Archive - Oct 2012 - News Article
October 4th
BURRILLVILLE — Fitch Ratings re-affirmed the town's AA municipal bond rating, which means the town will be able to secure a lower interest rate when it sells bonds to finance major projects.
Fitch Ratings is one of three private companies that rates the credit risk of companies and municipalities planning to sell debt. It has 10 “investment grade” categories ranging from a best of AAA to BBB-. The ratings allow investors to form an opinion on whether they are likely to be repaid.
October 3rd
By
DAVID ESPO and JULIE PACE (AP)
DENVER — In a showdown at close quarters, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney sparred aggressively in their first campaign debate Wednesday night over taxes, deficits and strong steps needed to create jobs in a sputtering national economy. "The status quo is not going to cut it," declared the challenger.
Obama in turn accused his rival of seeking to "double down" on economic policies that actually led to the devastating national downturn four years ago — and of evasiveness on details for Romney proposals on tax changes, health care, Wall Street regulation and more.
WOONSOCKET — A 24-year-old city man was charged with domestic assault by strangulation, domestic kidnapping and other charges. Police said they lodged the charges against Shane Michael Hall after speaking to officers from Franklin, Mass. on Monday.
The Massachusetts officers said the victim, a 19-year-old woman, told them she had been assaulted by Hall in Franklin that same day and they were giving her a courtesy ride back to Woonsocket. When they interviewed her, Franklin police said, the woman also revealed she had been brutally strangled by Hall in Woonsocket on Sept. 26.
WOONSOCKET – Oil-soaked rags left behind by a painter have been blamed for causing an overnight fire Wednesday that gutted a medical office building on Mendon Road.
“The investigation is complete and it’s being ruled accidental,” said Woonsocket Fire Capt. Michael A. Morin, assistant deputy state fire marshal. “Oil-soaked rags are a spontaneous combustion hazard because, as the oil oxidizes, heat is released. If the heat is not dissipated, it can build up and ignite the rags.”
October 2nd
WOONSOCKET – Two men who were already facing charges in connection with a string of house breaks in Lincoln and North Smithfield have been linked to the armed robbery of a Social Street liquor store in July.
Max Charlemagne, 26, of Pawtucket, and Christopher Noel, 31, of Lincoln, were arraigned Tuesday in District Court on charges of first-degree robbery and conspiracy. They were ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions.
Police say the men robbed JB Liquors in broad daylight on July 11, making off with $600 in cash.
WOONSOCKET — Organizers of Autumnfest 2012 say this year's edition of the city's famed Columbus Day weekend celebration is shaping up to be one of the best ever.
Autumnfest Steering Committee Chairman Timothy Paul Tuesday announced final preparations for the three-day event, which will be held at World War II Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. on Monday. Fireworks will be on Sunday at 9 p.m., and the Autumnfest parade kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Monday.
By RUSS OLIVO
WOONSOCKET – Quick, what’s Woonsocket got more of than any other community in the state?
If your guess was affordable housing, well, you’re wrong.
Political leaders have long touted the factoid as proof of the city’s evolution into a sanctuary for the poor, but Woonsocket no longer has the highest concentration of affordable housing, a new study says.
HousingWorksRI’s 2012 survey of statewide housing costs says the distinction now belongs to Newport, a city that some, ironically, think of as a sanctuary for the wealthy.
WOONSOCKET — Patrons and employees dragged an intoxicated, unruly man from the Vintage Sunday afternoon before he destroyed the front door in an effort to get back in.
The 67-year-old Woonsocket resident identified as Bernard Joseph Bernard III never had a single drink at the Market Square dining spot, according to police reports.
October 1st
WOONSOCKET — When Grace Lang shows up for work at Woonsocket High School each day, she does so knowing the students in her classroom hold the potential for accomplishing many different things in their lives.
And because of that, she also believes her special needs students should have every opportunity to find success at the high school as any other student at the school.
LINCOLN — There was a time in Rhode Island when parents of school age children needed to tune in radio personality Salty Brine for word on whether there would be school on wintery morning.
Those days are over and High School Principal Kevin J. McNamara now has a number of ways to get the word out about school events and weather including his school's Listserv option of directly emailing parents timely school updates.
