Rhode Island Feeds

Like the rest of the Boston Faithful, the Bruins seemed to have their mind on Superbowl Sunday. They came out slowly, never caught up to the Pens, and gave up two goals to arguabally the two most maligned Penguins.

Evgeni Malkin scored a powerplay goal with 9 seconds left in the first period, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. The goal came moments after Malkin was slashed by Rich Peverley. After scoring the goal, Malkin was clearly pumped, giving the Penguins some momentum in the locker room.

Midway through the second period, the infamous Matt Cooke (he laid out Mark Savard 2 years ago) scored on a rebound that got past Tim Thomas. Cooke, who was booed each time he touched the puck, was booed even louder after he gave the Penguins a 2 goal lead.

The Bruins offense had their chances, especially late the game, but did not generate that many good scoring opportunities. Part of the reason why the Bruins struggled was due to the brilliant play of Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury stopped 28 shots and rarely gave up any rebound chances.

The Bruins only goal came in the third period, on Joe Corvo’s wrister from the point. It was only his 3rd goal of the season. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand had assists.

Clearly this was not the Bruins’ day offensively. Arguably, the turning point came when the Bruins failed to score on a 4 minute man-advantage, after Pascal Dupuis received a double minor for high sticking.

The Bruins are now 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, as their flawless play in November and December seems like a distant memory.

Will Terry Tate make a surprise appearance at the Superbowl? Doubtful. But we miss him...

Howdy folks,

I’m Adam, and my friend, colleague, and philanthropist Gabe and I are starting a podcast. You know, one where we talk the sports we love, make jokes, just throttle everything, and get you to dig on it. So won’t you join us? Join us. JOIN US.

This week? We’re talkin’ Super Bowl. In the future? We’re talking freaking everything, my friend. Freaking. Everything.

On this week’s edition, we cover bandwagon fandom, confused moms, David Tyree’s homophobia, the Baltimore Orioles FanFest, “Space Jam” allegiances, and the New York “Football” Giants. Plug it in, plug it in.

(Please excuse the questionable sound quality for the first 13 minutes.)

Providence could face bankruptcy in June, Mayor Angel Taveras warned yesterday. In a press conference, the mayor urged tax exempt non-profits to pay their fair share to the city to avoid fiscal collapse. He also called on city retirees to suspend cost of living increases in their pensions, which compound five to six percent yearly. Providence faces a budget deficit of 22.5 million dollars this fiscal year. Renewed payment negotiations are underway between Brown University and the city government, and the city will hold a town hall meeting to discuss pension cuts with retirees March 3rd.

Gov. Chafee is calling for the state to spend $20 million to install wireless internet access in every public school classroom. Chafee, an independent, included the idea in a budget recommendation given to lawmakers Tuesday night. According to Chafee’s budget proposal wireless access would allow for greater use of online textbooks and assignments while making it easier for schools to track student and teacher performance.

State lawmakers will vote this evening on a proposal to adjust the state’s political districts. The state alters its congressional and legislative districts every decade to account for changes in population. State leaders want the new political map in place before the November 2012 elections. One of the proposed changes would shift some areas with fewer Democratic voters out of Rep. David Cicilline’s, district, moving them into the district now represented by Jim Langevin.

Image licensed by Creative Commons, courtesy of flickr user Medill DC

State police are investigating a Central Falls High School teacher for alleged misconduct with students. School officials declined to comment on the allegations and didn’t name the teacher, but said she has been removed from the school district and state police are looking into the claims. The teacher hasn’t been charged. WJAR and WLNE report the allegations involve a chemistry teacher and claims of sexual relations with one or more students and drinking alcohol with students.

The Boston Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Tuesday night in front of the 108th consecutive sellout crowd at TD Garden. In a rematch of the All Star Game captains, Team Chara prevailed over Team Alfredsson once again (though this time by a slimmer margin).

Krejci didn't find the net against the Sens on Tuesday, but his line played well in the absence of Nathan Horton

In the first game after coming back from the All Star break, the Boston Bruins looked a little sluggish compared to the Senators, especially in the early minutes. The Bruins found their legs thanks to the speedy combination of Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin on the second line. The duo produced several chances in the first period, one of which led to a tripping penalty and a Bruins power play. Zdeno Chara used his all-time NHL fastest 108 MPH slap shot from the point to beat a screened Craig Anderson and give the Bruins a 1-0 lead on the power play. The Bruins seemed to be in the driver’s seat, leading the game and dominating in the two fights that erupted during the first period. However, with just over a minute to go in the period, the senators capitalized on a long rebound given by Tim Thomas, with Milan Michalek steering the puck towards the front of the net where Colin Greening redirected it past Thomas.

