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October 24, 2007

Tonight: Sox vs. Rox or Bonamassa's blues

Obviously, there's something to do tonight: Stay in or go to the pub to watch the Sox open the World Series at Fenway against the Rox. Game time is 8:35 p.m.

Wondering where to go to join a crowd for the game? See what The Journal's Bryan Rourke has to suggest.

Craving the latest Sox pre-game, game and post-game analysis? Check in with projo.com for reports from Journal sportswriters and photographers and add your comments to the SoxBlog.

For the rest of us, all three of us, there *are* other options.

Joe Bonamassa plays some hard-charging, inventive modern blues on the electric guitar tonight, with Todd Wolfe and Crosby Loggins also playing. The show's at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, 79 Washington St., Providence. Call 331-5876, 272-5876, www.etix.com. 8 p.m. $20; $35 gold circle.

Comic Book Super Heroes, Champion Kickboxer and Far Off Place play rock at AS220, 115 Empire St., Providence. Call 831-9327. 9:30 pm. $6. All ages.

In Newport, Chris Gauthier plays rock at One Pelham East, 270 Thames St., Newport. Call 847-9460. 9 p.m.

For the rest of who's playing what around Rhode Island tonight, check out our club listings.

And come back tomorrow night, for, yes, another Sox vs. Rox World Series game.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:10 PM | Comment

Providence pair accused of stashing drugs in Fall River

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- A Providence couple was arrested today after the police seized a half-million dollars' worth of marijuana from a Fall River house the two rented and allegedly used to stash the drugs.

The police executed a search warrant at 551 Ludlow St. at about 12:30 a.m., finding six 20-gallon plastic bins filled with 145 one-pound bags of marijuana, along with 66 pounds of loose marijuana, bale wrappers and a digital scale, according to a Fall River police statement. The house was otherwise vacant.

The police valued the drugs at $500,000, based on an average sale of $150 per ounce.

Just before entering the house, the police saw a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche, driven by Jeremy C. Barnes, approach the address.

Barnes, the police said, was the “target” of the search warrant. Barnes noticed the police detectives and quickly drove off, but the police stopped him nearby at Stafford Road and Tucker Street, and he and his passenger, Maritess A. Oandasan, were searched. The police seized a cell phone and $1,153 in cash from Barnes and $816 in cash from Oandasan, as well as notebooks the police said they suspect were used as drug ledgers.

Barnes, 33, and Oandasan, 25, who live together in the Promenade Apartments, Apt. 609, at 255 Promenade St. in Providence, were both arrested and each charged with trafficking of more than 100 pounds of marijuana, drug trafficking in a school zone and conspiracy. The Ludlow Street house is within 1,000 feet of Holy Trinity School on Lamphor Street.

The couple was arraigned today in Fall River District Court and each is being held on $1 million cash bail, Detective Lt. James Keighley said.

-- Journal staff writer Meaghan Wims

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:00 PM | Comment

Providence man pleads guilty to drug-trafficking charges

PROVIDENCE -- A 28-year-old Providence man pleaded guilty today to federal drug-trafficking charges before U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres.

Providence police seized about 200 grams of crack cocaine, some powder cocaine and $25,000 from the apartment of Manuel Coradin on Marshall Street in 2005.

The prosecution argued that on July 8, 2005, Providence police were conducting a drug investigation when they stopped a car driven by Coradin. He gave the officers permission to search his apartment. The police seized a cooking pan that had trace amounts of crack, two bags of cocaine and $25,000 from a safe. They also found three more bags of cocaine in a bedroom.

Coradin pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He is being held pending his sentence on Jan. 15. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life, plus a $4-million fine.

-- Journal staff writer Linda Borg

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:55 PM | Comment

LNG ruling a long-sought victory for Fall River officials

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- As a politician, Edward Lambert has thrown lots of hats into lots of rings.

