PROVIDENCE -- The first potential juror for the state's big lead paint trial was a cheerful grandfather from Woonsocket who said he learned during his 28 years of operating machinery that his bosses "stretched the truth now and then."

He said he knew enough about lead paint to know it should be kept off the market, but he doesn't read newspapers and he tries to avoid bad news altogether.

For nearly two hours he answered questions from five lawyers and Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein. Everyone was cheerful and polite.

But seconds after the retired machinist left the courtroom, lawyers representing the four paint companies being sued by the state took turns trying to convince Silverstein that the man shouldn't be on the jury.

"He kept saying that the companies had an obligation to take lead paint off the market," said John Tarantino, representing Atlantic Richfield. "He said he thought this case was good news because it will help children. The juror has preconceived views on crucial issues in the case."

"He's biased," said Michael Nilan, for Millennium Holdings.

"He has preconceived ideas," said Joseph Cavanagh Jr., representing Sherwin Williams. "He's skeptical of all companies. He thinks all lead is bad."

Questioning the juror consumed most of Thursday morning. But in the end, Silverstein relented and excused him.

Opening arguments are scheduled for Thursday. The state is expected to seek millions of dollars in damages if it proves the companies created a public nuisance in making and marketing the paints that have poisoned some 35,000 Rhode Island children. The companies argue the poisonings should be blamed on landlords who failed to maintain their buildings.

With so much at stake, preparations for a trial many feel could take on historic proportions has been methodical, and sometimes tedious.

To accommodate nearly 30 lawyers on both sides of the case, the paint companies paid about $4,000 to move the bar 8 feet back in Courtroom 11, the largest in the Licht Complex. Over the weekend, the courtroom will be wired with microphones and audio-visual aids.

A total of 435 potential jurors were directed to fill out forms with 91 questions designed to reveal their attitudes about state government, big corporations, lawsuits and responsibility. Some 268 of those said they expected the four-month trial would create a hardship, so they were excused.

Thursday morning, 141 jurors were led into the courtroom, where Judge Silverstein introduced them to his staff and the lawyers. One juror knew lawyers on both sides and was immediately excused.

Each juror was assigned a number, and corresponding tags were dropped into a wooden barrel at the front of the courtroom.

Clerk Jean E. Maggiacomo spun the drum three times and pulled a number. The first number picked belonged to the grandfather from Woonsocket.

Between interviewing potential jurors, Judge Silverstein heard arguments and issued rulings on various pretrial motions.

He agreed to sever American Cyanamid from the trial, but not Millennium. He said it was clear Cyanamid was not part of the Lead Industries Association, which the state alleges conspired to keep lead on the market long after it was found to be dangerous.

The paint companies sought to exclude from the jury a young woman who said she knew a paint-poisoned child in West Warwick and was hoping to become a nurse.

She said she thought it was her civic duty to serve on the jury and she planned to keep working nights during the trial.

Tarantino said she should be excluded because she said the companies should be held responsible for the paints if they put their names on them.

Cavanagh questioned whether she would be fully attentive if she was working each night as well as attending the trial.

Assistant Attorney General Neil F.X. Kelly said the juror's responses reflected common sense and common values.

"There should be no holding back someone who wants to do her civic duty," Kelly said. The judge in the end did not exclude the woman.

By the end of the day yesterday, six potential jurors had been reviewed and not excluded.

The last juror worked for an insurance agency that insures yachts.

It was obvious that both sides at first believed that she might favor the defendants, because the state quickly moved to exclude her so she could attend a doctor's appointment, and the paint company lawyers insisted on questioning her right through their lunch hour.

In the end, she sounded so open-minded that neither side objected.

First thing Monday morning, each side will have the right to exercise two peremptory challenges that allow them to exclude jurors without identifying any cause.

So, in no time at all, the jury could be back down to as few as two.

The judge said he intends to seat a six-person jury, along with two primary alternates and four backup alternates. But both sides seemed confident they would have opening arguments Thursday.