Archive - Nov 2012 - News Article
November 16th
WOONSOCKET â Middle School Band Director Nicole Denton hasn't forgotten her former neighbors in Seaford, Long Island (N.Y.) as they recover from Hurricane Sandy. Denton and another Long Island native, department speech therapist Marie Zaminer, have been working with their fellow school department employees to collect needed supplies for those with damaged homes or lacking utility services there and plan to deliver them this weekend with the help of Facilities Director Peter Fontaine.
CENTRAL FALLS â As an endorsement of the steps toward fiscal solvency taken by state receivers and the cityâs plan to emerge from bankruptcy, the Standard & Poorâs rating agency has upgrade Central Fallsâ bond rating to BB with a âstableâ outlook.
The city had previously had a C rating with a âdevelopingâ outlook. On the day after the city officially emerged from bankruptcy last month, Moodyâs Investors Service upgraded the cityâs bond ratings from Caa1 to B2 and changed its outlook to âpositive.â
PROVIDENCE â The Woonsocket High School senior was unconscious when a fellow classmate sexually assaulted her in 2009, but the defendant claimed the act was consensual.
It took a Superior Court jury six hours to convict Dariel Martinez on Thursday, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said.
Martinez, 20, is to be sentenced on Jan. 18 on one count of first-degree sexual assault. The crime is punishable by 25 years to life in prison.
WOONSOCKET â When his friend first proposed they go into business together providing gardening supplies for medical marijuana growers, Jeff Paige had cold feet.
The 51-year-old refugee from the telecommunications industry wasnât against legal pot, medical or otherwise. But heâs no crusader, either, and heâs pretty careful about how he invests his money.
He took a hard and long look at whether the idea made business sense.
âI think what I was really doing was looking for a reason not to do it,â says Paige. âNow Iâm kicking myself that I didnât do this two years ago.â
GLOCESTER â Three Cranston teens were charged in a rash of vehicle breaks in two towns after police were summoned to a report of a house break in progress early Wednesday.
James Clark, 18, and two 17-year-old boys, were tied to a string of more than 20 motor vehicle breaks that occurred during a 24-hour period here and in neighboring Burrillville last week, said Capt. Joseph V. Mattera.
November 14th
WOONSOCKET â You know the old bromide about no good deed going unpunished?
Well, itâs hardly like that for the men and women in blue of the Woonsocket Police Department, but Chief Thomas Carey says police officers donât always get the recognition they deserve for good conduct, extra effort, or honing a special talent.
Thatâs about to change.
WOONSOCKET â Two former city residents took steps Tuesday to get the heat back on at Kevin and Jayne Donnellâs Social Street apartment.
After reading about the coupleâs difficulties in working out a longstanding NationalGrid bill for natural gas service, a former city resident now living in Columbus, Ohio, and another former resident living in Bellingham contacted The Call to see what they could do to get the coupleâs apartment heated.
Both men said they wished to help the couple anonymously in the spirit of next weekâs Thanksgiving holiday.
November 13th
In recognition of Veterans Day, CVS Caremark paid homage to nearly 50 disabled veterans from across New England, treating them to a football skills camp Saturday at Gillette Stadium in partnership with the New England Patriots. The skills camp paired former Patriot players with veterans from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Pictured above, in the middle of a huddle led by former Patriot player Patrick Pass, is Navy veteran and Manville resident Roland Filion (red jacket). Filion is joined by fellow veterans from across New England.
BELLINGHAM â The public works department has begun flushing water mains and testing hydrant flow at various locations throughout town to determine the water system's ability to provide water for firefighting as well as to prioritize water pipe system upgrades that will be part of a $15.4 million project approved by voters last month.
NORTH SMITHFIELD â The Aldi discount supermarket chain will open its fifth Rhode Island store in Dowling Village, town officials say.
Although Walmart negotiated lease covenants with the developer of Dowling Village designed to reduce the likelihood of competition for discount food, the new Aldi will be located next door to Walmart and apparently go toe-to-toe with the retail giant on groceries, said Town Planner Robert Ericson.