But today, at a news conference discussing the Coast Guard decision that appears to deal a death blow to the Weaver’s Cove LNG terminal proposal, the outgoing mayor, who departs Friday, showed off a special hat he plans to toss somewhere else.

The tan baseball cap, labeled "Hess LNG,’’ was presented to him a few years ago by Hess Corp. CEO John B. Hess.

It wasn’t really a gift, Lambert said. It was more of an arrogant assertion that Hess and Weaver’s Cove Energy were going to build the terminal despite nearly-universal opposition.

"I told Mr. Hess at the time that I had a very special place for this hat and it would not be joining my hat collection,’’ Lambert said.

"It is my hope that before the end of business on Friday, I get to toss this off the Brightman Street Bridge into the Taunton River,’’ he said. "This decision, I think, now gives me the rationale for doing that.’’

Whether Lambert may be able to get past the MassHighway barricades to get on the bridge Friday -- the state has closed it for repair work -- remains an open question.

But what isn’t an open question is that the Coast Guard ruling, which declared that LNG tankers would pose an unacceptable navigational hazard, was a devastating blow to the six-year-old terminal proposal.

-- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Coast Guard Capt. Roy A. Nash didn’t even consider other key issues, such as security or environmental concerns in making his ruling.

He rejected the Weaver’s Cove plan after simply considering the hazards posed to navigation along the path that LNG tankers would have to take from Narragansett Bay to the Taunton River.

"As a practical matter, this project is now dead,’’ declared Thomas McGuire, the city’s corporation counsel, saying one strength of the ruling is that "it’s not just one reason. [Nash] has many reasons this project cannot go forward.’’

There may be an appeal and Hess and Weaver’s Cove may continue to offer legal challenges, he said. However, "The Coast Guard has written a decision that is not going to get overturned.’’

Not only would a court have to dismiss Nash’s experience and his detailed arguments, said McGuire, "Even in the extremely unlikely event that an appeal reversed the decision . . . [Nash has said] the Coast Guard would use its discretionary authority to prohibit repeated LNG traffic.’’

"This is an ending to something that never should have begun,’’ said Rep. David N. Sullivan. "It’s a great victory for the people.’’

Lambert said Fall River "was told six years ago by the industry and others that we could not fight this, that it would happen over our objections, that we ought to just take it, and the longer we disagreed, the more economic benefits would disappear.’’

He said the comments showed "the arrogance of this company’’ and that they, along with some federal regulators, were wrong when they insisted that the city could not stop the project.

After approval appeared certain when federal regulators gave it the green light, the Commonwealth’s congressional delegation put on the brakes by declaring that the Brightman Street Bridge was an historic structure and could not be demolished after a new version of the bridge was constructed.

That posed a huge problem for Hess and Weaver’s Cove because the drawbridge opening of the old bridge could not accommodate LNG supertankers.

Weaver’s Cove then suggested solving that problem by using smaller tankers, ones that haven’t even been built.

But the Coast Guard said the navigational issues were insurmountable. If nothing else, the ships would have to come to a complete halt between the bridges and then be pushed sideways in order to make it up the river.

And Nash, in his ruling, said that if one of the tankers broke down in the narrow dredged channel leading to the Braga Bridge, the only way to extract it would be to tow it backwards down the Bay, which would be unacceptable.

Lambert said, as he has with other victories, that it’s time for Hess and Weaver’s Cove to throw in the towel even as he tosses the Hess LNG cap into the Taunton. He is leaving to take a new job at UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Policy Analysis.

The proponents may try to keep it alive, he said, but even with his departure from the mayor’s office at week’s end, the city "will not take our foot off the throat of the beast until that beast is deceased.’’

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:54 PM | Comment

Burrillville man charged with molesting 2 children

BURRILLVILLE -- A 39-year-old Harrisville man has been charged with sexually assaulting and molesting two children under the age of 14, the police said today.

