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June 13, 2008

Tonight: Gilbert and Sullivan fill the air in Wakefield

Catch a two-hour program at 7:30 tonight of a selection of songs from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, sung by cast members ages 22 to 75.

It's at Cornerstone Playhouse, 213 Robinson St., in South Kingstown's Wakefield section.

Tickets are $20. Call (401) 783-8827.

If you can't make it tonight, see the performance tomorrow at the same time, same location.

Coming up this weekend:

The annual Tony awards recognizing's Broadway best can expect to be eclipsed by Game 4 of the NBA finals, when the Boston Celtics try to clinch the championship on the Lakers' home court in Los Angeles.

Go green.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:53 PM | Comment

Update: Woman abducted 'because she was there'

Marco Riz had just been fired from his job as a cook at a Texas Roadhouse on Sunday, a Warwick police captain said, so he walked about a half-mile to the busy Stop & Shop supermarket on Route 2 that afternoon, went inside and changed his shirt.

When he came back out, he saw a Ford SUV idling close by the store, with a 30-year-old woman sitting in the passenger seat. The woman’s mother had just stopped into a nearby store to pick something up, said Warwick police Capt. Michael Babula. She didn’t expect to be more than 10 minutes.

In that moment, police believe, Riz saw an opportunity. By the time the mother emerged from the store, the SUV was gone -- and her daughter was in fear for her life.

Riz, identified as an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, is now accused of kidnapping, robbery and rape. He is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions after an intense multi-agency investigation tracked him down Thursday afternoon in Providence’s West End.

He’s being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a fugitive alien. ICE spokeswoman Paula Grenier said Riz had been ordered deported from the United States before, but she was unable to answer when the deportation order was issued or why.

Police detectives in Warwick and Providence are calling Sunday’s attack “horrific” and “atrocious,” and utterly random. Riz and the woman he’s accused of kidnapping, robbing and raping were strangers, their lives connecting only by happenstance. “This poor woman was picked because she was there,” Babula said.

-- Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

It was a sunny late afternoon, shoppers walking in and out of the store, pushing carriages in the parking lot, seemingly oblivious to the man who opened the door to the idling SUV and jumped inside, brandishing a long steak knife at the woman in the passenger seat.

“He was very bold,” Babula said, “and I think from outside the car, nothing got anyone’s attention.”

Riz robbed the woman at knifepoint of her money and credit cards, Babula said. Then he put the SUV in gear and drove away with her.

They headed toward Providence.

Meanwhile, in Warwick, the mother had left the store and realized the SUV was gone. She waited, wondering where her daughter was, and her concern began to grow, Babula said.

According to a police report, Riz drove the woman into Roger Williams Park in Providence, where he pulled the SUV off to the side and forced the woman out of the passenger side into the park. He took her into the woods, down by a path, where he sexually assaulted her, according to the report. It was around 6 p.m. and still light out. He became nervous where they were, and moved her to another spot, where he assaulted her again, the report said.

Afterward, the report said, he took her back to the SUV and drove to Elmwood Avenue near Roger Williams Avenue, where he took off from the SUV and left the woman behind.
Back in Warwick, the woman’s worried mother called the police. The officer who responded called the woman’s cell phone, Babula said, happening to reach her just after the assailant had fled.

Warwick and Providence police joined forces with the state police, the U.S. marshals, and the investigators of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “From the first moment, everyone took this with great seriousness,” Babula said. “Everyone took this as what it was, a terrible crime. … This is one of those that sticks in your mind.”

In short order, they had the assailant’s picture from the Stop & Shop surveillance camera, but the victim didn’t know who he was. They needed a name.

On Tuesday evening, the police appealed to the public for help and distributed the surveillance photo to the press. In less than a half-hour, Warwick police had their first tip to Riz’s identity.

But the Guatemalan man had at least a dozen aliases, said Providence detective Capt. Hugh Clements, and at first the police were searching for him under one of his aliases: Saul Pizzarro-Aviles.

When they tracked him down at 183 Linwood Ave. in the city’s West End, Clements said, they matched his fingerprints and learned his real name: Marco Riz.