The second period saw the Bruins get thoroughy outplayed, as the Senators used their speed advantage to create a few high-quality scoring chances. The Sens capitalized on two of those chances as Kyle Turris and then Erik Karlsson each executed an odd-man rush to put the Senators up 3-1. But the Bruins took advantage of a bad Senators change in the final minute of the period, and Boston’s first line capitalized on a three-on-two with Milan Lucic rifling a wrister from the slot past Craig Anderson. That goal gave the Bruins a momentum boost that carried over well into the third period.

The speedy combination of Seguin and Marchand created another power play for the Bruins at the beginning of the period, and Marchand tied the game up with a hard-working goal as he willed the puck behind Anderson and over the goal line. A few minutes later, the Bruins took the lead on a bizarre play. Dennis Seidenberg, skating past the center ice red-line, fired a slap shot towards Anderson that seemed to skip off the ice, eluding the goaltender and finding the back of the net. The fluky goal set TD Garden into a frenzy. In the minutes following the goal the game opened up even more, with quality scoring chances coming at both ends (both goalies had to be sharp during this stretch). The Bruins held on to win despite several flurries of activity around Tim Thomas.

Tuesday night marked the Bruins 6th victory in which the squad overcame a two-period deficit to win the game in the third period. These are the games that set apart championship teams from others.

A mass for Rhode Island Gov.J.  Joseph Garrahy was held today at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence. Garrahy was remembered as a man who lived humbly and set an example for others, according to the ProJo, which reports that the Rev. Marcel Taillon remembered Garrahy as a man of faith who rose from humble beginnings. Garrahy, who served as governor from 1977 to 1985, died last week at a hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 81.

Gov. Chafee will deliver his annual State of the State address next Tuesday at the Statehouse. He’ll be expected to unveil the details of his budget proposal for the next fiscal year. Lawmakers briefed on the proposal say it contains additional money for schools and tax hikes on restaurant meals, cigarettes, taxi fares and pet grooming. Chafee has said his proposal will recommend “painful” spending cuts.

A new study has turned up alarming findings about Rhode Island. According to the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development, one in every five households doesn’t have enough money saved to handle a financial crisis such as a job loss or costly medical bill. Those families are “asset poor” and don’t have enough savings or assets to pay for three months of expenses. Rhode Island ranks 38th in the nation in households’ financial security.

This story may make you cringe a bit. A former Massachusetts dentist was sentenced to one year in jail Monday for using paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals. Dr. Michael Clair pleaded guilty earlier this month to a list of charges, including assault and battery, defrauding Medicaid of $130,000, illegally prescribing medications and witness intimidation. Really though, this story should just make you feel bad for Brenda Almeida and her young son, who underwent a root canal done by Dr. Clair and had to eventually have his tooth removed after it turned black due to the doctor’s shoddy work.

With the top spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference on the line, the Bruins went into the game knowing only a superb effort would top the New York Rangers. Sadly, although a superb effort was given, the hometown team came out on the short end of the stick, with a 3-2 loss to the Rangers in overtime. A snowy Saturday in Boston started out with a scoreless first period that saw the Bruins go 0 for 3 on the power play. Both teams had 8 shots on goal and the Bruins were only able to muster 1 shot while on their four minutes of the man advantage. The Rangers tripled the Bruin’s hit total, showing that their goal for the game was to adopt the B’s patented physical style of play. Overall, the opening period was an uneventful one, with only a combined seven scoring chances between the two clubs.

The second period, unlike the first, was flooded with notable events. Just one minute and thirty-one seconds into the middle period the visiting Rangers opened the scoring, with Ryan Callahan sending home a strong wrist shot from Tuukka Rask’s right-hand side, as Rask seemed to be guessing pass the whole way and was surprised by the Ranger’s captain’s shot. About one minute after the Bruins surrendered the goal, the team’s resident pugilist decided to get his team and the crowd going with a spirited scrap against Ranger’s big man Mike Rupp. Thornton’s plan to light a fire in his team definitely worked, because less than one minute after, Andrew Ference put the B’s on the board, jumping into the play and finagling a nifty backhand around Ranger’s goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for the goal. After a sloppy goal that gave scorer Marian Gaborik his 24th tally of the season, Bruin’s defenseman Adam McQuaid went crossbar down with a snapshot off of a beautiful feed from fellow d-man Andrew Ference.