Todd R. Pacheco of 113 East Ave. was arrested by Pawtucket police after Burrillville authorities began investigating the alleged incidents in mid-July, said Burrillville police Lt. Kevin S. San Antonio.

Pacheco faces one first-degree child molestation charge and one first-degree sexual assault charge and five counts of second-degree molestation, San Antonio said.

One of the children was from Burrillville and the other was from North Providence, he said. Each of them was assaulted in various incidents that took place in Burrillville and Pawtucket between 2002 and 2006, San Antonio said.

He declined to reveal the gender of the victims, and he said he is unable to be more specific about the timing of the different incidents.

Pacheco was indicted on the charges on Oct. 18. He was already in custody at the time. He has been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions, in Cranston, since his initial arrest, San Antonio said.

Pacheco’s arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 7 in Superior Court.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:32 PM | Comment

Cianci to be Channel 6 chief political analyst

PROVIDENCE -- Former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. is adding another new job title to his resume: Chief political analyst and contributing editor for WLNE-TV.

The station says the once-imprisoned former mayor will start his new job on Nov. 1. General Manager Stephen Doerr calls Cianci "legendary'' and says no one knows the region better.

Cianci served more than four years in federal prison after being convicted on corruption charges. He was released earlier this year and started hosting a talk show on WPRO-AM last month.

WLNE, the local ABC affiliate on Channel 6, recently changed ownership and has been making management changes in a bid to improve its lagging ratings.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:12 PM | Comment

Update: Coast Guard ruling against LNG plan praised

The Coast Guard has determined that the waterway approach to the proposed Weaver's Cove liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, Mass., is "unsuitable" for the type, size and amount of traffic it would bring.

The ruling today could all but doom the controversial proposal, which calls for tankers to travel up Narragansett Bay into Mount Hope Bay and along the Taunton River to the Massachusetts port city.

It also led to a stream of statements this afternoon in support of the decision, which Weaver's Cove has 30 days to request it be reconsidered.

In a press release, Coast Guard Capt. Roy Nash said, “Vessel masters would face extraordinary navigational maneuvers when transiting the waterway The safety risks are too great to favorably recommend the waterways as suitable.”

Nash, captain of the port and commander of Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England, made the recommendation today in a two-page letter.

The Coast Guard assists the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission -- which makes the final decision on the site's viability -- by determining whether the waterway is suitable for LNG transits.

Last summer, the FERC voted, 2-1, not to revisit its earlier decision to approve the Weaver's Cove site for an LNG facility.

-- projo.com staff writers Michael P. McKinney and Brandie Jefferson

The Coast Guard's ruling comes on the heels of a decision to drop a plan for a major LNG terminal in Providence, which would have also required the tankers to travel up Narragansett Bay.

In Fall River, the Coast Guard’s main concern is a tight space between the old and new Brightman Street bridges. The 80-foot wide, 700-foot long tanker would have just about 1,000 feet to maneuver diagonally through an opening with less than 18 feet of clearance, according to the Coast Guard.

The Guard was also concerned that tankers would have to travel within 100 feet of the U.S.S. Massachusetts museum, the Braga Bridge, and the State Pier.

After the analysis, Nash wrote, “I have concluded that such transits cannot be conducted safely on a routine, repeatable basis, and that the risk of a mishap in Mount Hope Bay, and particularly in the Taunton River in the vicinity of the two Brightman Street Bridges, is unacceptably high.”

Earlier this month, National Grid abandoned its pursuit of establishing a major liquefied natural gas marine terminal in Providence.

The decision ended a four-year effort by the company's KeySpan subsidiary to revamp its existing storage facility on the Providence River into a terminal that would receive LNG deliveries by tankers.

Governor Carcieri issued a statement this afternoon applauding the Coast Guard's stance in the proposal for neighboring Massachusetts.

“Hopefully, today’s Coast Guard decision will be the last nail in the coffin for this project,” he said. “With this federal ruling in hand, Weaver’s Cove should finally abandon their ill-conceived and potentially dangerous plan.”

