Archive - 2012 - News Article
February 18th
WOONSOCKET â A motorist's discovery of a relative's stolen car operating on Wood Avenue resulted in the arrest of a 16-year-old city boy on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and driving violations Thursday.
WOONSOCKET â The school department's continuing budget problems will be back in the limelight this week when the school committee considers laying off all of the department's union employees for the coming school year.
February 17th
PROVIDENCE â Common Cause Director John Marion, a government watchdog and frequent critic of the General Assembly, found himself standing with Gov. Chafee and legislative leaders at the Statehouse Thursday, hailing what he called âa big improvementâ in the stateâs campaign finance laws.
PROVIDENCE â The pain started in her lower back and slowly migrated toward her ribcage.
Kristen Dubois thought she was passing a kidney stone.
She wasnât.
She was giving birth in the bathroom of her fianceâs Willow Street apartment in Woonsocket.
âI was like, âOh my God. I canât believe it,â says Dubois. âI started yelling for my boyfriend. âHeâs coming out! Heâs coming out!ââ
February 16th
BELLINGHAM â Saint Blaise Church's history as a parish is a relatively short, but rich one, marked by a commitment to faith and a sense of community that makes church.
This coming April, Saint Blaise Church will celebrate its past 50 years as it frames its vision for the future.
February 15th
WOONSOCKET â State prosecutors have lodged another felony charge against former Municipal Court Aide Rachel Arruda.
Arruda, 62, of Woonsocket, now faces a count of fraudulent conversion by a municipal employee, said Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the attorney general.
Arruda was arrested by the state police on Oct. 14 on one count of felony embezzlement. She is accused of pilfering $398,538 from the coffers of the cityâs municipal court between 2004 and 2010, when she retired. She had worked as municipal court aide since January 1987.
BURRILLVILLE â For the sixth consecutive year, the Burrillville High School robotics team has won the state robotics championship and will compete against teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico in the FIRST Tech Challenge World Robotics Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, in April.
Known as Team 154 Renegade, the Burrillville students were among 200 high school students from around the state who competed in the fourth annual FIRST Tech Challenge Feb. 4 at the New England Institute of Technology.
February 14th
WOONSOCKET â A 46-year-old city man faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison after pleading guilty yesterday to federal charges of selling cocaine from an auto repair business in the city.
Pablo Marino Chala, 46, formerly of 89 Bourdon Boulevard, also faces at least four years of supervised release when he is sentenced in May, U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha said.
Chala pled guilty in U.S. District Court Tuesday to one count of distributing 28 or more grams of crack cocaine and two counts of distributing crack cocaine.
PROVIDENCE â Two Republican lawmakers, Cumberland Sen. Bethany Moura and Portsmouth Rep. Dan Gordon, attacked the 49-state settlement agreement with the nationâs five largest mortgage service providers that Democratic Attorney General Peter Kilmartin signed onto last week, calling the $25 billion the financial institutions agreed to pay âa drop in the bucket.â
âWhat an insult to the American people,â Gordon declared at a Statehouse press conference Tuesday. âWhat an insult to the people of Rhode Island. The people should be inflamed.â
February 13th
CUMBERLAND â Roger Savini may have been boasting when he said he could drive a golf ball into Massachusetts from his Woonsocket restaurant, but the hyperbole made a point.
His restaurant is so close to both Bellingham and Blackstone that diners â and especially his lucrative banquet business â could easily bypass his Rathbun Street business to avoid the extra 2 percent tax Gov. Lincoln Chafee wants to tack onto restaurant meals and beverages.
