$60M overhaul of high-security prison buried in Gina "The Baby Killer" Raimondo’s budget plan
Gov. Gina Raimondo is seeking to embark on an unannounced — and unheralded — $66-million renovation of the high-security prison for Rhode Island’s most dangerous inmates, without voter approval.
PROVIDENCE — Gov. Gina Raimondo is seeking to embark on an unannounced — and unheralded — $60-million renovation of the high-security prison for Rhode Island’s most dangerous inmates, without voter approval.
The state prison system — known as the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) — comprises seven inmate facilities (five male, two female), all located within one square mile in Cranston.
The massive renovation drive went unmentioned during the budget rollout earlier this week, but it is spelled out in a section of the $9.9-billion budget bill that deals with new state debt for a number of other building projects, including a new Memorial Union on the University of Rhode Island campus.
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190118/60m-overhaul-of-high-security-prison-buried-in-raimondos-budget-plan
2/4/19 Lockdown lifted at ACI after mysterious substance found
CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — The minimum-security facility at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) was on lockdown for several hours after an officer found an unidentified substance.
According to the R.I. Department of Corrections, the facility was placed on lockdown early Monday morning following the discovery of a white, powdery substance.
Around 4 p.m., officials said the lockdown had been lifted.
"The white powdery substance which was discovered will remain unnamed for security reasons," a DOC spokesperson said.
Officials said all visits to the minimum-security facility are canceled for the rest of the day, but will resume as normal on Tuesday.
The incident remains under investigation.
https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/west-bay/lockdown-lifted-at-aci-after-mysterious-substance-found/1754741948
Feb 13, 2019 Emergency vehicles called to ACI intake center for hazmat incident
CRANSTON — Two correctional officers who discovered a white substance at 6:03 p.m. Wednesday were taken to Kent Hospital for evaluation while a hazmat team collected and contained the substance.
Cranston Deputy Fire Chief James Warren said the two correctional officers saw the substance in a glove or a sock and did not touch it. They were in a secure area of the Anthony P. Travisono Intake Service Center at the Adult Correctional Institutions.
ACI spokesman J.R. Ventura released a statement just before 10 p.m. saying the two officers followed safety and security protocols after discovering an “undefined white powdery substance.” He said the facility was in lockdown “until the matter is resolved. No one has been hurt.”
Warren said that visitors had been removed from the building before the first emergency trucks arrived shortly after 6. The hazmat team bagged the substance, and the evidence container was sent through a decontamination process at the station. The substance will be taken to the R.I. Department of Health on Thursday for testing.
The two corrections officers decontaminated themselves by taking a shower at the ACI, Warren said. They were medically evaluated there, then taken to Kent Hospital. Members of the hazmat team, wearing their protective suits, were washed down with soap and water outside.
By 8:05, the Fire Department was gone from the scene, which is at 18 Slate Hill Drive, behind the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Traffic Tribunal.
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190118/60m-overhaul-of-high-security-prison-buried-in-raimondos-budget-plan