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said in a statement that he calls upon Hess LNG "to cease proceeding any further. I hope it recognizes the futility of pressing on. Let me assure all Rhode Islanders that while we celebrate this day, should Hess proceed any further with this ill-conceived and dangerous project, we stand prepared to fight for the rights of our Ocean State, as we have from the outset.”

“The people who live on the water along the proposed LNG tanker route don’t want this terminal. The fishermen and boaters don’t want it. The environmentalists don’t want it. The political leaders in two states don’t want it. And now the Captain of the Port for the Coast Guard says it’s not safe,” state Rep. Raymond Gallison, a Democrat who represents District 69 in Bristol and Portsmouth, said. “It’s time for Weaver’s Cove to face reality: This proposal is unsafe and unwelcome here and the time has come to drop it.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:58 PM | Comment

Update: Defense opens case in child-murder trial

WARWICK -- The defense in the child-murder trial of Kimberly A. Mawson opened today with four witnesses and sought to enforce that Mawson's boyfriend, Daniel Fusco, a prosecution witness, varied his accounts of events.

Mawson, 37, a former Warwick woman, faces second-degree murder charges for the December 2002 death of her 19-month-old daughter, Jade.

The defense in Kent County Superior Court today called to the stand a Hasbro Children's Hospital nurse, a doctor, an emergency medical technician, and a former investigator for the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The state rested its case today after jurors heard Mawson's 2005 grand jury testimony in which she said she spent her last night with Jade at the hospital, reading stories and watching movies.

“I only had 24 hours left with my only child,” she says on a recording of that testimony.

“I couldn’t waste it on sleep.”

But last week Kimberly Riley, a nurse at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, said when nurses moved furniture so that Mawson could share a bed with her daughter, she declined.

Prosecutors later called an assistant registrar from the University of Connecticut to take the stand. Mawson had told the grand jury that she'd been a student at the school, but the assistant registrar testified today that she hadn't attended the school, according to school records.

-- projo.com staff writers Michael P. McKinney and Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Including what they heard yesterday, jurors have heard about three hours of recordings. In one recording, after Mawson heard her daughter had collapsed, she said she told her boyfriend -- who was alone with the baby -- to call an ambulance.

“She’s unconscious? Is she breathing?, first question,” Mawson told the grand jury. “I said, ‘Call 9-1-1. I’m on my way.’”

In testimony earlier this week, prosecutors previously played a voicemail message Mawson left for Fusco that same evening:

"Do not call the ambulance until I get there and see her,” Mawson said in the recording. “She may have just passed out. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:40 PM | Comment

Providence Head Start has been shut down

PROVIDENCE -- Providence Head Start has been shut down by the federal government, and an interim contractor brought in to run the program.

Federal authorities discovered that the agency was not properly conducting criminal background checks on its employees.

The preschool morning and afternoon programs are closed today through Friday, and are expected to reopen Monday.

They will be managed on an interim basis by Community Development Institute Head Start, a Denver-based company that runs Head Start programs temporarily when the local agency cannot continue for any reason. Providence Head Start serves over 1,200 children in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls, providing both morning education programs and after-school care.

Officials at Providence Head Start refused to comment on the situation.

Federal authorities sent the local Head Start office a letter on Oct. 19, explaining that their federal funding had been revoked and would be transferred to another agency, citing code that allows them to pull funding “if staff or participants' health and safety are at risk.”

The letter goes on to detail two separate site visits, one conducted in the summer of 2006, one in the summer of 2007, in which federal investigators found that Providence Head Start was not properly conducting background checks.

There have been no suggestions that there were actually criminals employed by the program, only that the proper criminal checks were not conducted.

Providence Head Start was also holding classes in a basement area prohibited by the State Fire Marshall, the letter states. The basement of the Mary T. Dean Center was used for two classrooms, despite being one level below the exit. Investigators were told in 2006 that the classrooms would no longer be used to educate children. But in their 2007 visit, they again observed children in those areas.

