05/15/2008

State employees protest any pension cuts
PROVIDENCE — Despite an extended deadline making it less and less likely the General Assembly will embark on any major pension changes this year, state workers, public school teachers and union representatives packed a State House committee room last night with pleas to spare them any more unwelcome changes in retirement benefits.

05/14/2008

House panel OKs bill to charge lawmakers for health insurance
The legislation would also end the $2,002 waiver payment legislators now get if they forgo the coverage.

05/13/2008

R.I. National Guard chief makes frequent trips out of state
Since his hiring in 2006, Maj. Gen. Robert T. Bray has collected more than $110,000 from the military in addition to his state salary.

New regulations tighten state’s film tax credits
PROVIDENCE — Spurred by questions about how much Rhode Island has benefited financially from the $55 million-plus in tax write-offs it has offered television and movie producers as an incentive to film here, state officials took steps yesterday to tie the credits more closely to money spent here.

05/12/2008

Public buildings named for both living and dead
Should the state be naming buildings after Rhode Islanders who haven’t yet breathed their last?

05/11/2008

Breathalyzer challenge
The Supreme Court will decide whether stiffer penalties should apply to Breathalyzer refusals.

05/08/2008

Carcieri removes MHRH director
Ellen R. Nelson, who has held the post since 2006, has been reassigned to an administration adviser position. Two division heads will take over her responsibilities.

05/06/2008

Carcieri vetoes bill for 24-hour gambling
PROVIDENCE — While lawmakers are counting on round-the-clock gambling on weekends and holidays at Twin River and Newport Grand to raise upward of $14 million in new money for the cash-strapped state, Governor Carcieri has vetoed the legislation.

05/05/2008

Political scene: More members of R.I. General Assembly paying part of health cost -- voluntarily
The public spotlight placed on their free health-care benefits has prompted several more state lawmakers to offer to pay 10 percent of the cost of the premiums costing up to $16,233 a year for family coverage.

05/02/2008

Closing of Landmark’s heart program lamented
Roland Archambault was the 13th patient to undergo open heart surgery at Landmark Medical Center.

05/01/2008

Governor ‘likely’ to veto 24-hr. gambling
Governor Carcieri says he thinks revenue estimates are inflated; the House and Senate may be able to override a veto.

Some urge dropping ‘Plantations’ from name
PROVIDENCE — Centuries after the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was founded, lawmakers say it may be time for a name change.

04/30/2008

R.I. overuses its water supply in summer, report finds
The report examines ways that the state can provide clean, reliable water to residents, allow for economic growth and protect natural resources.

Panel OKs stronger Open Records Law
The attorney general’s office offers the only opposition to the legislation.

04/29/2008

Unions asked to help out in Pawtucket
The director of administration says meetings with individual unions will center on pay freezes, layoffs and health plan contributions.

04/27/2008

State rejects R.I. Hospital proposal
But Rhode Island Hospital plans to keep trying to get state approval for a transplant unit.

04/24/2008

No action taken on bottle-bill proposal
Advocates say charging an extra 5 cents on beverage containers would boost recycling. Opponents call it an undue burden.

04/23/2008

State delays closing facility for elderly mentally ill
The state mental health advocate and the head of the state Department of Mental Health hope they can reach agreement on the Virks Building without going to court.

04/20/2008

Film folks eat well on state’s tab
PROVIDENCE — When Steven Feinberg entertains people in the television and moviemaking industry, he entertains them in style.

04/18/2008

Recruitment fairs focus on volunteers
When there’s an emergency, there’s no limit to where you could be needed.

Pawtucket senior center services in jeopardy
The director of senior services says projected state financing cuts will endanger casework and referral services.

Top lawyer for DEM steps down
PROVIDENCE — Patty Allison Fairweather, who has been at the center of a string of controversies while serving as the top legal counsel at the state Department of Environmental Management, has left the state agency.

04/17/2008

Lynch: Change in law hurts juveniles
He says that lowering the cutoff for Family Court jurisdiction from 21 to 19 gives the state less time to rehabilitate young offenders.

No money found for Pawtucket kindergarten plan
PAWTUCKET — No source has been found for the $612,962 it will cost to expand full-day kindergarten from 2 to all 10 of the city’s elementary schools next year, school officials said during Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting.

04/14/2008

Bottles bills across the country
Bottles bills across the country

Immigration protesters had gig down cold
Political Scene was curious about why protesters this month stormed the governor’s first-floor policy office instead of the governor’s actual office, on the second floor, during a rally to oppose Carcieri’s executive order on immigration.

04/12/2008

Film-tax credit changes considered
Changes are sought in the program that has cost the state more than $80 million in income-tax credits.

04/11/2008

Taking a different path
The planned closing of the Virks Building at Eleanor Slater Hospital means patients such as Eddie will be moved to a facililty that some say isn’t suited to handle them.

Taking a different path
The planned closing of the Virks Building at Eleanor Slater Hospital means patients such as Eddie will be moved to a facililtythat some say isn’t suited to handle them.

State health advocate sues to block Virks’ closing
The Virks Building at Eleanor Slater Hospital is set to close this month as part of a plan to consolidate hospital services in a central area around the Regan Building.

Senate holds off taking a vote on overnight gambling
Senate President Joseph Montalbano says there’s still no agreement with House leaders on the proposal.

