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October 31, 2007

Tonight: Go get scared or watch Papelbon ... again

Looking for a way to get scared tonight?

Take a jaunt over to the Factory of Terror, open until 10 tonight, in Fall River, Mass. It's at 33 Pearl St. Admission is $17 for adults and $12 for children under age 10. Cash only.

For more about Halloween haunts, check out projo.com's listings.

For the rest of you, Sox player Jonathan Papelbon, fresh from doing several parade jigs and performing air guitar with a broom, will be on the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS tonight.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:00 PM | Comment

Photo: Fatal 95 wreck from the air

Journal photographer Andrew Dickerman got this aerial photo of the accident scene. Two people died around noon today. There are reports they were racing on Route 95 between exits 4 and 5 in Attleboro.

Posted by Peter Phipps at 5:08 PM | Comment

Station fire: Derderian finishes community service

Jeffrey Derderian has finished -- and exceeded -- the 500 hours of community service he was ordered to do after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges in the Station nightclub fire.

Derderian, one of two brothers who had owned the club, completed 534 hours of community service, the Rhode Island Judiciary said in a news release this afternoon.

An Oct. 22 letter from the Phoenix Society, an organization that helps burn survivors, said that Derderian had performed 402 hours of service. Another Oct. 22 letter from West Greenwich Fire and Rescue showed he had done 132 hours of community service.

Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. "has accepted the correspondence as verification that Derderian has fulfilled his court-ordered obligation. No further court reviews are planned," the news release said.

In the last update, on Sept. 1, Derderian had at the time completed 446 hours.

One hundred people died in the fire and in September 2006, Derderian and his brother Michael pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Michael Derderian is serving a four-year term at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston. Jeffrey received a suspended setnence, ordered to perform the community service and serve three years’ probation.

Read more about the Station nightclub fire here.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:21 PM | Comment

Photo/Cars in fatal crash were registered in R.I.

The midday accident on Route 95 backed up traffic for miles today.
Journal photo/Bob Thayer

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- State police say two drivers weaving through traffic as they raced at high speeds on Route 95 North in Attleboro (click for map)died when their vehicles were involved in a fiery crash.

Police say both vehicles are registered in Rhode Island.

The two cars collided, then went off the highway, up an embankment and hit the concrete abutment of an Interstate 295 overpass. The cars flipped over and burst into flames.

Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names haven't been released pending positive identification by the medical examiner and notification of family.
The 11 a.m. crash forced the closure of the two right lanes of Interstate 95 North and the ramp from Interstate 295 North to I-95 North, causing lengthy traffic delays.

One driver was in a 2008 Nissan sedan and the other was in a 2008 Honda sedan, says a state police news release.

The two left lanes are now open on Route 95 north in Massachusetts after being closed because of a fatal car crash next exit 4, the Rhode Island Transportation Management Center said this afternoon.

The Route 95 right lane and the Route 295 north ramp leading to Route 95 north remain closed.

The incident remains under investigation.

-- The Associated Press with projo.com staff reports

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:15 PM | Comment

Station fire defendants will pay about $20 million

Two additional defendants have reached a tentative agreement with victims of the 2003 Station nightclub fire.

Polar Industries and The Home Depot have agreed to pay $5 million, according to Mark Mandell, a lawyer for dozens fire victims.

Along with $1 million that the court registry is holding from Great White's insurance company, the total amount of settlement money that couild be awarded to the group is now $19.5 million.

U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux today appointed Duke University Law Prof. Francis E. McGovern to oversee the distribution of money among the more than 300 victims who filed suit seeking damages related to the fire.

In a surprise move announced by Mandell, McGovern has agreed to work with the victims for no cost beyond incidental expenses.

Read projo.com's Station fire coverage

One hundred people died and more than 200 were injured in the Feb. 20, 2003 fire that began when a pyrotechnics display inside the club during a Great White concert.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

The additional defendants who have tentatively agreed to settlements so far are:

Luna Tech Inc., of Alabama - and two of its European subsidiaries - which the lawsuits contend manufactured the pyrotechnics used by Great White the night of the Station fire.

High Tech Special Effects Inc., a Tennessee company that is alleged to have sold the fireworks used by Great White at the club the night of the fire.

Celotex Corp., which manufactured SoundStop board and then sold it for distribution to consumers. According to the lawsuits, the Derderians purchased SoundStop for their nightclub from Home Depot and then installed it in the ceiling of the drummer's alcove and elsewhere inside The Station.

