Rhode Island’s House of Representatives will gather at 4 p.m. for a historic vote to legalize same-sex marriage. It will almost certainly mark the first time either chamber of the General Assembly backs the idea. (WPRI will stream the debate live online.)

While there’s no doubt the issue remains controversial, polling suggests House lawmakers will be acting in line with public opinion if it approves gay marriage today.

Last September, a WPRI 12 poll showed same-sex marriage enjoys significant support among Rhode Islanders, with 56% of voters in favor of legalization, 36% opposed and 8% unsure.

Support for same-sex marriage is fairly broad among different types of voters, with one exception: Republicans. Rhode Island GOP voters are the only group that has a majority against legalization, with 59% opposed (and 40% strongly opposed). Voters ages 60 and older are closely split, with 49% of seniors in favor and 43% opposed.

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Former State Rep. Fausto Anguilla has the luck of the draw – and not in a good way.

Anguilla, a lawyer and justice of the peace in Bristol County, was called to the Bristol police station overnight to serve as a bail commissioner for Congressman David Cicilline’s brother, John, after he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Just five weeks ago, Anguilla found himself at the neighboring Barrington police station serving as the bail commissioner in another politically tinged DUI case: Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio’s.

There’s a reason for that – and it’s not what you might think.

The five bail commissioners in Bristol County operate on a five-week rotation, and a copy of the schedule obtained by WPRI.com shows Anguilla was assigned to cover the weeks beginning March 26 – two days before Ruggerio’s arrest – and April 30, which was Monday. That’s why the former lawmaker got the calls.

By Ted Nesi and Tim White

BARRINGTON, R.I. (WPRI) – Former state Sen. Charles Levesque joined Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio and state Sen. Frank Ciccone at the Barrington police station the night Ruggerio was arrested.

It’s unclear why Levesque was at the station that night. Reached by phone at his Middletown law office on Thursday afternoon, Levesque cut off a reporter’s initial question by saying: “It’s over.”

Pressed on whether he gave Ruggerio or Ciccone a ride home that night, Levesque told WPRI.com: “You know what? It’s over. Have a good day.” Then he hung up.

Ruggerio told officers he had just one drink prior to his arrest – described as “1 Hard Liquor – 6 ounces with ice” – and he said the only food he’d eaten that day was a banana for breakfast at 10:30 a.m.

The justice of the peace who arraigned Ruggerio was yet another one-time lawmaker: former state Rep. Fausto Anguilla, D-Bristol, who retired in 2006. But Anguilla said on Thursday night his service in the General Assembly had nothing to do with Barrington Police calling him to the station last week.

Read the rest of this story »

(photo: General Assembly)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Republican Brendan Doherty said Wednesday he’ll return $1,000 donated to his campaign by state Sen. Frank Ciccone, criticizing the lawmaker for showing “very poor judgment” when he allegedly tried to threaten police officers as they arrested Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio.

The announcement comes two days after WPRI.com reported Doherty would keep Ciccone’s money despite last week’s incident in Barrington, a decision that drew criticism from some of his allies.

“With the benefit of additional information released today by the Barrington Police and upon careful reflection on the matter, I am extremely disappointed in the actions of Senator Ciccone and I have directed my campaign to return his contributions,” Doherty said in a statement.

Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, crossed party lines twice last year to contribute campaign cash to Doherty, who stepped down as head of the Rhode Island State Police to challenge first-term Democrat David Cicilline. Ciccone gave Doherty $500 in June and another $500 in October, according to Federal Election Commission records.

“I am confident that the Barrington Police acted with respect and courtesy in this situation, but it has become evidence that Senator Ciccone showed very poor judgment and failed to treat the police officers in the same manner,” Doherty said Wednesday.

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Graziano in 2002

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The 80-year-old former lawmaker who challenged state Sen. Frank Ciccone in the last three elections says she won’t seek a rematch in November, but she’s shocked by allegations that her former opponent tried to intimidate police.

“How could anybody be so stupid?” Catherine Graziano, a Democratic state senator from 1993 to 2002, told WPRI.com on Tuesday. “If you’re going to do something like that, don’t do that in public.”

“God love ‘em, I give those police officers a lot of credit,” said Graziano, a retired Salve Regina University nursing professor who lives in Providence. “They didn’t bend, they didn’t bow. They did just what they were supposed to do, and now it’s something people are talking about.”

