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"We do not want to have any more press conferences announcing arrests of people accused of murder. I've done too many of those as mayor," Taveras said Thursday. That's why local leaders secured a $150,000 grant to help curb gang violence in the city of Providence as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Federal funding will go toward targeting "impact players" on the streets. The city will hire so-called street workers who will spend time getting to know crime-prone areas and work on preventing gang members from turning to violence. Providence has received the grant in years past. Taveras...

Bristol, Rhode Island (CNN) -- The Willcox family has long been accustomed to prolonged absences from their seafaring patriarch. In fact, run-ins with the law were not unusual, given the fact that Peter Willcox had spent decades working for the environmental activist group Greenpeace, which is well-known for its provocative, headline-grabbing protests. But no one expected the 60-year-old mariner to end up languishing in a Russian jail in the Arctic, facing up to 15 years in prison on charges of piracy. "The situation he's in now is just way too extreme," said his wife, Maggy. She and other members of...

A former Social Security official has pleaded guilty to identity theft on accusations he used information from the federal agency's database and took more than $160,000 of a Coventry man's stock investments. ... Hurst, who was assistant district manager for the Social Security Administration in Warwick, used a Social Security database to find personal information such as a Social Security number and date of birth.

In its first 11 days of operation, Oct. 1 through Friday, HealthSource RI fielded 62,000 unique website visits. Of these visitors, about 5,500 started accounts (created a username and password) and 1,698 completed their applications and selected a health insurance plan. These numbers were released Saturday by Christine C. Ferguson, director of the agency. HealthSource RI is not saying how many of the 1,698 who completed applications are small businesses (a key focus of the exchange) nor how many qualified for Medicaid.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was one of dozens of investors with a Rhode Island estate planner charged with defrauding insurers by using the stolen identities of terminally ill people, according to court documents filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in Providence. McAuliffe’s name appeared on a lengthy list of investors with Joseph A. Caramadre, an attorney and accountant who obtained the identities of dying people to set up annuities that ultimately cost insurance companies millions of dollars, the documents say.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Officials say 366 people signed up for health insurance plans through the new marketplace Rhode Island has launched to carry out President Obama's Affordable Care Act on its first two days of operation. On the first two days of operation its Connecticut counterpart Access Health CT, said 373 applied Tuesday and Wednesday. There was a marked slowdown in the number of people signing up for plans on HealthSource RI's second day in operation, with 252 enrolling on Tuesday and another 114 enrolling on Wednesday. HealthSource RI also said 3,452 people called the agency's contact center in...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Food stamp fraud is a “significant problem” in Rhode Island. That was the message U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha sent Thursday when he announced that nine people are facing criminal charges for allegedly defrauding the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program out of more than $3 million. During a two-year undercover investigation, Neronha said eight Rhode Island residents and one New York man were found to be illegally allowing food stamp recipients to use their EBT cards to obtain cash in exchange for a large surcharge at five Providence convenience stores. ... Six people were charged by...

A great American is dealing with his fathers fight with cancer and I would like to lead the way for Freepers to express their feelings toward a fellow in need. Glen has been hosting local radio show on the weekends and is a great spokesman for the conservative American cause. Please say a prayer for Glen and his father Jack in his time of need.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee said Wednesday he is not running for a second term, bowing out of what was expected to be a fierce primary in his new Democratic Party. The governor, who became a Democrat in May, has struggled with poor approval ratings and is a reluctant fundraiser. He said he would not run next year because he wants to govern and thinks campaigning is "hugely time-consuming." Chafee said it would be hard to excel at both jobs — being governor and running for governor — because "the challenges are so great here in Rhode Island."

The supplemental tax will raise $2.5 million from multifamily residential real estate and motor vehicles, and the money will be used to balance the 2012-13 budget, which ended June 30. That assessment is also built into the 2013-14 tax rate, along with a 4-percent tax increase and a cut in the homestead exemption, which means the average homeowner in the city will see a 23-percent increase in his or her tax bill. The average residence in Woonsocket is worth $150,000. Assessor Christopher Celeste said that meant a tax bill of about $2,952 in the last budget year. But this fiscal...