Triton Realty and Raymond Villanova, owners of the building on Cowesett Avenue where The Station was located.

Joseph LaFontaine, of Warwick, owner of New England Custom Alarms, the company that installed the fire alarm system at the club when it was owned by Howard Julian, before the Derderians bought it.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 3:05 PM | Comment

Ocean State Job Lot warns of scam

A scam, apparently run out of Canada and involving a fraudulent $40,000-per-check-cashing scheme, illegally used Ocean Job Lot's name to randomly target people around the United States, the company announced today.

"Our company’s name has been used illegally and without our knowledge in this financial scam. When this surfaced, Job Lot immediately reported the phony giveaway to the United States Postal Investigation Service, the [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and other law enforcement agencies," Ocean State Job Lot said in a news release.

Canadian authorities are also investigating.

People began getting letters about a week ago from a company describing itself as Boyer Financial, Inc. of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. With each letter was a fraudulent check for about $3,850. The checks appeared as though they had been issued by by Ocean State Jobbers, Inc., parent company of Ocean State Job Lot.

People who got the letters were told they would receive “a grant” -- free money totaling $40,000 from the federal government if they simply cashed the enclosed check, faxed information back to the sender and called the “grant advisor." The remainder of the $40,000 would then be sent to the person.

But the checks were worthless, Ocean State Job Lot said today.

Job Lot and to local law enforcement agencies in Rhode Island, Maine, California, Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Hampshire are aware of 33 scam letters brought to their attention.

The scam's intention was not clear, but "it may be an attempt to get personal information on the targeted individual, ultimately resulting in identity theft; or it may be a scheme to use the personal information to loot the recipient’s bank account," Ocean State Job Lot said.

Ocean State Job Lot is "outraged that residents of these states, and perhaps others, have been targeted as potential victims. We are equally outraged that our company and our good corporate name have been used in this shameful attempt to swindle unsuspecting consumers."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:50 PM | Comment

Carcieri's lawyers argue for executive privilege

PROVIDENCE -- The state’s high court heard arguments today about whether Governor Carcieri should be called to take the stand at the trial of the seven Narragansett Indians facing criminal charges stemming from the state police raid on a tribal smoke shop in July 2003.

Defense lawyer William P. Devereaux and Marc DeSisto, representing the governor, presented their cases under occasionally heated questioning by the Supreme Court justices.

DeSisto urged the judges to overturn a ruling by the Superior Court judge that Carcieri could be called to testify about the orders he gave then State Police Col. Steven M. Pare leading up to the raid. DeSisto argued executive privilege should shield the governor -- and high ranking governmental officials -- from testifying unless he has direct and highly relevant personal information about the case that cannot be gotten from other sources.

The issue of executive privilege has not been tested in Rhode Island.

“Hailing the high executive into court unnecessarily disrupts administrative functions,” DeSisto said.

Justice Francis X. Flaherty asked why the governor’s appearances on talk radio and before a commission reviewing the raid in the days and weeks that followed were not equally as disruptive.

DeSisto responded that the governor has the obligation to “reach out" to the public on certain issues.

“Doesn’t he have the obligation to tell the same story under oath?,” said Chief Justice Frank Williams.

The governor should only be called to testify in “rare cases,” otherwise the system will lead to abuse, DeSisto said.

Devereaux argued the governor’s testimony could be vital to defense arguments that troopers used excessive force by disregarding Carcieri’s order that they back off if they met resistance.

“The jury deserves to consider the orders,” he said. The information being sought, he said, was not confidential.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

The justices questioned Devereaux with equal intensity.

Goldberg asked why TV crews had been at the scene the day of the raid and whether the defense was inviting a “circus-like atmosphere” into the courts.

Flaherty wondered whether the same evidence could be gotten by other means, which Devereaux likened to providing testimony by “boom box.”

The cases grew out of the state police raid of a Narragansett smoke shop in Charlestown on July 14, 2003. Governor Carcieri ordered the police to execute the search warrant on the roadside store after the tribe began selling cigarettes without charging Rhode Island taxes, in violation of state law.

The raid disintegrated into a violent confrontation. Seven tribal members, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, face misdemeanor charges of obstruction, disorderly conduct, assault and resisting arrest.

The court will issue a decision in six weeks, Williams said.

In the meantime, the Supreme Court has urged the parties, including the attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting, to mediate the cases.

