• Rhode Island becomes 10th state to legalize gay marriage

    Charles Krupa / AP

    Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon Fox, right, embraces his partner, Marcus LaFond, after a vote to pass a gay marriage bill at the State House in Providence, R.I., Thursday, May 2, 2013.

    By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Rhode Island became the final state in New England and the 10th in the country to legalize gay marriage after independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Thursday signed a bill that will allow same-sex marriage.


    "I know that you have been waiting for this day to come," Chafee said to the state's gay and lesbian community at a bill-signing ceremony in front of hundreds. "I know you have loved ones that dreamed this would happen but did not live to see it. But I am proud to say that now at long last, you are free to marry the person you love."

    In a New York Times op-ed Wednesday, Chafee outlined his support for gay marriage not only on moral grounds, but also economic.

    "The talented workers who are driving the new economy — young, educated and forward-looking — want to live in a place that reflects their values. They want diversity, not simply out of a sense of justice, but because diversity makes life more fun," he wrote. "Why would any state turn away the people who are most likely to create the economies of the 21st century?"

    As a Republican U.S. senator in 2004, Chafee voiced his support for gay marriage when most members of his party were staunchly opposed to it. He was ousted from his Senate seat in 2006 but won the governor's race in the Ocean State in 2010 as an independent.

    Chafee is now calling on fellow governors to push for similar legislation to what passed in Rhode Island on Thursday, and calling for the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Though public opinion continues to turn in favor of same-sex marriage, legalizing it is still a heavy lift for many states. 

    Even in Rhode Island, which sits in the country's friendliest territory for gay-marriage supporters, opposition from the state's heavy Catholic population put the prospects of passage in jeopardy for years. The legislation has been introduced in the House every session since 1997.

    But last fall, more gay-marriage supporters were elected to the state legislature, and the bill's passage was the result of a highly energized and coordinated campaigning from those equal rights groups, business leaders, community organizers and politicians.

    The bill overcame its biggest hurdle last week when it passed the Senate by a comfortable 26-12 vote after Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, allowed a vote despite her opposition to gay marriage. The House easily passed the legislation in January but needed to approve the final language in a procedural vote Thursday that passed 56-15. The session was largely a celebration in which legislators reflected on the significance of the bill and thanked those who fought for its passage.

    "We are truly social creatures, and that is the essence of this legislation," House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, said before the bill was signed. "You are free to love and commit to the person of your choice no matter what your gender may be.... And the foundation of that is a very simple, yet probably the most powerful word in the English language: Love," said Fox, who is gay.

    Along with the five other New England states, Rhode Island joins Iowa, Maryland, Washington, New York and Washington, D.C., in recognizing same-sex marriage. Minnesota, Illinois and Delaware are also expected to come to decisions about the issue soon.

    Charles Krupa / AP

    Lise Iwon, right, and Julie Smith celebrate after a gay marriage bill passed in the Rhode Island House at the State House in Providence, R.I., Thursday, May 2, 2013.

    Opponents to gay marriage argued passing the legislation would lessen religious liberty for churches and certain faith-based organizations

    A day before the bill passed, the National Organization for Marriage called on the House to reject the legislation, which they say contains "a shocking lack of religious liberty protections, potentially ghettoizing people of faith unless they compromise and remain silent in the public square."

    "When marriage is redefined into a genderless institution, it presents a range of legal conflicts for people of faith and the small businesses and charitable organizations they operate to serve the public," Christopher Plante, regional director for the organization, said in a statement.

    The first same-sex marriages could take place Aug. 1, when the new law takes effect. Civil unions, which the state approved two years ago, will no longer be available to gay couples, though existing civil unions will still be recognized.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  • Rhode Island poised to become latest state to approve gay marriage

    Steven Senne / AP

    Rhode Island state Sen. Donna Nesselbush, D-Pawtucket (center) shakes hands with R.I. state Sen. Paul Fogarty, D-Glocester, moments after the state Senate passed a same-sex marriage bill Wednesday.

