Rhode Island

For days since the Boston Marathon bombings, people have been searching for the mysterious “Misha,” the friend with the thin red beard who supposedly tutored bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the ways of more pious Islam. Also hot on his trail was the FBI, which wondered whether “Misha,” described by Tsarnaev family members as an Armenian who converted to Islam, could have known something about Tsarnaev and his brother's alleged plans to plant homemade bombs at the marathon finish line on April 15. It appears the mystery is over - solved by no less a heavyweight news organization than the New York Review of Books . PHOTOS: Boston Marathon bombings Acting on a tip from someone who knows the Tsarnaevs, writer Christian Caryl traveled to Rhode Island to interview the man: Mikhail Allakhverdov, 39, who is of Armenian-Ukrainian descent.

I ate my share of lobsters while spending summers in Rhode Island. My family still talks about the 10-pounder we bought from a shop in Galilee. We spent an hour scouring the neighborhood looking for someone who owned a pot big enough to cook it. Lobster is still one of my favorite foods of summer - that's when it is the cheapest, when they move closer to shore and the fishing conditions are better. A good lobster is something to be relished, eaten with your hands, the buttery juices wiped from your chin and licked from your fingers.

Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died Thursday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 90. Pell died at his Newport home just after midnight, according to his former assistant, Jan Demers. A Democrat, Pell was first elected to the Senate in 1960.

For days since the Boston Marathon bombings, people have been searching for the mysterious “Misha,” the friend with the thin red beard who supposedly tutored bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the ways of more pious Islam. Also hot on his trail was the FBI, which wondered whether “Misha,” described by Tsarnaev family members as an Armenian who converted to Islam, could have known something about Tsarnaev and his brother's alleged plans to plant homemade bombs at the marathon finish line on April 15. It appears the mystery is over - solved by no less a heavyweight news organization than the New York Review of Books . PHOTOS: Boston Marathon bombings Acting on a tip from someone who knows the Tsarnaevs, writer Christian Caryl traveled to Rhode Island to interview the man: Mikhail Allakhverdov, 39, who is of Armenian-Ukrainian descent.

Online fibbers, truth exaggerators and takers of literary license, we've got good news for you: You can no longer be prosecuted in Rhode Island for lying about your age, your waistline or your sexual prowess online. State lawmakers have decided to strike a vague and obscure 1989 law that made it a misdemeanor to knowingly provide false information on the Internet for any reason, punishable by fines of up to $500 and as much as a year in prison. "Lies may make you a scoundrel, cost you a relationship or get you fired, but they shouldn't make you a criminal unless you're trying to commit a fraud or some other offense," said state Rep. Chris Blazejewski, who helped repeal the law. If California had a similar law, the state might be able to solve its budget crisis just by fining all the actors who lie about their age on IMDB.

Lamar Odom, a 6-foot-11 sophomore playing in his first college game, made the game-winning shot with 5.4 seconds left and came within an assist of a triple double Monday night as No. 23 Rhode Island beat No. 25 Texas Christian, 87-85, in the inaugural CoSIDA Classic at Providence, R.I.

Bars, restaurants and businesses became smoke-free early Tuesday, making Rhode Island the seventh state in the nation to ban puffing in most indoor public places. Rhode Island joins California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts and New York with a law on smoking. The law covers thousands of bars and restaurants, and all indoor workplaces. But it extends the deadline to Oct.

No. 12-ranked Connecticut got 23 points from freshman guard Khalid El-Amin, 15 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore center Jake Voskuhl and plenty of defense, especially in the second half, to defeat No. 20 Rhode Island, 80-67, Wednesday night in a preseason National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal game at Storrs, Conn. "We made All-Americas out of Voskuhl and Khalid," first-year Rhode Island Coach Jim Harrick said. "It's very difficult to bring a team in here and win."

Rhode Island, which forfeited a college football game against Connecticut at Storrs, Conn., last Oct. 19 after six members of the team became involved in a fight at a fraternity house, has agreed to play the next four games between the two schools at Storrs. UConn complained that it had lost about $150,000 after Robert Carothers, the president of Rhode Island, canceled the game.

