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By Monica Allen Standard-Times staff writer
Christopher Ruggeri, 3, has a look of anxious terror on his face as the school teacher asks him to dip the thick bristles of a paint brush into a pot of black paint. It isn't until the teacher, Renee Teotonio, places her arm around the small, dark-haired boy that his face appears to relax. But he does not look at any of his five classmates or the teacher.
Outside the classroom at Macomber School in Westport, Christopher's mother, Sandra Ruggeri, peers through a glass window into the room. She does not want to be seen, but she wants to check on her little boy, who is in his second day of Westport's summer preschool program for children with special needs.
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NEW BEDFORD -- In an age when some politicians would do just about anything to keep their names in the headlines, the publicity garnered by Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson and his first-in-New England experiment with shackled work crews has raised some political eyebrows.
Mr. Hodgson, who describes the chain gangs as part of an overall strategy to reform prisoners, bristles at any description of his actions as a publicity stunt. Nevertheless, the ensuing attention from state and national media have elevated his star in the Republican party and sparked discussions about his potential for higher office.
By Monica Allen, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- It wasn't a holiday. No saint was being feted. No battle was being remembered. But more than 100 South End residents filled Mott Street Park yesterday to celebrate community.
Sitting under the shade of an oak tree, Angela Correia, 31, cheered as her son Elso, 10, was awarded a trophy for shooting the most baskets in 45 seconds in his age category.
Hank Seaman
When the ultra-famous like John F. Kennedy, Jr. die -- suddenly, tragically -- our shock compels us to seek out kindred spirits. Not only to commiserate and validate grief, but to shore up our shaken faith. What chance do we mere mortals have in this fickle universe, we wonder helplessly, when a tragedy like this can happen to someone so rich, so famous?
Tony Silva is no exception.
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Dick White
They peer back at me from my bookshelves in a silent accusation of gathering dust.
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." "The Illustrated Man." "Pulitzer Prize Reader." "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories." "Zen and the Art of Archery." "Lake Woebegone Days." "The O. Henry Awards." "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."
The books that I have accumulated, but haven't yet read.
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GREENWICH, Conn. -- Friends and family members gathered yesterday to bid a final farewell to Lauren Bessette and her sister Carolyn, who perished with John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash in the Atlantic.
In the week since the accident, there have been countless eulogies for the 38-year-old son of Camelot.
But the Bessette sisters have been remembered not so much for how they lived their lives as for what they became in death -- figures in another Kennedy tragedy.
By Daniel J. Wakin, Associated Press writer
GRACKO, Yugoslavia -- The massacre of 14 Serbs harvesting wheat threatened to set back efforts to end Kosovo's cycle of endless violence, and NATO officials acknowledged yesterday that such acts of vengeance are beyond their control.
Villagers blamed ethnic Albanians for the attack, the worst since NATO peacekeepers entered Kosovo six weeks ago. Peacekeepers have been hard-pressed to curb daily killings, abductions and harassment of Serbs across the province by ethnic Albanians avenging widespread atrocities committed earlier by Serb forces.
BOGOTA, Colombia -- A massive aerial search for a missing U.S. Army spy plane focused yesterday on an area of winding brown rivers and hot, dense jungles near Colombia's southwestern border where leftist rebels are strong.
Airplanes and helicopters from the U.S. military, State Department and Customs Service as well as from the Colombian military helped search for the plane, which took off from a Colombian military base Friday morning on a "routine counter-drug mission," the U.S. Army said. There was no ground search so far.
OTIS AIR FORCE BASE -- Two flatbed trucks under police escort transported wreckage from the plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law to the Coast Guard hangar where it will be examined in detail by federal investigators.
Kennedy's single-engine Piper Saratoga, described as "twisted metal," arrived late Friday night, a Coast Guard official said.
EDGARTOWN -- Just when Vineyarders got their island back from the journalists who swarmed their beaches, lawns and parking lots during the search for John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane, they heard the media horde would return.
President Clinton, the first lady, and their daughter Chelsea announced Friday they plan to spend 10 days on Martha's Vineyard in late August, bringing with them hundreds of reporters who will clog the island's already congested towns.
By Adam Bowles, Norwich Bulletin
GRISWOLD, Conn. -- Normally, 9-year-old Stephanie Hill would get in trouble for bringing fire ants and Maple moths to school.
But while some educators at Griswold Middle School may shiver with disgust, her teacher says her behavior is perfectly acceptable.
And what else can he say? After all, Steve Friedberg brought dozens of Madagascar hissing cockroaches to class to share with his students.
By Anne Wallace Allen, Associated Press writer
This year, northern New England's sweet corn was a great deal more than knee-high by the fourth of July.