Graziano unsuccessfully challenged Ciccone, D-Providence, for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 7 in both 2006 and 2008, coming within 194 votes of defeating him the second time. She ran against him again in 2010, this time in the general election as an independent, and lost in a landslide. But the senator victory didn’t come cheap.

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By Tim White

BARRINGTON, R.I. (WPRI) – The police officer who pulled over and arrested Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio for drunk driving has one of the highest arrest and conviction rates for DUI cases at the Barrington Police Department.

Patrolman Walter Larson is credited with 16 of the 50 DUI arrests made in Barrington last year, according to Barrington Police Chief John LaCross. All of the arrests came during his first year on the job as a police officer.

As a result, Larson was recommended for several awards including the National Mothers Against Drunk Driving Award for “Outstanding Drunk Driving Enforcement,” LaCross said.

Larson was thrust into the political spotlight last week after another driver called 911 to report a car swerving on Wampanoag Trail just after midnight. Police say Ruggerio, D-Providence, was behind the wheel and drunk when they pulled him over. His license was suspended by the Traffic Tribunal on Tuesday.

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Sean Daly reports:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio admitted on Tuesday he refused to take a Breathalyzer test when Barrington Police stopped him on suspicion of drunk driving a week ago.

Ruggerio, D-North Providence, appeared before the Traffic Tribunal on Tuesday, nearly a week after the incident in Barrington last Wednesday. Police said Ruggerio’s arrest was prompted by a 911 call at 12:09 a.m. about an erratic driver on Wampanoag Trail near Vitullo Farm.

Prosecutors will drop the charge of driving under the influence against Ruggerio in a separate court appearance on Wednesday. The majority leader will lose his license for six months because he refused the breath test.

Republican Brendan Doherty is feeling the heat this week for keeping $1,000 from state Sen. Frank Ciccone in the wake of allegations the lawmaker tried to intimidate police officers.

But Doherty is far from the only leading Rhode Island politician who took donations from Ciccone – though he may be the only Republican.

Ciccone has donated at least $25,610 to a host of politicians and political organizations since 2002, including $2,800 to Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, $2,000 to former Providence City Council President John Lombardi and $1,650 to Congressman David Cicilline during his mayoral days, an analysis of R.I. Board of Elections filings by WPRI.com shows.

The Rhode Island Laborers District Council, an arm of the Laborers International Union, paid Ciccone $120,625 in 2011, according to its most recent federal disclosure filing. The Senate paid him $13,962.

Ciccone, D-Providence, also gave money to many of the state’s current leaders, including Gov. Lincoln Chafee ($500), Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts ($200), Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed ($750), Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio ($350), Providence Mayor Angel Taveras ($300) and U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ($1,000) during his failed 2002 gubernatorial bid.

Beneficiaries who are out of office included former Treasurer Frank Caprio ($1,600), former Lt. Gov. Charlie Fogarty ($1,350), former Senate Majority Leader Dan Connors ($900), former Attorney General Patrick Lynch ($850), former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci ($125) and former state Rep. David Segal ($50).

Among the notables who did not get any money from Ciccone were House Speaker Gordon Fox, Treasurer Gina Raimondo and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. The senator did not return a phone call Monday.

• Related: Senate President Paiva Weed silent on Ciccone’s police report (April 2)

(photo: Rhode Island Senate)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Former State Police Col. Brendan Doherty says he’s keeping $1,000 donated to his congressional campaign by state Sen. Frank Ciccone, despite an allegation by police in Barrington that the lawmaker threatened them while they were arresting Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio.

“It is our understanding that Senator Ciccone has apologized for any comments that may have been viewed as improper,” Giovanni Cicione, Doherty’s campaign manager, told WPRI.com in an email. “For now we see no reason to take any action.”

Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, crossed party lines twice last year to contribute campaign cash to Doherty, who retired as head of the Rhode Island State Police to challenge first-term Democrat David Cicilline. Ciccone gave Doherty $500 in June and another $500 in October, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Ciccone said Friday he disputes some of the police report’s details but added, “I certainly regret anything I may have said Tuesday evening that was inappropriate.” Both Ciccone and Ruggerio, D-Providence, work for arms of the Laborers International Union of North America. That connection is part of why Doherty – whose campaign slogan is “Common Sense, Uncommon Integrity” – will keep the money, according to his campaign manager.

