Gov. Gina Raimondo outlined her budget proposal — stressing the importance of attracting businesses, reforming Medicaid and improving education — in her State of the State address Thursday night. Delivered before a joint session of the General Assembly, the address marks the first budget recommendation ...
A bill proposed in January that would require all institutions of higher education in Rhode Island to report incidents of sexual assault to law enforcement will likely undergo significant amendments to give greater autonomy to victims, according to a Feb. 23 press release from the General Assembly. ...
Marijuana legalization bills introduced in Rhode Island Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, Providence, and Rep. Scott Slater, D-Providence, introduced identical bills last week that would make the possession, growth and sale of marijuana legal in Rhode Island. The drug would be taxed at a rate of 10 percent ...
Gordon Fox, former Speaker of the House for the General Assembly, pleaded guilty to federal charges of accepting bribes, wire fraud and filing a false tax return Tuesday. By pleading guilty to these charges, Fox accepted a plea deal that includes a three-year federal prison sentence. In 2008, while ...
Alum tapped as DOH director Nicole Alexander-Scott MPH’11, assistant professor of pediatrics and medicine at the Alpert Medical School, was nominated Tuesday by Gov. Gina Raimondo to serve as the next director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, multiple news outlets reported. Her nomination ...
Chung Cho, owner of the Gourmet Heaven grocery chain with locations in Providence and New Haven, must respond by March 12 to a summons, or he will lose a federal wage theft suit. Three former Gourmet Heaven employees from the Providence locations at Meeting Street and Weybosset Street filed the suit ...
The South Street Landing Project — a Jewelry District development plan that involves renovating the district’s historic South Street Power Station as well as building two apartment complexes and a parking garage — is “barreling rapidly towards construction,” said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, ...
This series explores the racial dynamics of Rhode Island’s school-to-prison pipeline. This story, the last of three, looks at racial profiling and policing in Rhode Island. A new report released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island Feb. 19 outlines the disproportionate rates at which ...
This series explores the racial dynamics of Rhode Island’s school-to-prison pipeline. This story, the second of three, examines disproportionate juvenile detention rates that black and Hispanic students encounter. Black males in Rhode Island were 9.3 times as likely to end up in juvenile detention ...
Though the Ocean State’s homeless population decreased nearly 10 percent in the last year, government and community organizations continue to make efforts to ease the burden faced by the approximately 4,000 people who still have no place to live. Rhode Island’s homeless population shrank by 8.5 ...
This series will explore the racial dynamics of Rhode Island’s school-to-prison pipeline. This story, the first of three, will look at the racial disparities present in the disciplinary decisions of R.I. public schools. Stumbling late into class and hurriedly sliding into her seat, the high school ...
HIV transmission bill faces backlash The House heard discussion Tuesday on a bill that would criminalize sexual activity, blood donation and the sharing of needles by those who knowingly are infected with HIV. The bill also prohibits individuals with an HIV infection from engaging in the already-illegal ...
Two bills introduced this month in the state legislature call for substantial changes to wage minimums. One bill would hike the state minimum wage from $9.00 to $10.10, while another would gradually increase the subminimum wage for tipped workers to equal the regular minimum wage by 2020. If passed, ...
Rosanne Somerson P’11, a renowned studio furniture designer, became the 17th president of the Rhode Island School of Design Wednesday. For the past 13 months she served as interim president following the departure of her predecessor, John Maeda. Every member of the RISD Board of Trustees voted to ...
As more than 40 inches of snow have blanketed the Ocean State in just the past month, municipalities are struggling to deal with quickly evaporating winter budgets and limited space to store snow. Significant winter storms, which began occurring on a near-weekly basis in mid-January, have made driving ...
An act to improve relations After its termination in the House of Representatives last year, the “Comprehensive Community – Police Relationship Act of 2014” has been reintroduced to the General Assembly by Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence, in response to the recent murders of several black men ...
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission is currently working with the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society as part of a new $25,000 grant to research black history in the College Hill Historic District. The state was one of 13 to receive a grant through the National Park Service’s ...
A “right to try” bill introduced to the General Assembly Feb. 3 proposes allowing terminally ill patients in Rhode Island to have access to experimental drugs not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As of 2014, five states had passed similar legislation: Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, ...
A bill introduced in the General Assembly last month would increase funding for new full-day kindergarten programs beginning next fall. Seven Rhode Island communities — Cranston, Johnston, Warwick, Coventry, East Greenwich, North Kingstown and Tiverton — do not offer full-day kindergarten programs ...
Rep. David Bennett, D-Warwick, introduced legislation Jan. 28 that would require nurses in public middle and high schools to be trained in the use of naloxone, marketed and sold as Narcan. The substance, which is already used by state police, can temporarily relieve potentially fatal respiratory depression ...
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