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August 17, 2007

Truck accident briefly shuts Rt. 95S lane at Exit 7

WEST WARWICK -- A truck struck a bridge in the areas of Exit 7 on Route 95 south this evening, causing a minor battery acid spill and closing the right lane in that area, the state Transportation Management Center reported at 6:08 p.m.

All lanes were reported back open by 7 p.m.

The tractor-trailer was hauling a fork truck, according to an initial report from the TMC on the incident.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:10 PM | Comment

Cumberland 10-year-old to appear on Jeopardy!

When Kids Week arrives this year on Jeopardy! -- and grown-ups' jaws drop as impossible questions are easily fielded by half-pints -- Rhode Island will be represented.

Eddie Kwiatkowski, 10, of Cumberland will be a contestant during the Kids Week, scheduled to air Oct. 8 through Oct. 12, according to a Jeopardy! news release today.

He is one of 15 child contestants, ages 10 to 12.

They are scheduled to be in Los Angeles next week and will tape five shows. The winner of each show keeps the cash he or she wins, with a minimum guarantee of $10,000.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:05 PM | Comment

New owner for the Capital Grille, Longhorn chains

MIAMI -- Darden Restaurants Inc., which operates the Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurant chains, has agreed to buy the owner of the LongHorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille chains for about $1.19 billion.

Darden, the world's biggest casual dining operator, said it would buy all Rare Hospitality Inc.'s outstanding shares for $38.15 per share in a tender offer. The price is a 39 percent premium to Rare's closing price Thursday of $27.51. The deal value is based on 31.1 million shares outstanding.

Clarence Otis, Darden's chairman and chief executive, had hinted recently that the Orlando-based company might buy another chain to boost growth. It already has plans to aggressively expand Olive Garden, its Italian eatery, after failing to get its Smokey Bones barbecue concept to catch on.

Darden valued the deal at $1.4 billion, which includes outstanding debt and capital lease obligations.

Darden has 1,400 restaurants, with more than 600 Olive Gardens and 600 Red Lobsters. Atlanta-based Rare Hospitality has 317 restaurants, including 287 LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants, including one in Warwick, R.I., and 28 Capital Grille restaurants, including one in Providence, R.I.

"Rare Hospitality's two outstanding brands and the talented leadership and restaurant teams behind them enhance Darden's entire organization, but particularly our unit growth prospects," Otis said in a statement.

-- The Associated Press

Darden has stayed mostly steady despite tough times in dining, with high mortgage interest rates, skyrocketing gas prices and even increased competition from fast-food restaurants possibly crimping profits. For the fiscal year ended in June, Darden sales were up 4 percent to $5.57 billion.

Darden said savings will be created by supply chain and purchasing integration, increased advertising effectiveness and consolidation of corporate and restaurant support infrastructure.

"Darden has the right culture and the resources to help LongHorn and Capital Grille prosper in an intensely competitive industry," said Philip J. Hickey Jr., chairman and chief executive of Rare Hospitality.

Hickey will stay on for a year as an adviser to Otis, who will retain his titles.

Darden said it would finance the deal through cash, a new $1.2 billion senior interim credit facility and a $700 million senior revolving credit facility.

The restaurant operator said the acquisition would be neutral to its earnings in 2008, excluding one-time transaction and integration costs.

Darden and Rare's boards both have already approved the deal. The tender offer is expected to close in October.

In May, Darden closed nearly half its 129 Smokey Bones locations and put the other 73 on the sales block because stores weren't selling enough. It also owns Bahama Breeze, a Caribbean-themed restaurant and bar, and Seasons 52, an upscale dining experiment.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:20 PM | Comment

Jury: Shooting by Cranston officer legally justified

A grand jury has found the actions of a Cranston police officer, who shot an apparently suicidal man who lunged at him with a knife, were "lawful and legally justified."

A news release from Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office said the Providence County grand jury finished its investigation into facts and circumstances of eight-year Cranston Police veteran Jaime Cahill's June 14 shooting of Keith Olin and did not indict.