    By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Rhode Island took a major step to becoming the 10th state to approve gay marriage Wednesday after the state Senate voted to approve a measure that would allow same-sex couples to wed.

    Once believed to be a close call, the legislation passed comfortably by a 26-12 vote. It heads to the House, where it easily passed in January, next week for final approval. Gov. Lincoln Chafee has pledged to sign the bill, and the first same-sex marriages could take place Aug. 1.

    Heavily Catholic Rhode Island is the last of New England's six states to legalize gay marriage. The legislation has been introduced in the House every year since 1997.

    "Rhode Island will no longer be an outlier in our region. We will have the welcome mat out," Chafee said in a statement. "We will be open for business, and we will once again affirm our legacy as a place that is tolerant and appreciative of diversity."

    Iowa, Maryland, New York and Washington also legally recognize same-sex marriages, as does Washington, D.C.

    Supporters of same sex-marriage erupted into cheers outside the Senate chambers after the result was clear. The vote was a result of a highly energized and coordinated campaigning from those equal rights groups, business leaders, community organizers and politicians. 

    “New England is now complete. Through court rulings, legislative action, and wins at the ballot, loving and committed couples from Bangor to Burlington, Providence to Portland, and Cambridge to Concord will soon be able to join in the freedom to marry," Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry, said in a statement.

    Since President Obama announced his support of gay marriage in May 2012, state legislatures throughout the country have slowly begun to follow his lead. Minnesota, Illinois and Delaware are also expected to come to decisions about the issue soon.

    Opponents to gay marriage argued passing the legislation will create less religious liberty for churches and certain faith-based organizations. “Lawmakers have allowed themselves to be fooled into thinking they have protected people of faith when in fact they have put those who believe in true marriage in the crosshairs of the law and gay ‘marriage’ activists. It won’t be long before the repercussions begin to be felt,” Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said in a statement.

    NBC's Miranda Leitsinger contributed to this report. 

  • 'Doomed to repeat history': Painful memories for survivors of '03 Rhode Island nightclub fire

    One of the worst nightclub fires in history has claimed a terrible toll in the southern Brazil city of Santa Maria, with at least 233 dead by the most recent count.

    By Stephen Singer, The Associated Press

    Argentina, a year later. Thailand in 2008. Russia in 2009.


    For survivors of a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, the fire in Brazil that killed hundreds Sunday is the latest in a series of reminders that no matter how far away, those who ignore the lessons of their tragedy can pay a horrible cost.

    On a cold night in February 2003, the rock band Great White took the stage at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. During the show, pyrotechnics set fire to flammable soundproofing foam that lined the walls and ceiling, killing 100 and injuring 200.

    Over the decade since, survivors have come together time and again over news of similar disastrous fires overseas.

    "We're very tight," said Todd King, one of the survivors. "You can't put into words what we saw."

    He said he was woken up Sunday morning by a storm of text messages from others who survived the Rhode Island fire, asking, "Can you believe this is happening again?"

    "I'm surprised nobody has learned," he said.

    Another Rhode Island survivor, Victoria Eagan, said she and others noted that each of three earlier fires was caused by indoor pyrotechnics igniting with material in the building. Investigators have just begun their work in Brazil, but witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.

    "I had the same reaction as the other three times," Eagan said Sunday. "We're doomed to repeat history and I wish they could learn."

    In the year after the Rhode Island fire, a flare ignited ceiling foam at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people.

    Indoor fireworks were blamed for a fire at a club in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2008 in which 66 partygoers were killed.

    And another indoor fireworks display at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152 people in December 2009.

    In Rhode Island, the Station fire brought about sweeping changes to the state's fire code with one intent: Never again.

    Sprinklers are now required in nightclubs and bars with occupancy limits of 100 or more, nightclub workers must be trained in fire safety and more money was set aside for fire safety classes in schools.

    Rhode Island also banned pyrotechnics in all but its largest public venues and local fire marshals were enabled to order immediate repairs and write tickets for violations.

    Eagan said the changes were necessary in Rhode Island.

    "I wish it would spread to other countries," she said.

