Archive - Aug 2012 - News Article
August 21st
WOONSOCKET â Pastor Gene Giguere says heâs long felt as though the Harvest Community Churchâs efforts to provide seasonal shelter for homeless men were akin to putting a Band-Aid on cancer, but yesterday he could see sunnier prospects for this troubled population.
âUp to now weâve just been alleviating pain,â he said. âThis is a step toward a cure.â
Giguereâs comments came as he joined a whoâs who of political figures, affordable housing developers and advocates for the homeless Tuesday to mark the start of construction on a new homeless shelter, just for men, at 96 Burnside Ave.
August 20th
NORTH SMITHFIELD â A Cumberland man has been arrested for damaging a sign at the regionâs most prominent Islamic mosque, an incident worshipers feared might be a hate crime.
But the police charged Robert Scalzo, 20, with misdemeanor vandalism, ruling out â for now, anyway â that his actions at Masjid Al-Islam were motivated by ethnic or religious bias.
Read more in our print edition.
GLOCESTER â Former Glocester Police Chief Jamie A. Hainsworth was officially sworn in Monday as the U.S. Marshal for Rhode Island.
The swearing in, which came more than a year after being nominated and confirmed, took place in U.S. District Court, Providence, at a ceremony attended by more than 200 area police chiefs, law enforcement officials and politicians, including Gov. Lincoln Chafee, and U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jack Reed (D-RI).
Read more in our print edition.
UXBRIDGE â Town and state leaders joined hundreds of residents here Monday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly constructed Uxbridge High School.
The ribbon cutting was followed by a five-hour open house and tours of the new school, located at 300 Quaker Highway.
PROVIDENCE â The R.I. Department of Education (RIDE) will kick off its new Academy for Transformative Leadership program today by welcoming the first class of participants in the school turnaround initiative.
The Academy is designed to recruit, prepare, and support leaders who will take on the challenge of transforming the lowest-achieving schools in the state, according to Elliot Krieger, RIDE spokesman.
August 18th
NORTH SMITHFIELD â An unaudited review of North Smithfield's finances shows the town ending the fiscal year with a $628,788 surplus in its general fund, Town Administrator Paulette D. Hamilton and Finance Director Brian Silvia announced Friday.
A portion of the surplus is a result of town departments finishing the year under budget, Hamilton said. The remainder of the surplus was generated through various revenue sources exceeding budget projections.
WOONSOCKET â A 39-year-old city woman faces 33 criminal charges, including 18 felony counts, in connection with the fraudulent use of checks allegedly stolen from a neighbor's apartment, police said Friday.
Jennifer L. Bell, 39, of 19 Hamlet Ave., was charged after police investigated a complaint by a 53-year-old woman that someone had been writing checks to her checking account between June 4 and July 18.
The amounts were less than $500 per check but in total amounted to more than $3,000, police said.
Dodging raindrops on Main Street, Woonsocket residents (from left) Kayla Paquin, 4, Lauren Larson, Katelyn Erminelli, 14, Angela Erminelli, Brittany Jacques, 13, and Ashley Erminelli, 11, have a little fun on an otherwise dreary Saturday morning in the city.
August 17th
BELLINGHAM â The Saint Blaise Conference of Saint Vincent de Paul is participating in the âFriends of the Poor Walk," a national walk that provides an opportunity to raise funds for the local conference.
Started in 2008, the walk has grown each year, attracting over 18,000 walkers and raising over $1.4 million with over 1,000 conferences participating. This is the second year St. Blaise is participating.
Last year, St. Blaise had 26 walkers and raised $4,390. The group says it is looking to double the participation and funds raised.
Governor Lincoln Chafee visits one of the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative sites on Friday â the Connecting for Children and Families' Chillin' & Skillin' summer program, held at the Kevin Coleman Elementary School in Woonsocket. He witnessed a hands-on presentation by Save the Bay called "A Bay Experience" with live sea creatures such as starfish, crabs and perriwinkles. The governor was quite impressed, saying, âIt was an important opportunity for youth to be able to learn and be outdoors at the same time.
