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Fellow Brown student also charged in assault on basketball player

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By Thomas J. Morgan

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Police have charged a second suspect in the assault on a Brown University basketball player last weekend.

Dillon J. Ingham, 22 of New York, was charged with disorderly conduct and is being held for the next session of District Court, police said Friday afternoon. His specific involvement in the incident was not disclosed.

Brown University has confirmed that he is a student at the school, and is a member of both the football and wrestling teams. He and Sharkey are both student-athletes at Brown and they are both brother of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity.

Some of Ingham's fraternity brothers said they were very surprised when they heard his name connected to this investigation.

"I can't say a bad thing about Dillon," one of his fraternity brothers said. "He's one of the nicest guys I ever met. I just don't understand what's going on with that."

Earlier Friday, Tory R. Lussier, 24, of 57 Pinnacle Rd., Vernon, Conn., was released on bail after he was arraigned on a charge of felony assault in the incident.

Lussier's lawyer, John Lombardi, called it "a clear case of self-defense."

The victim, Joseph Sharkey, 21, a sophomore, was reported in critical condition with a head injury. Providence police said he was found at 2:23 a.m. Sunday face up at Thayer and George Streets, "bleeding heavily from the mouth and nose area."

-- With reports from WPRI.com


Video: Art in its sails: A happening at Prescott Farm windmill

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By News staff


Providence Journal / Kris Craig

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- On Sunday, the sails on the historic 1812 Sherman Windmill at Prescott Farm will turn and the mill will grind corn again, for the public, for first time since 1987.

The historic windmill will feature a set of new color sheets on the windmill sails designed by artist Nora Rabins.

The "Artist Sail Hoisting and Windmill in Motion Day" is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Missing boater found alive; empty boat washes ashore

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By News staff

FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (WPRI) -- The search for a missing boater in Fairhaven is over.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Gary Alves, 57, of East Freetown was found alive just before 6 a.m. Saturday. Officials say he was found walking on a beach near Hoppy's Landing -- not far from where he originally set sail. Alves told investigators he was hit in the head by the boom of his boat, and knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he was lying in a marsh.

The police say Alves left work around 12:30 p.m. Friday for an afternoon sail. He was last heard from around 2:30 p.m. when he called work to say he was running behind, and would be back later than expected. One of his employees called police when he did not return to work. An officer found his empty boat washed ashore on West Island town beach later that evening. A cell phone and a bag containing some of his belongings was found inside the vessel.

The police and fire departments from Fairhaven, New Bedford, and Mattapoisett -- as well as the Coast Guard all assisted in the search, which continued through the night in the waters around West Island.

The Fairhaven police are investigating the incident. Alves was taken to St. Lukes Hospital in New Bedford to be checked out. There's no word on his condition.

Providence Police investigate two overnight stabbings

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By News staff

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- Police are investigating two separate overnight stabbings that occurred just hours apart.

Around 11:30 p.m., one person was rushed to the hospital after reportedly being stabbed on the 400 block of Potters Ave. Detectives were there investigating, but so far there's no word on that victim's condition or any arrests.

Around 2:30 a.m., a woman was reportedly stabbed at the intersection of Ohio Ave. and Narragansett Blvd. She was also taken to the hospital in unknown condition, while police combed the area looking for a suspect. There's no word on any arrests in this case.

Small Florida city wonders who won Powerball jackpot

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By News staff

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) -- Some lucky person walked into a Publix supermarket in suburban Florida over the past few days and bought a ticket now worth an estimated $590.5 million -- the highest Powerball jackpot in history.

But it wasn't Matthew Bogel. On Sunday, he loaded groceries into his car after shopping at the Publix. He shook his head when asked about the jackpot.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he said. "That's so much money."

Whoever has the ticket hadn't come forward as of Sunday morning. But plenty of people in Zephyrhills -- population 13,337 -- are wondering whether it's someone they know.

Joan Albertson drove over to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, just in case the winner emerged. She said she had bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.

"Oh, there's so much good that you could do with that amount of money." Albertson said. "I don't even know where to begin.

Zephyrhills is a small city in Pasco County, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it's now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and Zephyrhills bottled water.

And now, one lucky lottery ticket.

"I'm getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, 'uh, did you win the lottery?"' Sandra Lewis said. "No, I didn't win, guys. Sorry."

With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said Saturday that someone was almost certain to win the game's highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars -- and that's after taxes.

The winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball's online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

The world's largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012.

Lewis, who went to the Publix on Sunday to buy water, said she didn't play -- and she isn't upset about it.

"Life goes on," she said, shrugging. "I'm good."

Salve Regina awards 651 degrees in "seaside" ceremony

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By Tatiana Pina

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Providence Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

Salvador Sarmiento congratulates his wife, Norelys Cosuegra, after she graduates from Salve University University Sunday. Looking on is Ashten Sarmiento, 10.

NEWPORT -- Salve Regina University awarded 651 degrees Sunday during its 63rd commencement on the oceanside lawn of McAuley Hall under white tents that rimmed the Cliff Walk.

The university conferred 435 baccalaureate degrees, 191 master's degrees, 19 certificates of advanced graduate studies and 6 doctorates. The school also recognized the work of a father-and-son duo of master carvers by awarding honorary degrees to Nicholas W. Benson and his father John E. Benson, the proprietors of the centuries-old John Stevens shop. The Bensons were the keynote speakers.

Sister Jane Gerety, the president of Salve Regina, said that the class of 2013 came in 2009 when she did and called it a "small but mighty class."

The class had started school during the country's worst recession with the economy in a free fall and Congress at a stalemate. Students had witnessed some of the most dreadful events including a tsunami, shootings across the United States, a massive oil spill, the Arab Spring and the Haitian earthquake, but had reacted by helping others which is the best response, she said.

PC commencement speaker: If you want to be happy, make your life a 'gift' to others

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By Richard C. Dujardin
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Providence Journal photo / Kris Craig

The Very Rev. Robert Barron, creator and host of the "Catholicism" documentary series and founder of a global media ministry, gives the commencement address Sunday at Providence College.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In a season when newly minted college graduates are frequently encouraged to "dream big" and to think of wealth, power and success, the graduation speaker at Providence College's commencement Sunday cautioned graduates not to believe that any of those things will make them happy.

Addressing the school's 1,088 graduates and others in the Dunkin' Donuts Center, the Very Rev. Robert Barron, who founded the "Word on Fire" global media ministry, said inside every individual there is a "holy longing" that can only be satisfied by being filled with God and giving one's life away for the sake of the other.

"So here is the formula," he told the graduates. "If you want to be happy, contrive to make your life a gift."

URI commencement goes indoors, without hitch

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By Paul Grimaldi

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Providence Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

Kristen Reis, Taylor Baude, and Kevin Stenhouse wave to family and friends while walking into the Ryan Center for URI's class of 2013 graduation ceremonies Sunday.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- URI held commencement exercises for 3,235 undergraduates and 779 graduate students Sunday at the Ryan Center on the university's Kingston campus.

Breaking with tradition, university officials moved the main ceremony indoors this year as a security precaution in the aftermath of the April bombing in Boston.

The move did not sit well with some graduates, and they cheered student speaker Matthew Hayes, who took the stage wearing sunglasses. As he started his speech, he took off the glasses, and said: "Bear with me while I take my sunglasses off. I thought we were supposed to be outside."

Honorary degrees went to Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Chairman Robert A. DiMuccio, American University general counsel Mary A. Kennard, World War II veteran and business executive Franklin W. Simon, Alex + Ani founder Carolyn Rafaelian and Alex + Ani chief executive Giovanni Feroce.


R.I. health director urges baby boomers to get Hepatitis C test

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By News staff
Michael Fine.JPG

Providence Journal files / Connie Grosch Connie Grosch

MICHAEL FINE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Rhode Island's health department is encouraging baby boomers to get tested for Hepatitis C, saying adults born between 1945 and 1965 are five times more likely to contract the disease.

State health director Michael Fine says an estimated 11,000 Rhode Islanders have Hepatitis C, though many have yet to show symptoms.

The state says baby boomers are at risk because many are believed to have become infected in the 1970s and 1980s when rates of infection were highest. Some may have caught the disease from contaminated blood before modern blood screening techniques were widely available.

Sunday is National Hepatitis C Testing Day.

Fine says the chronic liver disease is treatable and that infection can be identified with a simple blood test.

The original version of this story misstated the year 1965 in the first paragraph.

Connecticut train outage expected to last for days

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By News staff

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- Tens of thousands of commuters are bracing for a difficult trip around southwest Connecticut and to New York City beginning Monday as workers repair the Metro-North commuter rail line crippled by a derailment and crash.

Amtrak service between New York and New Haven also is suspended, and there is no estimate on service restoration. Limited service is available between New Haven and Boston.

