Pawtucket Tunnel + Kidnapped Mailman Story Thickens

Welcome to the Pawtucket Patch Daily — your quickest way to get caught up on the city's top news stories. I'm your host, Mary Serreze. I can be reached at mary.serreze@patch.com. Feel free to send me your news tips, thoughts, and ideas.

First, the weather:

Saturday: Possible light rain overnight. High of 88, low of 65.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 88, low of 66.
Monday: Humid and mostly cloudy. High of 87, low of 70.

Here are the top five stories from Pawtucket today:

1. Friday marked a historic day in a years-long effort to clean the waters of Narragansett Bay and the rivers that feed it. Dignitaries joined the Narragansett Bay Commission to break ground on the Pawtucket Tunnel — a 2.2 mile underground conduit that will gather wastewater and stormwater from Pawtucket and Central Falls. It’s Phase III of the Rhode Island's largest pollution-control effort ever. Patch has the story. GoLocal Prov shot some video. And here's what Alex Kuffner from the Providence Journal had to say.

2. Thursday was a day of raw emotions at the Rhode Island State House, The Providence Journal reports. Pawtucket Rep. Leonela Felix — who has made no secret of her troubled past — told her story, on camera, during debate over a bill that would reclassify simple possession of 10 grams or less of certain illicit drugs as a misdemeanor rather than a felony.

3. A Pawtucket mailman says he was abducted at gunpoint by masked men who accused him of making off with the contents of an empty package. The postal worker was eventually let go unharmed. Now three men with extensive criminal records have been indicted by a federal grand jury on drug conspiracy charges. Feds say the kidnapping in a Chrysler 300 was linked to an operation where cocaine was shipped from fake addresses in Puerto Rico to real addresses in Rhode Island. (Patch)

4. Pawtucket and Central Falls have extolled their working relationship with the Providence-based Nonviolence Institute. The two cities have hired street-level mentors from the institute in an effort to quell violence this summer and help teens make good choices. But now some progressive activists are taking aim at the non-profit, claiming it works too closely with the police. Executive Director Cedric Huntley said he won't be swayed. “We stand on the work we’ve done for 20 years. We’ll continue to do the work. We stand on the principles and steps of nonviolence,” Huntley told The Boston Globe.

5. A heads-up for people who drive on I-95 northbound from Pawtucket into Massachusetts. Night-time paving and milling will take place Sunday night through Wednesday night, RIDOT announced. Daytime drivers might have to deal with some rough surfaces.

EVENTS:

• Andre Thierry brings his brand of "Accordion Soul" to the German-American Cultural Society of Rhode Island. That's Sunday, June 20, from 3 to 7 p.m. at 78 Carter Ave. No formal tickets, but people are asked to pay $15 or $20 at the door.

• Tolman High School Class of 1981 is holding their class reunion this weekend. Various locations.

• The Sacred Cow ice cream shop plans a ribbon-cutting and grand opening Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Head over to 187 N. Brow Street in East Providence. Plenty of kid-friendly activities are planned.

• Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera has announced two Saturday events at Veterans Memorial Park: a Youth Summer Job Opportunity Fair (9 a.m.-noon) and a free family fun event with vaccines for ages 12 and older (noon-2 p.m.)

• Sunday is Father's Day. Do right by your dad!

That's it. You're all caught up. See you next week. Send me your events. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Tell your friends! Have a great weekend. -Mary