Robert W. Decherd, chief executive officer of A.H. Belo Corp., will retire as CEO in September, the company said Wednesday

He will be succeeded by James M. Moroney III, currently executive vice president of the company and publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News.

A.H. Belo Corp. (AHC:NYSE) owns The Providence Journal, The Dallas Morning News, The Press-Enterprise in California and the Denton Record-Chronicle in Texas. The company also publishes websites and niche publications, and has commercial printing operations.

Decherd, 62, who currently also serves as chairman, will become vice chairman of the board of directors and continue to serve as a board member.

Moroney, 56, will maintain his role as publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News. The company said Moroney will be elected to the Board of Directors at its regular meeting in September.

After a full day of baseball -- and rain -- at Fenway Park, Brian MacPherson and Tim Britton will take your questions today as they do every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. You can submit a question now by entering the chat room below.

NORTH ATTLEBORO -- Several New England Patriot players live in the wealthy neighborhood of Westwood Estates but for a second consecutive day the home of tight end Aaron Hernandez garnered even the curiosity of neighbors used to celebrities in their midst.

Several walked or drove by Wednesday morning where a media encampment has been set up ever since Hernandez's name was linked to the discovery of a man's body found Monday a short distance from here.

More than a half dozen television satellite trucks were parked outside his house at 22 Ronald C Meyer Drive that police reportedly searched Tuesday.

There appeared to be no police or other activity at the house Wednesday morning.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Superior Court judge sentenced a 30-year-old city man to serve life in prison plus at least 25 years for his role in gunning down an unarmed 26-year-old man.

Judge Robert Krause sentenced Michael Tully to life for murdering Ralph Joseph plus 10 years to serve concurrently for conspiring to rob him of $1,100. In addition, Krause gave Tully 10 1/2 years for violating his probation and 20 years, with 15 to serve, consecutively before he would be eligible for parole, for being a habitual offender.

Krause said he did not know how old Tully would be before he would be eligible for release but that "society needs to be protected from the likes of you."

Providence Journal photo / Bob Thayer

Governor Lincoln D. Chafee, right, and Twin River Chairman John E. Taylor Jr. get ready to cut the ribbon for the public grand opening of the casino's new table games.

A one-time blacksmith, Chafee told an audience of casino well wishers gathered in Twin River's west entrance that "I'd be better off betting the horses."

Chafee and other speakers repeatedly hit on the message that adding black jack, roulette and other table games to Twin River's roughly 4,700 video lottery terminals will mean more revenue and jobs for the state. The state will net $6.5 million annually from the table games, while the casino has hired approximately 400 more workers to oversee the expanded operation.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- The mayor of Providence is among 18 mayors nationwide reviving a push against allowing government food vouchers to be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.

In a letter to congressional leaders Tuesday, mayors including Angel Taveras say it's "time to test and evaluate approaches limiting" the use of the subsidies for sugar-laden beverages.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office released the letter. Bloomberg has tried to prohibit eateries from selling sugary drinks in big sizes.

The USDA declined to comment on Tuesday's letter. The American Beverage Association said sugary drinks shouldn't be singled out as a cause of obesity.

Food stamps already can't be used to buy alcohol, cigarettes, hot food and some other items.

The letter also expressed concerns about proposed cuts to food stamp funding.

Providence Journal photo/ W. Zachary Malinoswki

Providence police officers stand outside a rooming house on Admiral Street after recovering a gun from inside the building and arresting two people.

PROVIDENCE -- Dozens of police officers flooded the city's North End on Wednesday afternoon after at least one shot was fired during an apparent altercation outside Luna Market, at 389 Admiral St., police said.

Det. Capt. Michael E. Correia said that there is no evidence that anyone was wounded in the gunfire that erupted shortly after 12:30 p.m. Uniformed officers, detectives and a tactical team followed a couple who may have been involved in the dispute to a large rooming house at 44 Grape St.

``It appeared to be some kind of altercation that escalated,'' Corriea said.

At the rooming house, Correia said, police searched an apartment and found a .45 caliber handgun in the a woman's purse. The woman and a man, who were not identified, were handcuffed and taken into custody.

JAMESTOWN, R.I. - The Rhode Island Turnpike & Bridge Authority announced Wednesday that its E-Z Pass office will close Friday and Saturday for a computer upgrade.

Sales will resume Monday. Office hours on East Shore Road are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

Transponders may also be purchased from AAA Southern New England branches in Rhode Island, Somerset and South Attleboro.

NORTH ATTLEBORO -- The Massachusetts State Police were back at the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez Wednesday.

At one point Wednesday morning policemen left after no one answered the door when they sought entry. Later, police searched a wooded area near the house. According to WBZ-TV, they found a gun near the site where a man's dead body was found Monday.

