SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Robert Lepper Jr. of Kingston, a retired faculty member of the University of Rhode Island and a veteran of World War II, died Saturday at his home, it was announced on Wednesday by Julia C. Young, his granddaughter.

Lepper would have turned 96 on April 13. He was the husband of the late Rita [Connor] Lepper.

He was born in Pawtucket, a son of the late Robert and Emily [Everling] Lepper.
He was a 1932 graduate of Westerly High School. He received a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1936 from URI and in 1937 a master's degree in genetics.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1940 and was commissioned an ensign. During the invasions of Sicily; Salerno, Italy; and Normandy, he captained an LCT, an amphibious assault ship. His experiences have been recorded in the Naval Historical Collection at the Naval War College in Newport. He returned to the United States in 1944 a decorated veteran, married Lieut. J.G. Rita Connor, U.S. Naval Reserve, of Providence, and became assistant professor of naval science and tactics at the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at the University of North Carolina.

Upon his return to Rhode Island in 1946 he became assistant principal of Lockwood Junior High School in Warwick, and in 1947 became assistant principal of Gorton High School there. He also was head coach of baseball at Gorton.

In 1948 he became an instructor of botany at URI, known then as Rhode Island State College. He became chairman of the botany department in 1953, a position he held until 1972. He completed his Ph.D. in cytology at the University of Connecticut, and was promoted to full professor in 1954.

His tenure at URI included several alumni, faculty, staff, and state positions including interim dean of arts and sciences in 1973.The Alumni Association's Ram Award was presented to him in 1966. He retired as dean emeritus in 1978.

As a youth in Westerly he played baseball and football. In his senior year of high school he was selected All-Division and All-State as a lineman, and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. At URI he earned eight varsity letters in football and baseball. He continued as an avid supporter of URI athletics, holding several administrative positions, including chairman of the Athletic Council and acting director of athletics. He was drafted into the URI Hall of Fame in 1976. He enjoyed a variety of sports including handball, tennis and bowling. He was a member of Point Judith Country Club, where he twice scored a hole-in-one.

Surviving are daughters Frances L. Johnson of Foster, Julia L. Murphy of Washington, Patricia L. Young of Milford, Mass., and Mary L. Sutphen of Wakefield; 10 grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be sent to The South Kingstown Land Trust 313 Main Street Suite C, Wakefield, RI 02879 or The Animal Rescue League of Rhode Island, P.O. Box 458, Wakefield, RI 02880.

Taylor Police are asking for help in tracking down a man who robbed the Charter One Bank on two different occasions.

A Southern California letter carrier who is a registered sex offender has been reassigned after concerns were raised that he was delivering mail in an area with many children.

The point of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was to show that artistic freedom allows mockery of all religions, including the most sacred symbols of Islam, the Swedish artist who created it said today.

In an industry first, a new gaming service will start allowing people to "stream" popular games over the Internet in June, similar to checking Web-based e-mail or listening to music online.

A convicted sex offender's scheduled prison release has been reversed following objections from a Monroe County prosecutor.

In his 11th State of the City address, Livonia Mayor Jack Kirksey told a crowd of more than 520 that the city's future's is bright as long as the community works together.

At a meeting in Dearborn today, Arab-Americans slammed federal law enforcement officials for targeting their community, saying a disproportionate number of prosecutions in recent years are aimed at them.

Authorities say a mid-Michigan woman faces possible felony charges after failing to tell a sex partner about her HIV-positive status.

A global Internet oversight agency is reopening discussions about whether to create a ".xxx" domain name. It would be an online red-light district where porn sites can set up shop away from the wandering eyes of children and teenagers.

Services for slain Jackson Police officer James Bonneau are expected to snarl traffic Thursday and Friday in Canton, the city where he grew up.

The Metropolitan Building, a historic but vacant downtown structure, is getting some emergency stabilization work to prevent chunks from falling off it.

Sterling Heights police are investigating a report that an unidentified man in an SUV attempted to get a 13-year-old girl walking to Grissom Middle School this morning to enter his vehicle.

A veteran print journalist, a social worker, the head of a battered woman’s program and a local broadcast anchor have been selected for recognition by the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women as 2010 Women’s History Month honorees.

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Northeast Florida public school districts don’t know exactly how much money they might be short for next school year.

And they aren’t sure yet how they’ll deal with the anticipated cuts.

But they are preparing themselves — and the public — for additional budget cuts.

Duval County Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals is hosting the first of four town hall meetings Thursday.

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At a meeting in Dearborn today, Arab-Americans slammed federal law enforcement officials for targeting their community, saying a disproportionate number of prosecutions in recent years are aimed at them.

Waterford Township -- A Pontiac couple who told police they shoplifted for drug money will go to trial on charges they dragged a K-Mart loss prevention officer to his death with their vehicle.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia's General Assembly became the first in the nation Wednesday to approve legislation that bucks any attempt by President Barack Obama and Congress to implement national health care overhaul in individual states.

