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BUSINESS

As home foreclosures surge, arson looms ever larger

The biggest hike of mortgage defaults in seven decades coincides with an increase in blazes in foreclosed properties.

Belgian brewer seeks to oust Anheuser-Busch’s board

The U.S. beer maker plans to continue its fight against the takeover.

Bulletins

•Companies

CVS ranks fourth on list of top U.S. retailers

CVS ranks fourth on list of top U.S. retailers

FUEL GAUGE

FUEL GAUGE

Hasbro’s new Scrabble on Facebook

The toymaker expects to introduce more free online games later this year.

Irving pumps up R.I. presence

Two area gasoline stations now carry the Irving name, and the Canadian company hopes more will soon follow.

Microsoft supports coup at Yahoo

The unexpected endorsement gives investor Carl Icahn a carrot to dangle before Yahoo shareholders in his campaign to replace Yahoo’s directors.

New worries send stocks tumbling

Concerns about the ailing financial sector deflate a stock rally early in the day that was fueled by a drop in oil prices.

Soon, tax preparers will have to e-file

Rhode Island will soon require most professional tax preparers to file their clients’ state income-tax returns electronically.

LIFEBEAT

Audio Reviews: When You Are Engulfed In Flames and Harvesting the Heart

When You Are Engulfed In Flames, by David Sedaris, read by Sedaris. Unabridged, 9 hours. Hachette Audio, $34.98.

BESTSELLERS

Our national bestseller list comes from USA Today, which compiles it each week from a wide sampling of bookstores around the country.

BOOKS CALENDAR

TUESDAY

Graduates provide the scripts for Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep

For four summers now, Lowry Marshall has relied on her “little black book” to come up with talent for the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theater. The annual festival just doesn’t have the staff and the wherewithal to conduct a national search for new plays, said Marshal, the Brown theater professor who oversees the event. So she calls on former students who are now making names for themselves.

Mark Patinkin: Hand-crank windows and the Soviet Union: those were the days!

America Online had a compelling feature last week called “The Top 25 things We Wish Would Make a Comeback,” including Drive-Ins, Pogo, Green Stamps and Coke in bottles.

Sunday born in Nashville

Nicole Kidman gave birth yesterday to a baby girl named Sunday in Nashville.

The ESSENTIALS

FASHION

Theater review: A fine Stratagem for your evening

It’s a little wordy, but The Beaux’ Stratagem also contains some amusing moments, and at 2nd Story Theatre it’s sporting some real talent in the leads.

What’s happening

MOVIES

seize today

Surfing penguins at Misquamicut

LOCAL

Barrington again vexed by car break-ins

BARRINGTON — The town has been struck by another rash of car break-ins.

Borrowing authorized to cover shortfall

HOPKINTON — Faced with a projected $346,137 shortfall in September, the Town Council last night authorized borrowing up to $500,000 to meet its financial obligations.

Cape Verdean Community News

Patio open: The outdoor patio at the Cape Verdean Progressive Center (CV Club) features food and entertainment every Thursday for the summer from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Cemetery won’t get lost again

CRANSTON — Although the remains that were recovered from a long-forgotten pauper’s cemetery off Sockanosset Cross Road were reinterred last month at a different location, more steps must be taken to prevent a repeat of the oversights from the past.

College-level politics becomes fodder in race for West Warwick House seat

WEST WARWICK — College-level politics has become campaign fodder in the Republican primary for the District 27 seat in the House of Representatives.

Council issues warning to Golf lounge

NORTH PROVIDENCE — The Town Council has advised the owner of the Golf Restaurant & Lounge to take additional measures to control noise or risk a suspension or revocation of his liquor and entertainment licenses.

Council, Gilbane spar over parking, Pier development

NARRAGANSETT — The Town Council and Gilbane Development Co. agreed last night to seek a solution for some of the parking woes in the Pier area, but they made no headway on a larger issue: How should Gilbane move forward with the next phase of its commercial redevelopment in the area?

Coventry solicitor to decide how school board vacancy will be filled

COVENTRY — Within days of Donna J. Hayden’s announcement last month that she was stepping down from the School Committee, with nearly 2½ years left in her term, three people declared candidacy for the vacated District 5 seat.

Cumberland Digest

Community Events

East Bay Briefings

East Providence School Committee selects temporary leader for schools

EAST PROVIDENCE — A former Foster-Glocester superintendent was chosen over two previous East Providence school chiefs last night to be the city’s interim School Department leader.