The dead man has been identified as Odin Lloyd, 27, of Boston. A man who said he is Lloyd's uncle told WBZ that his nephew played semipro football for a team called the Boston Bandits.

Hernandez purchased the home, on Ronald C. Meyer Drive, from former Patriot Ty Warren. It is inside a development, called Westwood Estates, whose residents include former Patriot linebacker Tedy Bruschi as well as current New England stars Logan Mankins and Jerod Mayo. Former Patriots Deion Branch and Adalius Thomas have also lived there.

Separately, TMZ.com reported that Hernandez is a defendant in a civil suit filed in Florida by a man who claims that Hernandez shot him following an altercation at a strip club. There is no criminal action pending in that case.

-- With reports from The Associated Press

-- The original version of this report was published at 12:36 p.m.

Journal file photo

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - Del's Lemonade is accusing a Virginia lemonade company of copying its lemon logo.

According to reports, an attorney for the Cranston-based company sent a letter to Deb's Lemonade company of Roanoke alleging trademark infringement.

The logo for Deb's Lemonade features green cursive writing superimposed over a yellow lemon - similar to the logo for Del's.

Joyce Castelli, whose family owns Deb's Lemonade, tells the station that the similarities are a coincidence. Deb's was started in 1977 by Castelli's husband and daughter. Her husband was born in Cranston. Castelli says the family occasionally visited Rhode Island but says she had never seen Del's logo.

Castelli has met with Del's attorney. Both sides predict an amicable resolution.

Del's was started in 1948 and now sells its frozen treats in several states.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Over the objections of organized labor, a Senate committee has approved a bill that would relieve private-sector employers from having to pay their workers weekly.

The vote by the Senate Labor Committee was 9-to-2 for the legislation, after Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere came into the Senate lounge to join the majority voting in favor of the bill.

The only nay votes came from Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael McCaffrey. A third member of the leadership team - Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin - said she voted for the bill simply to get it before the full Senate, but intends to vote against it when it got there because her constituents need a weekly paychecks.

Current law requires that all other Rhode Island employees be paid weekly all due wages from his or her employer, "except those employees whose compensation is fixed at a biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly, or yearly rate.'' There are exceptions for a handful of other groups, including public employees, and those working for companies that have more than 2,500 employees.

The legislation that cleared the Senate Labor Committee would also open the door for employers whose "average payroll exceeds two hundred percent of the state minimum wage...to pay wages less frequently than weekly.''

The House has passed its own version of the bill, which is a high priority for certain sectors of the business community.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said Wednesday that consumers continue to report problems with lenders involved in the foreclosure-abuses settlement reached in 2012 with 49 state attorneys general.

Monitor Joseph A. Smith Jr. reported Wednesday that four of the five banks (Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase) failed to meet at least one of the 29 servicing criteria in the settlement.

"The monitor's report reflects what we hear from Rhode Island homeowners -- the banks continue to engage in some of the behavior that led this country into the housing crisis," Kilmartin said.

The investigation began in 2010 after reports surfaced that banks were foreclosing and evicting people using false or incomplete documentation.

Continuing problems include access to a "single point of contact" -- one person who is responsible for communicating with a borrower, and "dual tracking," in which foreclosures proceed before a borrower gets an answer on a loan modification request.

Providence Journal photo / Providence Journal photo/ W. Zachary Malinoswki

Providence police officers stand outside a rooming house on Admiral Street after recovering a gun from inside the building and arresting two people.

Det. Capt. Michael E. Correia said that Jesse Palmer, 41, of 44 Grape St., Apt. 3, is charged with possession of a firearm without a license and entering an apartment without the owner's consent.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., dozens of police officers responded to the area of Admiral Street and Douglas Avenue for reports of shots fired.

Witnesses directed the police to the apartment house where Palmer and a man fled. Police entered the building and found Palmer in Apt. 1.

Correia said they searched the apartment and found Palmer's purse in the oven with a loaded .45 caliber handgun.

The police said the shell casing found on the street matched the gun.

The male, who was not identified, also was taken into custody, but has yet to be charged.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- The Rhode Island unemployment rate rose slightly from April to May, increasing from 8.8 percent to 8.9 percent, according to figures released Thursday by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders, defined as out of work and actively seeking employment, rose by 200, from 49,400 in April to to 49,600 in May.

The state lost 200 jobs between April and May, bringing the total estimated non-farm payroll in the state to 466,900, with the largest job loss occuring in the educational sector.

The Massachusetts unemployment rate rose from 6.4 percent in April to 6.6 percent in May, although the state reported a gain of 3,500 jobs. In Connecticut, the unemployment rate remained steady at 8 percent.

Journal video/ Andrew Dickerman

Members of the news media from around the country were drawn to the North Attleboro neighborhood of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez this week as he's been linked to a 27-year-old Boston man whose body was found within a mile of Hernadez's home Monday.

