11/05/2009

24/7 slots coming to Twin River
Lottery allows all-night gambling at the greyhound track and slot parlor to boost revenue

11/04/2009

Get your swine-flu questions answered on the air
If you’re looking for answers to questions about swine flu, Wednesday is your day.

11/03/2009

Hospital fined for wrong-site surgery
For operating on the wrong finger of a patient, Rhode Island Hospital will have to pay a $150,000 fine and have surgeries monitored for a year

10/26/2009

A Capitol idea: Wedding shoot at the R.I. State House
Many couples choose the grand presence of the State House for their wedding pictures.

Political scene: Chairman Corvese told Capitol TV to skip House Labor Committee hearing
State House Room 313 last week was the scene of the most contentious legislative hearing in nearly four months.

10/24/2009

One finalist for R.I. economic development head identified
Although a selection committee has been mum on the identity of its choice for the new director of the state’s Economic Development Corporation, Governor Carcieri and the group’s chairman confirmed the name of one of two finalists: Ioanna T. Morfessis, of Arizona.

10/23/2009

Tax changes may be on R.I. horizon
PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri’s administration director, Gary Sasse, gave a roomful of state senators a list of “two to three things” to do over the next few months as the state tries to climb out of its financial abyss. The first was: “pray.”

10/16/2009

Former chief justice hired godchild’s grandmother
The grandmother of the former chief justice’s godchild is a part-time janitor at the South Main Street courthouse.

Senate Finance Committee examines state aid to cities and towns
“We want to know whether it’s all justified and what we can do going forward to deal with the fact that our revenues are flat and could decrease,” says Sen. Daniel DaPonte, chairman of the Finance Committee.

10/13/2009

R.I. economic report cites cost of Medicaid, fire protection
The executive director of RIPEC says his group’s report shows “a state that has a very high level of spending and a very high level of taxation.”

10/10/2009

Not much room for the law in budget process
The law requiring state agencies to submit their spending plans for the coming fiscal year by Oct. 1 is routinely ignored.

Not much room for the law in budget process
The law requiring tate agencies to submit their spending plans for the coming fiscal year by Oct. 1 is routinely ignored.

10/08/2009

First-quarter revenues off $30.2 million
PROVIDENCE — Three months after Rhode Island lawmakers passed a balanced budget, state revenues are already $30.2 million behind estimates, a lag that has helped create a total projected budget hole of nearly $150 million.

10/07/2009

Biggest RI employees union OKs pay cuts
Council 94 members approve $36 million in concessions in exchange for a two-year no-layoff guarantee.

State workers accept cutbacks
Council 94 members approve $36 million in concessions in exchange for a two-year no-layoff guarantee.

10/02/2009

First shipment of swine flu vaccine to R.I. expected next week
The first shipment, 6,200 doses of nasal spray, is meant for children who have health complications.

2 state employee unions ratify R.I. cost-cutting plan
PROVIDENCE — Two more unions have voted to ratify the state’s proposed $36-million cost-cutting plan.

10/01/2009

R.I. state revenues off by $100 million
The Senate Finance Committee chairman says the state must look at municipal and school consolidation as a long-range cost-cutting measure.

Caprio leads fundraising race for governor
The general treasurer’s campaign committee reports $1.5 million cash on hand.

09/29/2009

Excavator signals start of Johnston hotel project
Hartford Avenue to get $3.4-million makeover as part of the federal stimulus program.

R.I. GOP files ethics complaint against Lynch
The state GOP asserts that he violated the state’s gift cap by accepting a roundtrip plane ticket for a trip last year.

09/26/2009

R.I.’s biggest state-worker union to put governor’s plan to rank-and-file vote
Members are expected to vote on the governor’s pay-deferral plan by the end of next week.

R.I.’s biggest state-worker union to put governor’s plan to rank-and-file vote
Members are expected to vote on the governor’s pay-deferral plan by the end of next week.

09/25/2009

Social service union to put Carcieri plan to vote
Meanwhile, after having turned down the governor’s plan, Council 94 says it is willing to accept a modified version of the proposal.

URI president says layoffs, tuition hike possible
The university expects that its share of the cut in state higher education dollars will be about $3.4 million.

