Archive - News Article
July 13th, 2011
WOONSOCKET â City Planner Jane Talbot is trading her seat behind a desk at City Hall for one on a farm tractor in the Great Plains.
Talbot, who got married on July 4, is quitting her city job at the end of the month to join her husband, who runs a big cattle and grain spread in Oklahoma.
âI'm going to miss a lot of people around here,â she says. âThis was my childhood home.â
NORTH SMITHFIELD â It's called the âblack moneyâ scam, a popular fraud that has apparently snared a victim in North Smithfield.
North Smithfield Police Captain Bradley Aubin said a person who lives in town came to the police station on Wednesday to report that he had been victimized by the scam, in which the scammers show the victim several black pieces of paper which they claim is cash that has been dyed. The scammers tell the victim they need money for a special chemical solution to clean the bills and make them usable again.
WOONSOCKET â Retail giant Wal-Mart might not shut down its outmoded Diamond Hill Road store as soon as the company had originally predicted.
The store is on track for retirement when a bigger, modern Wal-Mart Supercenter, under construction in North Smithfield's Dowling Village, opens for business. Store officials had been shooting for a switchover by the end of next month, but the construction project is taking longer than originally expected.
Bucci Development of Warwick, the company building Dowling Village, now says it could be the end of the year before the Supercenter opens.
WOONSOCKET â The pair of bicyclists heading up Social Street Monday evening had a bit more on their minds than a little summer recreation.
And even though their outfits might have been more fitting for a ride on the Blackstone River Bikeway, Patrolmen Michael Flood and John Raymond were still on duty and fully equipped as police officers.
Their four-hour shift on the bikes was part of the Police Departmentâs community policing efforts and was putting the two officers in closer contact with the residents they serve.
July 11th
WOONSOCKET â In this era of scant resources and shrinking government, being mayor of the state's seventh largest city isn't as glamorous as it used to be. But it looks like Mayor Leo T. Fontaine will get to keep the job for another two years without a fight, if he wants it.
And he does.
âI never really had any doubts about it,â said Fontaine. âI'm not going to be one of these guys that's around for 20 years, but clearly we've started some things I think need to be continued.â
July 10th
PAWTUCKET â With R.I. Environmental Police Officer Mark Saunders giving careful watch on the fifth-floor roof of City Hall, wildlife intern Ashley Hopkins slowly opened the lid to the special cardboard box.
Perhaps four seconds later, one female falcon appeared, began flapping her wings and coasted west towards The Pawtucket Times building.
A split second later, her kid brother followed suit, but headed east, eventually landing on top of an Armory tower.
BURRILLVILLE â First Lieutenant Stephen Hopkins of 12th Regiment Rhode Island Infantry had only served four months in the Union Army when he was wounded at Fredericksburg, Va. in December of 1862. Less than two weeks later, Hopkins died of his wounds at the age of 25. Today, his headstone lies broken in a cemetery in Burrillville. A newly formed group is about to change that.
NORTH SMITHFIELD â The Pines Restaurant, a dining institution for the past 46 years, has undergone a serious makeover with the addition of the "Pines Pub," a 39-seat pub boasting six big-screen plasma televisions, a fully-stocked horseshoe bar and an exclusive pub menu offering everything from cheeseburgers to lobster rolls.
The new pub tops a long list of renovation and remodeling improvements that have either been completed or are in the process of getting started under the new management that came on board in March.
July 9th
WOONSOCKET â The bouncer was already thinking about ejecting the drunk before the man showed the stripper a gun. Then he called the cops.
Derek Barron, 30, of Woonsocket, allegedly reached for the .357 Magnum in his pocket when police confronted him inside the Rhode Island Dolls lounge on Front Street shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday. Patrolmen Gregory Klocek and Anthony Conetta restrained Barron and took him into custody without further incident.
WOONSOCKET â The father of an award-winning cheerleader says his son's training may be the only reason he's still alive after falling four stories from the studio where he teaches Thursday.
Dylan Smith, 19, told his father he instinctively did a backflip in mid-air, which enabled him to land on his feet behind the old Harris Mill on Main Street.
âHe's alive and it's basically a miracle,â said Hugh Smith of North Smithfield. âHe should be dead. It's a 44-foot drop.â