Education foundation being revived by Supt. Evans

PROVIDENCE — School Supt. Donnie Evans has revived a long-dormant foundation whose mission is to raise money for the school district and manage the donations that are already there.

Election set today for vacant Foster council seat

Three candidates, a Republican, Democrat and independent are vying to finish Harold R. Shippee’s term.

Fall River firefighters receive equipment grant

FALL RIVER –– Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and HUB International New England yesterday presented local firefighters with a grant package of $10,787 to buy equipment, according to a news release.

Fire destroys house in Little Compton

LITTLE COMPTON — Fire gutted a vacant four-bedroom house undergoing renovation at 29 South Shore Rd. Sunday afternoon, apparently after rags soaked in wood stain ignited.

Foster tax payments due July 31

FOSTER — Tax Collector Pamela J. Fontaine has announced that the town’s 2008 real estate, motor vehicle and personal property tax bills have been mailed. First-quarter taxes are due July 31. Penalties will be charged as of Aug. 1.

Getting to know the neighborhood

Sixty-four people meet at the corner of Governor Street and Wickenden Street Saturday to learn about the Fox Point neighborhood in Providence. Summer Walks is a program sponsored by the Rhode Island Historical Society.

Giving

• The Ali Dunn Packer Memorial Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation donated $343 to the Jamestown Philomenian Library, where it was used to purchase all 20 of this year’s Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominees.

Grant to pay for Middletown police’s data system

MIDDLETOWN –– U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy yesterday delivered $282,000 to the town’s police for the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for their new station. The federal money will allow officers to communicate with other police and fire departments in the area.

Health News

Blood drives: The Rhode Island Blood Center conducts blood drives at the South County Donor Center, 14 Woodruff Ave., Narragansett, each Monday and Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

Hearing could mark end of court dispute over FM Global

JOHNSTON — The Planning Board has already issued building permits for FM Global’s $60-million headquarters project, but a Superior Court judge may force the board to hold a hearing on traffic and drainage issues at the site.

Hearing postponed for accused child molester

PROVIDENCE — A probable-cause hearing held in Family Court yesterday for a 17-year-old accused of raping his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter was continued to July 14.

Illness takes toll, but inner strength buoys Mancuso

I’d heard from mutual acquaintances that Tony Mancuso wasn’t doing well. And I knew I should give him a call.

John Clarke, state’s charter subjects of ceremony in Newport

NEWPORT — A ceremony featuring bagpipers and an artillery group will be held today to pay tribute to the King Charles II Charter of 1663, which established Rhode Island and Providence Plantations as a single colony and endowed it with unprecedented liberties, including religious freedom.

Lectures & Classes

Museum programs: The Museum of Primitive Art and Culture, 1058 Kingstown Rd., Peace Dale, is hosting two programs on local and world history, with activities for all ages, including corn grinding, necklace beading, stories and games, Saturday, and again Aug. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Letters to the editor

Westerly

Library now seeking $6.4-million bond issue

SMITHFIELD — The Greenville Public Library has shrunk its expansion plans and tonight will ask the Town Council to back a $6.4-million bond issue to move from Greenville to land it owns on Pleasant View Avenue.

Lincoln Digest

Community Briefs

Lincoln valedictorian: She figures majoring in biology is the right medicine

LINCOLN — When she was younger, Lincoln High School valedictorian Alexandra Sexton said if there was a show about doctors, she watched it. If there was an exhibit on the human body, she wanted to see it.

Man arraigned on charges tied to fatal shooting

Juan L. Diaz, of Pawtucket, is accused of killing Mayra Cruz in Pawtucket last month and then fleeing to New York.

Massachusetts Briefings

Regional

Miscellaneous

Circus coming: The Big Apple Circus is making its annual visit to Charlestown’s Ninigret Park, off of Route 1A, and has scheduled the following shows:

Multiple shootings reported over long weekend

PROVIDENCE — The police have confirmed an a previously undisclosed shooting that occurred early Saturday in South Providence.

Municipal Almanac

Today

Murderer on parole is charged in robbery; his father tips police

The police say Raymond Earl McWilliams, 45, walked through the unlocked door of a North Kingstown house, threatened a woman at home with her baby, and stole her SUV.

Murderer on parole is charged in robbery; his father tips police

The police say Raymond Earl McWilliams, 45, walked through the unlocked door of a North Kingstown house, threatened a woman at home with her baby and stole her SUV.