On that day, Jeremiah Rainville, 21, of Cranston called 911 at about 4:53 p.m. to report a possible suicide attempt by a friend, Olin, 44, also of Cranston, in Rainville's apartment at 28 Harris Ave., according to the police information in June.

Cahill wounded Olin when Olin lunged at him with a knife, according to a police report released in June.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:53 PM | Comment

Providence man sought in city's most recent murder

PROVIDENCE -- The police are seeking a 20-year-old Providence man with "loyalty" tattooed on his neck who is wanted in connection with the city's eighth homicide of the year.

The police announced this afternoon they obtained an arrest warrant for for David Mello, described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with the neck tattoo and tattoos on his eyelids. The arrest warrant charges him with one count of murder.

"To Mr. Mello, I would recommend that you turn yourself in," Police Chief Dean Esserman said at a news conference in front of the public safety complex. The police said they had five known addresses for Mello.

The police stopped short of saying Mello was the shooter in the Wednesday night killing of Marc Quintal, 20, of Fall River, Mass., in South Providence.

The police are also looking for a second suspect, whom they have not identified, described as a 6-foot black male with a tattoo on his right arm.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

The police have said Quintal drove to South Providence with three other men in a silver Nissan Altima, looking to buy drugs, and parked in the driveway of a house at 255 Pearl St. at about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.

The police said today that during the trip from Fall River to Providence, Quintal was in cell phone contact with Mello.

More than one person then approached the car in an attempted robbery, and Quintal was shot. Quintal managed to drive about a half-block to the parking lot of a Burger King on Broad Street, where the car stopped and a passenger ran into the restaurant and asked someone to call 911.

Quintal was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:24 PM | Comment

Great White to play club where 'Dimebag' Darrell died

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The rock band whose pyrotechnics ignited a deadly nightclub fire is scheduled to play an Ohio venue tonight that has its own troubled past.

Great White is booked to perform at Alrosa Villa, the Columbus nightclub where guitarist ``Dimebag'' Darrell Abbott and four others died in a 2004 shooting.

The fire on February 20, 2003, at The Station nightclub killed 100 people. It began when the band's pyrotechnics ignited flammable soundproofing foam inside the club.

Concert industry watchdog Paul Wertheimer of Los Angeles-based Crowd Management Strategies calls it ``a match made in hell.''

The club's manager says he realized the booking would raise eyebrows but was thinking of the fans.

Great White lead singer Jack Russell says his band will always be under a cloud but wants to keep moving on.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:34 PM | Comment

No signs in RI of skeeters with West Nile or Triple-E

We've cleared the muggiest month's halfway mark, and no mosquitoes in Rhode Island have tested positive for West Nile Virus or Eastern Equine Encephalitus.

Test results from 35 mosquito pools -- from 32 traps around the state -- during the week of Aug. 6 came back negative for West Nile and Triple-E, the state Department of Environmental Management said today. Results from two samples that were pending from the week of July 30 also came baclk negative.

But the DEM advises that people take precautions because "west Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitus are both firmly established throughout the state."

That means eliminating mosquito breeding grounds, namely standing water. Get rid od old tires, buckest, junk and debris, and clean gutters so they drain properly. Maintain swimming pools.

One cup of standing water can produce hundreds of mosquitoes, the DEM said.

The DEM notes that Triple-E has been detected in mosquito samples just over the line in Seekonk and Rehoboth.

For more information, go to www.dem.ri.gov and click on "public health updates" or go to www.health.ri.gov and click on "E" for Triple-E or "W" for West Nile.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:01 PM | Comment

Coast Guard cuts fishing boat's trip for safety rules

The Coast Guard today ended a 38-foot boat's fishing trip from Block Island to Montauk, N.Y. -- Long Island's eastern tip -- because it said the vessel failed to meet safety regulations.

In a news release, the Coast Guard said crew from its cutter Chinook, from New London, Conn., boarded the Karen Sue at about 11 a.m. and found the life raft had expired and that the three-man fishing crew aboard had just two survival suits aboard.

Federal regulations require commercial fishing vessels to have enough suits for every crewman aboard, the Coast Guard said.

The Chinook escorted the boat and crew to Montauk, where they were told not to get underway until violations were corrected.