    A deadly blaze overseas does not seem so distant because of the Rhode Island tragedy, Eagan said.

    "It's a tragedy that hits close to home," she said. "It's maddening to see it happen again."

    In an emailed statement, the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, which is building a memorial to those affected by the 2003 fire, compared the two fires.

    "One cannot help but notice the similarities between this tragedy and the Station nightclub fire that occurred nearly 10 years ago," the group said.

    RELATED: Brazil nightclub inferno: Locked door trapped patrons?

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Banned by town, father-daughter dances may make comeback

    Lori Stratford / cranston.patch.com

    Father-daughter dances like this one would be allowed -- once again -- if a proposed state law passes.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The age-old tradition of father-daughter dances may get an encore performance on school dance floors in Cranston, R.I.


    A lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that she hopes will amend Rhode Island's language on gender discrimination laws just enough to allow gender-specific events, such as father-daughter dances or mother-son baseball games, to make a comeback after they were banned last fall.

    “I don’t believe the intent of these events was ever to be overtly discriminatory, but we all have to live with the language of the law. This bill, if approved and enacted, should ensure that these events can continue without weakening our resolve to oppose discriminatory activities,” State Sen. Hanna Gallo, who represents Cranston, said in a statement.

    The legislation would amend state law to permit schools "to provide activities for students of one sex provided that reasonably comparable activities are provided for students of the other sex," Gallo said a in a statement.

    Cranston banned father-daughter dances last year, saying they were a violation of state gender laws after the American Civil Liberties Union sent a complaint on behalf of a single mom, who said her daughter couldn't attend because she didn't have a dad to accompany her.

    “A dance for girls and a baseball game for boys, particularly in light of the stereotypes they embody, are not, we submit, ‘reasonably comparable’ activities. To the contrary; the stereotypes at their core undermine the goal of school anti-discrimination laws,” the ACLU letter read. 

    At least one Cranston elementary school has managed to avoid the controversy altogether: Hold family dances instead.

    "The stereotypical family doesn't really exist anymore," Robyn Ladouceur, a parent of a sixth-grader at Garden City School in Cranston. "We know for a fact that we have families from lesbian couples that have children, and adopted children, and all different faiths and religions. Why don't we just have an event for whoever you'd like to bring?"

    Ladouceur is the parent facilitator of the Family Engagement Network, a PTO-type organization. She hopes her school will be a role model for others in Cranston, regardless of the outcome of Gallo's legislation.

    "I'm trying to grasp what they're losing in calling a father-daughter dance 'a family dance,' what they're losing in calling a mother-son bowling 'family bowling,'" she said. "Anybody who has listened to both sides would say if the kids aren't losing out on anything and all we're doing is making it more acceptable for all people to come, and you just want your husband to take your daughter to the family dance, no one is going to look differently upon you."

    The town of Cranston, located a few miles outside of Providence, is no stranger to controversy. In April 2011, a 15-year-old girl teamed up with the ACLU and filed a lawsuit over a prayer banner that hung in her high school's auditorium. Jessica Ahlquist, an atheist, received death threats for insisting that the banner, which had been up for decades, be removed; ultimately, she won the lawsuit. 

  • Rhode Island moves closer to approving same-sex marriage

    By Isolde Raftery, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Rhode Island moved one step closer to approving same-sex marriage on Tuesday when the House Judiciary Committee unanimously agreed to send a marriage equality bill to the full House. 


    The bill revises current marriage law – including language that prohibits a man from marrying his mother, grandmother, stepmother and so on. The bill renders those relations gender-neutral: “No person shall marry his or her sibling, parent, grandparent, child…"

    U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, an openly-gay Democrat, applauded his home state on Tuesday. On his official website and on his Facebook page, he issued a statement: “This important effort has received the support of a growing number of Rhode Islanders from nearly every political background and religious tradition, and I believe it is time our state recognizes the dignity and value of relationships between committed and loving individuals of the same gender by enacting full marriage equality in Rhode Island.”

