said in an e-mail, there were approximately 3,000 customers out of service A contractor working on Main Street in West Warwick cut four majnor Verizon cables, McGee said.

Crews worked through last night in an effort to restore service.

McGee said restoring the phone service after that kind of damage is a lot of work.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:21 PM | Comment

Senate committee holds hearing today on DCYF

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee has scheduled a hearing for 4 p.m. today in the State House to discuss caseloads at the state Department of Children, Youth and Families and foster parent licensing.

Child Advocate Jametta Alston has been invited to testify.

The committee will discuss the issues brought up by Alston in the lawsuit she filed against the state on behalf of the 3,000 children in state foster care.

DCYF Director Patricia Martinez, Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary Jane Hayward are expected to attend.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on DCYF issues in December, and the Senate later passed a resolution asking for monthly reports on social worker caseloads and overtime and foster parent licensure.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:51 AM | Comment

URI names new AD

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
New URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn tries on a URI jacket and cap at the press conference announcing his appointment, Wednesday morning at the Ryan Center.

As expected, the University of Rhode Island today appointed Thorr D. Bjorn as its 11th director of athletics.

Bjorn spent 15 years at the University of Massachusetts, where he rose to the position of senior associate athletic director.

University President Robert L. Carothers introduced Bjorn to the university community and the media at the Ryan Center this morning.

Bjorn, 39, served as the UMASS interim director of athletics from September 2003 to February 2004.

Bjorn, who played football for UMASS, will oversee a department that has 22 intercollegiate sports, serving about 500 student-athletes.

He has a five-year contract that will pay him $165,000 annually. His appointment is effective Aug. 8.

Posted by Jack Perry at 11:20 AM | Comment

Sen. Whitehouse to visit Greenland

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse plans this weekend to join a delegation of senators on a trip to Greenland, where they intend to take a first-hand look at the evidence of global warming

The leader of the delegation is Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, of which Democrat Whitehouse is a junior member.

-- John Mulligan, Journal Washington bureau

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:20 AM | Comment

Bruschi lives!

New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi is alive and well, the team reports, despite a wildfire rumor spreading across the region that Bruschi has died.

The Journal last night received approximately 10 calls from readers who had heard the rumor. Patriots beat writer Shalise Manza Young contacted Stacy James, the Patriots team spokesman, who said Bruschi was healthy and that the rumors were absolutely untrue.

Former Journal writer Tom Curran, now with NBC Sports, also heard the rumor from several fans, and he writes about the hysteria today on his blog.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 9:28 AM | Comment

Traffic report: Lane closed on Route 146

The left lane is closed on Route 146, Providence, from Route 95 to Branch Avenue for bridge maintenance, according to the state Transportation Management Center.

The lane will stay closed until 2 p.m. The work will continue tomorrow.

For other traffic needs, check out the state roadways, via the Department of Transportation's online traffic offerings.

Also, check out congestion mapping -- i.e., how heavy the traffic is – here and listen to or read the radio reports for the week about traffic and construction on specific roadways.

To report a traffic incident, call the Transportation Management Center at (401) 222-5826 and choose option #2.

Posted by Jack Perry at 9:14 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story about a home invasion in Cheshire, Conn., that left three people dead.

Download a copy of today's front page in .pdf format.

Posted by Jack Perry at 8:02 AM | Comment

RI's web-based government use ranks 30th

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island ranks 30th among states, up from 32nd the prior year, in terms of states whose government uses Web-based technology effectively, according to an annual Brown University analysis.

Maine ranked third, up from 18th. Massachusetts ranked sixth, up from 22nd. And Connecticut placed 19th, up from 27th. Both Vermont and New Hampshire fell below Rhode Island.

Delaware and Michigan were the best states for e-government in the United States, according to the analysis, now in its eighth year.

Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, and a research team examined 1,548 state and federal sites.

The researchers analyzed 1,487 state Web sites -- an average of 30 sites per state -- plus 48 federal government legislative and executive sites and 13 federal court sites. Research was done last month and this month.

Web sites were evaluated for whether they had various electronic features: online publications, databases, audio clips, video clips, foreign language content, translation services, advertisements, premium fees, user payments or fees, disability access, privacy policy, security policy, online services, digital signatures, credit card payments, e-mail addresses, comment forms, automatic e-mail updates, Web site personalization, PDA accessibility and readability level.

Seventeen percent of sites charge visitors a fee to use online services, up from 12 percent last year. An increasing number of sites offer privacy and security policy statements. This year, 73 percent have some type of privacy policy on their site, up from 71 percent last year.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:17 AM | Comment

Marine report: Looks like a day for the beach

Today should be a good day to hit the beach, especially since forecasters are starting to think the weekend will bring rain.

The high temperature should reach 81 degrees in Narragansett with a southwest wind up to 15 knots, according to the National Weather Service.

The surf should be strong.

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 site or 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 Jack Perry at 7:12 AM | Comment

Mostly sunny with a high near 87

The heat is back. Today should be mostly sunny with a high near 87 degrees in the Providence area, according to the National Weather Service.

Tonight should be mostly clear with a low around 65 degrees, the weather service says.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment