Top News Headlines
Rick and Mitt get personal at Ariz. debate
02/22/2012 8:36pm
The two leading Republican candidates squabbled in an ugly, personal fashion on the stage in Mesa.
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Paul on Santorum: 'He's a fake'
02/22/2012 8:50pm
Paul explains his new attack ad against Santorum.
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Conservative pundits defend Santorum
02/22/2012 5:02pm
Santorum's defenders say he's an authentic conservative, and that's why his critics fear him.
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Rick: Obama won't 'call evil evil'
02/22/2012 5:08pm
He says the president is making threats worse.
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W.H. calls for corporate tax rate cut
02/22/2012 7:55pm
It will provide a campaign talking point for Obama.
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Payroll tax cut signed into law
02/22/2012 8:14pm
Obama signs the tax cut extension, notching an election-year victory and rare bipartisan agreement.
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Super PACs: Campaign Godzillas
02/22/2012 5:07am
The groups are routinely outraising candidates.
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Newt, Mr. 'Cheerful'
02/22/2012 8:33pm
The latest sophisticated question from a debate viewer had each of the candidates choose one word - without 'caveats" or 'explanation" - to define themselves.
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Aides warned after mail with powder
02/22/2012 2:57pm
Hill staffers are put on alert after state and district offices receive mail with suspicious powder.
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Court finds DOMA unconstitutional
02/22/2012 4:24pm
A judge finds it unconstitutional to forbid providing federal government benefits to same-sex spouses.
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Gannett introduces pay walls
02/22/2012 6:23pm
A new business strategy includes pay walls for its 80-plus newspapers, except for USA Today.
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Arizona in play next Tuesday
02/22/2012 4:08pm
The state is now looking more competitive as Santorum has surged nationally.
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McDonnell won't back ultrasound bill
02/22/2012 5:31pm
The Virginia governor backs away from the concept.
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Detroit News ed upset over Mitt edit
02/22/2012 5:39pm
His campaign abridged the paper's endorsement.
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Obama reflects on black history
02/22/2012 6:04pm
Obama kicked off the groundbreaking of the new African American history museum.
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Poll: Obama tops 50% vs. all comers
02/22/2012 6:28pm
A new poll finds him leading in a general election.
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Obama sings, hopes voters swoon
02/22/2012 7:44pm
The president's singing voice is a rare skill among politicos -- and one with political potential.
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Republicans are sighing, not cheering
02/22/2012 8:15am
Simon says the GOP's presidential field is not just weak, it's barren.
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10 GOPers who could jump in
02/22/2012 8:29pm
Some are calling for a new candidate to take on the president.
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Contraception fights spread to states
02/22/2012 12:28pm
Some eye ways of blocking Obama's new rule.
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Alleged Capitol bomber in court
02/22/2012 2:37pm
Amine El Khalifi waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing.
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Wes Welker joins Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen in Costa Rica
02/22/2012 9:47pm
Patriots receiver Wes Welker doesn't appear to be upset with Gisele Bundchen about her post-Super Bowl comments. (“My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can't believe they dropped the ball so many times.�) The receiver and his fiancee, Anna Burns, joined Bundchen and QB Tom Brady in Costa Rica on Tuesday. In case you're wondering, Welker is wearing a Sportiqe T-Shirt. We know that because Sportiqe told us so. We don't know what Brady is wearing.
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FDA advisory panel votes in favor of approving obesity drug Qnexa
02/22/2012 9:47pm
SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted overwhelmingly this afternoon in favor of approving the anti-obesity drug Qnexa. It would be the first new prescription weight-loss drug in 13 years -- and only the second one on the market -- if the agency follows the panel's recommendation, which it usually, but not always, does. The committee voted 20 to 2 to approve the drug.
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Cambridge selects Henrietta Davis as mayor after two month wait
02/22/2012 9:47pm
By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent Ending almost two months of deadlock, city councilors elected Henrietta Davis the mayor of Cambridge...
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Boston bike share program, Hubway, to roll out again in early March
02/22/2012 9:47pm
(Dina Rudick/Globe Staff / File photo)Last fall, Vince Bowden of Ohio checked out the rows of bikes that are part...
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Romney, Santorum swap charges in fiery 20th debate
02/22/2012 9:47pm
Primed for a fight, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum swapped heated accusations about the health care, earmarks and federal bailouts Wednesday night in the 20th and possibly final debate of the roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination.
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Romney, Santorum trade barbs over former senator
02/22/2012 9:02pm
Republicans Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are sparring over Santorum's support for his former Senate colleague, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
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GOP candidates want more on illegal immigration
02/22/2012 9:02pm
The Republican candidates say more must be done to combat illegal immigration. The topic was a natural for Wednesday night's debate in Mesa, Ariz.
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GOP rivals pass contraception debate, hit Obama
02/22/2012 8:32pm
The Republican presidential candidates are trying to avoid a debate on contraception and instead are looking to keep the focus of their criticism on President Barack Obama.
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On the town with Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen
02/22/2012 4:47pm
Wes Welker, Anna Burns, Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady
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Red Sox Spring Training 2012
02/22/2012 4:47pm
Designated hitter David Ortiz arrived with a flourish on Wednesday and took some batting practice. He also spoke to reporters and had a little interaction with fans, telling them 'I'm going to let you know right now, I'm [on] this diet but if I don't start hitting bombs I'm going back to my fried chicken.'
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How high? New Nike shoes measure your jumpshot
02/22/2012 4:02pm
Ever wonder how high you can jump? New shoes from Nike will not only answer that question, they'll help you share the info with your friends on social media.
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Spotted in Boston: Out and about in the city
02/22/2012 2:32pm
The Beehive in Boston on Feb. 21, 2012
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Rinks: Beware of slippery neighbors
02/22/2012 1:32pm
When local authorities, perhaps prodded by the occasional censorious neighbor, go after owners of backyard ice rinks, they're eroding the kind of mutual tolerance that's needed to preserve peace and harmony in a densely settled region.
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Pictures - Yoga for dogs and owners
02/22/2012 1:17pm
For a charity event benefitting the Animal Rescue League, Patrice Flesch put on a series of classes at her studio on Feb. 11 that ran from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the last of which allowed dogs to participate with their owners. Flesch, who previously taught one experimental dog yoga (or ‘doga’) class before, adapted specific poses to be canine-friendly. Flesch talked about the virtues of doga in this experimental class.
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10 ways to update your home without breaking the bank
02/22/2012 12:02pm
Getting antsy with your current home but not quite ready to leap into the market? If you’re feeling the itch to move for whatever reason – maybe you’re starting a family, knocking around in an empty nest, longing to be closer to work, or just plain tired of your old digs – you’re not alone. A recent survey by Move Inc., which owns America’s largest Web network of real estate listings, found that 27.3 percent of respondents planned to buy a home in the future, but only 2 percent of those surveyed intended to make the move in the next 12 months. “We found that three factors are contributing equally to a reduction in demand in the near term,” says Julie Reynolds, vice president of Realtor.com, which is owned by Move Inc.
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2012 Academy Awards - All Nominees
02/22/2012 4:02am
Ty's pick to win Boston Globe critic
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Best of Hollywood Movies Contest Entry Form
02/20/2012 5:17pm
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Breaking News - Tour bus fire slows traffic on I-95 south near Danvers
10/20/2011 6:02am
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Video: For Cumberland newlyweds, a marathon, not a sprint
10/17/2011 3:26pm
By News staffProvidence Journal video by John Freidah
NEWPORT, R.I. -- Geralyn Hoffman and Larry Ducady of Cumberland marry on Easton's Beach in Newport Sunday after their 26.2-mile run together at the Amica Marathon, their first.
The couple crossed the finish line in slightly less then six hours.
Friends and family along with a contingent of media are present when the couple take their vows. more >
Warwick public works employee terminated
10/17/2011 3:24pm
By Barbara PolichettiWARWICK, RI -- A city public works employee who was suspended without pay last week after police investigated thefts from the public works headquarters was fired Monday, according to city officials.
Mayor Scott Avedisian's office said that Kenneth Naylor was terminated "based on the city's own internal review of the incident" and additional information that has come to light.
They said the police investigation has been forwarded to the attorney general's office for review.
According to a police report, Naylor, 47, was arrested last month after he was seen leaving the public works complex on Sandy Lane with a can of gas and assorted tools.
City officials last week said that the DPW's unwritten policy of allowing employees to borrow small tools overnight has been rescinded.
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New name planned for Landmark Medical Center
10/17/2011 3:21pm
By News staffBy Felice Freyer
Journal Staff Writer
If the proposed sale of Woonsocket's Landmark Medical Center is completed, the hospital will get a new name: Blackstone Medical Center.
And the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island, in North Smithfield, which Landmark owns and which is also part of the deal, will be renamed the Blackstone Rehabilitation Hospital.
That news emerged Monday as state regulators revealed that the Boston-based Steward Health Care System had filed its application for state approval of the sale of the two hospitals.The application includes the new name.
Landmark spokesman Bill Fischer called the application's submission a significant milestone. "The train is on the tracks and we're pretty excited about that," he said. more >
AARP says suspending R.I. retirees' COLAs is 'unthinkable'
10/17/2011 2:56pm
By News staffBy Katherine Gregg
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- On the day before the governor and treasurer roll out their pension-reform bill, the AARP has mailed out more than 20,000 fliers denouncing the anticipated suspension of annual cost-of-living adjustments for retired public-employees.
"The unthinkable: cutting the pension benefits of existing retirees,'' says the AARP, in a mailing urging it members to call their legislators and protest this "devastating'' precedent.
A draft proposal would temporarily suspend the COLAs. For those already making more in retirement than they made when they were working, the COLAs would be suspended until the pension system is 80-percent funded; others would have to wait until it was 70-percent funded.
The Assembly returns Tuesday to receive the bill and launch public hearings, before an anticipated vote next month.
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110 to lose jobs as Lowe's closes North Kingstown store
10/17/2011 2:52pm
By Andy SmithNORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- About 110 employees will lose their jobs as Lowe's Companies, Inc., announces it will close its North Kingstown home improvement store on Davisville Road, in the Quonset Gateway Plaza. The 118,000-square foot store opened in January of 2009.
It's one of 20 "underperforming" stores being closed by Lowe's. Corporate spokesperson Steve Salazar said the company does not release information on individual stores, but most of the ones being closed were not profitable.
The North Kingstown store is due to cease business next month after it sells off its inventory. more >
Brown president: Don't cut sports
10/17/2011 2:29pm
By Mike McDermottMen's and women's fencing, wrestling and women's skiing should not be eliminated from Brown's intercollegiate athletics program, President Ruth J. Simmons has recommended in her response to the April Report of the Athletics Review Committee.
Those teams, Simmons wrote in a nine-page response that she will present to the Brown University Corporation later this week, "should be given the chance to demonstrate that their supporters are able to endow their sport at the level deemed necessary by the University." As part of a plan aimed at putting "all team sports on a better financial footing," Brown athletic director Michael Goldberger "has proposed a five year period of time to allow teams to raise a total of $42 million in additional endowment funds," Simmons noted.
-Carolyn Thornton more >
Update: Feds get more time to file appeal in Pleau case
10/17/2011 2:26pm
By Katie MulvaneyPROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Federal prosecutors have until Nov. 23 to seek a full appeals court review of decision allowing an accused bank robber and murderer to remain in state custody.
U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha's office Monday asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the extension, saying it needed the extra time to get approval from the U.S. Solicitor General to pursue the review. The government had had until Oct. 23 to file a petition. Judge Juan R. Torruella granted the request late Monday.
A three-judge appeals panel last Thursday sided with Governor Chafee in ruling that Rhode Island did not have to surrender murder suspect Jason Wayne Pleau to federal prosecutors for a trial that could have left him facing the death penalty.
Pleau is accused of killing a gas station manager outside a Woonsocket bank.
The original version of this story was posted at 11:14 a.m. more >
Petition seeks repeal of Defense of Marriage Act
10/17/2011 1:34pm
By John E. Mulligan, Washington bureau
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of Rhode Islanders have signed petitions delivered Monday to Sen. Jack Reed, asking him to support legislation to repeal the Clinton-era law that -- for purposes of federal benefits, tax breaks and the like -- recognizes marriage as being between a man and a woman.
"Recent census data show that Rhode Island is among the top ten states where gay and lesbian couples choose to build their lives together," Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director of Freedom to Marry, said in a news release calling upon the Rhode Island Democrat to support the Respect for Marriage Act, which would effectively repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage act.
Reed has promised to consider the request.
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Hearing in Jamestown to discuss bridge tolls tonight
10/17/2011 12:54pm
By Bruce LandisJAMESTOWN, R.I. -- The state Turnpike and Bridge Authority said it will will hold a public hearing in Jamestown at 7 p.m. on a study on instituting tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge.
The hearing will be held at at the Jamestown Philomenian Library, at 26 North Rd.
There will be another hearing, the last of a series, on the study Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Newport Marriott at 25 America's Cup Avenue in Newport. Free parking will be available at the Gateway Center, next to the Newport Marriott. more >
Update: Mass. charges dismissed vs. RI lawmaker Gordon
10/17/2011 12:52pm
By Maria ArmentalFALL RIVER, Mass. -- Charges of eluding police filed against a Rhode Island lawmaker following a 2008 car chase were dismissed Monday.
State Rep. Daniel Gordon agreed to pay $1,000 in administrative costs to settle the charges.
In addition, the 42-year-old Portsmouth Republican will pay $650 to probation for driving an unregistered vehicle -- $50 a month for a year and a one-time $50 victim witness fee -- and will be on probation for a year for driving with a suspended license -- a second violation -- and attaching plates.
A civil violation of failure to stay within marked lanes was filed for a year.
Gordon was arrested last month after Rhode Island officers learned he was wanted for allegedly being a fugitive from justice in Massachusetts. The arrest exposed his lengthy criminal history in Massachusetts.