It is not yet clear whether Providence Head Start will be able to return as the overseer of the program, or if another grantee will be introduced.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:51 PM | Comment

Update: Coast Guard rules against Fall River LNG site

The waterway approach to the proposed in Fall River isn’t safe for the amount of traffic it would bring, the Coast Guard announced today.

The ruling could all but doom the controversial proposal, which calls for tankers to travel up Narragansett Bay into Mount Hope Bay and along the Taunton River to the Massachusetts port city.

“Vessel masters would face extraordinary navigational maneuvers when transiting the waterway,” Capt. Roy Nash said in a statement. “The safety risks are too great to favorably recommend the waterways as suitable.”

Nash, captain of the port and commander of Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England, made the recommendation today in a two-page letter.

The Coast Guard assists the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission -- which makes the final decision on the site's viability -- by determining whether the waterway is suitable for LNG transits.

Governor Carcieri issued a statement this afternoon, applauding the Coast Guard's stance in the proposal for neighboring Massachusetts.

“Hopefully, today’s Coast Guard decision will be the last nail in the coffin for this project,” he said. “With this federal ruling in hand, Weaver’s Cove should finally abandon their ill-conceived and potentially dangerous plan.”

Last summer, the FERC voted, 2-1, not to revisit its earlier decision to approve the Weaver's Cove site for an LNG facility.

The Coast Guard's ruling comes on the heels of a decision to drop a plan for a major LNG terminal in Providence, which would have also required the tankers to travel up Narragansett Bay.

In Fall River, the Coast Guard’s main concern is a tight space between the old and new Brightman Street bridges. The 80-foot wide, 700-foot long tanker would have just about 1,000 feet to maneuver diagonally through an opening with less than 18 feet of clearance, according to the Coast Guard.

The Guard was also concerned that tankers would have to travel within 100 feet of the U.S.S. Massachusetts museum, the Braga Bridge, and the State Pier.

After the analysis, Nash wrote “I have concluded that such transits cannot be conducted safely on a routine, repeatable basis, and that the risk of a mishap in Mount Hope Bay, and particularly in the Taunton River in the vicinity of the two Brightman Street Bridges, is unacceptably high.”

Earlier this month, National Grid abandoned its pursuit of establishing a major liquefied natural gas marine terminal in Providence.

The decision ended a four-year effort by the company's KeySpan subsidiary to revamp its existing storage facility on the Providence River into a terminal that would receive LNG deliveries by tankers.

That appears to be a victory for the citizens, organizations and public officials who fought the proposal.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 3:20 PM | Comment

Brown ranked third in number of U.S. Fulbrights

PROVIDENCE -- Brown University is third in the nation among colleges/universities for students with U.S. Fulbrights awards this year, the university announced in a news release today.

Twenty-five students from Brown -- 23 undergraduates and two graduate students -- are now studying overseas on Fulbright grants. Brown said in its news release that it also ranks first in the Ivy League for most undergraduate Fulbright awards.

The students are studying, teaching or doing research in 18 countries. Among their projects are studying the contemporary music scene in Latvia, teaching English in Korea and examining the integration of Polish immigrants in Norwegian society.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Among this year’s Fulbright recipients are Brown graduate students Rebecca Peters and Sudeepto Mukherji, who got Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation fellowships for research in Angola and Russia, respectively. Undergraduates and recent alumni who got 2007-08 Fulbright awards and the countries they are in:

* Elise Jett Baran ’07 (Poland)
* Christopher Whitten Bernard ’07 (Latvia)
* Elizabeth Danielson Bird ’07 (Malawi)
* Benjamin W. Boas ’07 (Japan)
* Arianna G. Cassiday ’07 (Argentina)
* Lee Chu ’07 (Korea)
* Jennifer Elizabeth Chudy ’07 (Korea)
* Josue Cofresi ’07 (Taiwan)
* Gregory Patrick Fay ’07 (China)
* David Guttmann ’07 (Israel)
* Jonathan David Herman ’07 (Cameroon)
* Emma Fennell Kaplan ’07 (China)
* Smitha Khorana ’07 (India)
* Diane Sookyoung Lee ’07 (Korea)
* Elena Lesley ’04 (Cambodia)
* Toby Xianyu Li ’07 (Korea)
* Jeffrey Allan Lugowe ’07 (Norway)
* Juliana McKittrick ’07 (Turkey)
* Gabriela Joyce O’Leary ’07 (Brazil)
* Candas Pinar ’06 (Turkey)
* Natalie Ann Smolenski ’07 (Egypt)
* Nicholas Van Sant ’07 (Argentina)
* Natan Tzvi Zeichner ’07 (Brazil)

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:12 PM | Comment

URI College Republicans host speaker tonight

The College Republicans of the University of Rhode Island are holding "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" and tonight will feature as guest speaker Robert Spencer, who wrote "Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam."

According to the URI Republicans Website, Spencer is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

It appears to be stirring controversy, as an e-mail has gone out urging students to join a plan to protest the GOP's hosting Spencer, who is among authors/commentators who have drawn criticism and support from various quarters.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council has put out a document titled "What You Need to Know about Islamo-Fascism Week" that criticizes what it says is a national push on college campuses.

But at the national organizers' own Website, known as the "Terrorism Awareness Project," it says the nation will be "rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever -- Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses."

According to the URI Republicans online description of the week's events, on Monday they held a petition drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. "denouncing Islamo-Fascist violence against women, gays, Christians, Jews," the Web site says,a nd yesterday there was a scheduled 7 p.m. lecture on "Women's rights and political Islam" by URI women studies professor Donna Hughes. The Web site says a documentary is scheduled for tomorrow and on Friday a "memorial service for the victims of Islamic terror."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:55 PM | Comment

Update: State rests in tot's murder trial

WARWICK -- The state has rested its case against a former Warwick woman who faces second-degree murder charges for the 2002 death of her baby daughter.

Today, jurors heard Mawson's 2005 Grand Jury testimony when she said she spent her last night with 19-month-old Jade at the hospital reading stories and watching movies.

“I only had 24 hours left with my only child,” she says on a recording of her testimony, given in 2005.

“I couldn’t waste it on sleep.”

But last week Kimberly Riley, a nurse at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, said when nurses moved furniture so that Mawson could share a bed with her daughter, she declined.

Prosecutors later had an assistant registrar from the University of Connecticut take the stand. Mawson had told the grand jury that she'd been a student at the school, but the assistant registrar testified today that she hadn't attended the school, according to school records.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Jurors have heard about three hours of recordings, including a segment where Mawson says after she heard her daughter had collapsed, she told her boyfriend – who was alone with the baby – to call an ambulance.

“She’s unconscious? Is she breathing?, first question,” Mawson told the grand jury. “I said ‘call 9-1-1, I’m on my way.’”

In testimony earlier this week in Superior Court, Warwick, prosecutors previously played a voicemail message Mawson left for Fusco that same evening:

"Do not call the ambulance until I get there and see her,” Mawson said in the recording. “She may have just passed out. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 2:50 PM | Comment

Update: Mollis' stepson gets14 months / Photo

PROVIDENCE -- Gian Piscione, the stepson of Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, was sentenced today to 14 months in prison for charges stemming from a January shooting.

The police say Piscione was angry that his girlfriend was with another man, so he shot into the car that they had been riding in.

In August, Piscione pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence.

Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause told Piscione that “anger, jealousy and a loaded gun are a volatile combination, and it has serious consequences.”

Before he was sentenced, Piscione stood at a lectern to address the judge, and said:

"I am very sorry for what I did. I know it was stupid," and added, "I'm not the stupid kid I used to be."