Going into the final stanza tied at two goals apiece, the Bruins knew that they would have to be strong and disciplined to break the stalemate. Both teams had a number of failed chances, as the Rangers failed to convert on two power plays and the B’s failed to convert on their only one in the period (their fourth goalless man-advantage of the game). The game inevitably went into overtime, with action in the third being much like that of the first period, scoreless. 1:50 into the overtime, while racing to a puck in the corner, Andrew Ference bumped into the Ranger’s Ryan McDonagh, sending his head into the boards at an awkward angle and a high rate of speed. McDonagh, after about a minute, was able to skate to the bench under his own power. The referees saw Ference’s hit as grounds for ejection, and the Bruin’s D-man was ejected from the game and his team assessed with a 5-minute major penalty. The call, extremely disabling in O.T. because the Bruins were forced to play 4 on 3, proved to be Boston’s demise. Rask and his three amigos were able to withstand New York’s constant pressure until 3 seconds left in the period. At around the ten second mark, Rask made two close-range, beautiful saves, only to squirt out a rebound on the second save right to the stick of Marian Gaborik, who was able to backhand the puck over the sprawling Rask with only three seconds left for the game winning goal. The Bruins were able to garner a point from the game but the feeling in the locker room was that the point was not enough. The B’s seek revenge on the Rangers, and will have plenty of chances, seeing that the teams will meet three more times this season.

With the top spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference on the line, the Bruins went into the game knowing only a superb effort would top the New York Rangers. Sadly, although a superb effort was given, the hometown team came out on the short end of the stick, with a 3-2 loss to the Rangers in overtime. A snowy Saturday in Boston started out with a scoreless first period that saw the Bruins go 0 for 3 on the power play. Both teams had 8 shots on goal and the Bruins were only able to muster 1 shot while on their four minutes of the man advantage. The Rangers tripled the Bruin’s hit total, showing that their goal for the game was to adopt the B’s patented physical style of play. Overall, the opening period was an uneventful one, with only a combined seven scoring chances between the two clubs.
The second period, unlike the first, was flooded with notable events. Just one minute and thirty-one seconds into the middle period the visiting Rangers opened the scoring, with Ryan Callahan sending home a strong wrist shot from Tuukka Rask’s right-hand side, as Rask seemed to be guessing pass the whole way and was surprised by the Ranger’s captain’s shot. About one minute after the Bruins surrendered the goal, the team’s resident pugilist decided to get his team and the crowd going with a spirited scrap against Ranger’s big man Mike Rupp. Thornton’s plan to light a fire in his team definitely worked, because less than one minute after, Andrew Ference put the B’s on the board, jumping into the play and finagling a nifty backhand around Ranger’s goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for the goal. After a sloppy goal that gave scorer Marian Gaborik his 24th tally of the season, Bruin’s defenseman Adam McQuaid went crossbar down with a snapshot off of a beautiful feed from fellow d-man Andrew Ference.
Going into the final stanza tied at two goals apiece, the Bruins knew that they would have to be strong and disciplined to break the stalemate. Both teams had a number of failed chances, as the Rangers failed to convert on two power plays and the B’s failed to convert on their only one in the period (their fourth goalless man-advantage of the game). The game inevitably went into overtime, with action in the third being much like that of the first period, scoreless. 1:50 into the overtime, while racing to a puck in the corner, Andrew Ference bumped into the Ranger’s Ryan McDonagh, sending his head into the boards at an awkward angle and a high rate of speed. McDonagh, after about a minute, was able to skate to the bench under his own power. The referees saw Ference’s hit as grounds for ejection, and the Bruin’s D-man was ejected from the game and his team assessed with a 5-minute major penalty. The call, extremely disabling in O.T. because the Bruins were forced to play 4 on 3, proved to be Boston’s demise. Rask and his three amigos were able to withstand New York’s constant pressure until 3 seconds left in the period. At around the ten second mark, Rask made two close-range, beautiful saves, only to squirt out a rebound on the second save right to the stick of Marian Gaborik, who was able to backhand the puck over the sprawling Rask with only three seconds left for the game winning goal. The Bruins were able to garner a point from the game but the feeling in the locker room was that the point was not enough. The B’s seek revenge on the Rangers, and will have plenty of chances, seeing that the teams will meet three more times this season.

