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« February 14, 2008 | Today | February 18, 2008 » February 15, 2008Tonight: Spiderwick Chronicles or Indiana Jones -- a peekYou can catch the Spiderwick Chronicles at the IMAX theatre at Providence Place Mall tonight -- a fantasy film filled with adventures and creatures that will see whether it catches a wide audience. Showings are at 7:10, 10:05 and an early show at 12:30 a.m. in the regular cinepex; the IMAX -- or big, big screen -- version at 7:10 and 9:30 p.m.Read a review by the Journal's Michael Janusonis. Or, you can stay at your computer and catch a glimpse of a long-awaited fourth chapter in a time-tested adventure: the preview for the new Indy movie, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:00 PM | Comment Local educators to education chief: Change reform law
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline wants to expand after-school programs and protect art and music classes. Providence Schools Supt. Donnie Evans said his top priority is improving urban schools. Robert G. Flanders, chairman of the state Board of Regents, pushed for stronger early childhood education. Several teachers asked Spellings to provide enough resources -- including federal money -- for teacher support and training. Union leaders urged Spellings to find fair ways to track the progress of struggling schools, rather than simply classify all of them as “in need of improvement.” Governor Carcieri moderated the candid roundtable discussion at the Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary School after Spellings visited a second-grade classroom. She praised Feinstein for its significant strides in student proficiency in math and English on standardized tests -- a central goal of No Child Left Behind. In addition, the school participates in the federal Reading First program, an early reading intervention program geared toward urban schools with high concentrations of poor and minority students. Spellings is traveling throughout the country gathering feedback on the law, which she helped draft when she served as President Bush’s domestic education adviser. Mr. Bush considers No Child Left Behind his most significant domestic policy, but its future remains unclear. The law was scheduled for reauthorization by Congress at the end of last year. But lawmakers never voted, so the current law remains in effect until they reauthorize or abolish it. -- Journal staff writer Jennifer D. Jordan “It may or it may not get reauthorized this year,” Spellings said. “One of the things we can do in the meantime is to make this law better … and bring the dream that every child will be educated closer to reality.” The law has brought sweeping change to education systems throughout the country, requiring states to test annually all students in grades three through eight and one high school year in English and math, report the results and break out the performance of all groups of students -- minority, low income, special education and English language learners. The law classifies schools based on test scores as highly or moderately performing or in need of improvement and requires districts to intervene in struggling schools. The law also established 2014 as the year all students must reach proficiency in English and math. Supporters of the law, who include Carcieri and state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, agree with Spellings that the law has “changed the national conversation about education.” “Before six years ago, the discussion was whether or not we should, or is it reasonable to fuss on every kid,” Spellings said in her characteristic Texas drawl. “Now it’s about how are we going to do it, what are the necessary steps, what are the barriers and impediments to helping every student.” Critics of the law, which include the country’s largest teachers’ union, the National Education Association, and groups that oppose standardized testing, say the law unfairly punishes struggling schools and strips creativity and autonomy from teachers, who are under pressure to boost student performance on the tests. Spellings said the federal Education Department is already considering several changes to the law. They include allowing states to track the progress of a cohort of students year to year, in order to assess long-term progress; expanding school classifications to allow more “nuance” in the system; focusing on making high schools more rigorous; finding ways to reward teachers, particularly those who work in challenging urban schools; and providing adequate resources to states. Spellings called the recent 60 percent cut to the federal Reading First budget “regrettable,” noting it means a loss of about $2 million to Rhode Island. The issue of federal financing is a sore one, as many educators and lawmakers throughout the country argue Mr. Bush’s law passed without the money needed to help states develop high quality tests, provide training for teachers and offer students in struggling schools tutoring and other interventions. Critics also lament the focus on math and English at the expense of other subjects, including art, music and social studies. “The high-stakes standardized testing that is the cornerstone of NCLB has undermined the quality of teaching in those subject areas by directing teachers to focus on test material,” said Larry Purtill, president of Rhode Island’s NEA chapter, in a statement. Purtill also participated in the roundtable discussion. “There is much more to education than test taking.” But Spellings disagreed, saying it is up to states to push for more art and music in their schools. She also said that before the federal government demanded states to test students and report the results, too many students were lost along the way. “There is broad affirmation that every kid matters, that we need to measure their progress … that we need to get kids extra help,” Spellings said. “Things happen based on data.” Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:37 PM | Comment Providence drug ringleader gets 14 years in prisonJoanna Gonzalez, a 28-year-old mother of three who owned a Porsche and other vehicles while collecting welfare -- and heading up a large Providence drug ring -- has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. Another 14 years of the 28-year sentence imposed Monday by Judge Susan E. McGuirl will be suspended with probation, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office announced this evening. Gonzalez, of 49 Anchor St., Providence, waived indictment on Sept. 12, 2007, and pleaded no contest in October to the four counts before Judge McGuirl. She is now serving her sentence at the ACI, where she has been held without bail since her arrest last July. Gonzalez was arrrested as part of "Operation Rosa," in which 29 people have been charged with various drug offenses. Ten search warrants were carried out and more than 20,000 telephone calls intercepted during 74 days of monitoring, the attorney general's office said. More than $60,000 in cash was seized, as were five cars/SUVs and three motorcycles -- $300,000 worth of vehicles all told. The police have said Gonzalez bought a $45,000 Porsche, a Nissan Maxima, and paid $4,000 cash for a motorcycle, all registered in her name. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Journal archival reports If the case had gone to trial, prosecutor James Dube would have offered evidence that Gonzalez led one of the city's biggest drug operations. "Her drug distribution empire employed dozens of people including her mother, sister, boyfriend, and children. The organization had an enforcer, banker, manager, and distributors," Lynch's news release said. “Gonzalez led a criminal family operation that supplied many in Providence and surrounding areas with illegal drugs, and used the criminal enterprise to fuel a lavish lifestyle,” Lynch said in the statement. “With the illicit drug ring destroyed and its leader and other members at the ACI, that lifestyle is now but a memory and our streets are safer, as a result.” Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:10 PM | Comment Big Dig's Lewis on the road to Rhode Island DOTMichael P. Lewis, the controversial director of Boston’s embattled Big Dig construction project, is coming to Rhode Island. Lewis will take over as head of the state’s Department of Transportation next month, assuming the title now held by Jerome Williams who is moving to the Department of Administration, Gov. Carcieri announced today. Lewis retired from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority at the end of November, having served with the agency for more than 20 years before becoming embroiled in the controversies that plagued the final stages of the massive $14.8 billion construction project. He oversaw the authority’s response to the dozens of leaks found in the city’s main tunnel, and continued to lead the project following the death of motorist Milena Del Valle who was killed in the Interstate 90 tunnel collapse in 2006, Lewis led that investigation and battles that followed. In an interview today, Lewis, 46, was frank about the project’s troubles. “Are there controversies with the Big Dig? Absolutely,” he said. “The most important and most obvious is the fatality in 2006. Everybody who worked at the Big Dig up to and including me will always be affected by that. It’s something that shouldn’t have happened. It’s a failure of the system that should never have happened.” Despite that, he says he continues to be “very proud” of the project, calling it “an enormous undertaking that has delivered what was promised” by improving transportation in and around Boston, making for easier airport access and removing the city’s unsightly Central Artery. The Carcieri administration declined to directly discuss Lewis’ role in the Big Dig though it issued a statement saying Lewis helped move the massive project “from disarray to completion in seven years.” “As the project director of the Big Dig – the largest and most complicated transportation project in American history – Mike Lewis has the talent and the experience necessary to help Rhode Island maintain and improve the state’s system of highways and bridges,” Carcieri said. “Rhode Island major highways and bridges will require serious rehabilitation in the coming years.” The shift in leadership in DOT was part of a major shakeup in the governor's inner circle announced today. -- Cynthia Needham, Journal State House Bureau Deputy Chief of Staff John R. Pagliarini has been replaced in a change that shifts Department of Administration Director Beverly Najarian into Pagliarini's job. It appears that Communications Director Steve Kass may be replaced as well. The governor has hired former state House of Representatives candidate John Robitaille as a "senior adviser --communications," and said that the restructuring would not result in "a net addition in staff." The governor's office could not immediately clarify Kass's status. Kass is on medical leave, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:49 PM | Comment Katharine Gibbs in Cranston among those closingCareer Education Corporation announced today that it plans to close all of its Gibbs schools and colleges -- including the one operating in Cranston -- after current students enrolled in the programs graduate. A news release issued by the CEC says that it anticipates all programs will cease operating by December 2009. The CEC, a publicly-traded company, announced in 2006 that it planned to sell its Gibbs division campuses but said yesterday in its news release that it had not been able to attract “viable buyers” or “identify and structure a transaction that made sense for all parties.” “Despite the company’s best efforts, it could not find a suitable arrangement that would be acceptable to purchasers and protect the short and long-term interests of the schools’ students, faculty and staff,” the news release said. The CEC, the second-largest for-profit education company in the United States, operates Gibbs Colleges in Cranston; Boston; Livingston and Piscataway, N.J.; and Norwalk, Conn.; and Katharine Gibbs Schools in New York City, N.Y., and Norristown, N.J. The Gibbs College in Cranston is located at 85 Garfield Ave. Katharine Gibbs was founded in Providence in 1911 as an institution for the career education of young women. A few years later, the institution opened satellite campuses in New York and Boston. -- Journal staff writer Tracy Breton Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:13 PM | Comment 5 years later: Station fire victims to be rememberedWEST WARWICK -- Relatives of the 100 people killed by The Station nightclub fire will mark the fifth anniversary of the blaze with a memorial service this weekend. The event Sunday afternoon will be held at the former site of the West Warwick club on Cowesett Avenue. Details for a permanent memorial planned for the site are expected to be released then. The Feb. 20, 2003, fire began when pyrotechnics used by the 1980s rock band Great White ignited flammable soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling. Besides the 100 people killed, more than 200 others were injured in one of the worst nightclub fires in the nation's history. Survivors and victims' relatives have marked each anniversary of the fire with a memorial service at the roadside site. Extra: Look back at the fire, in stories and multimedia, and its aftermath. -- The Associated Press Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:07 PM | Comment Oster trial: Jury sees and hears Oster, Picerno tapesPROVIDENCE -- The jury in the bribery and conspiracy trial of former Lincoln Town Administrator Jonathan F. Oster today watched and heard a taped meeting between Oster and Robert R. Picerno, who has since pleaded no contest to bribery and was wearing a transmitting device during the meeting. The roughly 40 minutes of recording covered a meeting in Oster's law office and then outside the building's main entrance. State police videotaped their encounter outside from a police vehicle about 100 feet away. The device Picerno wore allowed for an audio recording. Three video screens were arrayed in front of the jury box, as well as a larger screen. The tape began with State Police briefing Picerno on how the devices work and then heading over to Oster's office to talk local politics and about the H&H Screw Co. property -- town-controlled land at the case's heart. Oster is on trial in Providence County Superior Court on two counts of bribery and two counts of conspiracy. The state alleges that he and Picerno twice plotted to get bribes from would-be buyers of the H&H Screw Co. site on Route 116. The state's case contends that Oster’s role was to get the town to sell the land for $105,000 in exchange for $25,000 cash payoffs. Picerno pleaded no contest in 2004 to four counts of taking, or trying to solicit, bribes, and three counts of conspiracy to solicit bribes.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer John Hill Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:07 PM | Comment Hillary Clinton is coming to R.I. on Feb. 24Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will visit Rhode Island on Sunday, Feb. 24, her campaign announced today. Republican candidate John McCain visited the state yesterday -- the same day that Lincoln Chafee, former Republican Rhode Island senator, said he was endorsing Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama. Obama has opened a campaign office in Providence, but hasn't campaigned here. The Rhode Island primary is March 4. Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:52 PM | Comment Man gets 8 months for extortion, impersonating agentPROVIDENCE -- A Warwick man has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison for posing as a federal Homeland Security agent to extort $25,000 from a gas station owner of Middle Eastern descent by claiming he could link the owner to terrorists. George Tabora, 45, also received two months of home confinement and must do 300 hours of community service after he's released from prison in the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office. Tabora pleaded guilty in September to attempting to obstruct interstate commerce through extortion, and attempting to obtain money by impersonating a federal officer. Prosecutor Lee H. Vilker said at the plea hearing that the government could prove that Tabora, posing as an officer named Carl Johnson, called the gas station owner last May, asserting he had information linking the owner to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida. If the gas station owner did not pay him the $25,000, he said he would “go after” his family and put him in jail, the U.S. Attorney's office said. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney The gas station owner reported to Warwick police more threatening calls from the man claiming to be Johnson. Each time the caller demanded money in exchange for a file he claimed to have on the station owner. Warwick police determined that Tabora’s wife worked at the gas station owned by the victim of the crime. In more phone calls, some monitored by Warwick detectives, Tabora sought money in exchange for the supposed file on the gas station owner. The owner agrees -- at Warwick detectives' direction -- to pay $15,000. Tabora told him to put the money in a drain pipe on a Centerville Road property. Detectives found that the property with the drainpipe is next to Tabora’s home. Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:48 PM | Comment Armed man gives up after confrontation in LincolnLINCOLN -- A 56-year-old man barricaded himself inside his apartment with a loaded shotgun this morning after preventing workers from getting in to work on an alarm system, the police said. He came out of the multi-unit building without a weapon after about a half-hour. Huntley Westcott, who lives at the Eagle Phase Apartments on Spring Street, never fired the gun, according to the police. He is slated for District Court arraignment later today on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, for pointing the gun at one of the workers who were trying to repair a building-wide alarm system, according to Lincoln Police Deputy Chief Brian Sullivan. The call came in at 9:10 a.m., and about a dozen officers were at the scene, many with guns drawn. Lincoln, Cumberland and state police responded. The police got about a half-dozen people out of the area of the building. Others were told to stay in their apartments. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina Posted by Mike McKinney at 12:02 PM | Comment Alert: Major shakeup in governor's office announcedPROVIDENCE -- The governor's office announced a major shakeup this morning of key directors and top aides. At least one high-profile member of Governor Carcieri's inner circle -- Deputy Chief of Staff John R. Pagliarini -- has been replaced in changes that shift Department of Administration Director Beverly Najarian into Pagliarini's job and Department of Transportation Director Jerome Williams into Najarian's position. It appears that Communications Director Steve Kass may be replaced as well. The governor has hired former state House of Representatives candidate John Robitaille as a "senior adviser --communications," and said that the restructuring would not result in "a net addition in staff." The governor's office could not immediately clarify Kass's status. Kass is on medical leave, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. "I think Governor Carcieri and Steve Kass will sit down and discuss Steve's future role when Steve returns from his medical leave," Neal said. Rhode Island's new Department of Transportation director will be Michael Lewis, the former embattled director of Boston's "Big Dig," who retired from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority at the end of November. Robitaille, the Portsmouth Republican who lost a bid to unseat Rep. Amy G. Rice in November 2006 by just nine votes, is the president of Middletown's Perspective Communications Group, a communications firm. The staffing moves come four days after a Brown University poll showed Carcieri's approval ratings had dropped to 40 percent -- an all-time low for the term-limited Republican governor. The governor's office would not immediately explain the rationale for the staffing changes. In a press release issued this morning, the governor would only praise the staffers involved in the shakeup. -- Steve Peoples of the Journal State House Bureau Lewis's road to Rhode Island has been marked by challenges. Lewis had been director of the Big Dig since April of 2000. He took over the project after the former turnpike chief was fired for concealing $1.4 billion in cost overruns. Lewis had been involved in a series of controversies during the final months of Big Dig construction. He led the agency's response to hundreds of leaks found in the Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Tunnel, and was in charge during the death of motorist Milena Del Valle, who was killed in the Interstate 90 tunnel collapse.
Posted by Steve Peoples at 11:56 AM | Comment Payette pleads not guilty on murder; remains in prison
The judge also sentenced Payette to four years in prison for the violation of his probation. At the arraignment today, Payette pleaded not guilty to a single charge of first-degree murder. He is charged with stabbing a 66-year-old West Warwick man to death in a dispute over a debt last November. The stabbing occurred seven months after Payette had been released from the Adult Correctional Institutions. Payette, 44, has spent 20 years of his life in jails in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New Jersey. His first stint came when he was just 19 on a breaking and entering charge. His pre-trial hearing on the Rhode Island is set for April 1. Posted by Peter Phipps at 11:22 AM | Comment Carcieri to present Hope award to honor Station victimsGovernor Carcieri on Tuesday will announce the winners of an award that honors the victims, survivors and affected family members of The Station nightclub fire, which killed 100 people and injured more than 200 on Feb. 20, 2003. Rhode Island's Hope Award is being given to citizens who distinguish themselves as good Samaritans during an emergency or tragedy. The ceremony, marking the fire's fifth anniversary, will be at 7 p.m. at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet. The public is invited. The honorees were selected by the Rhode Island’s Hope Award Committee, comprised of Dr. Joseph Amaral, Jane Hayward, Frank McGonagle, Kathy Sullivan and Sue Stenhouse. Posted by Jack Perry at 10:58 AM | Comment Traffic Alert: Disabled truck on 195A disabled vehicle has slowed traffic on Route 195. The the vehicle, a truck, is stopped on the westbound side of the Washington Bridge. For updates on traffic, visit the Transportation Management Center's Web site; to see updated photos of the roads, see the TMC's traffic cameras. Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:57 AM | Comment Woman accused of killing her baby's father remains in jailThe bail hearing for a 21-year-old Cranston woman accused of stabbing the father of her child to death has been postponed. Pawtucket police say on Feb. 1, Misty Ospina was dropping off her infant son at Richard Gibson’s house when the two got into an argument. Ospina allegedly grabbed a knife and stabbed the 22-year-old Gibson, according to police. Two 911 calls were made – one form a resident of the house, at 19 Thornston St., and another from someone who had been with Ospina, according to Police and the Attorney General’s office. Ospina told police that Gibson had punched her in the face four times and choked her, according to a prosecutor. But, Pawtucket police said they did not see any marks on Ospina that were consistent with being hit. She has been at the Adult Correctional Facilities since her arrest, Feb. 2. Today’s scheduled hearing was postponed as Ospina, whose case had been referred to the public defender’s office, gets a private lawyer. -- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:41 AM | Comment U.S. Education Secretary is coming to townThe U.S. Secretary of Education is coming to the Ocean State today. Margaret Spellings will be visiting classrooms at a local elementary school. She’ll also meet with educators and education officials for a roundtable discussion moderated by Governor Carcieri. The meeting is set for 12:30 at the Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary School on Broad Street, Providence. Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:20 AM | Comment Accused killer due in courtA 45-year-old West Warwick man is set to be arraigned in court today in the stabbing death of 66-year-old Ronald Dufour. Robert E. Payette was arrested in November, and has been at the Adult Correctional Institutions since his arrest. Police say Payette stabbed Dufour on Nov. 10 at River Run apartments and dumped the body into a ravine that feeds into the Pawtuxet River because of a disagreement over a debt. Payette has spent more than 20 years in jail and had been released less than a year before the stabbing. He has served time for several different crimes, including once for stabbing a corrections officer with an ice pick while in jail. Payette is set for arraignment in Superior Court, Warwick, today. Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:44 AM | Comment From Valentines to Sex workers in three daysThe Sex Workers Art Show nationwide tour is making a stop in Providence. Sunday at 7 p.m., strippers, phone sex operators, internet models and a host of others involved in the commercial business of sex will take to the stage at the burlesque-type show that aims, according to the event web site, “Dispel the myth that they are anything short of artists, innovators and geniuses.” That means talking about the good, the bad and the complicated aspects of the industry. The show, which will feature, music, poetry, spoken word and more, will be downtown, at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Auditorium. Admission is $5. -- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:29 AM | Comment Accused drug dealer to be sentencedPROVIDENCE -- A sentencing hearing has been set for an accused drug dealer who made corruption allegations against a Providence lawyer now facing federal criminal charges. Derrick Isom is accused of dealing crack cocaine and faces up to life in prison. Prosecutors are recommending a 30-year sentence. A sentencing hearing is set for today. Last year, Isom testified that attorney John Cicilline, the brother of Providence Mayor David Cicilline, said he could make the criminal case disappear for $200,000, some of which would be used for bribes. A federal judge said the allegations were troubling but ultimately unproven. Prosecutors accuse Isom of lying. Charges against a co-defendant were dropped after a Providence police detective found reports in his attic on the eve of trial that he earlier testified did not exist. -- The Assocated Press Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment Spring-like today, but colder, wet weather on the wayIt's going to warm up today, with the National Weather Service forecasting a high temperature of 48 degrees and some sunshine. The winds haven't died down, though; expect gusts as high as 29 mph. Tonight, the temperature takes a sharp drop to 16 degrees. Winds will keep up, gusting up to 24 mph., and partly cloudy skies. Don't let today's weather fool you, though. It's still winter. Tomorrow's temperature is expected to be about 20 degrees colder than today, at 27 degrees and mild northwest winds. Saturday night the temperature drops to about 15 and winds will die down. Rain may return Sunday afternoon when clouds roll in and the temperature reaches the low 40s. Showers may continue into the night when the temperature dips slightly to the high 30s. Monday -- Presidents' Day -- is looking rainy as well, but very mild with temperatures reaching the 50s. To keep track on the weather throughout the weekend, visit projo.com's weather page. Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:01 AM | Comment Today's front pageToday's front page features coverage of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's visit to Rhode Island. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006