"Our main concern is preservation of life," Ted Harrington, the First District Coast Guard chief of vessel compliance oversight, said in the statement. "If we find a fishing crew that is dangerously out of regulation, we're going take action to make sure they have what they need to be safe."

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:50 PM | Comment

Idol in Cranston: Hundreds with 1 dream / Photo

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Edith Ruelas, 22, of Dartmouth, Mass., sings her rendition of "I Will Always Love You" before the local judging panel today.

CRANSTON -- Hundreds of American Idol hopefuls gathered at Gibbs College this morning, vying for a free trip to a regional audition in Philadelphia on Aug. 27.

Contestants came from as far as California to sing before panels of local musicians, radio personalities and music producers.

Organizers plan to announce finalists at about 3 p.m., and a single winner will be chosen later in the afternoon.

Stephanie Lariviere, 16, of Cranston was one of a handful of singers who camped out last night. “We had a half hour of sleep,” she said.

The event is sponsored by WPRI Channel 12.

-- Journal staff writer David Scharfenberg

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:02 PM | Comment

Bird deaths in Barrington draw a $1,000 reward

BARRINGTON -- Defenders of Animals today said it would pay $1,000 to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the bizarre deaths of at least 15 birds at a birdhouse on Humphreys Road.

Some type of spray adhesive was apparently used in the case, said Dennis Tabella, the organization's director. "After traces of residue were found around the birdhouse, there is no doubt that this was a deliberate and sick act by an individual (or individuals) that need to be identified," he said.

The remains of the birds were discovered Aug. 4 on the ground near the large cedar birdhouse, which can hold eight nests and resembles a UFO with spikes.

Owner Reed Caster said the clear substance, which never seems to dry, was apparently sprayed up into the roof of the birdhouse. It continues to coat the inside of the roof and the foliage beneath it. He said he hopes the Department of Environmental Management, which is investigating the case, can identify the substance.

"Apparently something was sprayed and some wings stuck together," said Tabella. "I know there are sprays to glue things down at photo and copying places, but this sounds like something really strange."

"It's terrific someone would put up a reward. That's great," Caster said. "It was such a stupid act."

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:00 PM | Comment

Update: 3 killed in Tiverton car crash ID'd / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Roger Sartini, left, and his wife, Debbie, look over the scene where Kim Sartini, of Little Compton, died last night after an accident on Narrow Avenue. The couple's motorcycle is at right.

TIVERTON -- The police today identified the three people killed last night when the compact Volkswagen they were riding in left the roadway on rural Narrow Avenue and flipped onto its roof.

They are Michael Tripp, 23, of 262 Wilbur St., Fall River, Mass., and formerly of Tiverton; Kenneth P. Griffin, 18, of 301 Bulgarmarsh Road, Tiverton; and Kimberly Sartini, 18, of 21 EastView Drive, Little Compton, according to Police Chief Thomas Blakey.

According to the preliminary investigation, speed was a factor and no one was wearing seatbelts. Tripp is believed to have been the driver.

The police said the car had been heading west when it flipped onto its roof.

This morning, the father and stepmother of Kimberly Sartini embraced young people at the scene and surveyed the area.

Roger Sartini told press at the site that it looked to him as though the car -- a compact Volkswagen -- may have hit a large rock on the road, went into the air and came to rest in a field. Small trees appeared to have been damaged.

Another passenger, Cory Braz, 18, of 31 Bucks Way, Tiverton, was taken by rescue workers to Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River for non-life threatening injuries, Blakey said.

The four were described as friends, Blakey said.

The state police have been asked to reconstruct the accident.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal photographer Bob Thayer

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:59 AM | Comment

Quaker files for bankruptcy; liquidation is next

FALL RIVER -- The struggling Quaker Fabric Corp. has filed for bankruptcy, the company announced today.

After years as a major player in the region's upholstery and fabric sector, Quaker fired all 920 of its employees, including at least 62 Rhode Island residents, earlier this summer.

In a statement released this morning, Quaker said a bankruptcy judge will now oversee the sale of all of the company's equipment and real estate.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 11:50 AM | Comment

Could Harvard-Brown game move for Yom Kippur?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard wants to reschedule a football game against Brown University next month because it conflicts with the start of Yom Kippur.