    If passed by House and Senate, gay couples could start getting married immediately. Couples with civil unions licensed by the state would have their unions transferred to marriages on Jan. 1, 2014. The Providence Journal reported that supporters expect the measure to pass the state House, but that the state Senate is less certain. 

    Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court received its first brief on same-sex marriage on Tuesday. The brief, which came from supporters of a 2008 California ban on same-sex marriage, urged the justices to let voters define marriage.

    A separate filing from  the top three Republican members of the House of Representatives -- Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy -- urged the court to uphold Section 3 of a 1996 federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, that has the effect of denying same-sex couples a variety of federal benefits that heterosexual couples receive.

    The Supreme Court could rule that it would be unconstitutional for any states to prohibit same-sex marriage -- arguing that marriage is a fundamental right and that equal protection under the Constitution means marriage equality. 

    If a high court ruling does not support same-sex marriage, that would not prevent the Rhode Island legislature from passing a law allowing gay couples to marry in the state.

    For now, nine states and Washington, D.C. allow same-sex marriage. Voters in Washington, Maryland and Maine approved same-sex marriage during the November election. Minnesota voters refused an amendment that would have written man-woman marriage into the state constitution. 

    Reuters contributed reporting.

    Editor's note: An updated version of this story corrects when gay couples could marry in Rhode Island should the bill pass.

     

  • Even before Supreme Court rules, gay marriage battles rage in the states

    Illinois State Sen. Heather Steans discusses the gay-marriage bill she hopes to bring to a floor vote this month.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to tackle gay marriage in a matter of months, but legislative action this week in Rhode Island and Illinois shows that supporters aren't in wait-and-see mode.


    Buoyed by ballot victories in four states in November, they're now on the offensive in two more; wins would mean that more than 20 percent of Americans live in places that have approved same-sex marriage.

    Opponents are pushing back hard to make sure that doesn’t happen, even as they express confidence that the nation’s high court will rule in their favor when it weighs in on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.

     “Everyone is looking at the Supreme Court. What happens then defines a lot of more about what happens next in the fight,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage.”

     “We’re gonna win that and then there’s going to be a state-by-state fight, and our record on that is amazing.”

    The scope of any Supreme Court decision is far from clear. They could rule that every American is entitled to the right to same-sex marriage or they could allow states to keep bans on gay marriage or they could do something in between.

    In the meantime, gay-marriage advocates are pressing the issue at the state level. In addition to Rhode Island and Illinois, lawmakers in Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island reportedly could consider the issue later this year.

    “There’s always risk when you go to the Supreme Court. You never want to put all your eggs in one basket,” said Janson Wu, staff attorney at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

    Wu has been busy in Rhode Island, where bills to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed were introduced in both chambers of the legislature and where the speaker of the House has promised a floor vote this month.

    Both sides agree the measure is likely to pass the House. Wu says he’s “cautiously optimistic” of a win in the Senate, followed by the governor’s signature, while Brown says, “I think we’re going to stop the bill.”

    In Illinois, a Senate Committee voted 8-5 late Thursday for a gay-marriage bill, but then delayed a full-floor vote. There may not be action on it for weeks.

    Jim Young / Reuters

    Mercedes Santos, right, hugs her partner of 21 years, Theresa Volpe, after a vote on a bill to approve gay marriage in a committee hearing at the Illinois State Capital.

    Sen. Heather Steans, the sponsor, told the Associated Press that it’s a matter of “when, not if” the measure will pass, with Democrats controlling the Senate 40-19.

    “This is never going to be an easy one, but it’s only going to get easier,” Steans said, citing growing acceptance of marriage equality among lawmakers and constituents across the state.

    Brown scoffed. “If she had the votes, there would have been a floor vote,” he said. “They called off the session. This is a major victory for supporters of traditional marriage.”

    Still, his group isn’t taking any chances.

    It vowed to form a state political action committee and spend $250,000 to defeat Republican lawmakers who vote for gay marriage in Illinois, crowing that it helped defeat four GOP state senators who supported the bill that passed in New York.