Riz, 26, is scheduled to be arraigned in Providence District Court on Monday. He faces charges on kidnapping and first-degree robbery from Warwick, and two counts of first-degree sexual assault from Providence. “This really was an atrocious crime,” Clements said.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:33 PM | Comment

Sweep nets 123 fugitives wanted on felony charges

PROVIDENCE -- The U.S. Marshal's office announced this afternoon the arrest of 123 fugitives wanted on a variety of felony charges in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts and California.

David Remington, chief deputy marshal in Providence, said that over the past week federal marshals, the Rhode Island State Police and officers from police departments in Providence, Pawtucket, New Bedford, Mass., and San Diego, Calif., arrested the suspects on outstanding warrants.

The charges included rape, kidnapping, carjacking, robbery and drug offenses.

New Bedford Police Chief Ronald Teachman said one of the bigger grabs was the arrest of Corey Almeida, 35, who he described as "a major drug dealer,’’ in New Bedford.

Last month, the U.S. attorney in Boston, Michael J. Sullivan, announced the indictment of Almeida and 21 others on a variety of drug and gun charges, including 16 members of the Montes Park street gang. Almeida was wanted on charges of distributing more than 500 grams of crack cocaine.

Teachman said that Almeida was in San Diego when the indictment was unsealed last month.
An warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was captured this week. He has been detained in San Diego and is expected to be transported to Boston where he will face the charges in federal court.

The authorities said that 143 warrants were cleared in the sweep that concluded today. Remington said that some of the suspects had multiple charges against them which accounted for more charges than people arrested. Remington did not have the names and charges of everyone arrested.

Most of them are in federal or state custody pending the outcome of their cases.

Col. Brendan P. Doherty, commander of the Rhode Island State Police, said that fugitive sweeps often result in wanted suspects turning themselves in.

-- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:57 PM | Comment

Amtrak disruptions, set for this weekend, delayed

Disruptions in Amtrak Acela trips between Boston and New York have been put off because there are further delays in bridge replacement work in eastern Connecticut.

Regular train schedules are therefore restored for June 16 through 19, Amtrak said today. A normal schedule will run this weekend.

An Amtrak statement said the company has been notified by the contractor working on the Thames River Bridge -- between New London and Groton -- that installing a new span has been delayed because of "complications encountered in the dismantling and removal of the bridge’s counterweight."

The plan was for all Acela Express service north of New York to be canceled during the project, and for express buses to run between New Haven and Providence to connect trains in those cities.

"Amtrak expects to receive more information from the contractor about the status of the project on Monday," the statement added. "At that point, Amtrak will provide more information about both the service schedules and expected project completion date."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:52 PM | Comment

Update: Station fire defendant offers $25M settlement

PROVIDENCE – In the latest in a series of settlement offers, the last “big pocket” defendant in The Station nightclub fire lawsuits has agreed tentatively to pay $25 million to the fire victims and their families.

The new settlement offer was made by Sealed Air Corporation, a publicly traded company headquartered in Elmwood, N.J., which manufactures polyethylene foam. It was filed this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Providence.

Because Sealed Air is the last “big pocket” defendant sued by the fire victims and their families, the tentative settlement agreement increases the likelihood that the case will never go to trial.

The new settlement offer by Sealed Air brings the pool of money offered to victims so far to $148.115 million. But all of the settlement offers are only tentative at this point. The fire victims and their families won’t be getting any of the money anytime soon.

While the plaintiffs’ lawyers have agreed to the settlements “in principle,” the settlements hinge on the approval of all of the victims, the approval of Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux, the filing of documents that would preserve claims against other defendants and the court’s approval of a special master’s plan for divvying up the money.

One hundred people died in the fire at The Station on Feb. 20, 2003 and more than 200 others were injured. The fire began after Daniel M. Biechele, the manager for the rock band Great White, set off fireworks at the outset of the show. Sparks from the fireworks ignited highly flammable foam that was used as soundproofing.

The victims’ lawsuits alleged that Sealed Air manufactured the polyethylene foam that was underneath the highly flammable polyurethane foam that Jeffrey and Michael Derderian installed as soundproofing after buying The Station in 2000.

In a statement released after the tentative pact was filed, Sealed Air said:

"Our hearts go out to the families affected by this terrible tragedy. In order to reach a resolution, we have agreed to a settlement in principle, and our insurance carriers have agreed to fully fund the settlement. Though Sealed Air was not responsible for the fire, we believe that this result is in the best interest of all concerned. The settlement is subject to Court approval."

Extra: Keep up with coverage of the aftermath of The Station nightclub in this continuing report.

-- Journal staff writer Tracy Breton

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 5:48 PM | Comment

Cal Ripken Jr. to appear at Westin, McCoy Stadium

Cal Ripken Jr., the former Baltimore Orioles star who was a Gold Glove-winning shortstop, is slated to give a speech on a youth crime-prevention effort at a national gathering of attorneys general next week at The Westin in Providence.

At 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a news release from Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office today.

A question-and-answer session will follow Ripken's speech.

Afterward, Ripken is scheduled to go to Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium, arriving at 12:15 p.m., where he will be joined by attorneys general, Pawtucket Red Sox management, Pawtucket Mayor James E. Doyle, law enforcement, members of the Pawtucket Boys & Girls Club’s RBI League, and Rhode Island Interscholastic League players.

In doing so, Ripken will return to the stadium where he played in the longest game in professional baseball history, the Triple-A International League’s Rochester Red Wings in the game against the PawSox that began on April 18, 1981, and continued into the next day, Easter morning, before being suspended at the end of the 32nd inning, at 4:09 a.m.

Mike Moore, former Mississippi attorney general and a board member of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, will introduce Ripken at The Westin.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:28 PM | Comment

Man being held at ACI in kidnapping, rape

The man accused of kidnapping a woman, 30, taking her car and driving it to a park, where he allegedly raped her, is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions and is scheduled for District Court arraignment on Monday.

The suspect's true name is Marco Riz, 26, Providence police said today.

Initially identified as Saul Pizzaro-Aviles -- one of several aliases -- he was arrested last night in Providence's West End.

The police allege Riz kidnapped a woman at knifepoint while she sat in the parking lot of a Warwick grocery store at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday. According to the police, he drove the woman –– in her car –– to Roger Williams Park in Providence, where he raped her.

The Providence police arrested Riz last night without incident at 183 Linwood Ave., according to police Detective Capt. Hugh Clements. The police would not say whether the suspect lives at that address.

Riz was held at the Providence Public Safety Complex overnight; he was not arraigned in District Court this morning because the judges were attending a conference at the annual meeting of the Rhode Island Bar Association.

He instead was arraigned at the police station and transferred to the ACI, according to the Providence police.

Posted by Jack Perry at 3:53 PM | Comment

Photo: Ready to sink her teeth in

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
She may be too young to eat them, but 8-month-old Ellie Kocab seems to have found a way to enjoy the greens grown by her mother, Auburn, of Cedar Edge Farm in Johnston. They were among the goods and produce on sale today at Farm Fresh Rhode Island's first farmers' market of the season in downtown Providence.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 3:37 PM | Comment

Year-long investigation nets two suspects, cocaine

Two men -- one from Bristol the other Fall River -- are scheduled for arraignment Monday after a year-long drug trafficking investigation led to their arrests along with the seizure of two kilograms of cocaine.

Carlos Evangelista, 33, of Bristol and Peter Ferland, 33, of Fall River are charged with trafficking more than 200 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.

The investigation spanned two states and involved a handful of agencies, including the Massachusetts State Police, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, the Fairhaven Police Department, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the New England State Police Information Network.

Evangelista and Ferland were arrested yesterday and are being held without bail. They are scheduled for arraignment Monday in Fall River District Court.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 2:38 PM | Comment

Red Cross to simulate disaster's aftermath

After the disaster –– be it hurricane, attack or a spreading illness –– what happens next? Where do you go? What do you eat? How do you know where your friends and family are?

As we get into hurricane season, the Red Cross Rhode Island Chapter’s shelter team is working out the details tomorrow between 9 a.m. and noon at a shelter simulation at Governor DelSesto Middle School at 152 Springfield St. in Providence.

“There’s nothing more important than ensuring that our residents are safe in the event of an emergency,” Peter Gaynor, who heads Providence’s emergency management and disaster planning, said in a statement.

Members of the community will play the roles of evacuees in need of shelter and members of the shelter team will fulfill the duties they would in the case of a real disaster: registering people; providing food, mental health services and more.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 2:26 PM | Comment

Groups protest immigration raids in Newport, Middletown

NEWPORT -- Representatives from about a half-dozen groups today protested immigration raids carried out in Newport and Middletown on Wednesday and Thursday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that 42 immigration fugitives and violators were arrested during a raid carried out by members of ICE's Rhode Island Fugutive Operations Team.

Immigrant advocacy group members stood on the Newport Colony House steps in Washington Square and held a noon news conference.

Rev. Raymond Tetrault, pastor of St. Teresa Church in Providence's Olneyville section, said a "cessation" of deportations should be called for until Congress passes immigration reform.

He said immigrants are coming to the country to work and are supporting the economy.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Karen Lee Ziner

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:06 PM | Comment

Update: Truck accident on Route 95 in Providence

The state Transportation Management Center reports all lanes have been reopened to traffic after a truck hit a bridge in the area of exit 18 -- the Thurbers Avenue exit -- in Providence.

Repair work on the bridge has been scheduled for 11:00 p.m. today, closing three of the four southbound lanes.

This morning, the Thurbers Avenue exit off Route 95 north was closed as crews cleaned up a diesel fuel spill caused by an earlier accident.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 2:05 PM | Comment

ME: Central Falls couple died from heat

The deaths of an elderly couple found in a second-floor Central Falls apartment "were heat related due to a recent heat wave" and they died "as a result of environmental exposure with hyperthermia," the Office of State Medical Examiners said today.

A landlord found Rolande and Raymond Desjardins in their Chestnut Street apartment on Wednesday at 2:39 p.m., Police Chief Joseph Moran has said.

Raymond S. Desjardins, 84, was dead when police and rescue crews arrived, Moran said. Rolande M. Desjardins, 86, showed signs of life and was taken to Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Moran said.

Rhode Island had its first official heat wave -- three days over 90 degrees -- from Sunday through Tuesday of this week.

The Desjardins’ landlord needed to get into the apartment and had called a locksmith to open the door, Moran said yesterday. He said police did not find any signs of foul play.

Read tips from the Centers for Disease Control on dealing with the extreme heat.

Read an earlier story.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:26 PM | Comment

Crews at scene of fire on Admiral Street, Providence

PROVIDENCE -- Crews are at the scene of a fire at 225 Admiral St., fire dispatch said. Further details were not available.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:14 PM | Comment

Advocates for immigrants to discuss Newport raids

A handful of advocacy groups are scheduled to hold a press conference today on the steps of the Newport Colony House to discuss a series of federal immigration raids on the island over the past few days.

The raids were carried out by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, according to Newport Police Lt. William Fitzgerald, and local authorities did not know about the raids in advance.

"I started to get calls Wednesday early morning from community members that were concerned due to the fact that ICE has been raiding several apartment houses throughout the entire city," David A. Quiroa, president of the Guatemalan-American Alliance, said in a statement.

Representatives from ICE, Boston, have not been available for comment.

The groups participating in the press conference include the Guatemalan-American Alliance, Progreso Latino and the Mexican Association of Rhode Island.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 11:59 AM | Comment

Red tide forces closure of Boston Harbor shellfish beds

BOSTON — Public health officials have closed shellfish beds in Boston Harbor for the first time in 36 years in response to a spreading red tide along the Massachusetts coast.

The ban on shellfish harvesting now extends from the New Hampshire border to the Bourne-Sandwich town line, with the exception of a small area along Plymouth, Kingston, and Duxbury.

Officials say about 50 fishermen harvest an average 15,000 to 20,000 bushels of clams annually in Boston Harbor.

Red tide is a toxic algae that concentrates in shellfish, making them dangerous for humans to eat. Crabs, lobsters and shrimp are not affected.

Michael Hickey, chief biologist for the state’s shellfish sanitation management program, says although the livelihoods of some fishermen will be affected, the agency’s top concern is public health.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 9:38 AM | Comment

List of safe tomatoes updated

More cases of salmonella have been reported as a result of tomatoes tainted with salmonellosis.

The Food and Drug Administration says since mid-April, more than 160 cases of salmonella Saintpaul –– including 23 hospitalizations –– have been reported nationwide, including as close as Connecticut.

The warning applies to certain red plum, red roma and red round tomatoes, but does not apply to cherry or grape tomatoes, or to tomatoes still attached to the vine.

The FDA has updated its list of places where tomatoes have not been associated with the outbreak:

For the list, continue reading.

* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Delaware
* Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte)*
* Georgia
* Hawaii
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New York
* Nebraska
* North Carolina
* Ohio
* Pennsylvania
* South Carolina
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin
* Belgium
* Canada
* Dominican Republic
* Guatemala
* Israel
* Netherlands
* Puerto Rico

Find the updated list of safe tomatoes on the FDA’s Web site.

Salmonellosis is caused by the Salmonella bacteria and can be fatal in the most severe cases.

It can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days and typically clears up on its own.

But in infants, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, the illness –– particularly severe diarrhea –– can require hospitalization.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 9:35 AM | Comment

Photo, Video: Diesel spill & accident on Route 95

Journal Photo/Bill Murphy

The Thurbers Avenue exit off Route 95 north is closed this morning as crews work to clean up a diesel fuel spill caused by an earlier accident this morning.

An accident, and subsequent diesel fuel spill on Route 95 has a ramp blocked this morning and the highway looking more like a parking log.

The accident is on the northbound side of the roadway, blocking Exit 18/US 1A/Thurbers Ave. To see how traffic is moving along, see the Transportation Management Center's Web cameras.

See video from the scene.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 8:15 AM | Comment

Say goodbye to the Pine Street overpass

Getting from the East Side to the West End just got a bit harder. Today the Pine Street overpass over Route 95 closes for good.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is closing the bridge, and will later demolish it, as part of the Iway project. In a statement by the RIDOT, the agency says it will begin building an extension to the northbound service road along Route 95 north, near the existing Route 195 interchange.

In the future, a new ramp will give drivers on Point Street access to Route 95 north.

In the meantime, motorists will need to follow detour signs directing them to the Broad Street overpass to get to the other side of Route 95.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 7:50 AM | Comment

Today in history: Marshall nominated to Supreme Court

On this day in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Watch a video report from today in history.

More about today in history.

Posted by Jack Perry at 7:02 AM | Comment

A beautiful day today, but turning worse this weekend

Did you like yesterday's weather? If so, you're in luck.

But -- surprise! -- it won't last through the weekend.

Today is looking a lot like yesterday, with brilliantly sunny skies, temperatures reaching about 81 degrees and a calm, north wind.

There's a slight chance of showers late tonight. Otherwise, expect partly cloudy skies with a low temperature near about 60 degrees and mild, west winds.

To keep with the trend, the weekend won't be nearly as nice as the weekdays were. There's a slight chance of rain -- maybe thunderstorms -- tomorrow afternoon. We'll have mostly cloudy skies and temperatures reaching about 82 degrees.

More rain tomorrow night, with a chance of thunderstorms all through the night and into early Sunday morning. Temperatures will drop to about 60 degrees

Sunday will be cool, with temperatures reaching about 75 degrees and a north wind. Expect scattered showers and cloudy skies all day.

Sunday night -- guess what? -- rain. A chance of showers in the evening with cloudy skies all night and temperatures in the high 50s.

And Monday we'll see the same; scattered showers, thunderstorms, cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid 70s.

Check projo.com's weather page throughout the weekend -- maybe things will change.

Posted by Brandie M. Jefferson at 7:01 AM | Comment

Gambling woes, a murder: Download today's front page

Stories on the Twin River slot parlor and the murder of a teenager lead today Journal.
Download file

Posted by Peter Phipps at 6:32 AM | Comment