Crews will spend days rebuilding 2,000 feet of track, overhead wires and signals following the collision between two trains Friday evening that injured 72 people, Metro-North President Howard Permut said Sunday. Nine remained hospitalized.

"This amounts to the wholesale reconstruction of a two-track electrified railroad," he said.

Several days of around-the-clock work will be required, including inspections and testing of the newly rebuilt system, Permut said. The damaged rail cars were removed from the tracks on Sunday, the first step toward making the repairs.

Service disruptions on the New Haven line between South Norwalk and New Haven are expected to continue "well into the coming week," Permut said.

Each day, approximately 30,000 Metro-North customers use the stations where service has been shut down, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates Metro-North.

Warwick Police postpone announcement about body found in park

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By Journal Staff

WARWICK, R.I. -- Police have decided to postpone until Monday any announcement about a body found Saturday morning in a trash barrel covered with brush on a bike path in Warwick City Park.

"I cannot release the name of the victim until an identification has been made," Detective Capt. Robert Nelson said in an email Sunday afternoon. "That is scheduled to be done at the Medical Examiner's office on Monday morning. ... The investigation continues at this time."

The police said Saturday they are investigating the death of a white male in his 60s believed to be from Warwick.

Nelson said then that detectives think the murder took place in the park between late Thursday evening and Friday, and "know what caused his death."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Mark Canning at (401) 468-4236 or to call an anonymous-tip line at (401) 732-8477.

The original version of this story was posted at 10:12 a.m.

Today in R.I. history: Mobster 'Bobo' Marrapese to be released from prison

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By Thomas J. Morgan

A year ago today:
The Quonset Air Museum and the Collings Foundation have reached formal agreement on bringing a Vietnam War-era AD-5 Skyraider home to Quonset Point, where it will be housed at the Air Museum.

5 years ago today:

Imprisoned mobster Frank L. "Bobo" Marrapese Jr. is to be released from prison after 25 years. A prison official declined to say where Marrapese will work, what kind of work he will be doing, or in what city or town he will be employed.

25 years ago today:
City Council President Nicholas W. Easton declares that the city is winning the war on drugs. "I'm as involved as anyone," said Easton, "and I'm saying we are winning. The drug dealers are on the run."

Block Island's state nurse retires at age 86, after over five decades in post

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By Katherine Gregg
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Providence Journal file photo / Frieda Squires

Mary Donnelly, visiting nurse on Block Island, attends to Violette Connolly, 86, at her home in this 2006 file photo.

BLOCK ISLAND, R.I. -- A milestone worth noting: After more than 54 years nursing her fellow Block Islanders back to health, Mary Donnelly has retired.

Donnelly was the island's state nurse and administrator of the Mary D Fund, a charity she created to provide year-round residents with needed financial help during the winter months.

She retired on March 13, at the age of 86, with a $58,294-a-year pension, according to a state Retirement Board report.

"She is truly a pioneer in population health," said the state's former Human Services Director, Jane Hayward, who is now the president and CEO of the R.I. Health Center Association, after a recent celebration of Donnelly's career.

"She recognized the impact of social determinants on health status before anyone was writing about them in the literature. To combat their impact, she created the Mary D. Fund which last year distributed over $50,000 to islanders in need -- for mortgages, medication, health costs, fuel, etc.

"She is really something and even at this point, she runs the fund herself, keeps its books, writes the checks and preserves the confidentiality of those who come for help. She also managed to raise seven kids. ... she is quite a lady!!!"

R.I. prepares to sell 38 Studios video games to help recover $130-million debt

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By Paul Grimaldi
Amaulur logo.JPG

38 Studios

The logo from 38 Studios' video game "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As one lawyer for Rhode Island makes the state's case this week against the people involved in the 38 Studios loan debacle, another is ready to sell the company's video games -- once intended as progenitors of a new industry here.

"Who knows what the value ultimately will be," said Providence lawyer Richard J. Land. "But there is interest in the assets."

The company's most-valuable assets were its intellectual property -- the drawings, designs and work related to its video games and the computer software supporting the games.

The state sued former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and 13 others in November in a separate attempt to recoup 38 Studios' $130-million debt. A hearing in that case is set for Wednesday.

Patch work plan in place to replace train service after crash

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By News staff
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Journal photo/ Mary Murphy

Providence's Union Station is quiet Monday morning in the wake of a Friday train crash that has suspended Amtrak service between New York and New Haven.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- Metro-North officials have a fleet of 120 buses ready at the Bridgeport train station to help rail commuters make their way around the scene of Friday's train accident and help get them get to New York.

