State Police arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level allegedly was .491, more than six times the legal limit, which they believe is the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn't dead.
The man, 34, was arrested after he drove into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence, Maj. Steven O'Donnell said.
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The Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court does not check the immigration status of complainants, and no employee — including undocumented workers — should be afraid to pursue a claim, the court’s chief judge said at a community forum.
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The police arrested a Daisy Court man they suspect of shooting and killing his next-door neighbor yesterday afternoon. Neighbors said the man who was shot had been hosting a birthday party for one of his children at the time.
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Advocates for convicted criminals scored a victory on Smith Hill yesterday. Despite objections from the attorney general, the state police and the governor, the House voted 46 to 17 for a bill to quash and destroy the records of criminal cases in which the accused was given a deferred sentence, usually in exchange for sparing the state a trial by pleading no contest or guilty to a crime.
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The Rhode Island State Police will not conduct dragnets to ask drivers about their immigration status, nor will they conduct “any out-of-the-ordinary raids or operations” in search of illegal immigrants as a result of Governor Carcieri’s recent executive order, according to a list of “frequently asked questions” the governor posted on his Web site yesterday.
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After a spirited debate in which lawmakers accused one another of trying to rewrite history by running a giant “eraser” through the state’s criminal record books, House leaders had second thoughts yesterday about putting a far-reaching “quash-and-destroy” bill to an immediate vote.
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In a matter closely followed by national business groups, the state Supreme Court is ordering the dismissal of 39 asbestos cases that Canadian residents had filed in Rhode Island. With the ruling, the Supreme Court said Rhode Island is joining 46 other states and the federal government in recognizing a doctrine that allows courts to decline to handle cases if — in the interest of “convenience, efficiency and justice” — they conclude the cases should proceed elsewhere.
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Direct Action for Rights and Equality, a Providence civil-rights group, says the more troublesome part of mandatory minimums is that they prevent judges from using discretion in sentencing, effectively tying their hands. The court is not allowed to weigh personal circumstances, such as being a first-time offender.
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A state prosecutor and a former House speaker last week debated whether new, harsher penalties apply to those who refuse to take Breathalyzer tests — or whether the penalties enacted in 2006 were wiped out when the governor signed a budget bill containing the law’s old language. The arguments, which took place before the Rhode Island Supreme Court, prompted one justice to say, “The public should not know how sausages or laws are made.”
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With prom season in full swing and high school commencements just around the corner, the police are giving notice that they are on high alert for underage drinking and are taking extra steps this year.
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The bill would require any employer with three or more workers to use a pilot E-Verify program to determine whether the new hire is legally authorized to work in this country. The E-Verify program uses an online government database. An identical measure passed in the House by a 53-to-17 vote last week.
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Two police investigations have been opened in the aftermath of an article in the current issue of Rhode Island Monthly magazine that looks at teen drinking issues.
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Some of the beer was drunk that night by Michael J. Silveira, then 16, before Silveira wrecked his car on New Meadow Road in Barrington and killed one of his passengers, Jonathan C. Converse, 16, who had been Silveira’s best friend. Silveira pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, death resulting, and he was sentenced to serve two years at the Rhode Island Training School.
A lot of Americans can't get their head around the concept of illegal immigrants demanding civil rights from a country whose laws they've broken. After all, these are people who have -- by virtue of not following the rules to get here, live here, work here -- chosen to live outside our system. And now they want to come inside, but only to ask for this and demand that, without admitting they did wrong or acknowledging their responsibility to make it right.
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A Superior Court judge yesterday ordered the woman the police say was driving drunk last year when she hit a teenager changing a tire to surrender her license after her urine tested positive for amphetamines. In addition, Judge Stephen P. Nugent demanded Heidi Harrall submit to a urine screening immediately after learning she had missed two tests in the last few weeks.
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A nonprofit group whose board members include First Lady Sue Carcieri asserts that nearly 45 percent of all immigrants in Rhode Island — legal and illegal — lack high school diplomas and “this low-skilled cohort of immigrants to Rhode Island costs state taxpayers about $212 million per year.”
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A 28-year-old local woman has been indicted on multiple felony charges after police said the car accident she caused last year in Middletown led to the death of a Florida woman. Rebecca Faulkner of 26 Stockton Drive, Middletown, was indicted Wednesday by a statewide grand jury on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting; drunken driving, death resulting; leaving the scene of an accident, personal injury resulting; and reckless driving, personal injury resulting charges.