    Nine states, accounting for 15.8 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Human Rights Campaign, have approved gay marriage. A total of 38 states have either a state law or constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

    States still up for grabs include New Jersey, where the Legislature approved same-sex marriage and Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it, and where a lawsuit that would force recognition of gay marriage is still pending.

    Before the debate in the Garden State is resolved, the Supreme Court will probably have ruled on the two cases it agreed last month to take up. It will hear a challenge to the federal law known as DOMA, which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples, and the challenge to Proposition 8, the voter initiative that banned gay marriage and was overturned by state courts.

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  • Bodies of 3 women pulled from car submerged in Rhode Island harbor

    By The Associated Press

    NEWPORT, R.I. -- The bodies of three women were pulled Friday from a car at least partially submerged for hours in Newport Harbor after it plunged off a pier and landed on its roof, police said.


    Newport police Capt. Fred Gonsalves told The Associated Press that the Hyundai Accent fell 6 to 10 feet into the harbor near the main building of the shipyard. The car, which had Rhode Island plates, was hauled out of 4 feet of water by a large crane around 8:30 a.m.

    Gonsalves would not say if the women had been identified. He said authorities are still trying to determine what happened, though foul play was not suspected.

    Newport police Capt. Russell Hayes told The Newport Daily News (site operates behind a pay wall) the driver apparently missed a right-hand turn.

    "I'm not sure if they intended to take the turn here and missed it because it was dark and because of weather conditions," Hayes told the paper.

    A dense fog advisory was in effect in Newport until 9 a.m.

    Complete US News coverage on NBCNews.com

    Vehicle may have been in water for several hours
    Gonsalves said the car was discovered at around 6:30 a.m. Friday by a fuel deliveryman. He said it wasn't clear how long it had been in the water.

    Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan O'Hare told the AP earlier that it had been in the water for at least several hours. Newport Fire Department Deputy Chief Frank Young said firefighters wearing wetsuits and goggles discovered the women inside the car in the shallow water.

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    The shipyard is open 24 hours, and a security guard is posted at the entrance at all times.

    A spokeswoman for the shipyard referred all questions to police.

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    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Mayor of bankrupt Central Falls, RI, resigns, set to plead guilty to corruption

    By NBC News and wire services

    The mayor of Central Falls, R.I. -- a city that made news in recent years over its bankruptcy and teacher firings -- resigned on Wednesday and has agreed to plead guilty to corruption charges of accepting gifts in exchange for a city contract, federal prosecutors said. 


    Charles Moreau had been under investigation since 2009 when he told NBC10 in Rhode Island that he gave lucrative contracts to board up abandoned homes to a friend without anyone else bidding.

    The friend charged $14,000 to $16,000 for each home, NBC10 reported, when local contractors said it should only cost about $5,000 per home.

    The friend, Michael Bouthillette, was also charged and has agreed to plead guilty, prosecutors said. He was also a donor to Moreau's campaign.

    Central Falls is one of the most financially troubled cities in the country.

    It did, however, take a big step toward exiting bankruptcy earlier this month when a judge signed off on a plan that balances the impoverished city's budget for the next five years by hiking taxes, cutting employees and pensions and revising labor contracts.

    The case has garnered attention for its treatment of the city's bondholders, who remain unscathed while pensioners took a huge hit, in contrast with some other recent U.S. municipal bankruptcies.

    The quick resolution of Central Falls' bankruptcy, filed in August 2011, may be one for the record books.

    "In my limited knowledge, this case is the fastest case in the history of Chapter 9 ... to go from filing to confirmation. It's a record time and a record efficiency," Judge Frank Bailey said from the bench. "I think that this is an example for not only Rhode Island but maybe the nation on how to run a Chapter 9."

    Central Falls and several other local governments across the United States have sought refuge in bankruptcy court in recent years as sinking revenue in the wake of the economic recession, escalating pension costs and big debt loads have stretched their budgets to the brink.

    Central Falls entered bankruptcy with revenues of about $16 million and a structural deficit of more than $6 million. 

    The mayor and city council members were rendered powerless under state receivership and bankruptcy. The city was also forced to shutter its only community center and temporarily close its library before reopening it under nonprofit management.