Rhode Island took a step Wednesday toward becoming the 10th state to recognize gay marriage after the Senate passed a bill that could clear the way for same-sex weddings to begin this summer. The bill passed 26 to 12 after about 90 minutes of debate and is due to take effect Aug. 1, assuming nothing blocks what is seen as a routine vote in the House and the signature of Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Chafee, an independent, supports the legislation, and the House easily passed the bill in January.

It was a mystery that ended in sadness: A body found in the Providence River earlier this week has been identified as missing Brown University student Sunil Tripathi, Rhode Island officials announced Thursday. The discovery of Tripathi's body closed a monthlong search after his March 16 disappearance and opened the way for grief over the 22-year-old's death. The cause was not yet known, but investigators said they didn't suspect foul play. "As we carry indescribable grief, we also feel incredible gratitude," Tripathi's family said Thursday on a Facebook page that had been set up as part of the search.

Rhode Island took a step Wednesday toward becoming the 10th state to recognize gay marriage after the Senate passed a bill that could clear the way for same-sex weddings to begin this summer. The bill passed 26 to 12 after about 90 minutes of debate and is due to take effect Aug. 1, assuming nothing blocks what is seen as a routine vote in the House and the signature of Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Chafee, an independent, supports the legislation, and the House easily passed the bill in January.

Authorities are investigating a report that a gunman has been spotted at the University of Rhode Island, officials said Thursday in a message sent to the university community. No injuries have been reported and there are no reports of shots being fired. But as a precaution, classes at the school's Kingston campus have been canceled and students and others were urged to stay indoors until the investigation is completed. The alert was sent shortly after 12:30 p.m. EDT. “The university is still investigating reports of a man with a gun in or around Chafee Hall on the Kingston campus,” the school said . ”We have notified the campus community through our emergency alert system, the website, and email to 'secure yourself indoors (not Chafee)

A lockdown of the Kingston campus of the University of Rhode Island  ended on Thursday with no indication that there was ever a gunman at the school, officials said. Hours after the school sent out an alert warning students and educators to stay indoors, the emergency shutdown was lifted, the school said on its website. “The Kingston campus lock-down has ended. State police have cleared Chafee Hall. The investigation has revealed that at no time was there a gun or an active shooter on the campus,” the school said.

WASHINGTON -- California's jobless rate was unchanged at 9.8% in January, and that lack of improvement put the Golden State in a tie with Rhode Island for the worst unemployment in the land. On the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota had the lowest jobless rate, 3.3%, the government said Monday in releasing updated and revised employment data for all 50 states. These statistics, based on more complete payroll information, show that California and other states in the western half of the country did much better in job growth over the last 12 months, powered by the energy sector, technology, trade with Asia and a rebounding housing market.

California's jobless rate was unchanged at 9.8% in January for the second straight month, and that lack of improvement put the Golden State in a tie with Rhode Island for the worst unemployment in the U.S. On the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota had the lowest jobless rate, 3.3%, the government said Monday in releasing updated and revised employment data for all 50 states. California will release its county-by-county breakdown of jobs Friday, which economists expect will reflect the slow growth that is predicted in the state for 2013.

Rhode Island's largest writer of workers' compensation insurance announced Tuesday that it was pulling out of the state because rates don't come close to covering the costs of doing business. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. said it would discontinue its insurance coverage by Dec. 31, leaving hundreds of employers and thousands of workers stranded without coverage. The company had 28.

Rhode Island's House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would legalize same-sex marriage, setting up a crucial vote in the Senate on the controversial issue.  The state would become the 10th to recognize same-sex marriage, which is also legal in the District of Columbia. Currently, Rhode Island is the only state in New England where same-sex partners cannot marry. The House  bill , which redefines marriage as "the legally recognized union of two people," passed 51 to 19. Rep. Arthur Handy had repeatedly proposed the bill for 11 years.

Three women died when their car was apparently driven off a pier and landed in about four feet of water in a private marina in Newport, R.I., police said Friday. The car, lying on its roof, was seen by a fuel deliveryman, who contacted police, Newport police Capt. Fred Gonsalves told the Los Angeles Times. No foul play was suspected, he said. The car was discovered around 6:30 a.m. at the Newport Shipyard. Around 8:30 a.m., a crane hauled the vehicle out of the water and the bodies were discovered, Gonsalves said.