The victims were among eight who died in four separate holiday weekend crashes, two of them with triple fatalities, in eastern Massachusetts.

In the Attleboro accident, the operator lost control of the car while driving north near Exit 3 (Route 123) at about 2:43 a.m. The car left the road, rolled over and struck several tree stumps before coming to rest, the police said in a statement after a preliminary investigation by Trooper Mason Morse. None of the four occupants were wearing seat belts, and all four were ejected from the vehicle.

Police identified the operator as Gleidson Pereira, 23, of Plymouth. He and two passengers, Ivanildo De Sousa, 27, and Lavdeir De Silva, 29, both from Plymouth, were also fatally injured. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. The other passenger, Samuel Troy-Mendes, 29, also of Plymouth, suffered serious injuries and was transported to Rhode Island Hospital.

Route 95 northbound was closed completely for an hour for the investigation and vehicle removal, the police said, and the right and breakdown lanes were closed for an additional three hours.

The state police said officers including their collision analysis and accident reconstruction section and the Bristol County District Attorney's Office are investigating the accident.

Also in Massachusetts, three more persons died in a single-car crash in Walpole at about 1 a.m. that left one survivor.

In Quincy, a four-car crash just after midnight killed one man and left another person in critical condition. In Sudbury, a man was killed in a single-car crash on Route 20 at about 6:20 p.m.

The police asked that any witnesses or other persons with information about the Attleboro accident call the State Police Foxboro Barracks at (508) 543-8550.

(This entry was first posted at 1:15 p.m.)

Council President Robert Billington said that "safety is first and foremost for our passengers" and that the rains have made boating on the river unsafe. He urged others to "be cautious before venturing out on the river."

The National Weather Service said that the river peaked at Woonsocket on Friday and has fallen somewhat since.

The council said that the free tours, sponsored by Citizens Bank, will resume July 12 and 26.

According to the agency, this recommendation is based on results from water samples that show bacteria levels within acceptable limits.

The following beaches are still closed: Barrington Town Beach in Barrington, Camp Conicus in Exeter, City Park Beach, Conimicut Point Beach, Gordon Pond Beach and Oakland Beach, all in Warwick, and Peabodys Beach in Middletown.

Officials will continue to monitor the water quality and recommend reopening when the areas are safe for swimming, according to the Health Department.

For more information on area beaches, visit projo.com's interactive beach map.

The night will start with the first concert of the town-sponsored Monday Night Jams concert series, to be held at the Town Beach, 365 Atlantic Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m.

This week's event features local favorite "RI Storm," whose members have reunited for this event.

At 9 p.m., the Misquamicut Business Association will present a free fireworks display at the Wuskenau Town Beach on Atlantic Avenue.

The display can be seen from any point on Misquamicut beach.

For additional information call 401-322-1026 or visit the association's Web site.

Raindate is July 13.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A bank-robbery suspect accused of trying to run down a Rhode Island State Police sergeant Thursday night in Providence is being held without bail following his arraignment Friday in District Court, Providence.

The police say Darrin A. Gray, 43, of Cumberland, drove at Sgt. Donald Devine when Devine and other officers tried to arrest Gray at a gas station Thursday night at Chalkstone and River avenues in Mount Pleasant.

As is customary in District Court, Gray entered no plea to felony charges of assault with a dangerous weapon (his vehicle), felony possession of cocaine, resisting arrest, possession of a knife over three inches long, three counts of possession of a "bludgeon," eluding the police and driving on a suspended license.

State Police Lt. James Demers said Cumberland police had obtained an arrest warrant against Gray on second-degree robbery and assault with intent to commit a felony charges in connection with a bank robbery in Cumberland Tuesday.

Gray was on bail on a February felony charge out of Cranston of receiving stolen goods.

Bail was set on the current charges, but Gray was ordered held without bail as a violator on the charge of receiving stolen goods. A violation hearing was scheduled for July 17.

The state police began pursuing Gray after the Cumberland department asked the state's Violent Fugitive Task Force for help, Demers said Friday morning.

Thursday night, half a dozen undercover officers with the fugitive task force converged at a Shell gas station around 7:45 p.m., Demers said.

Col. Brendan P. Doherty, the state police superintendent, said officers were conducting surveillance when they saw Gray pull into the gas station.

But many people will continue to see their premiums go up this fall, as last year's rate increase kicks in when they renew their policies.

While some businesses will get a reprieve from rate increases of up to 16 percent, that may only be temporary. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, one of the state's largest insurers, said it is not freezing rates. Rather, using rate factors previously approved by the health commissioner, the company said it was going to raise rates for large group customers by 9 percent and small group customers by 7 percent. And it plans to seek more increases before the end of the year.

The other two companies involved are Tufts Health Plan and United Health Care of New England. Koller last month rejected the increases and asked the companies to withdraw them.

The state Department of Labor and Training has asked for a $40 million line of credit to cover those costs for the next three months.

Such lines of credit carry no interest costs under the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and they are approved automatically, so recipients should not see any delay in their payments, said DLT spokeswoman Laura Hart.

It is the latest development in a simmering controversy involving a new state law -- sometimes called the "Amazon law" -- which generally requires out-of-state retailers to collect Rhode Island sales tax on purchases that are made through affiliated Web sites located in the state.

Amazon.com cut its ties with its Rhode Island-based affiliates over the new law; two other online retailers, Overstock.com, and Blue Nile have followed suit.

The whole town of Bristol is abuzz in preparation for tomorrow's big Fourth of July parade. Above, folks sit outside 912 Hope Street, where event the grass is patriotic.

Flags, bunting and more flags are displayed in homes near Thames Street.

At 331 PM EDT National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a strong thunderstorm with the potential to produce wind gusts to 40 mph and small hail over Barrington... moving northeast at 15 mph.