    Many of the city's 133 retirees are still angry over how they were treated. Their already modest annual pensions, which averaged $26,700 before the bankruptcy, were slashed by up to 55 percent.

    The city also made headlines in late 2010 when all teachers at Central Falls High School were fired over poor student scores.

    They were later rehired after reaching a deal with the school district.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  • Rhode Island school bans father-daughter dances, says they break the law

    Following a complaint filed by the ACLU, school officials in Cranston, R.I. have ended gender specific activities like father-daughter dances and mother-son ballgames to comply with state gender discrimination laws. WJAR's Katie Davis reports.

     

    By NBC News staff

    The school system in Cranston, R.I., announced it is banning traditional father-daughter and mother-son activities, saying they are a violation of the state's gender discrimination law, the Providence Journal reported late Monday.


    Superintendent Judith Lundsten told the newspaper the decision was in response to a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a single mother who said her daughter was not able to attend a father-daughter dance.

    “This is 2012 and they [public schools] should not be in the business of fostering blatant gender stereotypes,” Steven Brown of the Rhode Island ACLU told WPRO News.

    According to the Providence Journal, Lundsten said that while federal law banning gender discrimination gives an exemption for such gender-specific events, Rhode Island law does not.

    In a letter sent out in August, Lundsten says, “I acknowledge that many of these events have long traditions and for many parents, these types of gender-based events are not an issue, however, this is a public school system and under no circumstances should we be isolating any student from full participation in school activities and events based on gender," according to WPRO.

    Sean Gately, a Republican state Senate candidate, brought the ban to light Monday, adding that, if elected, he would work to change the state law, the newspaper reported.

    According to The Associated Press, School Committee member Janice Ruggieri said the school system can begin hosting "family dances" to accommodate all kinds of parenting situations.

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  • Nabbed: Fugitive who escaped from South Carolina prison more than 31 years ago is finally caught in Rhode Island

    South Carolina Department of Corrections

    Armin Christian, who was also known as Armin Christain, in a 1980 South Carolina Department of Corrections photo.

    By James Eng, NBC News

    The long arm of the law finally caught up to Armin Christian.


    The convict, who escaped from a South Carolina prison facility on Christmas Day more than three decades ago, has been arrested in Rhode Island, where he apparently had been living a low-key life for years under an assumed name, authorities said Thursday.

    The 65-year-old Christian, whose last name has also been spelled Christain, was taken into custody Wednesday as he left an apartment in Bristol, R.I., said Rhode Island State Police Capt. Michael J. Winquist.

    Upon seeing the cops, the fugitive apparently immediately realized his three-decades-plus stint of freedom was coming to an abrupt end.

    “As soon as we approached him he made a statement that he knew why we were there. He said that he had planned to straighten the situation out by returning to South Carolina,” Winquist told msnbc.com.

    Christian waived extradition and was being escorted back to South Carolina on Thursday.

    Christian had been on the lam since Christmas Day 1980, when he escaped from the now-defunct Piedmont Work Center near Greenville, S.C. He was one month into an 11-month sentence for domestic non-payment of child support at the time.

    His capture came after South Carolina corrections officials received a confidential tip that he was living in Rhode Island under an assumed name.

    South Carolina Dept. of Corrections

    Armin Christian after his arrest this week.

    The tip led Rhode Island police this week to a multi-apartment residence in Bristol. Police conducted surveillance and arrested Christian as he emerged from the building Wednesday morning.

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    Winquist said the fugitive had been using the aliases “Chris Christen” and "Chris Christian,” and had a Rhode Island driver’s license under one of those names. His 1980 “Wanted” photo showed him with brown hair and a beard; when he was arrested he had a shaved head, mustache and glasses, Winquist said.

    “He looked his age. He looked like a normal 65-year-old white male,” Winquist said. “People in the neighborhood knew him under his alias name and had nothing but positive things to say about him.”

    Christian lived alone and had been working as a handyman doing odd jobs in the Bristol area, police said. He reportedly told officers he lived in several states, including New Jersey, Maryland and Florida, before coming to Rhode Island in 1988.