Over the past eight to nine months, he said, he has people who love him and he doesn't want to lose that.

Piscione was given a sentence of five years for the assault charge, with 14 months to serve; a 10-year suspended sentence with probation to be served consecutively to the assault charge; and a one-year sentence, suspended, with probation.

Mollis was in court today with his stepson, and made a brief statement.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 2:16 PM | Comment

Local Red Cross volunteer heads for California

At least one Rhode Island Red Cross volunteer is leaving for Southern California to help as firefighters combat the wall of wildfires leaving people without their homes.

Paula Drzal of North Providence, the local volunteer heading for San Diego this evening, is a mental health worker, according to the Red Cross.

According to a Red Cross news release today, more than 500 Red Cross workers have been in California since Sunday morning and the organization is "expanding its services rapidly as the needs change and escalate." Here's what the Red Cross said is on the way:

• 25,000 cots
• 50,000 blankets
• 50,000 pre-packaged meals
• 25,000 comfort kits filled with toiletry items
• 75 mobile feeding trucks and 2 Southern Baptist Kitchens
• 1,000 shelter workers
• 1,000 workers to help with feeding, distribution of supplies, mental health and first aid support

More than 3,000 people from Southern California spent last night at 11 Red Cross shelters in areas outside of threatened neighborhoods, the Red Cross said.

"The Rhode Island Chapter is supporting these efforts by deploying volunteers to Southern California," the news release said.

For more on the fires, see pe.com.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency can respond with equipment or personnel to the wildfires if a request known as an "EMAC" came in.

Called an Emergency Management Assistance Compact, it's a way that emergency management agencies in the states and Canada can share resources, said Brittan Bates, public information officer for Rhode Island E.M.A.

Bates said Rhode Island has sent people and equipment before -- to Lousiana following Hurricane Katrina and to Florida for hurricanes there. She said the Rhode Island E.M.A. has obviously been aware of the situation in San Diego and surrounding areas and is prepared if a request came in.

E.M.A.s get notifications about various calamities around the country.

The Providence Fire Department has not received a request to send firefighters or others to California, said Chief George Farrell. He said the department and other departments do not "self-dispatch" to out-of-state emergencies, but, rather send assistance when requested.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:28 PM | Comment

Weather update: Sox fans should plan on rain

Wet weather in late October is to be expected.

But what may really be giving New Englanders agita is how that weather will affect tonight's opening game of the World Series at Fenway.

Showers are forecast on and off today with a high temperature of about 61 degrees -- it's down to 57 degrees in Providence now.

Tonight, the temperature will continue to drop to about 50 and, worse than that, rain is likely, especially after midnight.

That holds true for both Providence and Boston, so fans at the game should at least bring an umbrella. We'll let you know later how it affects the game, if at all.

In Boston, the temperature could dip into the 40s, with a light north wind.
More rain is due tomorrow morning with cloudy skies expected to give way to sunshine later in the day. The high temperature should reach the mid-50s.

Just in time for the second World Series game, also in Boston.

Looking ahead to the weather in Denver, when the Sox face the Rockies on Saturday? It's predicted to be partly cloudy and in the 50s. Click here for a full forecast.

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

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 12:09 PM | Comment

Poll: PC predicted to place 8th in Big East

NEW YORK -- Georgetown and Louisville are the co-favorites to win the Big East men's basketball title.

Providence College is ranked 8th.

The preseason conference coaches poll was released today in New York.

Georgetown and Louisville both received eight first-place votes and 217 points in the balloting of the league's 16 coaches.

Louisville, coached by former PC coach Rick Pitino, returns its top seven scorers from the team that went 24-10.

Georgetown has four starters back from its Final Four team, including preseason player of the year Roy Hibbert. The 7-foot-2 center decided to return for his senior season.