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Human-resources advocates support creating a federal electronic employment-verification system to curtail illegal immigration, so long as it’s accurate and reliable. But the human-resource association has a big problem with state legislation that would require employers to check the employment eligibility of newly hired workers through a national Web-based system called E-Verify.
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On a cool, sunny spring day, hundreds of supporters of immigrant rights turned out at a May Day rally yesterday to decry Governor Carcieri’s executive order that requires state police to check the status of people they suspect of being here illegally and report them to federal immigration authorities. The estimated 300 people in attendance were but a fraction of the participation seen at immigration-rights rallies in years past.
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The Lake House star, Sandra Bullock, was involved in a car accident in Gloucester, Massachusetts late Friday night. The Boston Herald reports that Bullock was with her husband Jesse James and Mark Hussey, who was driving, when a woman in a station wagon jumped lanes and hit the rented SUV Bullock was in.
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The immigration question that has blanketed Rhode Island politics in recent weeks saw its first real debate last night, with House lawmakers approving a bill requiring private employers to electronically verify the citizenship of new hires. For close to two hours, representatives sparred on the House floor, with some calling the proposal an important first step toward solving the state’s illegal immigration problem and others convinced it will ratchet up discrimination and hurt those here legally. The measure ultimately passed in a 53-to-17 vote and is now headed to the Senate.
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Over the strong objections of the attorney general and state police, a key House committee has approved a bill to forever remove thousands of crimes from the public record so convicted criminals can tell state licensing boards and prospective employers — with impunity — that they have never been convicted of a crime.
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Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign adviser Sidney Blumenthal slipped into Nashua District Court to plead guilty and be sentenced last month, three weeks earlier than scheduled. Blumenthal pleaded guilty March 28 to a standard, misdemeanor DWI charge. He was fined $900, and his driver's license revoked for 10 months. Blumenthal can seek to get his license restored after 120 days, however, if he completes and alcohol education program in Washington, D.C., court records show.
A federal jury deliberated 30 minutes Thursday, then awarded a woman more than $4.1 million in punitive damages after finding that her former employer acted with "malice, oppression or with reckless indifference" in failing to protect her from aggravated sexual assault by a state worker.
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Political Scene was curious about why protesters this month stormed the governor’s first-floor policy office instead of the governor’s actual office, on the second floor, during a rally to oppose Carcieri’s executive order on immigration. Did they know the difference? Did they accidentally open the wrong door? Political Scene has learned that the protesters were a lot more organized than some people gave them credit for.
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Employers in Newport and Block Island are scrambling from Florida to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, hoping to find seasonal workers before the annual influx of tourists arrives this summer. “People are scared. They are desperate to find workers,” said Frank Flanagan, a Newport attorney who specializes in immigration. One solution is to search for H-2B workers already in the country and see if they are willing to extend their visas. Flanagan said such workers can stay as long as three years if they can find sponsoring employers. So some area hotels are looking south, where the winter tourist season is coming to an end, to find workers willing to stay.
The plan would mandate all Rhode Island employers with three or more workers to confirm through a Web-based government database whether any new employee is authorized to work in the United States. Businesses and organizations that refuse to participate in the program would face fines of up to $5,000 every 30 days depending on size.
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No topic in recent memory has polarized Rhode Islanders as much as the debate over illegal immigration. Of course, it doesn’t help when state officials ramp up the rhetoric to levels reminiscent of the Red Scare.
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An Act Relating to Motor and Other Vehicles, Motor Vehicles Offenses, would increase the penalties for convictions for driving under the influence, resulting in death, and driving under the influence, resulting in serious bodily injury. Those found guilty of the offense would be subject to up to two years imprisonment and license suspension of up to one year.
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A jury ruled the Archdiocese of Miami liable for $14 million in damages for the car wreck that left a high schooler dead and another paralyzed and brain damaged after a booze-laden year-end party at the home of two students in 2001.
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Former Rhode Island Congressional candidate Dave Rogers was arrested in Middletown on a drunken driving charge.The Republican Rogers is a former aide to Governor Don Carcieri and made unsuccessful bids in 2002 and 2004 for the Congressional seat held by Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
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A South Kingstown, Rhode Island woman pleaded not guilty Monday to drunken driving charges after being accused of hitting a teenager standing by the side of the road.
Police said 45-year-old Heidi Harrall was driving drunk and speeding when she lost control of her car along Route 1 in South Kingstown last June and hit 17-year-old Sylvia Bogusz. Bogusz was seriously injured. Harrall was released on bail and ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment and counseling.
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A new study on tort reform by a business-backed institute "proves tort reform does not work," according to the association for the nation's trial lawyers.
American Association for Justice CEO Jon Haber, representing trial lawyers, said the state rankings recently released by Pacific Research Institute (PRI) show there is no correlation between tort reform and costs.
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A police dog put a pickup truck into gear, injuring a woman on her way to the mailbox in an incident that has ended with a $300,000 settlement. Stone, who had a broken pelvis, had asked for $580,000 but settled with the city's insurer for $300,000.
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Governor Carcieri signed a six-point executive order he said will enable “a vast array of state government agencies” to address illegal immigration in Rhode Island. He said he did so because the federal government has dropped the ball on immigration reform and left state taxpayers to pick up what he said are the considerable costs of illegal immigration.
The executive order includes six provisions:
•The Department of Administration will register and use a federal government program — E-Verify — to electronically verify that all executive branch employees are legally eligible to work in the United States.
•The department will require all companies doing business with the state to also use the E-Verify program to ensure their employees are legally authorized to work in the country.
•State agencies have the authority to notify persons whose identity was stolen or used improperly to receive benefits such as child care, health care or a driver’s license.
•Rhode Island State Police will establish a Memorandum of Agreement with the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to receive training to assist ICE personnel in arresting illegal immigrants. The new partnership will allow state police with ICE training to access federal databases, process immigration prisoners and transport them to the federal Wyatt Detention Center.
•The state Department of Corrections will similarly develop a memorandum of agreement with ICE. In part, it will allow ACI personnel to investigate immigration status of prisoners and prepare necessary documentation for those found to be in the country illegally.
•The Parole Board and corrections department “will work cooperatively with ICE personnel” to provide for parole and deportation of criminal aliens.
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A Barrington teenager was sentenced yesterday to six months in the state Training School for driving while impaired, fleeing authorities at Colt State Park and then slamming into a wall, pinning a pedestrian beneath his car.
The Dec. 29 crash marked the latest in a string of incidents involving Barrington teenagers, alcohol and either injury or death.
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If a prospective tenant refuses to authorize the landlord to obtain a credit report, the landlord has the right to refuse to rent.
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The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the large-slip holders because the provisions of the Rhode Island Condominium Act bind the marina association. The justices said that under the act, the original method of allocating assessment fees could not be changed without the agreement of 100 percent of the association members.
Rhode Islanders for Immigration law Enforcement," he had a right to call the Immigration Service, known as ICE, or make a citizens arrest whenever he came across someone whom he felt was breaking the law by residing here illegally
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The defendants appealed from the grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, asserting that the Superior Court’s ruling as to the illegality of one of the provisions of the condominium declaration at issue was erroneous. The defendants also contended that the hearing justice abused his discretion when he granted the plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees. The Supreme Court first determined that the provision of the condominium declaration at issue violated the plain language of the Rhode Island Condominium Act, G.L. 1956 chapter 36.1 of title 24. The Court stated that the clear language of the Condominium Act permits a differential method of assessing the expenses of a condominium association—but only to the extent required by a particular condominium declaration. The Court determined that the condominium declaration of Newport On-Shore Marina, Inc. does not require a footage-based assessment of the costs of operating the marina, but instead, in violation of the Condominium Act, vests discretion in the board of directors in that regard.
The Court furthermore concluded that the Condominium Act authorized the hearing justice to award attorneys’ fees and that the hearing justice did not abuse his discretion in awarding attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs in this case. For these reasons, the Supreme Court denied the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.
As another legislative session nears, so too does the promise of another debate over immigration.
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The Rhode Island Taxpayer and Citizens Protection Act would tighten state laws governing driver's licenses and criminalize efforts by businesses or individuals to harbor illegal immigrant workers.
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The police arrested and charged a Burrillville woman for driving under the influence and hitting a man shoveling snow with her car and fleeing the scene.
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Employers have received a reprieve from the federal “no match” rule that would have punished businesses for hiring illegal workers, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) served notice last week that it’s refusing to give up on the controversial measure.
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Rhode Island judge, Jeremiah S. Jeremiah, sent three teenagers to a 90 day drug and alcohol program following accusations that the teens consumed alcohol before a fatal car crash. If the teens complete the program, which invovles trips to hospital emergency rooms to see alcohol related crash victims, all charges will be dropped.
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