By JEFF DONN
Associated Press

Think Sandy was just a 100-year storm that devastated New York City? Imagine one just as bad, or worse, every three years.

Prominent planners and builders say now is the time to think big to shield the city’s core: a 5-mile barrier blocking the entryway to New York Harbor, an archipelago of man-made islets guarding the tip of Manhattan, or something like CDM Smith engineer Larry Murphy’s 1,700-foot barrier – complete with locks for passing boats and a walkway for pedestrians – at the mouth of the Arthur Kill waterway between the borough of Staten Island and New Jersey.

Act now, before the next deluge, and they say it could even save money in the long run.

These strategies aren’t just pipe dreams. Not only do these technologies already exist, some of the concepts have been around for decades and have been deployed successfully in other countries and U.S. cities.

So if the science and engineering are sound, the long-term cost would actually be a savings, and the frequency and severity of more killer floods is inevitable, what’s the holdup?

Political will.

Like the argument in towns across America when citizens want a traffic signal installed at a dangerous intersection, Sandy’s 43

November 23, 2012

LINCOLN – The holiday shopping season opened on a brisk note as shoppers swamped stores to scarf up Black Friday bargains at area retail stores.
Some 500 customers formed a line that snaked around the corner of Target at Lincoln Mall before the doors opened at 1 a.m. Friday.
The manager said the store brought in extra personnel to handle the crowds and distribute store “maps” to help customers find what they were looking for.
“We really lucked out,” said the manager, who identified herself only as Stephanie. “It’s been peaceful and there haven’t been any problems. People have actually been thanking us for how orderly it was.”
Hours after the onslaught began, a steady but slower stream of customers was still pushing loaded-up shopping carts out the door with heavily discounted flat-screen TVs, computer tablets

1. BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING FORECAST:

Friday: Partly sunny. Milder. Highs in mid/upper 50s.

Saturday: Mainly cloudy with a few rain showers — it may end as a few wet snow showers in the Worcester hills. Highs in the upper 40s early then temps crash into the upper 30s by night.

Sunday: Cold and windy. Clouds and sun. Maybe a flurry well NW? Upper 30s to near 40 for highs.

2. BLACK FRIDAY HISTORY: The term “Black Friday” was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.

3. BLACK FRIDAY MYTHS:

• Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year.

4. BLACK FRIDAY FACTS:

• Nearly 135 million people shop every year on Black Friday.
• In 2010, 212 million shoppers spent $39 billion for an average spending amount of $365.34.
• In 2008, Jtimytai Damour, a

By The Associated Press

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. WHY BLACK FRIDAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

Americans’ growing comfort with online shopping puts more pressure on brick-and-mortar stores, which depend so heavily on the holiday season.

1. WHO THE U.S. IS COUNTING ON TO KEEP THE PEACE IN GAZA

Egypt’s President Morsi emerges from his first major international crisis with enhanced prestige after mediating between sworn enemies Israel and Hamas.

1. ANOTHER BIG ADVANCE FOR SYRIAN REBELS

They strengthen their hold on an oil-rich province, activists say, capturing a base seen as a bastion for Assad loyalists.

1. 100 CARS AND TRUCKS IN TEXAS HOLIDAY PILEUP

Big crash in extremely dense fog near Beaumont sends dozens to hospitals.

1. DEAR AMERICA: IT ONLY SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE GETTING MORE CATALOGS

The flow to U.S. mailboxes has dipped big time because of a postage increase, the weak economy and online purchases.

1. MEXICO WANTS TO BOOT THE U AND THE S

Its formal name is “The United Mexican States” and President Felipe Calderon wants to make it simply “Mexico.”

1. WHERE CHRIS BROWN WON’T BE APPEARING

Organizers say the American star cancels a Guyana concert after protests over his 2009 beating of Barbadian superstar

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (AP) – A pickup truck going the wrong way on a rural Arizona interstate struck a charter bus head-on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring nine others, authorities said.

The pickup truck burst into flames, and the driver was declared dead at the scene on Interstate 10 in Casa Grande, about 50 miles south of Phoenix. Authorities couldn’t immediately say if he died on impact or in the ensuing fire.

Arizona Department of Public Safety officials identified the driver as Francis Wilkens Gibson Jr., 78, of Casa Grande. They said the cause of the crash remained under investigation and “nothing has been ruled out at this point.”

DPS Capt. Brian Preston said investigators will be working to determine whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.