Navy, Middletown seek to define police jurisdictions

For decades, much of the former military housing areas in have been in a hazy area when it comes to law-enforcement.

On the Calendar

TODAY

Outdoors Activities

Moonlit walk: Bob Kenney will lead a walk through Charlestown’s Kimball Wildlife Refuge, 180 Sanctuary Rd., next Tuesday night from 7:30 to 9:30, under an almost-full moon.

Parish hall: Barn razing, roof rising

SS. John and Paul Church, in Coventry, plans to open by November its replacement for the onetime barn that served for decades as its social center.

Plane crash victims will be missed in Newport

Pamela Ulich Lancaster, 43, and Charles W. Thompson, 63, who died in a plane crash on Thursday, had a zest for life, say those who knew them.

Plane crash victims will be missed in Newport

Pamela Ulich Lancaster, 43, and Charles W. Thompson, 63, who died in a plane crash on Thursday, had a zest for life, say those who knew them.

Police arrest four during weekend

BARRINGTON — Four people were arrested over the holiday weekend in separate incidents where alcohol may have been involved.

Police say spectators threw rocks, bottles at Seekonk Speedway

SEEKONK — Spectators at the Seekonk Speedway threw rocks and bottles at the police and firefighters trying to come to the aid of two participants injured during the demolition derby Sunday night, according to police Capt. Craig Mace.

Recreation Activities

Surfing program: The Narragansett Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring its annual “Shred Betties” series of surfing lessons each Thursday afternoon, July 17 through Aug. 7. For information, call 782-0658.

Rehoboth man faces assault, weapons charges

REHOBOTH — Brian Matthew McGuire, 40, of 206 Moulton St., was charged with indecent assault and battery and unrelated weapons violations over the weekend after an 18-year-old Rehoboth woman told the police she had been sexually assaulted in her home last Friday afternoon about 4:30.

Rehoboth man faces assault, weapons charges

REHOBOTH — Brian Matthew McGuire, 40, of 206 Moulton St., was charged with indecent assault and battery and unrelated weapons violations over the weekend after an 18-year-old Rehoboth woman told the police she had been sexually assaulted in her home last Friday afternoon about 4:30.

Rocky Hill School headmaster wins kudos

WARWICK –– James J. Young III didn’t always want to be an educator. As a student at the private Rocky Hill School, decades ago, his interests were quite different.

Rosenberg column: As he nears the finish line, Mancuso is a winner in many ways

I’d heard from mutual acquaintances that Tony Mancuso wasn’t doing well. And I knew I should give him a call.

Rosenberg column: As he nears the finish line, Mancuso is a winner in many ways

I’d heard from mutual acquaintances that Tony Mancuso wasn’t doing well. And I knew I should give him a call.

Rosenberg column: As he nears the finish line, Mancuso is a winner in many ways

I’d heard from mutual acquaintances that Tony Mancuso wasn’t doing well. And I knew I should give him a call.

Roth cuts his link to Democratic Party

NORTH KINGSTOWN — Citing personal attacks and partisan politics, School Committee member Douglas Roth has severed his ties to the local Democratic Party.

SNM Liquors drops license appeal

PROVIDENCE — SNM Liquors, a Smith Hill shop that critics said had become known as a place where teenagers could illegally buy beer and liquor, apparently is closed for good.

SNM Liquors drops license appeal

PROVIDENCE — SNM Liquors, a Smith Hill shop that critics said had become known as a place where teenagers could illegally buy beer and liquor, apparently is closed for good.

Samaritans rescue couple after an explosion on boat

A husband and wife were rescued from a boat about a mile off Point Judith on Sunday by Good Samaritans who saw an explosion and came over to help, the Coast Guard said.

Several men charged with disorderly conduct

NORTH PROVIDENCE — Four men were arrested on disorderly conduct charges in separate incidents over the holiday weekend.

South County Happenings

Today

South County for Kids

Lifeguard program: The Narragansett Parks and Recreation Department is taking registration for its USLA Junior Lifeguard Program. The first session will meet tomorrow, and July 1616, 23 and 30, with the second meeting July 31 and Aug. 7, 14 and 21, at the Narragansett Town Beach.

Taking the tour

Judi Dill speaks near a plaque commemorating the site of the birth of George M. Cohan during Summer Walks, a tour through the Fox Point neighborhood sponsored by the Rhode Island Historical Society. More pictures, D6.

