« February 28, 2008 | Today | March 3, 2008 »

February 29, 2008

Tonight: Follies for ticket-holders, RVs for the rest

The Providence Newspaper Guild Follies will take place tonight -- for those with tickets. The annual event brings Rhode Island politicos, journalists and others to the statued Venus de Milo restaurant in Swansea, Mass., for skits and song -- all capturing the foibles of Rhode Island events and politics of the past year.

For everyone else, there's always the 15th annual RV Camping Show, which runs to 9 p.m. Hundreds of exhibitors show the latest RVs at the Rhode Island Convention Center, 1 Sabin St., Providence.

Or check out here what's doing in the club scene tonight.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:55 PM | Comment

Mollis: Assembly more compliant with meetings law

PROVIDENCE -- State lawmakers improved their compliance with the state Open Meetings Law in 2007, according to Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis.

The Access 2007 report gives grades of A, B, C, D and F for two categories. One is letter of the law, which is "technical compliance" with the Open Meetings Law and the other is spirit of the law, which tries to gauge the House and Senate's intent to meet the law.

Mollis's office offered these highlights in a news release:

* Every House and Senate standing committee got an “A” in meeting the spirit of the law.

* The House's compliance with the letter of the law was 86 percent of its 2007 meetings, compared to 57 percent in 2006. The House went from an F to a B in the letter of the law category and maintained an A in meeting the spirit of the law. Every House standing committee improved.

* Senate compliance with the letter of the law was 90 percent of its 2007 meetings, compared to 67 percent in 2006. The Senate got an A, up from a D in 2006, in meeting letter of the law, Mollis's office said, and it maintained an A for meeting the spirit of the law. All but one Senate standing committee performed better.

The Open Meetings Law mandates that most state and local agencies, departments, commissions, and others post electronic and written notices of meetings at least 48 hours before a meeting is held. Such public notices must have the date, time, place and the agenda.

The General Assembly is not subject to the law.

"To their credit, the House and the Senate made more than a good-faith effort to keep the public apprised of their work even though compliance with the Open Meetings Law is completely voluntary on their part," Mollis said in the statement.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:30 PM | Comment

N. Kingstown school panel pays fine for meeting violation

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- The School Committee has agreed to pay a $1,500 fine for an Open Meeting Act violation, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office announced this evening.

Lynch's office had sued, asserting a "willful or knowing violation" by the North Kingstown School Committee when it held an Aug. 23, 2006 meeting, despite having posted public notice for the meeting less than the mandated 48 hours before the meeting was held.

Under the consent judgment, entered in Washington County Superior Court today, the School Committee agreed to pay the state a $1,500 fine and "has represented that it has taken corrective measures to ensure that it electronically files notice of a meeting with the Secretary of State’s Office at least 48 hours in advance," Lynch's news release said.

Also, all votes taken at the August 23, 2006 meeting were reaffirmed by the School Committee at a subsequent meeting.

“It stands to reason that the North Kingstown School Committee will be more mindful of complying with our open-government laws as a result of this litigation,” Lynch said in a statement. “Upon realizing that the meeting was not properly posted, the committee should have canceled and then rescheduled the meeting. Open government is at the very core of our democratic principles, and it is incumbent on public bodies to abide by the laws governing the Open Meetings Act and the Access to Public Records Act.”

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:54 PM | Comment

Chelsea Clinton stays on target at Roger Williams

BRISTOL -- Although she sounded hoarse from campaigning, Chelsea Clinton stayed on target for an hour and 20 minutes this afternoon as she spoke on behalf of her mother, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, at Roger Williams University.

The former First Daughter -- now 28 -- answered questions from an attentive and alert audience of about 325 students assembled in a former cafeteria at the school.

They asked, and she answered, questions about Senator Clinton's positions on policies ranging from the war on drugs to the war in Iraq.

Unlike her father, former President Bill Clinton, who stopped in Rhode Island yesterday, she had few laugh lines in her speech. But she also held back on attacks on her mother's chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama. Instead, her target of choice was President Bush, saying she was very disappointed in his administration.

Dressed in dark blue jeans, shiny black shoes, with a tight blue jacket over a floral blouse, Chelsea Clinton looked casual yet tailored.

It was an outfit that could take her several places in a day. She has already been in Vermont today.

Her next stop -- the Venus de Milo restaurant in nearby Swansea, Mass., where she's expected to stand on the receiving line at The Providence Journal Newspaper Guild Follies.

No, for those who may wonder, she is not expected to be the Mystery Guest at the annual satire on state and local politics.

Instead, she has another stop to make tonight between 8 and 9 p.m., back in Providence, with a meeting of young professionals at the Paragon restaurant.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer John Castellucci

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:48 PM | Comment

Update: Police chief says officers used 'great restraint'

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Police Chief Hubert Paquette emphasized this afternoon that his officers used "great restraint" during a struggle with a 40-year-old man who fell unconscious and died.

But he acknowledged that his department "mistakenly" interpreted protocol in belatedly informing the state attorney general of the death.

In a statement issued at a late-afternoon press conference -- the department's first since the Wednesday evening incident was announced in a statement yesterday afternoon -- the chief said his officers "risked great personal injury" rather than use deadly force.

The reason his department delayed notifying the attorney general's office, the chief said, was because his officers did not use methods of restraint defined as deadly force.

Instead, he said, they used verbal commands, "OC" spray, and strikes to the body, which he said "are commonly used by police departments."

A cause of death has not yet been determined for Leonel Farias, a 6-foot, 300-pound man diagnosed as schizophrenic and diabetic, who confronted the police with a steak knife when they responded to a help call from his 513 James St. home.

For the first time, Paquette indicated how many officers may have been on the scene. He said three members of the force initially responded and encountered Farias in front of his house early Wednesday evening.

One of them, a female, sustained enough injuries in struggle with Farias so that she is now on
leave.

Two other officers, he said, who also were injured to some degree, are still on the job.

Last night, in an interview with a Journal reporter, family members alleged the officers continued beating Farias after he'd been knocked out with chemical spray and was down. Farias was later pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital.

Yesterday afternoon, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said it “is troubling and does not inspire confidence” in the East Providence Police Department that the attorney general's office was not notified by the police of the death until 8:30 a.m. yesterday. “You can’t reconstruct a scene 15 hours after the fact,” spokesman Michael J. Healey yesterday. “That’s the salient issue here.”

In a Journal interview earlier today, Paquette admitted his department had made a protocol mistake in not informing the AG's office sooner. He also said he has sent out a department memo to prevent such late notification from happening again.

He also said at the press conference that he had wanted to look at reports of the incident before holding the press conference. He did not release any reports.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:37 PM | Comment

WPRI poll: Clinton holds 9-point lead over Obama

Hillary Clinton holds a 9-point lead over Barack Obama among Rhode Island voters surveyed this week as the Democratic presidential primary looms, a Channel 12 WPRI/RIpolitics.tv poll released this afternoon found.

People polled were asked whom they would vote for if the state's Democratic primary were held that day. Forty-nine percent said Clinton, 40 percent said Obama and 11 percent were not certain.

The poll, done by Fleming & Associates in phone interviews from Feb. 24 to 27, used 401 registers voters statewide.

The primary on Tuesday is one of several nationwide. Despite its small size, Rhode Island's role in the tight race is considered signficant, and both candidates have been actively campaigning here.

A high voter turnout is expected in Rhode Island.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:10 PM | Comment

Update: Opening statements in smoke-shop trial / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
John Brown, center, a defendant in the smoke-shop case, talks with his defense lawyers during the opening of the trial today.

Opening statements began this morning in the trial of seven Narragansett Indians accused of several misdemeanors after a 2003 state police raid on the tribe's newly opened smoke shop turned violent.

The prosecution took about an hour to lay out its case against the defendants, using up to 10 photos taken the day of their arrests. Prosecutor Pamela Chin says they will help prove the state’s case that the police were “just doing their job,” executing what she called a court authorized search warrant on the shop, which was selling tobacco products tax free.

The defense team put on a lengthy argument this morning in which lawyer William P. Devereaux alleged that what happened on the Narragansett land was not so much an execution of a search warrant, but "a raid."

Devereaux said that the state, rather than execute a search warrant, chose a means of confrontation in trying to shut down the tribe's plan to sell untaxed cigarettes. He said the state chose confrontation over going to court to seek an injunction.

Fellow defense lawyer Kevin Bristow went further in his allegations, saying that the governor of the state of Rhode Island wanted to "do the maximum economic harm to the Narragansett Indians" by ordering that the raid take place when a shipment of cigarettes were being delivered.

Bristow said the state chose not to get a federal warrant to stop the selling of cigarettes, or to simply ban customers from entering the shop. And Bristow said the defense would produce the state police major in charge of the operation, who will testify that never in his 25 years on the state police had he been ordered directly by the governor to execute a search warrant.

And finally, Bristow said the attorney general, who is the chief law enforcement officer of the state, "had nothing to do with the execution of the search warrant."

-- Journal staff writer Tom Mooney

But even before opening arguments, Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl outlined the history of the relationship between the Narragansetts and the state.

She focused primarily on the last few decades and explained a 1978 tribal land settlement agreement that essentially put tribal members under the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the state.

McGuirl also outlined how some elements of the smoke-shop case had played out in federal court here, and in appeals court in Boston, in the last 4 ½ years. Both courts ruled against the defendants, and the state Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

The defense is set to make opening arguments shortly. Yesterday, the jury visited the site of the shop on tribal land on Route 2 in Charlestown.

Extra: See video and photos of the raid and coverage of the ensuing events.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 4:04 PM | Comment

Man, 28, dies after being hit by train in New Bedford

A 28-year-old former Fall River, Mass., man struck by a train yesterday in New Bedford died from his injuries last night, the New Bedford police said today.

Richard Boyden, most recently of Springfield, Mass., was run over by a train just after noon in the area of Worcester and Lynn streets.

Preliminary investigation found was trespassing on the railroad tracks and was drinking with a friend when Boyden tried to jump onto the train's caboose. He slipped off the train and was then run over by it "causing significant threatening injuries to his lower extremities," the police said in a statement today.

Boyden's friend ran for help, with New Bedford and Massachusetts State Police and emergency personnel responding.

Boyden was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford with what the police said were life-threatening injuries. He was moved to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:55 PM | Comment

No misstep here; Pawtucket St. Pat's parade tomorrow

The Pawtucket St. Patrick’s Day Parade is getting ready to roll.

Although it’s more than two weeks before the day the world typically celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, March 17, the parade is scheduled this year for tomorrow, March 1.

And yes, the mayor’s office said, it’s on, despite the fact that tomorrow’s forecast isn’t exactly parade friendly: A wintry mix of 2 to 4 inches of sleet and snow with temperatures in the mid-30s.

For the first time since 1940, St. Patrick’s Day falls during Holy Week, the week before the Christian holiday of Easter. The Roman Catholic Church has said masses in honor of Patrick cannot be held during the week. And some bishops are trying to keep parades and other celebrations from going on, too.

Pawtucket's parade, however, was not moved to accommodate those wishes -- it's traditionally been one of the earliest celebrations in the state.

Led by state Rep. Peter F. Kilmartin, the procession will start at Jenks Junior High, taking Walcott Street to downtown and ending in front of City Hall.

After the parade, there will be food and music at the Pawtucket Armory on Exchange Street; $2 for adults and free for kids 12 and younger.

To accommodate the parade, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority will detour buses in Pawtucket. Click to see the changes.

-- With reports from the Journal archives and the Associated Press

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 3:50 PM | Comment

Providence's historic Turk's Head building sold

Providence Journal/Gretchen Ertl
Looking up at the Turk's Head building in downtown Providence.

The Granoff Associates LLC has sold the historic Turk's Head building in downtown Providence for $17.55 million to a Philadephia-based company, a Granoff representative confirmed.

"The property was not actively on the market," said Thomas V. Moses, a Providence lawyer who advises the Granoff family. "They were offered far beyond what the value was and were able to make a sizeable profit."

Brothers Evan and Lloyd Granoff bought the building, now 95 years old, in 1997 for $4.2 million. The brothers spent "millions" renovating the building during the decade they owned it, according to Moses.

The building is located in the heart of the city's financial district - it's the one with the rounded corner at the intersection of Weybosset and Westminster Streets. A scowling Turk's head is carved above the second floor and stares out over the streets.

The building became part of a block of properties they assembled in the city's financial district, which included The Arcade, a Weybosset Street building that was formerly home of the St. Francis Chapel, a parking garage, and the Union Trust Building at 170 Westminster St. The Granoffs are also partners in the One Ten Westminster hotel-condo project.

Last August, the Granoffs sold the 12-story Union Trust building to FB Capital Partners for $6.55 million. FB Capital Partners lists the same Philadelphia address as the entity that purchased the Turk's Head building - 76 Westminster St. LLC. The Turk's Head sale closed Feb. 8.

"It was almost with a heavy heart that they agreed to sell it," Moses said of the Turk's Head building.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:41 PM | Comment

Photo: Kennedy father-son appear on Obama's behalf

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Before a campaign rally at University of Rhode Island campus in Providence today, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy speaks in favor of Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama. His son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, is at right. The Kennedys were among those swinging through the Ocean State on behalf of their candidates today. This afternoon, Chelsea Clinton is appearing at Roger Williams University in Bristol on behalf of her mother, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is locked in a tough primary battle with Obama.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 2:37 PM | Comment

3 sentenced for beating death of rival gang member

PROVIDENCE -- The three gang members looked like boys today as they stood before the judge and pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their roles in the beating death of a rival member of the Young Bloods street gang.

But the youthful defendants will be middle-aged men the next time they see the world outside the walls of the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause sentenced the three killers -- Sarith Chith, 20, Thomas P. Havey, 20, and Tavares Morales, 19 -- to lengthy prison terms for last year’s murder of Vicheth Klakratok.

Klakratok, 24, was the city’s first homicide of 2007 and the fatal beating underscored the growing problem of gang violence in the West End. Chith, Havey and Morales are members of the Hanover Street Boyz street gang.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 27, 2007, Klakratok just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. To make matters worse, he was wearing the red colors of the Young Bloods. Klakratok’s gang and the Hanover Boyz have been bitter rivals for years.

Chith and Havey pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, while Morales pleaded guilty to manslaughter. All three defendants also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit felony assault.

Chith, who struck Klakratok in the head with a pipe, received the stiffest sentence -- 60 years in prison, 42 years to serve with 18 years suspended.

Havey, who admitted to striking the victim in the head with a baseball bat, received 50 years, 30 years to serve with 20 years suspended.

Morales was sentenced to 30 years in prison, 18 years to serve with 12 years suspended. He was not armed with a weapon, but he repeatedly kicked Klakratok on the ground.

View a special report: The Gangs of Providence.

-- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski

All three of them declined to address the court. They were shackled and chained before they were paraded out of the courtroom for their next stop: the state prison complex in Cranston.

Michael McCarthy, an assistant attorney general, told the court that, had the case gone to trial, he would have proven that Chith, Havey and Morales beat Klakratok to death on the corner of Cranston Street and Benedict Street in the West End.

At about 2:30 a.m., a brawl between the Young Bloods and Hanover Boyz erupted near a 7-11 convenience store at 775 Cranston St. The street fight involved about 40 gang members armed with baseball bats and pipes. Several car windows and head lights were smashed.

There were reports of shots fired and the police raced to the scene.

Meanwhile, two cars with the Young Bloods drove off, leaving Klakratok behind. Prosecutor McCarthy said that the gang member ran east on Cranston Street toward the downtown area. He said that Havey, driving a dark sports utility vehicle, chased after him and caught up to him near the corner of Benedict Street.

Chith, Havey and Morales piled out of the car and attacked Klakratok. The police found him on the ground, blood flowing from his head into a freshly fallen snow.

Standing before the judge, the three gang members all agreed with the prosecutor’s version of the events leading up to and including the murder.
Klakratok’s father, Chiar Klakratok, a Cambodian refugee who does not speak English, attended the hearing with an interpreter from the attorney general’s office. Randall White, another prosecutor, spoke for the elder Klakratok. He said that his son helped pay the mortgage on his home and that his death had left him ``very, very sad.’’

White also said that Klakratok hoped that the stiff penalties would steer other youths away from gangs.

He cried and wiped tears from his eyes as the interpreter translated the message.

Members of the Havey and Morales families also were teary-eyed as the young men pleaded guilty and were sent away. No one was there to offer support for Chith.

A police officer who worked on the investigation said that Chith called a family member after he was charged in the murder.

"Don’t bother calling us anymore,’’ said the loved one.

Posted by Jack Perry at 2:01 PM | Comment

Police chief admits protocol mistake in reporting death

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Police Chief Hubert Paquette said today it was a mistake for his department not to notify the Attorney General's Office until yesterday morning about resident Leonel Farias's death while in police custody Wednesday.

In an interview today, the chief said he has sent out a department memo to prevent such late notification from happening again.

He would not release any more information on the incident than he had previously because, he said, it is still under investigation.

Sisters of Leonel Farias, the 6-foot-tall, 300-pound, 40-year-old man who died, did not deny yesterday that their diagnosed schizophrenic brother waved a knife at police or that he struggled with them after his violent outburst in his 513 James St. home.

But the sisters allege the officers continued beating Farias after he'd been knocked out with chemical spray and was down. Farias was later pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital.

Today, the state Medical Examiners Office said the cause of Farias's death is not yet determined "pending further studies."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Alisha A. Pina and Journal reports

A statement released yesterday by Paquette said Farias told officers, who been called to the house for a domestic disturbance, to "come and get him" and that they "would have to shoot him."

Farias attempted to go inside, police used pepper spray and struck him in an attempt to subdue him. But he "continued to act completely unreasonable," the statement said, and a "violent struggle ensued" between Farias and several officers. Officers put him in handcuffs, but Farias continued kicking at officers while lying on the ground until he fell unconscious.

Paquette's statement said several police officers at the scene Wednesday received treatment from rescue workers for injuries they suffered in the struggle. No injuries were reported from the knife, described the sisters as a small, serrated steak knife.

Yesterday afternoon, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said it “is troubling and does not inspire confidence” in the East Providence Police Department that the attorney general's office was not notified by police of the death until 8:30 a.m. yesterday. “You can’t reconstruct a scene 15 hours after the fact,” spokesman Michael J. Healey yesterday. “That’s the salient issue here.”

East Providence police were supposed to follow a protocol put in place by the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association in the wake of the accidental fatal shooting of an off-duty Providence police officer, Sgt. Cornel Young Jr., in January 2000.

Earlier this month, Pawtucket police shot and killed a man at his home after responding to a 911 call there of a 6' 5", 300-pound man wielding a "Samurai-style sword." It was the third fatal shooting involving that city's police in seven months.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:42 PM | Comment

Bristol company to lay off 90 starting in June

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics will begin laying off 90 employees in June, according to a filing the company made to the state Department of Labor and Training.

Last October, the Bristol-based company, a subsidiary of the France-based Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, first notified the plant's 160 employees about the plan, Providence Journal writer Alex Kuffner reported. One of the plant's manufacturing lines, the company said, is moving moved to Mexico.

“We appreciate the contributions made to our business by our Bristol employees and want to do what we can to help them during this transfer,” Donald Stinnett, general manager of the company’s Polymer Products Unit, said in a statement at the time. “We will work closely with each of our employees to ease the transition for them and their families.”

Earlier this month, Saint-Gobain told the Department of Labor and Training that the layoffs would begin on June 1 and be complete by September 2009. The letter, signed by human resource manager Christine Jocelyn, said the 90 employees will receive at least 60-days notice.

Saint-Gobain operates a 100,000-square-foot plant on Metacom Avenue, where it produces polymers for the automotive, medical and aviation industries. It has run the plant since 1999, and company officials have said they have no plans to close it.

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) compels companies in Rhode Island to notify the state before closing a plant or making "mass layoffs."

For more local breaking business news, visit the Biz Blog at projo.com/business.

-- Journal Business writer Benjamin Gedan

Posted by Jack Perry at 12:00 PM | Comment

Still no cause found for E. Providence man's death

The state Medical Examiners office has not yet determined a cause of death for the 40-year-old East Providence man who died Wednesday after a confrontation with the police.

In a statement released today, the medical examiners office said the cause of death of Leonel Farias, 40, was "pending further studies."

Farias's death has raised questions.

Family members don't dispute that Farias waved a knife at the police, but they claim that police officers used excessive force against Farias, a diagnosed schizophrenic, beating him after he was subdued.

The attorney general's office was not notified of the death until the next morning, according to spokesman Michael Healey.

The police have not responded to the family's claims of excessive force. The attorney general's office and the East Providence Police Department are investigating the death.

Earlier this month, a Pawtucket police officer shot and killed 30-year-old Jason Swift at his home. Swift also had emotional problems, according to his mother, who had called the police to help get her son to a hospital.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:23 AM | Comment

Chelsea Clinton to visit R.I. today

A third Clinton is coming to Rhode Island.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, is scheduled to speak at Roger Williams University this afternoon to talk about her mother's candidacy for president.

The younger Clinton will be meeting with students and faculty at a the school's Bristol campus, according to Jennifer Sullivan, spokeswoman for the university, who announced the visit this morning.

At about 3:15 this afternoon, Clinton will expected to speak for about 10 minutes and then answer questions.

Chelsea's father, former President Bill Clinton, spoke at Bryant University in Smithfield yesterday, and the Sen. Clinton was in town Sunday at Rhode Island College.

Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, is scheduled to campaign at Rhode Island College tomorrow.

Today, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts will be at University of Rhode Island's Feinstein Providence Campus to lead a "get out the vote" rally for Obama's campaign.

Before the rally, Kennedy will be joined by his son, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, for an 11:15 a.m. visit to the Woonsocket Senior Center, 84 Social St.

Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. for the rally at the 80 Washington St. campus in the Paff Auditorium, the Obama campaign announced today. Both Kennedys and state Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch will attend.

Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, visited the Community College of Rhode Island last week.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 10:59 AM | Comment

Sister McKillop, former Salve Regina president, dies

NEWPORT – Sister Lucille McKillop, the fifth president of Salve Regina University and the longest-serving president in its history, died last night in Chicago, the school announced this morning.

Sister McKillop served as president of Salve Regina from 1973 to 1994.

“Sister Lucille McKillop was first a Sister of Mercy,” said the university's current president, Sister M. Therese Antone, said in a statement. “Her dedication to education and the traditions of the Sisters of Mercy contributed significantly to those traditions continuing to thrive on the campus of Salve Regina University.

"Sister Lucille worked diligently to serve the needs and interests of generations of students. The best years of her life were spent ensuring that the mission of Salve Regina University would continue. McKillop Library, named in her honor, is a fitting tribute to her enabling spirit. She was deeply admired and will be missed.”

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Salve Regina’s Ochre Court. The public is invited to attend.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 10:31 AM | Comment

Does Leap Day add up for you?

For once, the working-class folks are getting a break.

For hourly workers, a Leap Year could be a benefit -- extra hours squeezed into a year's paycheck. And an extra day to pay those February bills.

But for salary earners, you may be working an extra day this year without making any more money.

That's because just about every four years, an extra day is added to February in an attempt to keep our clocks in line with the solar year -- what we see in the sky as one full orbit of the earth around the sun.

But even the extra day doesn't square everything away -- that would be too easy. The difference between the solar year (also called the tropical year) and 365 days is about .2422 days -- not .25, which would bring us back in line exactly every four years.

So we don't add an extra day every four years, but every four except those years that can be divided by 100.

But if that year, divisible by 100, is also divisible by 400, it is a Leap Year. That's why we had an extra day in 2000. We won't in 2100.

And that just about does it.

Except for leap seconds -- but that's a different story all together...

In any event, you can (sort of) look at at this as an "extra" day.

So what are you going to do with it? See what people across the world say.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 8:42 AM | Comment

Four years later, smoke-shop trial begins

More than four years after the state police raided a smoke shop on Narragansett tribal land, the seven tribal members who were charged with misdemeanors for scuffling with police are going to trial.

After the judge and lawyers questioned potential jurors over three days, ten women and six men were selected yesterday. They toured the site of the raid, in Charlestown, with Judge Susan E. McGuirl and lawyers from both sides.

Opening statements are scheduled for this morning.

The trial, which has been delayed several times -- most recently as police responded to a subpoena for records -- is expected to take about one month.

Extra: See video and pictures of the raid and read 4 years of Journal coverage online.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:53 AM | Comment

Judge awards $1.3M to man beaten on UConn campus

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- A Southington man who suffered severe head injuries after he was beaten at the University of Connecticut has been awarded $1.3 million.

A judge has ruled that Jonathan Stewart can collect the money from Bryan Kapustinski, a student from Meriden who was the center for the UConn rugby team at the time.

Stewart was hit in the head with a fence post in April of 2004 at the UConn campus in Storrs.

The attack was apparently triggered after Stewart and others apparently didn't move fast enough to allow the truck operated by a girlfriend of one of Kapustinski's teammates to pass.

Kapustinski was given a one year suspended prison sentence. His lawyer says he hasn't had a chance to read to decision.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment

Cold today and then snow likely tomorrow

The clouds are expected to increase today as the temperature rises – a little – to about 28 degrees. The National Weather Service is also forecasting mild northwest winds to become south as the day goes on.

Snow is also in the future, when the temperature drops a few degrees into the mid 20s. We may see as many as 3 inches of accumulation after midnight.

Precipitation may continue into tomorrow, first as snow, then as rain when the temperature rises to the high 30s. We can also expect a southeast wind up to 16 mph, later becoming west.

Rain or snow may continue into the evening, tapering off by 9 p.m. Temperatures are expected to drop to the mid 20s and winds to pick up, gusting from the west as high as 33 mph.

The sun returns Sunday, with a high temperature near 40, and northwest winds gusting near 40 mph. The skies should stay clear through the night when the temperature dips to the low 20s.

Monday looks good, with partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-to-high 40s.

To keep an eye on the weather through the weekend, visit projo.com's weather page.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:01 AM | Comment

Today's front page

Today's front page features a story about an East Providence man dying after waving a knife at the police and then struggling with them. There's also a report that Rhode Island's losing 1,700 jobs last months signals that the state is nearing a recession.

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

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:00 AM | Comment