Marquette is third in the poll, followed by Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut, Villanova, Providence and Notre Dame.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney at 11:39 AM | Comment

R.I. team can repair sewer lines with the best

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Members of the Fecal Matters team shown practicing earlier this year. From left are Don Shurtleff, Brian Lavallee, Scott Goodinson and Rob Sheridan.

Before the Sox battle the Rockies, consider what a team called Fecal Matters had to battle.

The six men of Fecal Matters hail from Rhode Island and got second place out of 30 teams in one event at a national competition for wastewater operations professionals in San Diego this month, the state Department of Environmental Management said in a news release this week. The Rhode Island team placed 13th overall for all events.

For what, you may wonder.

"The team placed second in a tight collection-system repair race," a Department of Environmental Management news release said today.

Another of the challenges tested teams on how fast they could repair sewer lines.

It marks the second consecutive year Rhode Island's team won a spot in the national competition, the DEM said, and the team "markedly improved their times over last year."

Team members are Peter Eldridge, Robert Sheridan, Donald Shurtleff and Brian Lavallee of the West Warwick water treatment plant and Scott Goodinson of Veolia Water North America, the contract operator of the Cranston Water Pollution Control Facility.

Read a feature on this Rhode Island 'dream team'.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Teams competed to show their proficiency in such things as:

* Water purification process-control strategies.

* Laboratory skills.

* A fast-paced safety rescue simulation.

* Emergency repairs of a pump.

The state's top environmental official offered praise.

"I am delighted that Rhode Island did so well in the national arena of the wastewater operator profession," W. Michael Sullivan, the Department of Environmental Management director, said in the statement. "The Ocean State is highly dependent upon this profession. They are a group of men and women who treat some 100 million gallons of raw sewage every day, and in so doing protect the health of every Rhode Islander, the quality of our waters, and our statewide economy."

Posted by Mike McKinney at 10:50 AM | Comment

Whitehouse to take part in confirmation hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider a top nomination to the federal government.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will chair the committee’s confirmation hearing for Ronald Jay Tenpas’, nominated to serve as assistant attorney general in the environmental resources division.

Attorneys in that division represent the country in cases of environmental concern, including pollution cleanup, wildlife protection, and other environmental issues.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:42 AM | Comment

California fire postpones states' lawsuit against EPA

SACRAMENTO - California's attorney general is delaying a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency because of massive wildfires in Southern California.

Attorney General Jerry Brown tells The Associated Press that California will not sue the agency today as it had planned. Instead, he says he'll likely sue next week.

California wants to force the EPA to decide whether California and 11 other states, including Rhode Island, can impose stricter vehicle standards.

California asked the EPA nearly two years ago to let the state regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

EPA Administrator Steven Johnson has said he will make a decision on the waiver by the end of the year.

Read more about the fires as pe.com.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:35 AM | Comment

Trial continues for mom accused of daughter's death

Jurors are set to hear testimony from a woman who faces second-degree murder charges for the death of her 19-month old baby.

Kimberly A. Mawson, 37, is not scheduled to take the stand, but the state will continue playing a recording of her 2005 grand jury testimony.

Yesterday, jurors heard Mawson talking about her early life, and the events of Dec. 2, 2002 – the day her daughter, Jade, was fatally injured.

The forensic scientist who examined evidence taken from Mawson’s home also testified.

Judge Edwin J. Gale, in Superior Court, Warwick, told the jury that the case may be handed down to them as early as today.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:32 AM | Comment

Mollis' stepson to be sentenced today

Gian Piscione, the stepson of Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, is scheduled to be sentenced today in Providence County Superior Court.

Piscione is charged with three counts, including one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. He admitted in a plea agreement earlier this year to firing a shotgun into the trunk of a Lexus out of jealousy over a girlfriend.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:02 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story about the Colorado Rockies, who will face the Red Sox in the World Series starting tonight, and a feature about a former Rhode Island man now living in Colorado and selling Rockies T-shirts to make money after losing his job.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment