The debate, with roughly 125 members taking part, was a prelude to another committee session set for Nov. 16 when members are to decide by secret ballot whether to put the change in place or not.

Provided it is approved by at least two-thirds of the membership and survives any potential legal challenges, the move would mean that anyone who wants to vote in next September's Republican primary would have had to be on the voting rolls as a registered Republican at least 90 days before, thereby preventing the current practice that allows unaffiliated voters from walking into a polling place and casting a vote Republican primary on primary day itself and then disaffiliating moments later.

The change is not likely to affect Rhode Island's Republican presidential primary, now set for April 24, but proponents say the measure would protect the local GOP from manipulation from non-Republicans who don't have the party's best interests at heart.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Geralyn Hoffman and Larry Ducady of Cumberland marry on Easton's Beach in Newport Sunday after their 26.2-mile run together at the Amica Marathon, their first.

The couple crossed the finish line in slightly less then six hours.

Friends and family along with a contingent of media are present when the couple take their vows.

Mayor Scott Avedisian's office said that Kenneth Naylor was terminated "based on the city's own internal review of the incident" and additional information that has come to light.

They said the police investigation has been forwarded to the attorney general's office for review.

According to a police report, Naylor, 47, was arrested last month after he was seen leaving the public works complex on Sandy Lane with a can of gas and assorted tools.

City officials last week said that the DPW's unwritten policy of allowing employees to borrow small tools overnight has been rescinded.

If the proposed sale of Woonsocket's Landmark Medical Center is completed, the hospital will get a new name: Blackstone Medical Center.

And the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island, in North Smithfield, which Landmark owns and which is also part of the deal, will be renamed the Blackstone Rehabilitation Hospital.

That news emerged Monday as state regulators revealed that the Boston-based Steward Health Care System had filed its application for state approval of the sale of the two hospitals.The application includes the new name.

Landmark spokesman Bill Fischer called the application's submission a significant milestone. "The train is on the tracks and we're pretty excited about that," he said.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- On the day before the governor and treasurer roll out their pension-reform bill, the AARP has mailed out more than 20,000 fliers denouncing the anticipated suspension of annual cost-of-living adjustments for retired public-employees.

"The unthinkable: cutting the pension benefits of existing retirees,'' says the AARP, in a mailing urging it members to call their legislators and protest this "devastating'' precedent.

A draft proposal would temporarily suspend the COLAs. For those already making more in retirement than they made when they were working, the COLAs would be suspended until the pension system is 80-percent funded; others would have to wait until it was 70-percent funded.

The Assembly returns Tuesday to receive the bill and launch public hearings, before an anticipated vote next month.

It's one of 20 "underperforming" stores being closed by Lowe's. Corporate spokesperson Steve Salazar said the company does not release information on individual stores, but most of the ones being closed were not profitable.

The North Kingstown store is due to cease business next month after it sells off its inventory.

Those teams, Simmons wrote in a nine-page response that she will present to the Brown University Corporation later this week, "should be given the chance to demonstrate that their supporters are able to endow their sport at the level deemed necessary by the University." As part of a plan aimed at putting "all team sports on a better financial footing," Brown athletic director Michael Goldberger "has proposed a five year period of time to allow teams to raise a total of $42 million in additional endowment funds," Simmons noted.

-Carolyn Thornton

U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha's office Monday asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the extension, saying it needed the extra time to get approval from the U.S. Solicitor General to pursue the review. The government had had until Oct. 23 to file a petition. Judge Juan R. Torruella granted the request late Monday.

A three-judge appeals panel last Thursday sided with Governor Chafee in ruling that Rhode Island did not have to surrender murder suspect Jason Wayne Pleau to federal prosecutors for a trial that could have left him facing the death penalty.

Pleau is accused of killing a gas station manager outside a Woonsocket bank.

The original version of this story was posted at 11:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of Rhode Islanders have signed petitions delivered Monday to Sen. Jack Reed, asking him to support legislation to repeal the Clinton-era law that -- for purposes of federal benefits, tax breaks and the like -- recognizes marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"Recent census data show that Rhode Island is among the top ten states where gay and lesbian couples choose to build their lives together," Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director of Freedom to Marry, said in a news release calling upon the Rhode Island Democrat to support the Respect for Marriage Act, which would effectively repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage act.

Reed has promised to consider the request.

The hearing will be held at at the Jamestown Philomenian Library, at 26 North Rd.

There will be another hearing, the last of a series, on the study Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Newport Marriott at 25 America's Cup Avenue in Newport. Free parking will be available at the Gateway Center, next to the Newport Marriott.

State Rep. Daniel Gordon agreed to pay $1,000 in administrative costs to settle the charges.

In addition, the 42-year-old Portsmouth Republican will pay $650 to probation for driving an unregistered vehicle -- $50 a month for a year and a one-time $50 victim witness fee -- and will be on probation for a year for driving with a suspended license -- a second violation -- and attaching plates.

A civil violation of failure to stay within marked lanes was filed for a year.

Gordon was arrested last month after Rhode Island officers learned he was wanted for allegedly being a fugitive from justice in Massachusetts. The arrest exposed his lengthy criminal history in Massachusetts.

A few days earlier, Rhode Island State Police charged him with driving on a suspended license, a misdemeanor that was dismissed earlier this month.

-- Reported by Journal Staff Writer W. Zachary Malinowski, with reports from The Associated Press

The original version of this report was posted at 9:42 a.m.

Sheehan, in a news release, said, "This new policy ought to have been decided by the state legislature." He said that according to a 1996 federal law, "this may be the actual case. Accordingly, I have requested that U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha render a legal opinion on the issue."

Sheehan also said he remains "very concerned" about the potential cost of the new policy, "at a time when budgets are right and cuts are being made to programs that benefit Rhode Island citizens, especially the neediest members of society."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Patricia Phelan and Savannah Kite were among a group of Occupy Providence protesters when they closed their accounts at Bank of America Monday morning.

"We are taking our money back," said Phelan, 28, as protesters gathered at Burnside Park, where they've been sleeping.

At 9:55 a.m., the group marched across Kennedy Plaza to the bank, chanting: "Bank of America, bad for America."

At noon, another four people went to Bank of America to close their accounts.

When Phelan and Kite when to the bank at 9:55 a.m., the doors to the bank were closed and the group was told to go to the other entrance.

"They are holding our money hostage," one of the protesters said.

Journal photo/ Mary Murphy
Campers at the Occupy Providence site at Burnside Park get up early Monday for their third day of protest.

The suspect, John Koliscz, 55, of Branford, allegedly brandished a screwdriver in a bid to escape, and was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, among other offenses, LaCross reported.

The chief said the incident began around 7:25 a.m. when a neighbor coming home noticed Koliscz emerging from a house at 16 Woodland Rd. The neighbor, whom LaCross declined to name, challenged Koliscz, he said, who responded by swinging a screwdriver at him. The neighbor yelled for help and was joined by two others, also not identified. The three pinned Koliscz to the ground until police officers arrived.

Koliscz, who also was charged with three counts of breaking and entering, including past breaks in the area, was ordered held at the Adult Correctional Institutions without bail. LaCross said the suspect was wanted on a warrant issued by Portsmouth police in an unrelated case.

LaCross said Koliscz told investigators he had been staying with his sister in Warwick.

The chief declined to say who lives at 16 Woodland Rd.

The DMV, the local affiliate of the ACLU said in a news release, refused to reinstate the license of Marc Lavik of Warwick, citing a policy that requires drivers to retake the written and road tests and apply for a new license when a license has lapsed for more than three years.

Lavik's license was suspended in 2005 because he owed taxes.

In its complaint -- filed in Superior Court, Providence, on Lavik's behalf -- the ACLU says that policy "appears nowhere in the agency's rules and regulations." And, the lawsuit argues, the policy "has never been the subject of any public notice or hearing by the agency," as required under state law.

Moreover, the ACLU says, the tax statute under which Lavik was unable to get his license renewed requires agencies to reinstate licenses "within five (5) business days of receiving the certificate of good standing" from the taxation division.

The suit seeks a court order declaring the policy null and void and ordering reinstatement of Lavik's license.