West Warwick council retains auditor to aid in defense against schools’ lawsuit

WEST WARWICK — The Town Council has hired the Warwick auditing firm Parmelee, Poirier and Associates to help prepare its defense against a School Department lawsuit seeking $1.4 million more in local operating funds for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Woman charged with drunken driving jailed

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Heidi Harrall, the woman that police say was driving drunk last year when she hit a teenager waiting for help to change a tire, is being held without bail after missing two drug and alcohol tests last month, according to the attorney general’s office.

You see so much pain over the years that you become a realist when it comes to these things.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Judith Tolnick Champa, who has directed the University of Rhode Island Fine Arts Center galleries for the past 17 years, announced yesterday that she will take early retirement after having spent recent weeks in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the galleries open.

You see so much pain over the years that you become a realist when it comes to these things.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Judith Tolnick Champa, who has directed the University of Rhode Island Fine Arts Center galleries for the past 17 years, announced yesterday that she will take early retirement after having spent recent weeks in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the galleries open.

NEWS

ACI prisoner accused of injuring another inmate

CRANSTON –– An inmate at the Adult Correctional Institutions was seriously injured Friday when he was assaulted by a fellow inmate, authorities said.

Carcieri speaks out on TV on illegal immigrants

The governor and commentator Bill O’Reilly see eye to eye on the need to identify and crack down on illegal immigrants.

Crews search for man in Mount Hope Bay

PORTSMOUTH — The Coast Guard and local rescue personnel were searching last night for a 65-year-old man who fell overboard from his sailboat late yesterday afternoon.

Friends remember North Kingstown teen killed in crash

“The world will not be the same” without Laura Tetreault, a friend says of the North Kingstown woman.

List of nominees to fill District Court seat could fall short

PROVIDENCE — The Judicial Nominating Commission had been scheduled to interview 10 candidates for a District Court vacancy today. But, as it turns out, seven of the candidates are already eligible for the seat and another is already a judge.

Rhode Islanders don’t find immigration a top issue

PROVIDENCE –– In this summer of $4-a-gallon discontent, a Rhode Island economy hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming rate, and the housing slide eating away at homeowners’ accumulated wealth, you might think our political leaders would have something more important to do than wrangle over the illegal-immigration issue.

Rhode Islanders don’t find immigration a top issue

PROVIDENCE –– In this summer of $4 a gallon discontent, a Rhode Island economy hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming rate, and the housing slide eating away at homeowners’ accumulated wealth, you might think our political leaders would have something more important to do than wrangle over the illegal immigration issue.

Set right up!

Andrey Dubinin, in forklift, and Dimitry Sokolov unload bandstand equipment from trucks on Sunday while setting up for the Big Apple Circus, which opens today in Ninigret Park in Charlestown.

State takes steps to protect its gambling take

Revenue director Gary Sasse says extra measures are in place to ensure the state gets its gambling money.

State takes steps to protect its gambling take

Revenue director Gary Sasse says extra measures are in place to ensure the state gets its gambling money.

State’s health chief: Don’t raid Landmark staff

Dr. David R. Gifford asks hospitals not to recruit from the financially ailing Woonsocket hospital while it works to stay afloat.

The Lotteries

Yesterday’s winners

The Lotteries

Yesterday’s winners

OPINION

Albert McGinn: Shallow-water accidents

I was saddened to read the news report in the June 21 Joumal headlined “Teen suffers spinal-cord injury after dive into pool.” The pool was four to five feet deep. In my career as a rehabilitation counselor, I worked with many quadriplegics who severed their spinal cords in shallow-water diving accidents. It was always tragic and so sad to see someone spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair because of a preventable accident.

Alfred Barna: Guns against tyranny

History has proven again and again that to deny citizens the protections of any part of the Bill of Rights favors not the citizen, but tyranny.

Colleen Kelly Mellor: Drive-by mastectomies: It can happen to you

THEY’RE CALLED “Drive-By Mastectomies” for the ghoulish reason that the procedure is likened (for haste) to ordering take-out food from the window of a fast-food establishment. Quite simply, it’s a medical procedure performed in a hospital setting, mandating a mere overnight stay: The breast-cancer patient is admitted, amputation of the breast is performed, and patient is released from the hospital, usually the next day, as if she (some males fall victim, too) had minimally invasive root-canal. If there are complications, she may be allowed more time, but those instances are the exception. My own experience saw me be hospitalized for only 48 hours, despite a horrific sequence of events.