With Massachusetts State Troopers investigating the death of Odin Lloyd as a homicide and searching a clearing about a mile from Hernandez's house, the media waited across from the sprawling home on Ronald C. Meyer Drive for any sign of the football star.

The Health Department's primary lead poisoning prevention program, which faced being shut down in the fall due to federal cuts, would be preserved under the state budget approved on Tuesday by the House Finance Committee.

Financial woes first hit the Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program a year ago when the federal government completely eliminated funding for its various activities. A one-time source of state funding has kept the Health Department program running since then.

While the governor's budget did not provide funding for the program, the House budget would restore its $600,000 budget.

"We are thrilled they listened and understood and even with the budget challenges they faced this year, they made children's health a priority," said Laura Brion, a community organizer for the nonprofit Childhood Lead Action Project.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell has scheduled a July 8 hearing to address the problems, outlined in a recent appeals court ruling, with his August 2011 order staying foreclosures and evictions in hundreds of Rhode Island foreclosure cases.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals found that McConnell's order was effectively an injunction, and parties must "show probable success" of prevailing as a condition of continuing injunctive relief.

Approximately 700 foreclosure cases under the direction of Special Master Merrill Sherman could be affected by any change to the process.

"The impact is unclear because ... the ball is now in Judge McConnell's court to respond to the First Circuit's opinion," said Steven Fischbach of Rhode Island Legal Services.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A 24-year-old Providence man received two consecutive life terms in prison for fatally shooting a romantic rival in March 2009.

Miguel Davis looked glum as Superior Court Judge Robert Krause meted out two life sentences as required by law for a person convicted of first-degree murder and discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence that results in death. In addition, he received 10 years to serve concurrently for carrying a pistol without a license.

Civilized society would be better with Davis behind bars until he reaches age 60-plus, Krause said.

A jury convicted Davis in February following a 12-day trial in which witnesses told of a romantic rivalry brewing between Davis and Dominique Gay. Davis shot and killed 22-year-old Gay in broad daylight near Porter and Broad streets.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- This is the headline on a new report from the Economic Policy Institute: "Rhode Island's new hybrid pension plan will cost the state more while reducing retiree benefits.''

Among the key findings, being hailed by the state's largest state employees union as affirmation that the dramatic 2011 pension-overhaul, crafted by state Treasurer Gina Raimondo, went too far:

The new defined contribution plan "doesn't save the state money, but will cost retirees...[and] result in an average benefit cut of 14 percent for future full-career employees.

"Furthermore, due to the market risk introduced by the DC plan, many future employees will likely do even worse than this average: For the quarter of future employees who are in the lowest quartile of investment returns on their DC plan, the cuts will be 22 percent or higher.''

"These cuts to retiree incomes stemming from the hybrid DB+DC plan are not projected to translate into savings for the state, and will do little, if anything, to improve the health of Rhode Island's pension funds. The changes will actually increase the average annual cost for taxpayers.''

The conclusion: "Rhode Island can and should make its pension funds solvent without exposing future retirees to the risks and higher costs of DC plans.''

J. Michael Downey, president of Rhode Island Council 94, AFSCME, stated, "These two documents affirm many of the objections Council 94 made to the 2011 pension changes, including: the rate of return was lowered to exacerbate the unfunded liability, the cuts were draconian, and the arguments supporting the passage of the changes were faulty."

Joy Fox, spokeswoman for Raimondo, said Thursday afternoon in response:

"The Rhode Island Retirement Security Act addressed a $7-billion unfunded liability and a plan that was less than 50 percent funded. It was unacceptable to allow this crisis continue to grow.

"The passage of comprehensive pension reform represented the culmination of 11 months of thoughtful, fact-based analysis and input from retirees, employees, labor leaders and taxpayers. It was carefully designed by the General Assembly in an effort to save our state-administered retirement system.

"The treasurer's top priority continues to be retirement security. She remains proud of the work that state leaders have done to strengthen the defined benefit pension program and to move our state pension system onto a secure and sustainable path. Our valued public employees and retirees deserve to have retirement security."

This report was posted initially at 2:47 p.m. and updated at 4:42 p.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Manton man who advertised his alleged drug business on Facebook as "IPlead ThePiff" was shot, along with his mother, late Sunday night.

Darren Main, 20, and his mother, Melody Main, 45, told police they were shot around 11 p.m. while driving by people outside 67 Middle Drive.

The Mains sped to Rhode Island Hospital, where both were treated for gunshot wounds, according to a police report.

Darren Main is out on bail on charges of drug-dealing and carrying a firearm.

Providence police arrested Main in January after he allegedly sold drugs to a detective, who responded to Main's drug dealing offers posted on Facebook.

Main's Facebook page showed him with guns and marijuana, with the message: "Hit me upppppp! I deliver."