A few days earlier, Rhode Island State Police charged him with driving on a suspended license, a misdemeanor that was dismissed earlier this month.
-- Reported by Journal Staff Writer W. Zachary Malinowski, with reports from The Associated Press
The original version of this report was posted at 9:42 a.m. more >
RI senator seeks legal opinion on immigrants' in-state tuition
10/17/2011 12:52pm
By Karen ZinerPROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sen. James C. Sheehan (D-North Kingstown) said he has asked U. S. Atty. Peter F. Neronha for a legal opinion on whether the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education violated federal law when it voted recently to grant in-state tuition for undocumented students.
Sheehan, in a news release, said, "This new policy ought to have been decided by the state legislature." He said that according to a 1996 federal law, "this may be the actual case. Accordingly, I have requested that U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha render a legal opinion on the issue."
Sheehan also said he remains "very concerned" about the potential cost of the new policy, "at a time when budgets are right and cuts are being made to programs that benefit Rhode Island citizens, especially the neediest members of society."
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Update: Occupy Providence closes BofA accounts / Video
10/17/2011 12:26pm
By Maria ArmentalProvidence Journal video by Mary Murphy
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Patricia Phelan and Savannah Kite were among a group of Occupy Providence protesters when they closed their accounts at Bank of America Monday morning.
"We are taking our money back," said Phelan, 28, as protesters gathered at Burnside Park, where they've been sleeping.
At 9:55 a.m., the group marched across Kennedy Plaza to the bank, chanting: "Bank of America, bad for America."
At noon, another four people went to Bank of America to close their accounts.
When Phelan and Kite when to the bank at 9:55 a.m., the doors to the bank were closed and the group was told to go to the other entrance.
"They are holding our money hostage," one of the protesters said.
Journal photo/ Mary Murphy
Campers at the Occupy Providence site at Burnside Park get up early Monday for their third day of protest.Continue reading... more >
Neighbors nab suspect in Barrington break
10/17/2011 12:16pm
By Thomas J. MorganBARRINGTON, R.I. -- Three residents of Woodland Road, described Monday by Police Chief John M. LaCross as "pretty heroic," tackled and restrained a Connecticut man on Friday morning after the man allegedly broke into a house there.
The suspect, John Koliscz, 55, of Branford, allegedly brandished a screwdriver in a bid to escape, and was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, among other offenses, LaCross reported.
The chief said the incident began around 7:25 a.m. when a neighbor coming home noticed Koliscz emerging from a house at 16 Woodland Rd. The neighbor, whom LaCross declined to name, challenged Koliscz, he said, who responded by swinging a screwdriver at him. The neighbor yelled for help and was joined by two others, also not identified. The three pinned Koliscz to the ground until police officers arrived.
Koliscz, who also was charged with three counts of breaking and entering, including past breaks in the area, was ordered held at the Adult Correctional Institutions without bail. LaCross said the suspect was wanted on a warrant issued by Portsmouth police in an unrelated case.
LaCross said Koliscz told investigators he had been staying with his sister in Warwick.
The chief declined to say who lives at 16 Woodland Rd.
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RI ACLU sues DMV over license reinstatement policy
10/17/2011 12:07pm
By Maria ArmentalPROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state Division of Motor Vehicles, saying its refusal to reinstate a Warwick man's driver's license amounts to a violation of state law.
The DMV, the local affiliate of the ACLU said in a news release, refused to reinstate the license of Marc Lavik of Warwick, citing a policy that requires drivers to retake the written and road tests and apply for a new license when a license has lapsed for more than three years.
Lavik's license was suspended in 2005 because he owed taxes.
In its complaint -- filed in Superior Court, Providence, on Lavik's behalf -- the ACLU says that policy "appears nowhere in the agency's rules and regulations." And, the lawsuit argues, the policy "has never been the subject of any public notice or hearing by the agency," as required under state law.
Moreover, the ACLU says, the tax statute under which Lavik was unable to get his license renewed requires agencies to reinstate licenses "within five (5) business days of receiving the certificate of good standing" from the taxation division.
The suit seeks a court order declaring the policy null and void and ordering reinstatement of Lavik's license. more >
Providence police: No plans to evict Occupy protesters
10/17/2011 11:54am
By News staffPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Providence's top public safety official says Occupy Providence protesters camping out in a city park are welcome to stay for now.
A spokeswoman for Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said Monday he has no plans to evict protesters who have set up an encampment in Burnside Park.
The protesters began camping out on Saturday. There are about 60 tents set up.
The group has declined to accept a permit to camp in the park. Pare initially said the protesters would be allowed to stay for two to three days, but offered to be "flexible." He has also said the protesters cannot camp out indefinitely.
Earlier Monday: Occupy Providence protesters close Bank of America accounts. more >