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee (shown) has vetoed a bill that would have authorized the state to offer a “Choose Life” license plate to raise funds for a faith-based crisis pregnancy center in the state. The governor cited the First Amendment's supposed separation of church and state mandate that he insisted prohibited the state government from involving itself in such a campaign. The measure, which was approved by the Democrat-controlled state legislature earlier this month, would have allowed half of the $40 cost of the vehicle plates to go to Providence-based CareNet, a Christian crisis pregnancy center. Supporters said the...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Governor Chafee has signed into law three bills that had been part of Democrats' legislative response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. But Samantha Richard, of the Rhode Island chapter of Moms Demand Action, a national gun control group formed in the wake of the Newtown shooting, said it was "very disappointing" that many of the more high-profile proposals in the gun control package had not cleared the General Assembly before it recessed July 3.In particular, she pointed to the proposed "Gun Control and Safe Firearms Act." "That bill, which would have banned semiautomatic assault weapon purchase...

After the deadly school massacre in Newtown, Conn., top Rhode Island leaders gathered to recommend ways to crack down on gun violence. Topping the list were proposals to ban semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The idea came from Gov. Lincoln Chafee, House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and had the backing of the mayors of Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls... --snip-- The bills that did pass attracted support from both sides and was pushed through nearly unanimously. Rep. Mike Chippendale, R-Foster, one of the leading opponents of the proposed ban on...

The Talk Shows July 7th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Egyptian reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei; Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; Janet Murguia, president and CEO, National Council of La Raza; Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.THIS WEEK (ABC): President George W. Bush and Laura Bush; Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Mohamed...

Widow of 'Boston bomber is starting to reject strict Muslim rules and now uses her maiden name as her family attempt to convert her back to Christianity' Katherine Russell is living with her family in Rhode Island and they are encouraging her to convert back to Christianity, according to reports She insists she knew nothing of the plot that claimed three lives By DAILY MAIL REPORTER The widow of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has started to reject the strict Muslim rules her husband forced upon her, it has been claimed. Katherine Russell, 24, is living at her parents'...

Secretary of State John Kerry spent time lounging around on his yacht Wednesday while the Egyptian military was deposing their country's democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi, according to various reports. When Kerry was first spotted on his yatch, called "Isabel," near his vacation home in Nantucket, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki called the report "completely inaccurate" saying that the Secretary of State had been "working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt," according to CBS News. Psaki even went so far as to deny that Kerry was even on the boat.

... The setting is what makes it so eyeroll-worthy. If Kerry had been seen at a barbecue, no one would bat an eye. But on board a $7 million yacht? It just doesn't seem like he's working hard. The incident fits a pattern for Kerry: a strange penchant for foppish gaffes involving water sports. First, of course, there was the epic television ad that George W. Bush ran against Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign. Using footage of Kerry windsurfing and comparing his zig-zagging to a supposed propensity to change his positions... Then fast-forward to 2010, when then-Senator Kerry admitted...

<p>Complete Title: "The picture that proves Secretary of State John Kerry HAS been out on his boat while Egypt plunges into chaos - after his spokesman denied he been sailing in Nantucket"</p> <p>John Kerry's spokesman has admitted that the Secretary of State did go sailing off Nantucket as the Egyptian President was ousted from power, after pictures emerged of him out on the water on July 4.</p>

Secretary of State John Kerry was on his boat briefly on Wednesday, contrary to an earlier denial by the State Department, but was there only briefly and did not conduct official business while on board. “While he was briefly on his boat on Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day including participating in the president’s meeting with his national security council," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday. Kerry also held calls "with Norwegian Foreign Minister Eade,Qatari Foreign Minister al-Attiyah, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu, Egyptian Constitution Party President ElBaradei and five calls Ambassador Patterson on that day alone and since...

Sometimes reporters just cannot ignore black mob violence: Especially when they are the victims. The latest example comes from Providence, R.I. Local newshound Abbey Niezgoda and her photographer were dutifully asking a mother what she thought about the alleged shooter of her daughter turning himself in. Melissa Lawrence did not like the question. She screamed and threw a rock at the cameraman’s head, hitting his arm as he tried to shield his face. All on video. “Are you going to throw rocks?” asked Abbey with a remarkably calm demeanor. The woman answered by running up the stairs to get a...