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Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, who was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of drunk driving and for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test, helped sharpen the penalties he could face.

“Last evening the vehicle I was driving in Barrington was pulled over by the Barrington Police,” Ruggerio, D-North Providence, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “I declined a Breathalyzer test.”

On March 1, 2006, Ruggerio was one of 36 senators who voted for a bill that increased the fines and lengths of license suspensions for those who refuse to take a breath test. Governor Carcieri signed the bill, which kept the refusal as a civil offense rather than a criminal one, into law later that year.

“The Senate has long believed that closing the refusal loophole is the most important step we can take to reduce drunken driving in our state,” then-Senate President Joseph Montalbano said. “This is common-sense legislation that exists in many other states, and I’m very proud to see it finally become law in Rhode Island.”

At the time, national rankings gave Rhode Island poor marks for stopping drunk driving, with 85% of suspected drunk drivers refusing to take a breath test, compared with 25% nationally, and no state recording more traffic fatalities linked to alcohol consumption, according to the General Assembly.

Rhode Island has two of the four “optimal laws” against impaired driving, putting it in the middle among all states, according to Advocacy for Highway & Auto Safety. Rhode Island does not require convicted drunk drivers to take breath tests before starting their cars or mandate tests for drivers involved in fatal clashes.

Ruggerio is scheduled to be arraigned in District Court next week. ”I accept full responsibility for my actions last evening,” the majority leader said in his statement on Wednesday.

Tim White contributed to this report.

The two leaders of the Rhode Island Senate both issued statements within the last 90 minutes addressing the majority leader’s DUI charge. Ruggerio said he accepts responsibility for what he did but it won’t impact his work; Paiva Weed said she’s concerned about what happened but confident in his continued leadership.

Read our updated story for more.

By Tim White and Ted Nesi

BARRINGTON, R.I. (WPRI) – Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, one of the most powerful politicians in Rhode Island, was arrested just after midnight on Wednesday for driving while under the influence of alcohol, WPRI.com has learned.

Read the rest of this story »

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Large corporations are the main source of funding for the nonprofit Senate Presidents’ Forum but the companies’ employees do not use their access at its events to influence public officials, according to Charlie Fogarty, the Rhode Island Senate’s former president pro tempore.

“There were a lot of national corporations who were sponsors, as they are at virtually every organization from the National Governors Association right down to the National Conference of State Legislatures,” Fogarty, who served on the board of the Senate Presidents’ Forum during the late 1990s, told WPRI.com.

The Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit has been in the news since The Providence Journal revealed that Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio missed the start of the special pension session in October because the organization was paying for him to attend one of its events in Buenos Aires. Its website is no longer accessible.

The Senate Presidents’ Forum raised $3.4 million in contributions and grants from 2005 through 2009, according to its most recent IRS filing. The group provided no details about the sources of its funding. It listed no employees but said it paid $110,000 to Rose Swan, a consultant in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., in 2009.

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The Rhode Island Senate was unwilling to help Providence shrink its crushing COLA payments as part of the pension law this month – even though one of its leaders was a driving force behind awarding them in the first place.

Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, an influential member of Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed’s leadership team, sponsored legislation in the spring of 1989 to have the General Assembly ignore Providence’s leaders and double cost-of-living adjustments to police and fire retirees there.

Ruggerio’s bill sought to increase Providence public-safety retirees’ COLAs, from 3% to 6%, and to award new 3% COLAs to municipal workers, who received no annual increases at the time. But the senator’s path was blocked in May 1989 when the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that state lawmakers no longer had authority over the city pension system after Providence got home rule in 1983.

“Obviously, the Supreme Court decision renders the bill null and void,” Ruggerio told The Providence Journal at the time. A spokesman for Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat who’s been in the Senate for 26 years and became majority leader last year, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about his proposal.

Ruggerio works for an arm of the Laborers International Union in Providence, whose Local 1033 affiliate is the largest city union. The Journal said Ruggerio “introduced the bill at the request of the city’s police and firefighter unions, which said the City Council had turned a deaf ear to their requests for pension adjustments.”

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