Conn. DUI Charges Against Bob Watson Dropped

The former state representative from East Greenwich was arrested on April 22, 2011.

Charges filed in Connecticut against former state representative Bob Watson of East Greenwich have been dropped, according to his lawyer in New Haven. "The state decided it couldn’t prove the DUI beyond a reasonable doubt," said attorney Charles E. Tiernan III Tuesday. "The prosecutor used his descretion and decided to drop the charges." News of the dropped charges was first reported by the Providence Journal Monday. Watson was arrested in East Haven on April 22, 2011, for driving while intoxicated and possessing marijuana. Tiernan had argued the urine test obtained after Watson's arrest was inadmissible because it had been taken more than two hours after Watson had stopped driving. In addition, he said the results were not given to …

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[VIDEO] General Assembly Sworn In; EG's Giarrusso Takes Seat

In a session full of pomp, circumstance, family and friends, the members of the 2013-14 General Assembly convene for the first time.

East Greenwich has a new state representative for the first time in 20 years, with the swearing in Tuesday of Anthony Giarrusso (R-E.G., W.G.) at the State House.  Giarrusso was one of 75 state representatives to be sworn in during the New Year's Day ceremony, but had the distinction of being the only newly elected Republican to the House. There are only six Republican state representatives. Rep. Gordon Fox (D-Providence) was returned to the House speakership by a vote of 66-6, with 3 abstentions.  Across the way, in the Senate chambers, 38 senators were sworn in, including Sen. Dawson Hodgson (R-E.G., N.K., S.K., Narr.), and Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-Coventry, E.G., W.G.). Sen. Teresa Paiva-Weed (D-Newport, Jamestown) regained the …

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Giarrusso Wins R.I. House Dist. 30 Seat

Mail ballots were finally counted Thursday and gave the Republican an 81-vote edge over Democrat Schwager.

In the end, West Greenwich handed Anthony Giarrusso victory in the contest for R.I. House Dist. 30. With mail ballots finally counted Thursday, the Republican had 3,304 votes, Democrat Mark Schwager had 3,223 votes, and independent Kevin McDonough had 904 votes. But in East Greenwich, Schwager led 3,053 to Giarrusso's 3,010, and McDonough's 826. In West Greenwich, Giarrusso got 294 votes, compared to Schwager's 170, and McDonough's 78.  While there are provisional ballots still to be counted, they are too few to alter the result. "I'm really looking forward to it," said Giarrusso late Thursday about his new job. But, he acknowledged, "We're definitely going to have some hard work to do, some hard choices." The Republican minorities in the…

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5 Things You Need To Know Today

Five Things: Mail Ballots, Art Exhibit

Your guide for life in East Greenwich today, Nov. 8.

Weather: More wet snow or cold rain and wind today (brrrr!). Highs only in the mid-40-degree range, with a low around freezing. To read about the changeover yesterday and our first white stuff, check out Harold Ambler's blog post here. House Dist. 30 race results: This seems to be "election results in three parts" – Tuesday night we got EG poll results; Wednesday afternoon we got WG poll results, now we await the mail ballot counts from both communities, sometime today according to the state Board of Elections. Anthony Giarrusso (R) is 148 votes ahead of Mark Schwager (D). Kevin McDonough (I) is a distant third. We will have the results as soon as they come available via Twitter (@egpatch) and soon after that here. For a list of EG vote …

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WG Votes In, Giarrusso Maintains Strong Lead In House Dist. 30 Race

There are more than 500 mail ballots left to be counted in the state House Dist. 30 race, but Giarrusso leads Schwager by 148 votes.

Votes from the West Greenwich precinct that had ballot machine problems Tuesday were counted Wednesday at the state Board of Elections in Providence and the results gave Republican Anthony Giarrusso a 148 lead in the race for state House Dist. 30. Board of Elections officials said the mail ballot tally should be in Wednesday late afternoon. "It's not over," said Giarrusso, who watched the count. "Historically, it seems like absentee ballots do favor Republicans," he noted. "They would need to make up a lot of votes, especially in a three-way race." Giarrusso was referring to Democrat Mark Schwager, who was only 36 votes behind Giarrusso after the vote count was in last night in East Greenwich. The West Greenwich votes, however, make the …

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Kevin McDonough: Candidate For State Dist. 30

McDonough, a businessman, is running as an independent.

Name : Mr. Kevin Joseph McDonough Date of birth : 13 January 1959 Place of residence : East Greenwich, R.I. Attended college : Yes College : Georgetown University Degree : Bachelor of Science Foreign Service Year of graduation : 1981 University : N/A Degree : N/A Year of graduation : N/A University : N/A Area of research : N/A Year of graduation : N/A Has served in the military: No Rank : N/A Job titles held : Senior Account Manager Employers : Roadway Express Party affiliation : Independent Running for a: State office Running for position: Representative District 30 Chamber/district: District 30 Incumbent: No Previous elective offices : None Unsuccessful bids for elective offices : None Address 470 Division Street East Greenwich RI 02818 …

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Robert B. Bolton: Candidate for District 30 State Representative

Bolton, a longtime member of the Zoning Board, is making his third run for office.

Name : Mr. ROBERT B. BOLTON Also known as : BOB Date of birth : 13 October 1948 Place of residence : 225 WATCH HILL, East Greenwich, Rhode Island Attended college : Yes College : BRYANT COLLEGE Degree : BACHELOR DEGREE Year of graduation : 1971 University : RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE Has served in the military: Yes Job titles held : N/A Employers : N/A Running for a: State office Running for position: REPRESENTATIVE Chamber/district: District 30 Incumbent: Previous elective offices : N/A Unsuccessful bids for elective offices: N/A Website : VOTEBOLTON.COM Member of the East Greenwich Zoning Board of Review; member of the Boy Scouts Home; active in Boy Scout Troop 2, East Greenwich for 14 years; coached girls softball for 12 years where I earned …

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Antonio Giarrusso, Candidate For R.I. State Representative, District 30

Giarrusso, a businessman, has never held elected office.

Name : Mr. Anthonio Giarrusso Also known as : Anthony Date of birth : 05 February 1962 Place of residence : 5 Lenihan Lane, East Greenwich RI Attended college : Yes College : CCRI, Bryant University Job titles held : NA Employers : AG&G - President & CEO Party affiliation : Republican Running for a: State office Running for position: State Representative Chamber/district: District 30 Incumbent: No Previous elective offices : None Unsuccessful bids for elective offices : None Address Name : Title : Website : www.giarrussoforstaterep.com Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Giarrusso-For-State-Representative/350133228396807 http://www.giarrussoforstaterep.com/about-anthony.html

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[VIDEO] District 30 GOP Primary Debate

Bob Bolton, Dean Fachon, and Anthony Giarrusso discuss the EDC, gay marriage, and the role of the minority.

The three Republican candidates for state House District 30 met Thursday for a debate at the Varnum Armory before an estimated 100 people. While there were no deep disagreements, the debate marked the only time voters could size up all three of the candidates whose names will appear on the Sept. 11 primary ballot. Bob Bolton, Dean Fachon, and Anthony Giarrusso are all Republicans running for the seat long held by fellow GOP member Bob Watson, who announced in June he would not seek re-election. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Mark Schwager and independent Kevin J. McDonough. District 30 is made up of East Greenwich and a small portion of West Greenwich. The EG Republican Town Committee sponsored the debate, along with East …

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Elizabeth McNamara

11:40 am on Monday, August 27, 2012

Alicarn, thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I'm going to need a better microphone going forward, that's for sure. We are hoping to organize more debates after the primary. I   more ›

Gary Sasse Considers Run For Seat Being Vacated By Watson

Sasse said Thursday the run is something he's "thinking about."

East Greenwich resident Gary Sasse confirmed Thursday he is considering running for the state representative District 30 seat now held by Bob Watson. Watson announced last week he would not run for re-election. When asked if he was thinking about running, Sasse said, "Yes, it's something I'm thinking about." This would be Sasse's first run for public office, but not his first time in the public eye. He was director of the state Department of Administration and the Department of Revenue for several years under Gov. Donald Carcieri. Before that, he ran the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council for nearly 30 years. Currently, Sasse is the director of the Bryant Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University. He also has a consulting …

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minivanhell

4:49 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012

Aaah - so says the Firefighters Union. I think its the other way around.   more ›