WARWICK, R.I. -- Four adults and a 7-month-old girl were killed in a fire Saturday in a two-story single-family house at 343 Buttonwoods Ave ... Among those who died were Amanda L. Villeneuve, 21, who lived at the Buttonwoods address and was the mother of the 7-month-old, whom Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan identified as Annabelle at a 5:30 p.m. news conference Saturday ... The house is owned by James and Susan Wheeden. James Wheeden is the warden of the maximum security section of the Adult
The official state election calendar for a year that promises interesting races will be released on Feb. 8, Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis has announced ... The 2010 calendar will list key dates for this year's races, including those for local office to those for governor and the U.S. House of Representatives ... "You will find key deadlines and basic facts about everything from registering to vote to filing declarations of candidacy and nominating papers," Mollis said in a news release.
By Katherine Gregg ... and Steve Peoples ... PROVIDENCE -- Independent Lincoln D. Chafee could be the man to beat in the race for governor in Rhode Island, according to the first independent poll of the 2010 election season ... Although he has been out of office since losing his U.S. Senate seat in 2006, Chafee would be in a statistical "dead heat" with General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio and he would lead the state's two-term Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch by 11 points if he faced either
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Providence will be host to the Council of State Governments' 2010 annual conference, officials announced Friday ... The four-day conference, which is expected to attract more than 800 officials from around the country, is scheduled to start Dec. 4 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. The Westin Providence hotel will be the base where most attendees will stay ... "Providence is a convenient, accessible and affordable location for a large number of members who attend our
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Michael Brooks, 18, who was one of four young people accused of spitting on and roughing up a family of four at Providence Place mall, has been convicted of disorderly conduct and sentenced to serve 30 days at the state prison ... Brooks was not charged with spitting, but with unleashing a stream of verbal abuse against Luciano O. Pires, 40, of Milford, Mass., and challenging him to fight. Pires was at the mall with his wife, Sonia O. Pires, now 30, their baby son and a
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- While Governor Carcieri's popularity has suffered through much of his second term in office, most Rhode Island voters do not blame the Republican governor for the state's budget problems ... A WPRI-TV, Channel 12 poll released Friday evening reveals that just 15 percent of voters believe Carcieri is responsible for Rhode Island government's "budget crisis." ... Fifty-three percent blame the General Assembly, while another 25 percent blame budget problems on both the
Rhode Island will get $1.2 million in federal stimulus money to expand broadband Internet service at 71 public libraries, the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Friday ... The money will be used to replace 327 computers and add more than 403 new workstations in Rhode Island libraries. An administration news release estimated that the expanded capacity would let the libraries serve more than 6,900 additional users per week ... It will