Nine of the 15 passengers on the bus were injured, but none of the injuries was considered life-threatening, DPS said. Two passengers were flown to Casa Grande Regional Medical Hospital, and the other seven were taken to the same facility by ground ambulance.

The bus driver was conscious and walking around when authorities arrived, Preston said.

“Generally when you have a vehicle going the wrong way on an interstate, you’d think it would be

The Thanksgiving holiday period is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and the Warwick Police Department is reminding all travelers, whether across the country or just across town, ensure a safe arrival and buckle up, every trip, every time.

“During the long Thanksgiving travel weekend, many more people than usual are on the roads visiting family and friends,” said Lieutenant Michael Gilbert, “and we want to alert everyone that perhaps the single best thing they can do to save lives and protect themselves and their passengers on our roadways is to insist on the regular and proper use of their seat belts.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts saved more than 12,500 lives in 2010. Research shows that the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers is reduced by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury is reduced by 50 percent when seat belts are worn.

Too many people are not getting the message. Fifty-one percent of the 22,187 passengers killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2010 were not wearing seat belts.

“It’s a simple step that each of us can take to protect ourselves

By The Associated Press

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about Tuesday:

1. WHAT THE U.S. BELIEVES IS KEY TO STOPPING GAZA WARFARE

As a first step, the White House insists that Hamas must cease firing rockets into Israel.

2. SOJOURNING OBAMA SCOLDS AN AUTOCRAT

The president delivers his condemnation of Cambodia’s Hun Sen in private. Some fear government censors will keep his stern words from reaching the Cambodian people.

3. A PUSH FOR WIDESPREAD, ROUTINE HIV SCREENING

All Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once, a health panel says.

4. RED STATES, BLUE STATES: THE DIVIDE WIDENS

In fully half the U.S., the November election created powerful one-party legislatures that can act with no need for compromise.

5. POSITIVE ‘FISCAL CLIFF’ COMMENTS COMFORT INVESTORS

The Dow gains 207 in the best day on Wall Street since the presidential election.

6. SCIENTISTS PUZZLED BY VIOLENT DOLPHIN DEATHS

The mammals are washing ashore along the northern Gulf Coast with bullet wounds, missing jaws and hacked-off fins.

7. POLICE SEE SOMETHING SINISTER IN INDIANAPOLIS BLAST

A homicide investigation has been launched into a house explosion that killed a young couple and wrecked numerous nearby homes.

8. WHY MOURNING FOR HO HO’S MAY BE PREMATURE

Hostess

The former mayor of a Rhode Island city that recently emerged from bankruptcy pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge Monday, acknowledging that he accepted gifts from a political supporter who received a lucrative city contract to board up vacant homes.

Charles Moreau apologized to the people of Central Falls, his family and friends after appearing in U.S. District Court in Providence on Monday morning. Moreau, whose hands shook during his hearing, faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in February. Moreau stepped down as mayor in September.

“People make mistakes in life, and I made a mistake. I’m going to pay for it,” Moreau said outside the courthouse.

Asked if he knew he was doing something wrong when he accepted the gifts from Bouthillette, the 48-year-old Moreau said he didn’t.

Moments later, Moreau’s friend and political supporter Michael Bouthillette entered his own guilty plea and admitted that he paid at least in part for a furnace installed at Moreau’s former home in Central Falls, just north of Providence, and for renovations at a home Moreau owned in nearby Lincoln. The total value is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000.

In exchange, Moreau used his emergency powers to order

By ERIKA NIEDOWSKI
Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Two men accused of stealing the identities of terminally ill people to reap $30 million from insurance companies and brokerage houses pleaded guilty Monday, several days into their trial, and face prison sentences of up to 10 years each.

Estate planning lawyer and philanthropist Joseph Caramadre, 50, and his former employee Raymour Radhakrishnan, 28, each entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Providence to single counts of wire fraud and conspiracy, ending the trial that began last week and had been expected to last up to three months. Testimony was to resume Monday.

Prosecutors say Caramadre, CEO of Estate Planning Resources in Cranston, and Radhakrishnan took out variable annuities and so-called “death-put” bonds that would pay out when a person died. Authorities say they lied to terminally ill people to get personal information that was used to purchase bonds and annuities in their names without consent.

“Today’s message is that greed is not good,” Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha said after the proceeding.

He said the defendants had taken the identities of the terminally ill for no other reason than to make money.

“They did that with impunity, and that’s what brought them down,” he