Social service union to put Carcieri plan to vote
Meanwhile, after having turned down the governor’s plan, Council 94 says it is willing to accept a modified version of the proposal.

Landmark Medical Center to negotiate solely with Caritas Christi
A judge allows exclusive talks for a merger between Landmark Medical Center and the health-care chain.

09/24/2009

Biggest RI union rejects deal; Carcieri vows to push ahead with layoffs
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Carcieri declared he was done negotiating and intends to plow ahead with layoffs, after the leaders of the largest state employees union on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a $36.3-million cost-saving agreement that hinged on eight workdays without pay in this budget year, four next year and a six-month delay in a promised 3-percent raise in July, 2010.

09/22/2009

Cumberland trims chipping budget
CUMBERLAND –– Budget cuts are chipping away at services in Cumberland and that means doing away with chipping.

09/21/2009

These clunkers are parked in your house: R.I. to get $1,008,000 for appliances
The federal government targets inefficient appliances in a second Cash for Clunkers initiative that will distribute $300 million in rebates.

09/19/2009

Police probe ‘large-scale theft’ at Twin River
LINCOLN — State police are investigating a “large scale theft” at the Twin River greyhound track and slot parlor, and anticipate the arrest “in the near future” of a former employee and his accomplice in a promotional-points scam that netted the duo at least $45,000 in winnings — and perhaps twice that — before they were caught, according to top state police and Lottery officials.

Governor orders payments to local ACORN office stopped
PROVIDENCE –– Governor Carcieri has ordered all department directors and state agencies to immediately stop payments to the Rhode Island branch of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), or indirectly to any of its affiliates.

Unions, state to meet again on pay-deferral plan
Talks on Friday did not result in a final agreement on pay deferrals for thousands of state workers.

09/18/2009

No-layoff plan still being negotiated
PROVIDENCE — A week after Governor Carcieri and top union leaders announced a “tentative” pay-deferral agreement aimed at averting government shutdown days and layoffs, they remain unable to come to final terms, setting the stage for the potential mailing of pink slips to 1,000 or more state workers — and not necessarily the most recently hired.

09/16/2009

State tax revenues in July, Aug. lag budget projections
Analysts are unsure whether the shortfall is temporary or an early warning of an even bleaker budget year than forecasted.

State, unions still negotiating plan to avert layoffs
Union leaders tell members to “sit tight” as they try to clarify wording in a proposed agreement with the state.

09/15/2009

R.I. preparing for layoffs in case unions reject plan for unpaid days
The director of the Department of Administration has told other state agency heads to continue planning for possible layoffs.

Carcieri names Hodgkin as chief of staff
The governor’s office says the move does not violate the state’s hiring freeze since the offer was made prior to the freeze date.

09/14/2009

Political Scene: Carcieri again charges staff salaries to other agencies
PROVIDENCE—Governor Carcieri is once again charging the salaries of some of the top people in his office to other state agencies, including policy director Tim Costa, community relations director Sue Stenhouse and perhaps, most curiously, the long-gone Steve Kass.

09/12/2009

Carcieri, unions reach compromise: 12 unpaid work days
The governor and union leaders come to terms on a tentative pact that calls for 8 unpaid work days this year, 4 next year.

Carcieri, unions reach compromise: 12 unpaid work days
The governor and union leaders come to terms on a tentative pact that calls for 8 unpaid work days this year, 4 next year.

09/11/2009

R.I. Supreme Court to hold closed session on government shutdown request
Members of the state Supreme Court will decide whether to take up the dispute between the state and its employee unions.

09/10/2009

R.I. Senate confirms Stern for judgeship
The governor’s chief of staff is easily approved for a seat on the Superior Court bench.

Justice Suttell won’t participate in Carcieri shutdown plan lawsuit
The head of the state Supreme Court says he has to abide by the state’s separation of powers law.

Field for EDC head whittled to two
A search committee could soon recommend a candidate to the governor for a new state Economic Development Corporation executive director.

09/09/2009

Twin River license applicants reviewed
A key figure in Warner Gaming has spoken with the state Department of Business Regulation.