"It was head-high for most of us," said Laurie Mazza, who works at Sam Mazza Farmstand and Greenhouses in Colchester, Vt. "We had corn for sale in our farmstand on the third of July, which is the earliest we've ever had corn."
By Jack Stewardson, Standard-Times staff writer
FAIRHAVEN -- Gary Dessert was in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., back in April when a storefront sign across the street caught his eye.
He said his first reaction was bemusement about the oddity of a retail store selling caskets, but then his curiosity was perked.
The next day he went back, went and talked to the people at The Casket Store, and came out convinced that he has stumbled on a great business idea.
Walt Disney Co. will begin next week to roll out a system designed to slash waiting time at its U.S. theme parks' signature attractions.
The last test of the system is scheduled to start Thursday on the popular Space Mountain ride at Disneyland, said Tom Brocato, spokesman for the Anaheim theme park. The tests will help Disney discern whether there are differences between Disneyland and Walt Disney World that would affect the way the Fastpass system works on the West Coast.
A groundbreaking survey of America's working poor draws a picture of hard workers with generally stable employment histories, who still aren't sharing in the nation's current economic boom.
The most pressing career worry for these workers is simply earning enough to support their families, according to the survey released Thursday by Rutgers University in New Jersey and the University of Connecticut. The survey defined the working poor as families earning no more than twice the federal government's poverty threshold -- which in 1997 was $12,802 for a family of three.
By John Lang, Scripps Howard News Service
Six-year-old Ben Ryzak is one of the new breed of seasoned business travelers. Every couple of months he packs his bag, hops a plane and flies from his home in San Mateo, Calif., to some distant city for a week of business -- his mom's business.
There are millions of children today like Ben, going along when their parents take business trips across the country. It's a phenomenon that is transforming the travel industry, and some of the nation's top hotel chains are scrambling to compete for patronage of business travelers with children in tow.
WINCHESTER, N.H. -- It was a little bit of one-upsmanship for a short time at the Northfield Drive-In Theatre on a recent Friday night as a couple of dozen members of the Drive-In Theatre Fan Club squared off against one another.
Bob Barrus of Orange, Mass., started talking about the theater in his basement, complete with box office, screen (with opening and closing curtain) and 16mm projector. His movie nights feature cartoons, coming attractions, newsreels, a feature film and "exit music," he says with a smile.
By Robert Lovinger, Standard-Times staff writer
Somewhere on this Wednesday morning last week, accountants are crunching numbers and secretaries are taking dictation.
But on the Padanaram Bridge, a deeply tanned Frank Martin stands alongside his three fishing lines like a man with nothing better to do than enjoy the day.
Now and then, he tosses a summary comment into the beautiful, early morning air. "I'm tellin' you, this life is wonderful."
The world's longest conversation --it's been going on for 33 years now --ended recently on a high note. The subject concerned Bill's land. What should he do with it? Should he build himself a castle? Should he turn it into housing and make a lot of bucks? Should he -- do nothing?
As Bill approached his 75th birthday, the time had come to make a decision. No more dilly-dallying around.
Vests, hoods, Velcro, zippers and pockets. Lots of pockets.
That, in a nutshell, is what's hot for boys returning to school this fall, along with vintage athletic wear and logo brands.
Most parents are familiar with last year's hit cargo pants, but this fall boys will want "cargo everything," with durable fabrics, zippers and pockets in both tops and bottoms, said Edgar Trinidad, spokesman for the Fashion Association in New York City.
By The Associated Press
DETROIT -- For a No. 9 hitter in the lineup, Boston Red Sox rookie Trot Nixon put on a pretty good show.
Nixon hit three of Boston's seven home runs and had a career-high five RBIs as the Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak with an 11-4 victory over the Tigers yesterday.
Nomar Garciaparra homered twice and Brian Daubach and Troy O'Leary also homered for the Red Sox, who won for just the fifth time in their last 16 games.
Jonathan Comey
If this were a movie, the dramatic music would start now. Bring up the string section, mix those strident violins in there -- now, add in a few rumbling bass drums. Cut to a man in a pinstriped suit, his face subtly obscured by shadow. He is tapping a pencil against his mahogany desk -- tap, tap, tap. The camera zooms in on the pencil, the noise intensifies.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Suddenly, the music crashes to a halt as the phone rings. Our man in the suit jumps as the audience jumps with him.
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By Alec Sylvia Standard-Times correspondent
WAREHAM -- For the first five innings of last night's Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, it appeared as though the West division was swinging rolled-up wet newspapers.
The West had managed just one hit against four pitchers, while the East division tallied four hits and four runs in the first two frames of the game.
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By David Williams, Scripps Howard News Service
More than a decade in the majors, and George Brett had sure raised some dirt.
He'd hit .300 eight times. Won batting titles in two decades. Flirted with a .400 season.
