Waterspouts in East Passage

Waterspouts were reported yesterday around 4 p.m. north of the Jamestown Bridge and in the middle of the East Passage, Jamestown police and a National Weather Service meteorologist said.

Rebecca Gould, at the National Weather Service operations center in Taunton, Mass., said a waterspout is like a small tornado, lasting from a few seconds to two minutes. Like tornadoes, they are associated with thunderstorms. The concern with waterspouts, Gould said, is the danger of boats being flipped over.

Neither the Point Judith nor the Castle Hill Coast Guard stations received reports of boaters in trouble, petty officers at both stations said.

The National Weather Service issued a special marine warning for Narragansett Bay from 3:56 to 4:30 p.m. yesterday, Gould said. She said a marine warning is issued if winds greater than 34 knots are expected on the water. The wind reached 37 knots, or 43 miles per hour, before the storm weakened and moved out just before 5 p.m., she said.

Several images of a spout were captured on a Prudence Island wharf camera, part of the state’s Port Security Wireless Communications Network, according to Patrick Hay, operations manager at Smiths Detection-LiveWave, which provides the port detection system.

To report a weather phenomenon to the Weather Service, call (508) 828-2672.

— Donita Naylor

Flags at half staff for Marine

Governor Carcieri yesterday ordered state flags lowered to half staff for Marine Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr., 22, a Rhode Island native who was fatally wounded in a gun battle on Sunday while carrying out a house-to-house search in Fallujah, Iraq.

Ferschke, whose home most recently was in Tennessee, was a team leader and radio operator with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, based in Okinawa, Japan. Flags will remain at half staff until Monday morning.

“Today we remember the service of a young man, born in Woonsocket, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of his country,” Carcieri said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to his family and friends.”

— projo.com

Political sign returns

RICHMOND –– A week after a federal judge struck down a state law that Richmond police had used in previous campaigns to remove political signs, Rod Driver, the candidate who filed the federal lawsuit, returned yesterday afternoon to the very spot that led to the federal lawsuit: a private lot just across the street from the entrance to the Washington County Fair.

“I put one up, but I didn’t realize the competition had dwarfed mine,” the Democrat, who is now running for state representative, said pointing to one of his challengers’ signs, right next to his.

“We’ll try to keep up. Fortunately, I had a big one.”

Driver is running in District 39, which serves Richmond and parts of Exeter and Charlestown.

Also running for Rep. Joseph H. Scott’s seat, are Democrats Stephen D. Antoni, Paul E. Picerne and Larry Valencia and Republicans Joseph R. Arsenault and David B. Hathaway.

Scott is not running for reelection.

— Maria Armental