“We weren’t kidding when we put that in the order,” Williams said.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:12 PM | Comment

Alert: Fatal crash stops traffic on 95 north, Attleboro

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- State police say at least one person is dead and there is a possibility of additional fatalities after a fiery multi-vehicle crash in Attleboro.

Sgt. Mike Rafferty says the crash occurred at the junction of Interstates 95 and 295 at about 11 a.m. Firefighters were sifting through the charred wreckage of the two overturned vehicles.

The crash forced the closure of the two right lanes of Interstate 95 North and the ramp from Interstate 295 North to I-95 North.

State Police plan to close all northbound lanes of I-95 during the investigation.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:30 PM | Comment

Tropical storm Noel on its way to Florida

The National Weather Service is warning southern Floridians to look out for winds gusting over 25 miles per hour, strong rip currents;15-foot seas; and even a “remote …possibility of a weak tornado or waterspout.”

Tropical storm Noel is expected to strengthen during the next 36 to 48 hours, according to the service’s National Hurricane Center. Wind and rain advisories may turn into a tropical storm warning within a day or two.

The storm, which is responsible for more than 45 deaths in the western Caribbean, is expected to approach Florida in the next few days.3

See video of the storm's aftermath in the Caribbean and current conditions in Florida.

Officials say that despite some rain in Florida, the storm is not expected to bring relief to areas of the Southeast experiencing drought.

-- with reports from The Associated Press

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 12:09 PM | Comment

Update: Gas leak repaired

Tenants at a Lincoln complex are returning to their apartments after the source of a gas smell was pinpointed and sealed.

Police said a caller complaining of a gas smell came just before 9:30 this morning from an apartment at the complex on 25 Spring St. in the Manville section of town.
About 10 residents were evacuated.

A National Grid technician found the source: a loose connector on the back of a stove unit. The gas was turned off, and the technician replaced the faulty is connector, according to spokesman David Graves.

The building was vented and residents were allowed to return to their apartments. The technician is manually relighting pilot lights in each unit.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:00 AM | Comment

Widow sues woman who crashed into Mass. hospital

BROCKTON, Mass. -- The widow of a doctor killed when a 76-year-old woman crashed her car into Brockton Hospital has sued the driver for $10 million.

The wrongful death suit by Kathleen Vasa, widow of 58-year-old Mark Vasa of Norwell, was filed against Jane Berghold last week.

Berghold, a breast cancer patient at the hospital, drove her car into the radiation therapy unit at the hospital on October 15. Vasa, the chief of the unit, and 59-year-old hospital secretary Susan Plante sustained fatal injuries in the accident.

Berghold's attorney declined comment to The Enterprise of Brockton. She has said previously that her car didn't stop when she tried to brake.

Berghold is scheduled to appear before a clerk magistrate in December to determine if she will be criminally charged.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 10:06 AM | Comment

Special master for Station Fire suit to be appointed

A U.S District Court judge today will consider the appointment of a special master to devise a plan to divvy up settlement money offered to the victims of the Station nightclub fire.

Lawyers representing two foam manufacturers being sued by the victims dropped their objections Monday to the appointment of Duke University Law Prof. Francis E. McGovern as special master.

Extra: Read about the Station nightclub fire on projo.com

Lawyers representing General Foam and Foamex say they’ll hold onto their right to object to settlement offers and won’t have to pay any of McGovern’s fees.

In recent weeks, some of the approximately 90 defendants made tentative offers worth about $13.5 million to people who lost loved ones or were injured in the Feb. 20 2003 fire that killed 100 people.

-- with archive reports

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:54 AM | Comment

Carcieri's lawyer to argue before high court

PROVIDENCE -- A lawyer for Governor Carcieri is scheduled to go before the state Supreme Court to argue that Carcieri shouldn't have to testify in a trial over a violent raid at a Narragansett Indian smoke shop in 2003.

Seven tribe members face criminal charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assault for the state police raid on the shop, which was not charging taxes on cigarettes.

Defense lawyers want Carcieri to testify about an order he says he gave to police to pull back if they met resistance. Instead, a fight erupted between tribe members and police.

A Superior Court judge has said Carcieri's testimony could be relevant.

Carcieri's lawyer says executive privilege protects him from being forced to testify.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment

Nothing scary about this forecast

Look for a sunny day with a high near 65 degrees and a comfortable night for trick-or-treating.

Tonight should be partly cloudy with a low around 48 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story about the poor condition of Rhode Island's historical cemeteries.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment