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« March 13, 2008 | Today | March 17, 2008 » March 14, 2008Tomorrow: St. Patrick's Day parade steps off in NewportNEWPORT -- Go green in the City by the Sea tomorrow. The city's St. Patrick's Day parade tomorrow kicks off at 11 a.m. beginning at City Hall on Broadway. The city has advised people heading into Newport to avoid Broadway. Best ways into the city with available public parking are westbound on Memorial Boulevard, right onto Bellevue Avenue (northbound), left on Church Street and right into the Waterfront parking lot (between Church and Mary streets). Or take Farewell Street south to America’s Cup Avenue and right into the Gateway parking garage. People should expect heavy traffic downtown from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and limited parking. Those in the parade will start setting up on lower Broadway about 9 a.m. Parking will be banned from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- and cars towed otherwise towed -- on Broadway from Cranston/Equality Park West to Washington Square; Equality Park Place and Equality Park West; Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Boulevard from Equality Park to Oak Street; Washington Square from Broadway to Thames Street; Thames Street from America’s Cup to Morton Avenue; and, Carroll Avenue from Morton to Harrison avenues. Expect regulations on noise and open containers of alcohol in public to be in force, the city has said. For more St. Patrick's Day events around the region, check out these listings. Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:05 PM | Comment DEM names new parks and recreation chiefRobert Paquette of West Greenwich has been appointed chief of the state Department of Environmental Management's Division of Parks and Recreation, DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan announced today. Paquette will oversee the running and maintaining of state parks, beaches, historic sites, campgrounds, and roadside picnic/rest areas. He will also oversee the administration of the state water and recreational safety program. For the past 12 years, Paquette has served as regional park manager for a region that takes in Goddard Memorial, Beavertail and Fort Wetherill state parks, six rest areas, Rome Point/John H. Chafee Nature Preserve, and a nine-hole golf course. He headed up the running and maintaining of those locations, supervising 12 full-time staffers and about 50 seasonal employees. Paquette has worked for DEM's Division of Parks and Recreation for 27 years, the DEM news said. He's also worked in the Division of Forest Environment. Paquette holds a bachelor's degree in management from Johnson & Wales University. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:31 PM | Comment Police seek help finding suspect in abduction attemptWOONSOCKET -- The police today asked for the public's help in finding and identifying a man who attempted to abduct a Woonsocket High School girl while she walked to school on Tuesday morning. The police said the suspect is described a light-skinned, Hispanic male, about 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-8 tall, with a medium build and short dark hair with sideburns attached to a well-kept beard. He was wearing a baggy black T-shirt bearing a design and baggy light-blue jeans. He was in a medium-size, dark-colored, four-door older model car with wood grain around the stereo. It had gray cloth seats, was neat inside, and had square door handles and what appeared to be manual door locks. The Woonsocket police ask that anyone with information call (401) 766-1212. The police also announced this week that six state troopers are working with the city's police to add to patrols following the abduction attempt. Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:51 PM | Comment N. Providence High teen accused of assault at schoolNORTH PROVIDENCE -- A 16-year-old student at North Providence High School has been arrested after being accused of assaulting the school resource officer and an assistant principal in the school, police said. Deputy Police Chief Paul A. Marino said the teenager lost control of his temper and got into a scuffle yesterday with Patrolman David Henry, the school resource officer. Several police officers and school officials had to restrain the student. "They were suspending him from school, and he didn’t want to go,’’ he said. Marino said neither the police officer or assistant principal were seriously injured. According to a police report, the teenager and his girlfriend got into an argument shortly after 10:30 a.m. in the school nurse’s office. He moved to the hallway and started swearing at Christen McLaughlin, an assistant principal. She told police that the teenager headed to door that would take him outside and she warned him that he would be "truant,’’ if he left the building. The teenager left and returned a few minutes later. The police report said that Officer Henry approached the teenager, who became unruly and shouted obscenities at him. Henry told the him to "calm down,’’ and "leave the building,’’ the report says. -- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski
Two other police officers, Mike Zaccagnini and John Piluso, arrived at the high school and helped Henry take the teenager into custody. On the way out, the boy allegedly kicked the police cruiser, leaving a dent in the right rear end. At police headquarters, the teenager was charged with two counts of simple assault for allegedly striking Henry and McLaughlin, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, vandalism to town property and willful trespassing on school grounds. He was placed in a jail cell pending an appearance in Family Court in Providence. Posted by Andrea Panciera at 4:53 PM | Comment Charge: R.I. Hospital security guard stole patients' IDsPROVIDENCE -- A former Rhode Island Hospital security guard was arrested today by U.S. Secret Service agents on charges that he stole identity information from emergency room patients. He then allegedly used the information to open cell phone and charge accounts. The complaint also charges the manager of a RadioShack store in Cranston for playing a role in opening accounts at the store. Michael Bermudez, 26, of Regent Avenue, Providence, the security guard, and Hector Alvarez, 29, of Sisson Street, Providence, and RadioShack manager, are charged with conspiracy, identity theft, and trafficking in unauthorized access devices -- all felonies and therefore subject to federal grand jury review, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente's office announced today. Both men appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond. No plea was entered. Almond released Alvarez on an unsecured bond. Bond was also set for Bermudez. But because he is wanted in New York for a parole violation, he was not released. The government also charged Robert Valerio, 25, a clerk at the Cranston RadioShack. He is believed to be in the Dominican Republic. An arrest warrant has been issued for Valerio, who is formerly of Thackery Street, Providence.
According to an affidavit, a collection agency sought payment of a RadioShack credit card debt of $1,632 from someone who had been a Rhode Island Hospital patient. But the former patient filed a complaint with the Cranston Police, saying he never opened the account in question. The patient also found out a cell phone account had been opened in his name at the Garfield Avenue RadioShack store -- an account with an outstanding balance of $1,353. Secret Service agents probed the matter and found several people who had bought what they thought were pre-paid cell phones for $50 each, and that a man named “Mike,” who was a Rhode Island Hospital security guard, was selling the phones. The phones stopped working about two weeks after people bought them. According to the affidavit, since summer 2006, Bermudez had been going to the Cranston RadioShack every few weeks with people's personal information. With the help of Valerio, Alvarez or another person, Bermudez opened cell phone accounts in other people's names, activated phones for those accounts, and then attempted to sell the phones. Bermudez would arrive at the store in hospital security guard uniform, according to the affidavit, with identity information written paper slips. A Secret Service agent found that Bermudez had worked second shift in the hospital's emergency room and had access to all emergency room areas. The security guard company fired Bermudez in February "for reasons not directly related to the charges filed today," the news release said. Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:45 PM | Comment Ex-House majority leader reports to prison at Fort DixPROVIDENCE — Ex-House majority leader Gerard M. Martineau, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges last fall, has begun his three-year prison sentence. He arrived today at the federal prison at Fort Dix, N.J. -- where former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. also served his corruption sentence. U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thomas Connell confirmed that Martineau reported to the prison today. Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi on Feb. 22 sentenced Martineau to three years and one month in prison and ordered him to pay $100,000 in fines. She also ordered him to serve two years probation after completing his prison sentence. Martineau appeared before Lisi in November and pleaded guilty to two felony charges of depriving Rhode Islanders of the right to honest services — for $891,500 worth of paper- and plastic-bag contracts from the CVS drugstore chain and Blue Cross. In return, Martineau admitted, he used his position to influence health care and other legislation to the benefit of those two companies. Martineau is the second public official, after former Sen. John A. Celona of North Providence, to be sentenced to prison on corruption charges stemming from the four-year probe of influence-peddling at the State House. The investigation, dubbed Operation Dollar Bill, was launched after disclosures in The Providence Journal of Celona’s hidden ties to CVS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Roger Williams Medical Center. -- With reports from Journal staff writer Mike Stanton Posted by Jack Perry at 4:37 PM | Comment Update: Probe of Amtrak fatal could take up to yearPROVIDENCE -- A three-investigator team from the National Transportation Safety Board will try to figure out why a northbound Amtrak Acela train struck three workers in Providence yesterday, killing one and injuring two others. The investigators will spend about a week on scene in Providence, but it could be nine months to a year before they issue a report on the accident's probable cause, Ruben Payan, NTSB lead investigator, said at a news conference this afternoon. Payan described the area just north of the Providence station -- and Acela stop -- as having a "sharp curve" and said whether that played a role will be part of the investigation. The train was on a stretch of track bounded on both sides by sloping ground leading up to a chainlink fence. When it came to a stop, part of the train had passed under the Charles Street overpass, where the corridor narrows. Among other things, the NTSB team will do interviews and review the Acela train's event recorder, which Payan likened to an airplane's black box. The recorder should indicate such factors as the train's speed, use of brakes and whether any warnings were given. Amtrak said yesterday that the train was going below the authorized speed limit of 55 mph on that stretch of track. This morning, Amtrak today identified the man who was killed as a contract employee with an architectural engineering firm. Gary Graves, who worked for HNTB Holdings, of Kansas City, Mo., was struck at about 1:15 p.m. yesterday while he and two other workers were inspecting the tracks, according to Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman. The cause of Graves' death was multiple blunt traumatic injuries, the state Office of the Medical Examiners office said this afternoon. The office identified Graves as being from Delaware. The other two workers were Amtrak employees but their names have not been released. One was seriously hurt and the other was treated and released from a hospital, according to Randal Brassell, an official with a union representing Amtrak workers. As policy, the National Transportation Safety Board does not identify people who are injured or killed in incidents it probes, leaving that to the transportation company involved or local hospitals. An Amtrak official, Michael DeCataldo Jr., who attended the news conference refused to answer questions, deferring to a company spokesman.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Asked if any of those involved had undergone substance tests, Payan said he needed to check with the NTSB official who handles that aspect. While the NTSB is lead investigator, the Federal Railroad Administration is doing its own investigation. No one on board the train was hurt and passengers remained on the train until it continued on its way 2 1/2 hours later. According to Connell, there were 162 passengers and 6 crew members on board. The incident drew Amtrak police, city police and fire and rescue workers, state medical examiners office staff and, for a time, Mayor David N. Cicilline. A green tarp was placed over part of the side of the sixth or seventh car while recovery personnel worked from underneath to remove the person who had been killed. Amtrak service in the area in both directions was halted for about 2½ hours yesterday while the Acela remained just north of the Providence rail station. At 3:48 p.m. yesterday, service was resumed, Amtrak said in a statement sent at 4:15 p.m. The train, number 2154, was also released and continued on to Boston. Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:18 PM | Comment Tell-Tale starts filming in Rhode Island next weekTell-Tale, a thriller based on author Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and whose producers backed Gladiator and Top Gun, will launch principal photography on Monday, with locations expected to include Burrillville and Providence. The production is slated to continue through April, Steven Feinberg, executive director of the Rhode Island Film & TV Office, said in a news release. Slated to star in it are Josh Lucas, Lena Headey and Emmy-winning Brian Cox. Ridley Scott, who directed Gladiator, and his brother Tony Scott, who directed Top Gun, are producing the movie. The movie will tell the story of a man whose transplanted heart "leads him on a dangerous journey to find who murdered its donor," the film and television office statement said. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:10 PM | Comment Train worker died from multiple blunt traumatic injuriesThe cause of death for Gary L. Graves, the 65-year-old contractor who was struck and killed by an Amtrak Acela train in Providence yesterday, was multiple blunt traumatic injuries, the state medical examiners' office announced this afternoon. The medical examiners' office identified Graves as being from Delaware. Graves, who worked for HNTB Holdings of Kansas City, Mo., and two other workers were inspecting the tracks when the accident occurred, according to Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman. Amtrak has refused to identify the two workers who were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:12 PM | Comment Company recalls seafood after possible contaminationBOSTON — A Boston seafood company has issued a voluntary recall of its cooked langostinosbecause of possible listeria contamination. The recalled “Icybay Cooked Langostinos” from Slade Gorton & Company were sold in one-pound packages to retailers in Massachusetts and Maryland and in five-pound packages to wholesalers in 19 states. The company initiated the recall Friday after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found a sample believed to be contaminated with Listeria Monocytogenes, which can cause fatal infections. Slade Gorton & Company says it and the FDA are investigating the source of any potential problem. The company says no sicknesses related to the product have been reported. -- The Associated Press Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 3:07 PM | Comment Diocese to close one school, build anotherPROVIDENCE -- The Diocese of Providence’s Catholic School Office today announced that St. Leo the Great School in Pawtucket will close at the end of this school year because of declining enrollment and increasing operational costs. However, the office also announced that it's keeping open two other schools that have struggled with enrollment -- Burrillville’s Father Holland School and Warwick’s St. Kevin School. And the office announced that Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston will build a new school to replace the Cranston/Johnston Catholic Regional School. A decision on Sacred Heart School in East Providence, which has also struggled with declining enrollment, will be announced next month. Parents were notified of St. Leo's closing through a letter sent home with students yesterday afternoon, according to a release from the Diocese of Providence's Catholic School Office. Faculty and staff were notified yesterday afternoon and will receive priority application status at other Catholic schools in the state, the diocese said. In a letter to parents, Father Kevin Fisette, pastor of St. Leo the Great Parish, said efforts would be made to place students in other Catholic schools. The school will host an open house at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday during which area Catholic schools will discuss their programs. St. Leo the Great needs a minimum of 165 students, but reported 92 paid registrations for the 2008-2009 school year. In 2004, there were 318 students enrolled. The school can accommodate up to 400 students. According to the diocese, the new school at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston will replace the Cranston/Johnston Catholic Regional School and will become the Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School. The 42,000-square-foot school will serve a maximum of 325 students in kindergarten through the 8th grade. Proceeds from the sale of the existing Cranston/Johnston Catholic Regional School will go toward the estimated $9.2-million construction cost of the new school. Construction will begin this spring with a targeted completion date of August 2009. Posted by Jack Perry at 3:05 PM | Comment Federal team in Providence to probe fatal train accidentPROVIDENCE -- A team of three investigators from the National Transporation Safety Board will try to determine why an Amtrak train struck three workers in Providence yesterday, killing one of them and seriously injuring two others. The investigators will spend about a week in Providence, but it could be nine months to a year before they issue a report on the accident's probable cause, Ruben Payan, lead investigator for the NTSB, said at a press conference this afternoon. Among other things, the team will conduct interviews and will review the Acela train's event recorder, which Payan likened to an airplane's black box. The recorder should indicate such factors as the train's speed, use of brakes and whether any warnings were given. Amtrak today identified the man who was killed as a contract employee with an architectural engineering firm. Gary Graves, who worked for HNTB Holdings, of Kansas City, Mo., was struck at about 1:15 p.m. yesterday while he and two other workers were inspecting the tracks, according to Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman. The other two workers were Amtrak employees. Their names have not been released. -- With reports from Journal staff writer Mike McKinney Posted by Jack Perry at 2:43 PM | Comment Strength in numbers: 20 workers share $200,000 prizeTwenty co-workers from a Central Falls-based company claimed a $200,000 Powerball prize yesterday afternoon, the Rhode Island Lottery announced today. They have played the lottery game since summer "whenever the jackpot is high enough" to pique their interest, a Rhode Island Lottery news release says. The $200,000 ticket, matched the first five numbers but not the Powerball number, was drawn for Wednesday night’s $238.6 million Powerball. The ticket was bought from the Store 24 at 390 Broad St., Central Falls. Saturday’s estimated Powerball jackpot is $275 million. It would rank as the seventh biggest jackpot in Powerball history if someone hits it. Click here for more information on the multi-state Powerball game and the latest drawings. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:42 PM | Comment Contractor places lien on Twin River slot parlorDimeo Construction Co. put a lien on the Twin River slot parlor in a move to secure $5.6 million for work the Providence company has done on the Lincoln property, according to a municipal filing. Dimeo filed the lien Wednesday in Lincoln Town Hall. The filing follows disclosure that UTGR Inc., the company that owns Twin River, missed a loan payment to a lender. Due last week, the missed payment triggered a ratings downgrade on UTGR by the Standard & Poor's Corp. ratings unit. UTGR has entered into a pact with its lenders, known as a forbearance agreement, that allows the company to work out payment plans with its lenders and creditors such as Dimeo. UTGR's owners, BLB Investors, bought the slot parlor, then known as Lincoln Park, for $435 million in 2005. It then launched a $225 million renovation project. Dimeo was supposed to be paid $171 million for its work at the slot parlor, since renamed Twin River. The lien covers the unpaid balance. -- Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 12:11 PM | Comment Providence parks director to head city operationsPROVIDENCE -- The city's superintendent of parks has been appointed the city's director of operations. Alix Ogden has worked as the parks director for four years, during the construction of the Roger Williams Botanical Center and a reorganization of the Parks Department. “She is a true innovator who sets high standards for herself, her department and employees, and understands the importance of working collaboratively with other city departments and outside agencies,” Mayor David N. Cicilline said in a statement announcing the appointment. “Alix has exactly what it takes to continue the transformation of operations into a 21st-century organization.” Ogden will begin her new job March 31. Deputy Parks Superintendent Robert McMahon will take over as parks superintendent until the mayor and the Board of Parks Commissioners determine the next step. As operations director, Ogden will provide leadership and work closely with the management teams for nine city departments, including the Department of Public Works, Inspection and Standards and the Water Supply Board. “I am extremely proud of the innovative steps we’ve taken over the past four years in the parks department to create efficiencies, maximize city resources and strengthen our park system,” Ogden said in a statement. “I am honored the mayor has chosen me to lead operations and I look forward to working with his extraordinary team to continue to move the City of Providence forward.” Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 12:02 PM | Comment Ex-bank worker, accomplice sentenced for fraud schemePROVIDENCE — A former bank worker and another man have been sentenced to prison for a fraudulent check scheme in Rhode Island. John P. Perras, 24, of West Warwick, had earlier pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and admitted to orchestrating the scheme. He was sentenced Thursday to four years and three months. David Chavez, also 24 and from West Warwick, was given eight months. While working at Citizens Bank, Chavez obtained information of several account holders, including their names and account numbers. Perras then used that information to manufacture fraudulent checks on personal computers. Five other people were charged in the scheme and also have pleaded guilty. Prosecutors say the seven defendants obtained about $83,000 and tried to get an additional $16,000. -- The Associated Press Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:52 AM | Comment Smoke-shop trial delayed because of illnessPROVIDENCE — The trial of the seven Narragansett Indians arrested in the 2003 state police raid on the tribe’s tax-free smoke shop was delayed today because a juror was sick. The 12-member jury, with 3 alternates, was to hear the 11th day of testimony in the state’s case against the Narragansetts. Some of the jurors battled illness all week. Trooper Ann Assumpico will return to the stand when the trial resumes Monday morning. Prosecutors Pamela Chin and Maria Deaton will then conclude the state’s case with the testimony of Lt. Robert MacKisey, who led the state police riot control team that day. At Governor Carcieri’s orders, dozens of state police executed a search and seizure warrant on the smoke shop July 14, 2003, to stop the tribe from selling tax-free cigarettes from the roadside store on tribal land in Charlestown. The raid turned into a scuffling match. Seven Narragansetts, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, are on trial for misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, assault and disorderly conduct in Providence County Superior Court. Judge Susan E. McGuirl pushed back the trial’s projected end date to April 4, vowing to stretch the days from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. to accomplish that. She has already moved the daily start to 9:15 a.m. and cut the lunch break to an hour. The defense witness list includes state police command staff, namely Major Steven G. O’Donnell and retired Major John J. Leyden Jr. and Capt. Leo Messier, as well as local TV reporters whose crews were filming that day. Retired Supt. Steven M. Pare is named as a possible witness. Defense lawyers have been trying to build the case that police used excessive force. -- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 11:43 AM | Comment Acela train in Conn. injures woman, kills her dogSTONINGTON, Conn. -- Stonington police say a woman has been hurt and her dog has died after they were hit by a Washington-bound Acela train. Stonington police Sgt. Bruce Smith says 69-year-old Rosemary Riley was walking her yellow Labrador on the tracks near her home as she often does. He says she heard the train behind her but thought it was on a different track. Instead, it hit her. She has been taken to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital with a serious arm injury. None of the more than 200 people on the train from Boston were injured. Their trip resumed about 10 a.m. today after a nearly 90-minute delay. The train goes about 80 mph. through that area. The incident comes a day after an Amtrak express train from Washington to Boston hit three workers inspecting the tracks, killing one, just outside a station in downtown Providence. -- The Associated Press Posted by Jack Perry at 11:34 AM | Comment Smoke-shop jury gets 3-day weekendThe jury has been sent home today in the trial of seven Narragansett Indians facing a host of misdemeanor charges stemming from a scuffle with the state police after a raid on a tribal smoke shop. For the second time, a sick juror led to jury dismissal. As a result of today's dismissal, the trial's end date has been pushed back from next week to April 4. But Judge Susan E. McGuirl said that was a final date and that she would do “whatever it takes” to wrap up proceedings by then, even if it means working from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. This would have been the 11th day of testimony in the trial, which commenced only after many delays, more than 4 years after a 2003 raid by the state police to stop the sale of tax-free cigarettes at a tribal smoke shop. -- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 10:33 AM | Comment Amtrak says man killed on tracks was contract workerThe man killedin an accident yesterday after being struck by the high-speed Amtrak Acela train was a contract employee with an architectural engineering firm. Gary Graves, who worked for HNTB Holdings, of Kansas City, Mo., died yesterday while inspecting the tracks just north of the Providence Amtrak station, according to Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman. She said the identities of the two injured workers – employees of Amtrak – have not been verified. HNTB Spokeswoman Sara Prem said the company offered its support to Graves' family. “We’re just really sad about this, she said, "It was a tragic death." The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency, has taken over the accident investigation. The Board is planning a briefing today in Providence to update the public on its its investigation. Inspectors will be working at the site today, according to spokesman Keith Holloway. The briefing will be at the Providence Amtrak station at 2 p.m. A previous version of this item referenced a meeting about a different fatal train accident. -- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 9:53 AM | Comment A less sexy sex storyYou don’t have to look far to find loud and public stories of sex and power, sex and scandal or sex and money -- and sometimes all in the same place. But what about sexual health? Evelyn Relsh, director of health at the Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, will be speaking to the subject this weekend at the 17th annual Miriam Hospital Women’s Wellness Workshop. The workshop – a day-long event, is tailored to women’s health issues and will offer workshops on topics from “The Perfect Bra Fit” to “Beating Heart Disease” and even “Gender Specific Knee Surgery.” Health professionals will also be on-hand to offer a variety of screenings. The workshop runs tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick. Registration is $35, which includes light breakfast and lunch. -- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 8:41 AM | Comment Trans fats banned in Boston restaurantsBOSTON -- Boston has joined others cities in banning artery-clogging trans fats from food served in restaurants and grocery stores. Businesses, as well as schools and hospitals, will have to stop using oils and spreads that contain trans fats. Prepackaged foods such as a bag of chips or cookies won't be included. The city Public Health Commission approved the ban unanimously yesterday. Fines would be up to $1,000 per violation. New York and Philadelphia have similar bans. Many Boston restaurants have already stopped using trans fats. Also known as partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats extend a food's shelf life and enhance flavor. -- The Associated Press Posted by Jack Perry at 8:29 AM | Comment Get ready for a wet weekendThere may be some showers later this afternoon, otherwise, the National Weather Service is forecasting a cloudy day with high temperature of 54 degrees and a calm east wind. Rain will likely pick up tonight after 9 p.m. tonight when the temperature dips to about 37 degrees. More rain Saturday morning -- but less than a tenth of an inch is expected -- with a high temperature near 44 degrees and a mild north wind. Saturday night will be wet as well, and there's a slight chance we'll even see snow. Expect low temperatures near 30 and a mild north wind. That snow could continue into Sunday morning then turn to rain later in the day when the temperature rises to the mid-40s and north winds pick up to about 17 mph. Sunday night looks clear, with a low around 24. And we'll have a sunny St. Patrick's Day, with a high temperature in the mid-40s. To keep track of the weather over the weekend, check projo.com's weather page. Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 7:02 AM | Comment Today's front pageToday's front page features coverage of a preliminary audit that uncovered signs of mismanagement, cronyism and possible corruption at Rhode Island's $70-million trash agency. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006