Homeless people in Rhode Island would have greater protections against housing and employment discrimination under legislation introduced by a state lawmaker. Democratic Sen. John Tassoni said Tuesday that the so-called “Homeless Bill of Rights” would help ensure homeless people aren’t treated unfairly when it comes to renting an apartment, voting, applying for public services or finding a job. The bill has been introduced in the Senate, where it awaits a hearing.

Rhode Island voters don’t get much of a say in presidential primary season: by the time the state votes in April the nominee is often all but chosen, and the smallest state doesn’t have many delegates up for grabs. But tomorrow nearby New Hampshire will hold its always-influential first primary – so some Rhode Islanders make their voices heard by campaigning in the Granite State. And they’re not alone. WBRU’s Emily Jones has more from New Hampshire.

Addiction is a horrible thing, but for smokers, there may be a local solution that could change lives. I’m Ethan Hammerman and today, for the first Pulse of the New Year, here’s a new program that is taking Providence by storm and hoping to help those who need it to kick their cigarette habits.

For anyone, the battle to quit smoking is one of the most difficult to fight. Temptations lie around every corner and sometimes chewing nicotine gum or wearing a patch just are not enough to completely kill an addiction. Luckily for Providence residents, the Providence Community Health Centers have initiated a new program that both empowers people to make correct personal decisions and creates a group environment through which members of the group can hold each other accountable for their actions.

Sally Mendzella, a tobacco treatment specialist with the Providence Community Health Centers, explained why the program is so effective.

“There is a curriculum that we follow, but we want people to not only have input but to have buy in,” she said. “And in order to do that, we sort of follow their lead on a week-to-week basis in terms of what we’re talking about and in terms of what we want them to get out of it. So if someone starts coming in and talking about ‘Well I’ve had a pretty good week but I noticed that I’ve been eating more,’ well then we’re going to talk about weight gain and we’re going to talk about that for that session.”

The program is specifically geared toward Providence residents who are uninsured or have minimal coverage from their providers. This grants them an equal opportunity to overcome their smoking habits and also helps them network with other people in the community.

Nicole Anderson is a participant in the stop smoking group. She originally heard about the program through a community email sent out by Mayor Angel Taveras which mentioned Tobacco Free Providence, the organization that is a driving force behind this program. Months later, she is now a fixture in the group, both as a participant and as a role model for other wannabe quitters.

“I think that hearing everybody else’s story as to how many times they’ve tried to quit and what worked and what didn’t, and having everyone come together at that same time every week and talk about what their struggles are, it’s sort of like you’re accountable to the group. That’s helped me a lot,” Anderson said. “I quit smoking four and a half months ago but I keep going to the group every Thursday because not only do I feel accountable to them to maintain my non-smoker status, some of them have told me that I’m their inspiration. So I want to keep going because I’m committed to their quitting too.”

The program will remain open for all Providence residents until at least September. If anyone wants to hear more about it, they can call 780-2520 for more information. Many smokers simply feel alone when they try to quit, as if they have no support in the world. Now, through the PCHC, that support system may finally be there, ready and willing to accept a new member into its family.

For WBRU News, I’m Ethan Hammerman.

Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy of flickr user alan_cleaver2000

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is leaving Iowa with a victory – just barely. Former Senator Rick Santorum finished just 8 votes behind Romney in last night’s Iowa caucuses, with both winning 25 percent of the vote. Congressman Ron Paul also had a strong showing: third place with 21 percent of the vote.

The results mean momentum – both in media coverage and in fundraising – for all three heading into the New Hampshire primary next week. Romney is set to get another boost in the coming days, as an anonymous GOP official says 2008 candidate Senator John McCain will endorse him in the coming days.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is promising a fight in New Hampshire despite his disappointing finish – a far-out fourth place with just 13 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, fifth-place Texas Governor Rick Perry told supporters he’s going home to reassess his candidacy. Representative Michele Bachmann came in a distant sixth but says she’s staying in the race.