Private-employee contracts come under Senate microscope
A package of bills aims to tighten the procedures used when the state hires staffing firms.

04/10/2008

House puts off a vote on 24-hour gambling
But the Senate is expected to vote today on legislation allowing round-the-clock betting at Twin River and Newport Grand on weekends and holidays.

Tourism group working to make visitors’ taxi rides more pleasant
PROVIDENCE — Not all visitors find a welcome party at T.F. Green Airport, their names on placards and their rides idling by the terminal.

04/09/2008

Sen. Blais behind bill to seal disciplinary records
The Coventry Republican, a pharmacist who has been disciplined by the state Health Department, says he wants to expunge the records of three former employees.

Roberts’ chief of staff to leave
The departure of Paul Tencher, who will leave next month, was unexpected.

04/08/2008

URI building contract at issue
A Senate panel wants to know why school leaders deviated from the standard contract-awarding method; URI officials say they weren’t given enough time to prepare answers.

Doctor’s license suspended
Investigations of Dr. Tarek W. Wehbe focus on allegations of fraud, negligence and inadequate chemotherapy.

Convention authority remains in red
A loss of $252,352 is reported on operations at the convention center and the civic center for the first eight months of this fiscal year — less than forecast.

04/07/2008

State EMA’s new communications coordinator, Kass, takes a major pay cut
Steve Kass’ salary has been cut nearly in half.

04/05/2008

Chief disagrees with Carcieri
Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman says it’s not his department’s job to investigate people’s immigration status.

04/04/2008

State hearing starts on Warwick crossing guards
The state Labor Relations Board takes up a complaint that the city acted unfairly when it fired its unionized guards and reappointed them as nonunion workers.

Roberts begins tour to tout health plan
The lieutenant governor stops in South Providence, the first of 15 places, to explain her plan to expand health-care coverage.

Wind farm gathers steam
PROVIDENCE — Wind farm developers, show us your plans.

04/03/2008

Kent wins OK for heart procedure
The hospital will be able to treat certain types of heart attacks with angioplasty, instead of sending patients to Providence.

04/02/2008

Carcieri names retired police chief to head the EMA
PROVIDENCE –– A retired police chief who has led a multimillion-dollar initiative to activate emergency communications across the state has been selected as the new executive director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.

Meetings on health reform
PROVIDENCE — Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts will be going around the state to talk about her health-care reform plan, which includes eight bills introduced in the General Assembly.

Lawmakers hear pleas for second chance
Bills before the General Assembly would make it easier to expunge criminal records.

04/01/2008

North Smithfield wants to exceed tax cap
Officials say they need $821,000 more than the state allows to run the new middle school.

03/31/2008

Lawmakers take aim at plastic bags
Bills before the Assembly seek to curb or ban the use of the non-biodegradable bags that are filling up the landfill and sullying the environment.

03/30/2008

Bill would speed purge of records
Rep. J. Patrick O’Neill, a Pawtucket lawmaker, seeks to seal from public view deferred criminal sentences that have been completed.

03/28/2008

House panel OKs expanded gambling hours
Like a Senate committee a day earlier, the House Finance Committee approves 24-hour gambling on the weekends at Twin River and Newport Grand.

Judge rules out exhibits in DCYF case
The exhibits — legal documents from other cases and declarations by officials — are part of a lawsuit alleging widespread abuse of children in state care.

03/27/2008

Committee approves 24-hour gambling
Proponents say round-the-clock gambling at Twin River and Newport Grand on weekends and on nights before Monday holidays would boost revenue for the state.

New courthouse delayed
In his annual State of the Judiciary address, Chief Justice Frank J. Williams says in light of the state’s budget woes, the planned Blackstone Valley court will be postponed.

03/26/2008

Benefits change proposed for state workers
Rep. Peter F. Kilmartin says that eliminating health care for most part-time workers could save more than $4 million.

Developers ask for Pawtucket’s help
PAWTUCKET –– Two developers who had planned to finance their projects partly by taking advantage of the state’s lucrative historic tax credit program have approached the city about tax breaks in the event the tax credits fall through.

Solar farm developer seeking legislative support
The company proposing a solar energy-producing facility in Coventry says, to be viable, it needs state laws to force the purchase of its electricity.

03/24/2008

Committee to begin hearings
PROVIDENCE — A Senate committee is poised to begin investigating the way the state hires builders for certain public projects, following a Superior Court ruling that the policies violate state bidding law.

03/23/2008

Audit closed, but how deep did DOT look?
The state settles a dispute over timesheets supplied by BETA Engineering, of Massachusetts.

03/21/2008

Racial disparity clear in prisons
A get-tough policy against crime has been directed particularly at blacks, a Brown professor says in a presentation on race and incarceration.

State allows Warwick doctor to resume practice
Dr. Ralph A. Digiacomo ordered 507 bottles of Vicodin, each with 100 tablets, but state officials say there was no evidence that he was selling the painkiller.

03/20/2008

Landfill’s tab for charity last year: $401,800
A House panel hearing focuses on contributions by quasi-public agencies and a bill that aims to ban them.

Bill to set up energy agency gets 2nd look
Governor Carcieri says a state authority is needed to establish a major wind farm off the coast.