* Some locations affected include... Warren... Swansea and Somerset

Posted at 2:59 p.m.:

The lights just flickered in the newsroom of The Providence Journal, followed quickly by this special statement from the National Weather Service:

Severe Thunderstorm Warning Statement as of 2:54 PM EDT on July 3, 2009

Live local radar

More weather...

The National Weather Service in Taunton has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
northern Bristol County in Rhode Island...
this includes the city of Barrington...
eastern Kent County in Rhode Island...
this includes the city of Warwick...
southeastern Providence County in Rhode Island...
this includes the city of Providence...

* until 330 PM EDT

* at 254 PM EDT... National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a
severe thunderstorm capable of producing penny size hail... and
damaging winds in excess of 60 mph. This storm was located near
West Warwick... or near Warwick... and moving northeast at 10 mph.

* Some locations in the warning include... Cranston... Warren...
Johnston and East Providence

Severe thunderstorms produce damaging winds and large hail... in
addition to deadly lightning and very heavy rain. For your safety go
indoors now and stay away from windows. Minor poor drainage flooding
is also expected. Drivers should avoid flooded roadways.

Richard Flamand, 31, is accused of three counts of possession with the intent to deliver, and two counts of possession of various drugs. When police arrested him June 1, they seized a small quantity of drugs at his house, 1,000 doses of prescription medicine, 41 grams of cocaine and a quantity of marijuana from filing cabinets at his recruiting office on Oaklawn Avenue in Cranston.

Flamand, a member of the Air National Guard's top recruiting team in New England, has been at the Adult Correctional Institutions since his arrest when investigators from the state police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations executed a search warrant at his home at 33 Circle Drive, Coventry.

Prosecutors say Flamand was selling drugs from both the recruiting office and from his home. According to the online database for the Rhode Island Judiciary, no future court date has been set yet.

Health officials expect most Rhode Island beaches to be open for holiday swimming on Saturday, but conditions can change by the minute, said Ernest Julian at the R.I. Department of Health on Friday afternoon.

"Rainfall was extremely erratic" Julian said as he announced the reopening of Scarborough State Beach, both north and south, in Narragansett and the Camp Fuller YMCA Beach in South Kingstown.

Although some communities around Narragansett Bay measured 6 inches of rainfall in 36 hours, Scarborough got 2 inches on Wednesday, and from 0.04 to 0.4 on Thursday. By Friday at 1 p.m., it was fine.

At the same time, however, three other swimming areas were closed, and the closure of the private Misquamicut Club beach was extended through Friday. The newly closed beaches are Third Beach in Middletown, Gorton Pond in Warwick and the private Watch Hill Fire District beach in Westerly.

Julian said the situation can change any minute, so before planning an outing, call (401) 222-2751 or visit the beach closures page of the Health Department's Web site.
The information will be updated through the holiday weekend, Julian said.

The following beaches are closed:

Town beaches in Barrington, Bristol, Warren and North Kingstown; Warwick's City Park, Groton Pond, Oakland, Goddard Memorial State Park and Conimicut Point beaches, Peabody's and Third Beach in Middletown; Sandy Point Beach in Portsmouth; Camp Canonicus in Exeter; and the private Misquamicut Club and Watch Hill Fire District baches in Westerly.

Officials will continue to monitor the water quality and recommend reopening when the areas are safe for swimming, according to the Health Department.

For more information on area beaches, visit projo.com's interactive beach map.

(This entry was first posted at 8:45 a.m.)

The state Department of Environmental Management's Division of Agriculture Friday advised gardeners, farmers and commercial growers that an outbreak of Late Blight, scientific name Phytopthora infestans, should be countered with application of fungicides. All tomato and potato crops -- commercial and home grown -- should be viewed as potentially suspect for the disease and measures taken to monitor for and if necessary control the disease, the DEM said in a news release.

The DEM described the disease as "a serious threat to agriculture," and said it will determine whether additional regulations or quarantine are necessary.

William Fry, a Cornell University professor of plant pathology, has been quoted as saying that the new strain is causing "widespread crop devastation" throughout the United States and Canada. He said the fungus is doubly dangerous because it is aggressive and resistant to protective measures.

Fry, who published a paper on the subject with Stephen B. Goodwin, a U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher at Purdue University, in the journal Plant Disease, said the strain hit New York and Maine in 1992 and 1993 and is now found in Idaho, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Accuweather.com said on its Web site that this outbreak is the "earliest and most widespread," and that it has prompted the removal of tomato plants from stores in New York and New England. Accuweather.com said this season's wet weather has helped spread the spores by which Late Blight reproduces.

The Web site said plants have been removed from sale at Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Kmart stores, and said the disease has been found in all Atlantic coastal states except for Georgia. The site predicted that the price of tomatoes and other vegetables will rise as growers seek to cover the cost of treating the disease.

Were you there for the first festival, in 1959? How about when Dylan went electric? Were you there at the return of the festival in 1985? What was the worst weather you sat through? And just how many times have you seen The Indigo Girls?

Whatever your memories of the folk festivals, drop a line to Journal pop music writer Rick Massimo at rmassimo@projo.com.

From the National Weather Service:

Special Weather Statement Statement as of 1:32 PM EDT on July 3, 2009

At 131 PM EDT National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a
thunderstorm with the potential to produce wind gusts to 40
mph and small hail over Warwick... moving northeast at 5 mph.

* Some locations affected include... East Providence and Barrington

For your safety... get inside when this storm approaches. Heavy rain
may cause minor street flooding as well as ponding of water in poor
drainage areas.

This storm is producing occasional cloud to ground lightning. If you
are caught outside... stay away from isolated tall objects such as
trees. Avoid open areas such as Golf courses or Ball fields.

Take a look at the local radar to see how the storms are popping up.