He'd played in eight All-Star games and a World Series. The American League playoffs were just about his personal sandbox.
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"There's no magic in Washington," said Joseph Peters, the ex-cop from Philadelphia who is now deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Bureau of State and Local Affairs.
Steve Urbon
NEW BEDFORD All the hustlers who used the past week's events to try to take the Kennedys down a peg had a terribly hard time of it, because John F. Kennedy Jr. simply hadn't made a mess of his life. So by the end of the week, they had their hooks into his late mother, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, for being a manipulative, controlling media hound. If you want a low point in the curve, this might have been it.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Shock over the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. recalls the intense grief following the violent death of Princess Diana two summers ago. We are unprepared to accept the reality that handsome hunks and golden girls can disappear. It's as though death has invaded the wrong neighborhood.
The sudden loss of glamorous figures has always drawn great attention. Nowadays it seems downright unnatural. Our society has stored the chilling questions of our mortality on a high shelf. We don't want to see it. Every now and then a very public death forces us to look.
| Index |
By Richard Pacheco, Standard-Times correspondent
The 10th annual Environmental Arts Inc. outdoor sculpture exhibition, which opened at the Fuller Museum of Art in Brockton July 11, features the works of four area artists: Eric Lintala, Charlotte Hamlin, Stacy Latt Savage and Aaron Obadiah R. Panitz.
By Timothy Rossi, Standard-Times correspondent
The Caravan Stage Society Inc. will be docking their newest theater venue -- a 90-foot tall ship, the Amara Zee -- at New Bedford's Fishermen's Pier Monday. The floating theater troupe, known as Caravan StageBarge, will be arriving here to perform their production of "Trapped: A Whale of a Tale."
By Judie Glave, Associated Press writer
NEW YORK -- Temperatures inside the Manhattan studio where Jennifer Lopez is shooting yet another magazine cover inch toward 100 degrees.
Cheese cubes on a nearby table have mutated into indistinguishable blobs of cholesterol, colorful summer fruit is now brown and the day's stash of soda bobs idly in a bucket of melted ice.
And Lopez doesn't complain as she's poked, prodded and slimed by her team of professional handmaidens and assistants.
By John Rogers, Associated Press writer
BRANSON, Mo. -- All he really wanted was something to do on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, recalls Bobby Vinton, leaning back in a plush chair on the patio of his home in the Ozarks, taking in one of the most spectacular lakeside views in the world.
"I was going somewhere and we had like a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off because, basically, weekends are the big time," explains the jovial Vinton, who appears peripatetic even when he's sitting down.
With temperatures in the 90s in many parts of the country, the heat is definitely on. And there's more to come.
So how do you keep cool at home when this is just the beginning of the oppressive weather?
For many who have central air conditioning, the inclination is to run to the thermostat and crank it down to 68 degrees. But before you touch that dial, keep in mind a few practical ideas that will help chip away at your energy bill.
Walking through the spread that is Allen C. Haskell Nurseries, you might experience a mixture of reactions, such as: I've died and gone to heaven. ... Who does the weeding? ... Do they ever take vacations? .. Do they ever rest? ... What's his driving force? ... This is one incredible resume!
This is no ordinary greenhouse operation. You're definitely not in Kansas anymore, as the saying goes. The place is otherworldly, like a New England extension of London's famous Kew Gardens. Meandering beautiful grounds covered in lush and diverse vegetation. Greenhouses brimming with rare and unusual plant species.
By Chris Casson Madden, Scripps Howard News Service
It may sound crazy, but in a sublimely beautiful vacation spot, when you know you'll get to enjoy it for longer than a weekend, mundane household tasks can become pleasurable, part of the vacation allure.
This is what I discovered recently when Kevin and I spent a fortnight on Nantucket. When domesticity reigns in your soul and the conditions are just right -- perfect weather, lots of light, soft sea breezes, charming surroundings -- then daily household chores take on a ritual appeal, something definitely lacking in my hectic "other life."
By Jerry Harkavy, Associated Press writer
BAR HARBOR, Maine -- Large granite stones that define the edges of the historic carriage roads at Acadia National Park are sometimes referred to by locals as "Mr. Rockefeller's teeth."
And for the first time in recent memory, those stones have been given a good flossing.
Improving drainage by removing vegetation that had sprung up between the stones was part of a $6 million reconstruction of the 44-mile network of carriage roads that John D. Rockefeller Jr. built and donated to the park. They link up with an additional 13 miles of carriage roads on Rockefeller-owned land also open to the public.
Hoping for a bigger slice of the summer travel pie, golf resorts are offering special pricing deals to entice families to spend their summer vacations on the links.
According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), golf is one of the fastest-growing sports for families, with women and juniors (boys and girls 12 to 17) representing more than 50 percent of all first-time golfers.
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