Darren McKinney: Lynch, Whitehouse hurt R.I. economy

Unlike New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo, who has finally shown enough sense to abandon his predecessor’s vindictive lawsuit against former New York Stock Exchange chief Dick Grasso, Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch is standing by comparably misguided lead-paint litigation initiated by his predecessor — even though the Rhode Island Supreme Court has now unanimously declared it meritless (“R.I. high court overturns lead-paint verdict,” July 2).

Editorial: Al fresco in Newport

Sea and summer offer an unbeatable combination for outdoor dining. Newport has the sea, and it’s now summer, but the City by the Sea’s potential as a charming host of sidewalk café society has yet to be realized.

Editorial: War into Pakistan

Even though Pakistan boasts a fast-growing middle class and many second- and even first-world accoutrements, there are huge parts of the country where local chiefs run things, generally along medieval lines. The government in Islamabad gets to claim the area for the purposes of map-making, and that’s about all; its armed forces enter the region, a mass of high mountains, deep valleys and caves, at their peril. It’s a bad political situation that’s largely the consequence of a bad geographical situation, especially in that the area borders southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Edward Achorn: A powerful surge against freedom

EVERYBODY IS IN FAVOR of his own free speech. It’s the other guy’s that is always the problem.

Julie Blair: Bleeding land and heating Earth

SALINA, Kan.

Lawrence J. Haas: Democracies better at fighting genocide than U.N.

WASHINGTON, D.C. THE FOURTH OF JULY reminded us not only to celebrate our democracy but also to assess the most serious challenges to it. These days, those challenges emanate less from home than abroad, and the United States should take appropriate action on the world stage to defend itself.

Mark Poirier: R.I.’s one-way street

With a fair amount of ire, I read about the bills that passed and failed during the General Assembly’s last session (“Assembly wraps up in late session,” news, June 22). I’d like to offer the legislators some facts and a question.

Robert Davis: Subsidize poor, not private schools

I can’t believe our so-called representatives would even consider ending the energy-assistance program while continuing to subsidize private schools. The energy-assistance program helps many low-income citizens who, without help, will have no heat or electricity this winter, unlike the citizens who choose to send their kids to expensive private schools.

Stephen P. Imondi: Open up weigh stations

I have been following the articles in The Journal regarding the weight limits on various bridges and roadways in Rhode Island. I am struck that the state Department of Transportation has not requested or required that weigh stations be used to monitor the weight of commercial vehicles traveling these roadways. This would not only be prudent but would also give the State Police a chance to check those commercial vehicles to determine if they meet safety criteria.

PROJO

Talk to ‘Mom’ about her PJs

Dear Amy,

SPORTS

For Red Sox, perfect timing

BOSTON — They needed to come home. They wanted to come home. The Boston Red Sox were home.

Ortiz gets back in swing

Pats fans have it all over Sox loyalists

Football fans, obviously, are more knowledgeable than baseball fans.

Pats fans have it all over Sox loyalists

Football fans, obviously, are more knowledgeable than baseball fans.

Steven Krasner: Inside the Game: Ramirez is able to beat the heat

BOSTON — When the Sox were in New York over the weekend, Boston manager Terry Francona admitted that Manny Ramirez is having trouble catching up to fastballs.

Still talking about Wimbledon final

NEWPORT — Hall of Famer John McEnroe described it as “the best match I have ever seen,” and Hall of Fame scribe and historian Bud Collins termed it “the best Wimbledon final ever.”

Tight end Ben Coates gets thrill with induction into Patriots’ Hall of Fame

The first prominent player of Robert Kraft’s time as owner of the New England Patriots and a member of the group who helped take the Patriots from perennial also-rans to NFL standard bearer will become the 13th member of the franchise’s Hall of Fame.

Vongphoumy holds her own in R.I. Amateur

While Juliet Vongphoumy, 14, was keeping up with her 81, Jason Hull took the first-round lead with a 67 at Agawam Hunt.

Vongphoumy holds her own in R.I. Amateur

While Juliet Vongphoumy, 14, was keeping up with the men, Jason Hull took the first-round lead with a 67 at Agawam Hunt.

Young sets sights on coming of age on Tour

NEWPORT — He has played the pro tennis tour since 2004, so it’s easy to forget that Donald Young is still a teenager trying to make it in a game dominated by men in their 20s.