MTA says a shuttle train will operate about every 20 minutes Monday morning between New Haven and Bridgeport.

The shuttle buses are running between Bridgeport and Stamford stations, where commuters will again board trains for the final leg of their commute

Officials say Friday's collision outside Bridgeport will impact about 30,000 people who normally use the train. They are expecting heavy congestion along Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway as a result.

Amtrak service between New York and New Haven also has been suspended and there is no estimate on service restoration.

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Journal photo/ Mary Murphy

A sign at Providence's Union Station tells the story Monday morning. In the wake of a train crash Friday near Bridgeport, Conn., train traffic via Amtrak has been canceled through the station. The only trains running are MBTA trains from Boston.


Marathon bombing victim Heather Abbott welcomed home with party at Newport mansion

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By John Hill
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Providence Journal photo

Heather Abbott, Newport, is escorted into Rosecliff Mansion, Newport, by two friends Mick Henn, of Conn., left, and Jason Geremia, of Newport.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Heather Abbott came home from the hospital last week, so a few of her friends got together really quick and figured they'd throw a bit of a party for her.

They wound up packing the ballroom of the 101-year-old Rosecliff mansion Sunday with a fully catered affair that drew not only Newport residents but also many of Rhode Island's top state and federal elected officials, including both U.S. senators and Governor Chafee.

Abbott stood with the aid of crutches for the first half hour after she arrived, greeting well-wisher after well-wisher with her trademark beaming smile and a hug or kiss on the cheek.

The party was a fundraiser to help Abbott and her family cope with the costs they will be facing as she recovers from injuries she received in the April 15 bombing at the Boston Marathon.

Warm and humid

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By Jack Perry

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The clouds, fog and drizzle should clear out on this Monday, leaving partial sunshine by the afternoon, according to our weather partners at WPRI.

Expect a humid day with high temperatures in the upper 70s inland and near 70 at the coast.

There's a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm late today or early tonight.

WPRI says the region can expect unsettled weather for much of the week. Showers are possible every day through Friday.

For more weather and updates, see providencejournal.com/weather.


Search continues for missing URI student, last seen in Pennsylvania

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By Maria Armental
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Courtesy Pennsylvania State Police

Matthew Royer

The Pennsylvania State Police continue to search for a University of Rhode Island student who was reported missing by his family last week.

Matthew R. Royer, 21, of Collegeville, Pa., left Rhode Island Thursday and was driving home. Royer is enrolled in the university's Doctor of Pharmacy program, according to university records.

He is described as 6 foot 1, about 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He was driving a 2008 silver Chevrolet Cobalt with Pennsylvania license plates: GZR9059.

His mother, Janet Royer, told WFMZ-TV 69 Royer was seen on surveillance video around 1 Friday morning at a Sunoco station on Route 100 and I-78 in Fogelsville, Pa.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pennsylvania State Police Skippack Station at (610) 584-1250.

RI woman charged with robbing Good Samaritan in Mass.

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By News staff

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Police say a Rhode Island woman is facing charges for allegedly stealing from a Good Samaritan who gave her ride after her car broke down.

North Attleborough police say 24-year-old Erin Gilbert of Providence, R.I., stole the pocketbook of a woman who gave her a ride to her boyfriend's home in Pawtucket, R.I., after her car broke down at the Emerald Square mall on Saturday.

Police tell The Sun Chronicle that Gilbert went to the mall after stealing another woman's purse from an East Providence gym and trying to use stolen credit cards at three stores. The stores rejected the sales.

Gilbert was ordered held without bail over the weekend pending her arraignment scheduled for Monday. It was not clear if she had a lawyer.

25-year-old Warwick man dies after motorcycle-truck collision

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By Tatiana Pina

WARWICK, R.I. -- A 25-year-old Warwick man died after his motorcycle collided with a truck on Main Ave., Tuesday morning.

The 25-year-old was taken to Rhode Island Hospital by Warwick Fire Rescue where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Warwick police. The operator of the truck, Sal Bicardi, 58, of Warwick was not injured.

Police said that an initial investigation shows the motorcycle was traveling west on Main Ave. and the truck exiting the Shell Gas station northbound attempting to cross over Main Ave. onto Covington Dr. when the two collided. Police said the motorcycle driver was apparently not wearing a helmet.

Police are withholding the identity of the motorcycle driver while they notify his family.

Anyone with information related to the collision is asked to call the traffic division of the Warwick police at (401) 468-4343.

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