Archive - News Article
February 27th, 2013
PAWTUCKET â It's clear that the city and future generations will benefit from the clean-up of a 23-acre former industrial site located off Pleasant Street known as Tidewater. However, keeping local residents and school children safe during those remediation efforts has been the focus of state and local officials and concerned parents as preliminary plans are being drafted.
PAWTUCKET â A 23-year-old city man is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at his apartment on multiple occasions, Pawtucket Police said.
The suspect, Sergio C. Fernandes, of Vale Street, was arrested on Monday afternoon after a family member went to police about the matter. Major Arthur Martins said the incidents involving the girl, who is unrelated to the suspect and lives elsewhere in the city, are alleged to have been taking place since December.
February 25th
PAWTUCKET â The grand marshal and Irish âfacesâ have been chosen, the raffle has been held and the shamrock will be painted in the street in front of City Hall this morning. In short, the city is gearing up for its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday.
The parade will step off on Saturday, March 2, at noon (rain or shine) from McCoy Stadium on Division Street. The parade then proceeds down South Bend Street to Walcott Street, then into the downtown and onto Roosevelt Avenue, where it passes by a reviewing stand in front of City Hall.
LINCOLN â The Community Against Bullying in Schools will hold its Let Kindness Bloom fundraising gala on Thursday, March 14 at Kirkbrae Country Club, 197 Old River Road, Lincoln, from 6 to 10 p.m.
The event will feature a dinner prepared by Kirkbrae chefs, a silent auction, a display of student anti-bullying artwork, guest speakers, and music by entertainer Matty B.
BURRILLVILLE â At 89, former World War II POW Raymond A. Nouryâs health isnât what it used to be and these days he spends more time sitting in his wheelchair than he does using the walker that carries his portable telephone and plastic bin of personal items.
Noury, the sole survivor of an 11-member B-24 bomber crew, also has to contend with arthritis that makes it difficult to use his hands or straighten out his back.
February 24th
PAWTUCKET â âWhat we've got here is failure to communicate.â That movie line from âCool Hand Lukeâ would seem to apply to an increased effort on the part of the city administration to promote Pawtucket and a new job it wants to create that would handle this in a more tech-savvy way.
CENTRAL FALLS â Just a week after his predecessor was sentenced to two years in prison on a federal corruption charge, new Mayor James Diossa signed a comprehensive set of new rules for city officials and employees into law that he promises will âset a new standard for ethics and transparency in Central Fallsâ government.â
February 22nd
PROVIDENCE â The Providence County Grand Jury has indicted Pawtucket resident Justin Thomas, 26, with seven counts of first degree robbery, use of a firearm while committing a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, larceny over $1,500, resisting arrest and reckless driving, according to the Attorney Generalâs Office.
PAWTUCKET â The company that operates the trash transfer station on Grotto Avenue has a remedy for getting rid of the seagulls that have been accumulating nearby: a sonic bird repeller.
February 21st
PAWTUCKET â When Sister Gertrude of the Little Sisters of the Poor first suggested the idea of using a St. Patrick's Day dinner as a fundraiser for the Jeanne Jugan Residence, her mother superior was skeptical. The head nun didn't think enough people would want to eat a âboiled dinnerâ of corned beef and cabbage and told Sister Gertrude she'd be lucky to make $5,000.
February 20th
PROVIDENCE â As part of the National Mortgage Settlement funding for local efforts to help homeowners facing foreclosure, Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin has announced two grants totaling $215,000 to support mortgage foreclosure education and outreach to area community agencies. Kilmartin announced a $155,000 grant to Progreso Latino to expand the agencyâs Better Living Project and a $60,000 grant to HousingWorks RI to research and report on foreclosures and foreclosure prevention programs over the next three years.
PAWTUCKET â A 15-year veteran of the Pawtucket Police Department has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman he was involved in a relationship with.
According to a statement from Pawtucket Police, during the past several weeks members of the department were made aware of domestic violence crimes involving one of its patrol officers, 40-year-old Steven Ricco.
February 19th
The casket of Frank DiPaolo Jr. is carried out of St. Pius V Catholic Church in Providence Tuesday morning. At right, family and friends of DiPaolo are can be seen leaving the church. DiPaolo, who died Thursday at 106, served as a doorkeeper for the Rhode Island House of Representatives for more than 30 years before retiring in 2010. He was a political mentor to former R.I. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, having met him while Kennedy was a young student at Providence College.
PAWTUCKET â With ears still ringing from angry constituentsâ phone calls, the City Council convened a meeting of its Snow Removal Committee on Tuesday night at City Hall.
Councilors Jean Philippe Barros, David Moran, Albert Vitali, Terry Mercer and Larry Tetreault attended. Most of the other key officials were there: Director of Administration/Public Safety Director Tony Pires, Public Works Director Lance Hill, Emergency Management Director Normand Menard, Highway Supervisor Norm Lamoureux, Police Chief Paul King and Fire Chief William Sisson.
February 18th
PAWTUCKET â In a Friday afternoon ceremony attended by city officials, friends and family members, attorney John T. âJackâ Gannon was sworn in as associate judge of the Pawtucket Municipal Court.
PAWTUCKET â Kim Mercer, the deputy superintendent of schools in Pawtucket, appears poised to be named the schools superintendent in neighboring East Providence.
East Providence School Committee Chairman Joel Monteiro said that Mercer is the leading candidate chosen by a search committee to become the school district's permanent superintendent, replacing interim East Providence Supt. John DeGoes. He said about 25 educators had applied for the job, and Mercer was deemed the best qualified following interviews with about a half dozen finalists.
February 16th
WASHINGTON â Demonstrat-ing his unwavering commitment to strengthening Rhode Islandâs middle class families, U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI) has introduced the Paying a Fair Share Act â legislation that would enact the Buffett Rule and require that Americans earning the highest incomes pay at least the same effective tax rate as middle class families.
PAWTUCKET â A 62-year-old city man remains in critical condition after being injured in an early morning fire Thursday in his apartment at Burns Manor.
Pawtucket Police identified the victim as Richard Rak, who lived in apartment D 102 in the housing complex located at 95 Park St. Rak suffered second- and third-degree burns to his upper torso and is in the intensive care unit at Rhode Island Hospital's Trauma Center.
PROVIDENCE â Two Woonsocket lawmakers â Rep. Robert Phillips and Sen. Marc Cote â want to offer a six-year tax break for businesses that come to or start up in Rhode Island and hire at least two people.
A new company, Phillips told The Call Thursday, would get a 50 percent reduction in its corporate tax for each of the first three years it is in business and a 25 percent reduction for the next three years.
February 14th
PAWTUCKET -- The arrival of R & D Manufacturing Company in Pawtucket is a homecoming, of sorts, in several meaningful ways.
For one thing, the jewelry maker, formerly of Attleboro and Seekonk, Mass., brings some 50 jobs to the area in industry segmentsâjewelry and manufacturing--where both Pawtucket and Rhode Island as a whole have suffered major declines.