Harvard had scheduled the game against Brown for Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Jewish high holiday of repentance begins at sundown that day.

Harvard fans complained -- and the university has asked Brown to move the game to Sept. 22, after Yom Kippur ends.

Chris Humm, a spokesman for Brown football, says the program hasn't decided whether to honor the request.

Robert Scalise, Harvard's athletic director, says the Friday night game time was scheduled because Harvard believed it would draw the most freshmen to its newly illuminated stadium.

-- Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:48 AM | Comment

A Purple Heart for Guard lieutenant / Photo

All present applaud Lt. Robert Vaccaro after Maj. Gen. Robert Bray, left, pinned the Purple Heart on him at the Providence Armory this morning. In back are his parents, Richard and Sarah, and siblings Bethany, 22, Nathaniel, 10, Anna, 19, and John, 17, (in back). Journal photo / Kathy Borchers

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island Army National Guard Lt. Robert Vaccaro was awarded the Purple Heart in an early morning ceremony at the Providence Armory. The medal is awarded in recognition of wounds Vaccaro sustained while serving in Iraq earlier this year.

Vaccaro, 24, was critically wounded Jan. 14 in Baghdad while conducting route clearing operations. He has recently returned home after treatment in Maryland and Florida, and remains on active duty during his recovery.

Vacarro deployed with th 130th Engineering Company, Puerto Rico National Guard. He was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps when he graduated frmo the University of Rhode Island in 2005, when he joined the Guard and was assigned to the 861st Engineering Company, which had recently returned from Iraq. Upon completing the U.S. Army Basic Officer Engineering course, he volunteered to deploy with the 130th Engineering Company, Puerto Rico, according to a news release from the Rhode Island National Guard.

"We are thrilled to have Lt. Vaccaro back with us here in Rhode Island today. His actions in Iraq on the day he was injured speak to the incredible level of dedication to duty which he displayed," said Maj. Gen. Robert T. Bray, adjutant general of Rhode Island and commanding general of the Rhode Island National Guard, in the news release.

Posted by maria caporizzo at 9:50 AM | Comment

Download today's front page

The crisis at DCYF and a rogue slot machine at Twin River lead today's Journal.
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Posted by Peter Phipps at 8:49 AM | Comment

Marine forecast: No time for the queasy

There's a small-craft advisory for the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coast through tonight.

The National Weather Service warns boaters that both the seas and the winds will be uncomfortably high today and tomorrow. And if a thunderstorm develops, things could get really dangerous.

The weather service expects conditions to moderate by Sunday.

But for today and tonight, the forecast is for 3 to 5 foot seas with wind gusts tonight of 20 kts. That's not a forecast for the weak of stomach.

Those 5-foot swells should still be around Saturday before calming on Sunday to 2 to 3 feet by the end of the weekend.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 6:55 AM | Comment

Just one more day of this; the weekend looks great

Brace yourself for another hot and muggy day. There might even be some rain and even a thunderstorm this afternoon. The National Weather Service puts the chances at 40 percent.

But then the cold front that is stalled over the coast will move out, and dry, cool and clear weather will move in for the weekend.

Tomorrow and Sunday, the weather service says it will be clear with highs in the mid 70s.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 6:52 AM | Comment

Why the new highway crisscrosses

All lanes of Route 95 south between exits 18 to 20 and the Route 195 connector ramp to Route 95 south reopened this morning between 4:15 to 4:30.

The work soars overhead Route 95 just east of Rhode Island hospital. The giant turquoise steel structure of the new highway can now be traced connecting Route 195 to Route 95.

And because the infamous high-speed merges are being eliminated, the lanes have to cross overhead.

So, for the work going on now, the connection between Route 95 south and Route 195 east has to cross over 95 and crossover the connector to the new 195 bridge to get to the southern most eastbound lanes.

Think about it. That's the safe way. But it would have been much easier to connect to the high-speed lanes.

-- Peter Phipps, projo.com

Posted by Peter Phipps at 6:41 AM | Comment