Mayor Daley warned today that the day of reckoning has arrived for a financial crisis that’s choking local taxpayers: underfunded city pensions.

The California Teachers Association has spent more than $200 million on campaign contributions and lobbying efforts in the last decade, leading what the Fair Political Practices Commission calls a "billion-dollar club" of moneyed political interests.

The FPPC's report, entitled "Big Money Talks," delves into the 25 biggest - at least in financial terms - political players in the state, which have collectively spent $1.3 billion on political action in the last 10 years.

"This tsunami of special interest spending drowns out the voices of average voters," FPPC chairman Ross Johnson said in a statement, "and intimidates political opponents and elected officials alike."

The $211.9 million spent by the CTA is nearly twice as much as the $107.5 million committed by the second-highest spender, the California State Council of Service Employees, but after those two union groups, the remaining 13 on the Top 15 list are all either business groups, such as No. 3 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America ($104.9 million), individual corporations or casino-owning Indian tribes, which have three of the 15 top spots.

Collectively, the top 15 spent just over $1 billion during the decade, while the next 10 spent $271 million. They are also a mixture of unions, businesses and Indian tribes.

The report provides details on each big spender's campaign contributions and lobbying expenses, and identifies their spending on ballot measures, which generally consumed far more of the total than contributions to politicians or lobbying expenses. The CTA, for example, directed $144.1 million into ballot measures, including more than $50 million to defeat a series of 2005 measures sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The full report can be found at the FPPC's website here.

Authorities said Wednesday that they are "astounded" by the heroic actions of a 7-year-old boy who hid with his younger sister in a bathroom and called 911 while armed robbers broke into his home and threatened his parents.

"I'm still astounded by his mindset," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Douglas Jensen said. "To be able to think about getting his sister, grabbing his phone, locking himself in a bathroom and calling 911. It shows so much."

The assailants held the parents at gunpoint Tuesday while the boy, identified only as Carlos, and his 6-year-old sister hid in a locked bathroom. Carlos told a dispatcher breathlessly that there was "some guy who's going to kill my mom and dad" and begged authorities to "bring cops. A lot of them! ... And bring soldiers, too."

Although he sounds frightened, he keeps his composure and explains what is happening.

"Come really fast, please, please," he said. "They come, they ring the door and they have guns."

About 90 seconds into the call, his sister starts screaming as someone apparently breaks into the bathroom. The line stays connected, and a distraught-sounding dispatcher can be heard telling colleagues what she'd heard.

Deputies were on scene within three minutes, but the assailants had escaped in a green or gray two-door compact car, Jensen said.

The assailants left without taking anything once they realized the boy had called 911, Jensen said.

Detectives were investigating why the family was targeted.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A campaign spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch is slamming his primary opponent in the race for governor for alleged flip-flops on the proposed Twin River "bailout,'' without saying where Lynch himself stands.

"It sounds like Frank Caprio was for a taxpayer funded bailout before he was against it. Is he really against a bailout or is this just Frank Caprio playing politics, the 3rd largest source of state revenue,'' new Lynch campaign manager Joel Coon said.

The response from the Caprio camp: "Mr. Coon, as an out-of-state political operative, may not be familiar with this issue and the difference between financial terms like 'buy out' and 'bail out.'

"The 'buy out' Caprio recommended, would have allowed the State to acquire at the market low in 2008, and at a profit accruing to the benefit of the taxpayer, the real estate at Twin River that houses the State's lottery machines,'' spokesman Nick Hemond said. "The 'bail out' Caprio is opposing, would require the taxpayers to foot the bill for concessions by the State that would increase the value of the real estate to the benefit of the big banks.''

Coon keyed his comments to remarks Caprio, the state treasurer, made before and after a State House hearing Tuesday night on a concession package Governor Carcieri is promoting on behalf of the big-name lenders about to take ownership of the bankrupt Lincoln track-and-slot parlor.

Carcieri's proposal would end dog racing, waive for now and then cut in half the 1,300 minimum job requirement at the sprawling Lincoln gambling hall, commit the state to paying Twin River up to $5.036 million in new management and marketing fees, and shore up the lender/owners' right to sue the state if Twin River lost money to a new Rhode Island competitor.

Urging the lawmakers to say no to a 'bailout of the big banks,'' Caprio suggested options, do nothing to enhance the value of Twin River at taxpayers' expense, and force the lenders back to the negotiating table or ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to auction the state's largest slot parlor to an experienced gambling operator.

Twin River is home to about 4,750 electronic video-slots, roulette and blackjack games placed there by the state Lottery, under terms where the state gets to keep about 61 cents out of every dollar a player loses. The owners get their own 27.8 percent share of the state's video-slot revenue.

At an earlier point, when Twin River's owners were still struggling financially, but not yet in bankruptcy, Caprio suggested the state float bonds to buy Twin River, and then sell it at a presumed profit when the market improved, keeping the owners' share of the video-slot revenue for itself in the interim.

Coon said: "Caprio's plan last year to help pull Twin River out of bankruptcy with state bonds to prevent bankruptcy, thereby securing the lenders' investment, was nothing short of a taxpayer-backed bail out for the lenders, aka 'the big banks.'

"His position now of 'doing nothing' is, at best, a clear reversal of his previous approach to the issue.''

In response, the Caprio camp questioned "if Attorney General Lynch, as the State's top law enforcement official, will be taking a position or offering any solutions protecting RI taxpayers from the big bank bail out proposed at Twin River?''

There was no immediate response from the Lynch campaign.

Authorities apologise over missed warnings of incest as report reveals culture of 'quiet word' rather than action

A series of failures by child protection professionals were detailed today in a withering report that described how a father was allowed to continually rape and abuse two of his daughters over a 35-year period.

The executive summary into the case described how the family had been in contact with 28 different agencies between 1973 and 2008, and that they had been seen by more than 100 professionals including social workers, police and housing officials.

Sixteen case conferences were held and ambulance workers, a headteacher and hospital staff had all expressed concern about non-accidental injuries and the children's poor hygiene. Yet nothing was done.

Seven allegations of sexual abuse were made by family members – but they were not followed up.

Instead of swift intervention, a culture of having "a quiet word" was found to exist among professionals.

Today Sheffield and Lincolnshire safeguarding children boards apologised for their failings. Chris Cook, independent chair of Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board, said: "We are genuinely sorry. We should have protected you. People's lives were devastated both by a controlling, power-obsessed and deviant father and our failure to act."

Sue Fiennes, independent chair of Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board, admitted they had failed the family and "nothing should shield us from that fact".

The nature of the failures were disclosed today, 18 months after the father was sentenced to 25 life sentences for raping his daughters in one of the worst cases of incest ever put before a British court.

The women had finally come forward in June 2008 when their father was arrested. The judge in the case, Alan Goldack QC, demanded to know what professionals "had been doing for the last 20 years."

Today's report was an attempt to answer the question.

It described how the man abused and intimidated his family, and how he moved them 67 times to avoid being detected by the authorities. During that time, two of his daughters, referred to as M and N, had become pregnant 18 times after being raped by him.

Yet despite increasing suspicion that sexual abuse was taking place, none of the episodes was investigated effectively. On 23 separate occasions the women were specifically asked by the authorities about paternity of their children. They refused genetic counselling and there was concern that the father had become violent and aggressive towards them.

Yet because professionals believed "there was no evidence" to prove incest, they took no action. They were also fearful of potential litigation, the report noted.

The girls and a brother, who suffered physical abuse, were on the child protection register for a decade.

Speaking at a press conference, Professor Pat Cantrill, author of the report, said the abuse could have been stopped. "It only really needed one person with tenacity to keep pushing this and pushing this and we might have had a much earlier recognition and action being taken.

"There were people in the community that came forward and attempted to get the agencies to react in relation to this family and they were not listened to the way that they should."

She said a culture of "having a quiet word" had developed, and some professionals simply did not know how to handle the situation.

She said opportunities were missed individually and collectively. "The inquiries that were identified should have resulted in the children being taken to a place of safety – but that did not occur."

Some professionals got "quite stuck" around the situation of incest. "You are aware, as I am aware, that there are a number of these serious case reviews that happen and we always don't seem to learn from them."

The report found the father intimidated and frightened his wife and children using physical violence and bullying.

His wife left in 1992, leaving the children with him. "Professionals failed to listen and consider the situation from the child's perspective," the summary concluded. "They did not see the children and, where possible, talk to them and find out what they thought and felt about the issues. Too often the professionals took the word of parents at face value without considering the effects on the child."

It found professionals were often on the back foot because some were afraid of the father. "There is also an issue of professionals stereotyping and being judgmental of adults M and N and failing to see the growing pressure on the women of the frequent pregnancies." It found agencies were waiting for M and N to disclose abuse, yet research finds that 40% of victims of serious sexual assault don't tell.

"There was evidence of practitioners working in narrow silos," the report found. "There is an individual and collective community responsibility on us as members of society to protect children. Members of the family and community tried to play their part in safeguarding the children … with a frustrating outcome."

Cantrill said by 1997 there was a substantial picture in place that should have reflected in action being taken. "Even though some professionals were afraid of the father they left the children with him," she added.

Maybe Michigan just thinks it's too good for the CBI. But there's one way to prove that you're too good for the CBI, and that's to qualify for the NCAA or the NIT. Didn't do that? Then you're not too good for the CBI.

At a meeting in Dearborn today, Arab-Americans slammed federal law enforcement officials for targeting their community, saying a disproportionate number of prosecutions in recent years are aimed at them.

Without any major expiring contracts, a major overhaul is next to impossible. I sincerely doubt they'll find any takers for the bloated deals held by Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. So, really, the only way to go in terms of starting fresh is through the draft.