    There’s no evidence that he has committed any crimes in any state since his escape, Winquist said.

    “Usually when someone escapes from a facility and has criminal background they end up coming into contact with some type of law enforcement. This person, I think it’s quite unusual that he led such a low profile for 32 years without having any new cases or new arrests from what we can tell,” the police captain said.

    “Thirty-two years without being captured is pretty amazing.”

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  • Gun parts, ammo found hidden inside stuffed animals at Rhode Island airport

    Federal transportation officials found gun components and ammunition hidden inside three stuffed animals carried by a passenger at Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport. WHDH-TV's Victoria Warren reports.

    By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

    Story updated at 12:45 p.m. ET -- Gun components and ammunition were found hidden inside three stuffed animals carried by a passenger at Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport on Tuesday, federal transportation officials said.


    Authorities later allowed the 4-year-old boy and his father to continue their travel to Detroit after concluding the man didn't pose a risk, authorities said. The man, who's identity has not been released, told police that he didn't know the parts were inside the stuffed toys -- which included a Mickey Mouse and a teddy bear.

    "After extensively interviewing the father and conducting the follow-up investigation, it was determined that this case involved a domestic custody dispute, and there was no threat to aviation safety," Patty Goldstein, spokesperson for Rhode Island Airport Corporation, said in a statement obtained by msnbc.com.

    The case is being investigated by the Rhode Island Airport Police, FBI and Rhode Island State Police, the statement said. 

    NBC News station WHDH reported that a magazine loaded with two .40-caliber rounds was discovered inside a bunny and a firing pin was inside Mickey Mouse.

    A TSA officer noticed the disassembled gun components "artfully concealed" inside three stuffed animals. The stuffed animals were inside the child's carry-on bag, which had been put through an X-ray machine as part of normal security screening.

    TSA via AP

    This photo provided by the Transportation Security Administration shows pistol parts hidden in a stuffed animal found at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I.

    The parts could have been assembled to make a full firearm, authorities said.

    The items were confiscated. 

    Passengers at T.F. Green had mixed reactions, WHDH reported.

    “I just can’t imagine anybody letting him continue on his trip without getting answers to the questions: What was he thinking? Why was he doing that? And for the officials to sit back and say, ‘Could he have posed a danger?’ And if he could, why are we letting him move on to potentially do it again?” one man said.

    Another traveler said security measures are clearly working.

    "I know a lot of people don't like the screening procedure, but I'm thankful that they really screen people and we feel much safer because of it," the woman told WHDH.

    NBC News station WHDH and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • $336 million: Rhode Island woman, 81, wins Powerball

    Msnbc's Thomas Roberts reports on an 81-year-old woman who won $336 million dollars in the Rhode Island Powerball jackpot.

    By msnbc.com news services

    Louise White, 81, of Newport, R.I., is the winner of the third-largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game: $336.4 million.

    White came forward Tuesday morning and accepted the money on behalf of the Rainbow Sherbert Trust.

    White's ticket, which cost $3, was the only ticket that matched all the numbers: 1-10-37-52-57 and Powerball 11. It was sold at the Stop & Shop supermarket at 250 Bellevue Ave. in Newport.

    "I want to say that I'm very happy and I'm very proud. This will make my family very happy," White said at a news conference in Cranston. "We are truly blessed. Thank you."

    Her lawyers called her a "vivacious octogenarian." The Rainbow Sherbert Trust is named after the dessert she purchased while buying the winning ticket. White said it is her son's favorite dessert.

    White chose to accept the lump sum payment of $210 million, rather than the 30 payments paid out over 29 years. She will pay $52.5 million in federal taxes and more than $14 million in state taxes.

    Rhode Island lottery officials said White's haul is the sixth largest among all lotteries in the United States. Her chances of hitting the PowerBall were 1 in 175 million.

    The ticket price increased from $1 to $2 last month; it is $3 with the PowerPlay option. Rising sales nearly doubled the jackpot from $173.5 million on Feb. 1.

    NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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