President Christina Paxson signed a petition in February calling for the Rhode Island General Assembly to legalize same-sex marriage. Her signature on the petition marks the first time she has taken a public stance on the issue. Paxson signed onto the Rhode Island Business Leaders for Marriage Equality ...
Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter voted to uphold last year’s Providence pension reform Monday. Taft-Carter ruled that the pension agreement was “fair, reasonable and adequate,” according to a press release. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras negotiated last year’s reform as ...
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority recently released two proposed scenarios for sweeping changes to its operations, which will change RIPTA’s 50-plus routes in order to enhance its speed, convenience and ease of use. Services will be redirected from underused lines to routes with higher demand, ...
Cluck!, a new farming and supplies store, will open this month on the West Side after receiving approval from the Providence Zoning Board Feb. 20. The board approved the store’s zoning variance in a 4-1 vote, allowing Cluck! to open at the corner of Broadway and Courtland streets. The store’s ...
The Rhode Island Foundation, the state’s only community nonprofit foundation, announced the establishment of a new department of Strategy and Public Affairs last month. Jessica David, vice president for strategy and public affairs, will preside over the new department, according to a foundation press ...
Two neighborhoods in Providence have been selected to pilot Evidence2Success, a program to improve behavioral and academic outcomes for children and strengthen ties between schools, government agencies and local organizations. Evidence2Success — which was developed by the Annie Casey Foundation, ...
A bill to ban grocery store use of plastic bags statewide was introduced into the General Assembly earlier this month by Rep. Maria Cimini, D-Providence. Plastic bags have already been banned in all the counties of Hawaii and in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and nearby Barrington, ...
An article in Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s ’75 P’14 state budget proposal that would grant Rhode Island businesses partial reimbursement for offering paid internships is currently under review in the state’s House and Senate finance committees. Eligible businesses would receive state funding for up ...
Local business owners, chamber of commerce representatives and a spokesperson from Woonsocket-based pharmaceutical company CVS spoke in favor of the lower corporate tax rate and against tax credit reductions proposed in Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s ’75 P’14 budget during a state House Committee on Finance ...
Under 21 clubbin The era of 18-and-older club nights might be coming to an end in Rhode Island — a state lawmaker has introduced legislation that would ban individuals under the age of 21 from attending clubs that serve alcohol. Rep. Joy Hearn, D-Barrington and East Providence, said in a press release ...
More than two-thirds of Rhode Island voters support same-sex marriage legislation, according to a poll conducted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy in February. Approximately 60 percent of respondents said they favor legalizing same-sex marriage, while 26.1 percent said they oppose same-sex marriage ...
Rep. Scott Slater, D-Providence, introduced legislation in the General Assembly that would ban employers in the state from having a box on a job application that asks about the applicant’s criminal history and asking about criminal records in preliminary job interviews. The ‘ban the box’ legislation ...
Legislation proposed in the State Senate in February would expand the state’s temporary disability insurance program to cover workers who need to take time off work to care for family emergencies or a new family member. The legislation, proposed by Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence, would broaden the ...
Seven years after initial plans were drafted to develop a park along the west waterfront of the Providence River, recent construction in the Jewelry District — including several University buildings — has altered those design plans. The new park will offer a grassy space with access to the river ...
The Providence City Plan Commission approved final plans Tuesday for 257 Thayer Street, a luxury student apartment complex slated for construction in June 2013, the Providence Journal reported. The four-story complex is expected to house 270 tenants — mostly students — in furnished apartments with ...
The federal budget sequester that goes into effect tomorrow — unless Congress can agree on a way to tackle the national deficit by the March 1 deadline — will cut Rhode Island’s federal funding by more than $39 million in this fiscal year, according to a White House report. If the sequester ...
Homecoming for soldiers State legislators have introduced several bills intended to aid Rhode Island’s veterans as they return home from overseas deployments. The bills come in response to the recommendations of the state’s “Rhode Back Home” report, which detailed the current state ...
Rep. John Carnevale, D-Providence and Johnston, introduced legislation in the General Assembly that would place a $50 fee per semester on every out-of-state student attending Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University Feb. 14. The money raised from this fee would cover ...
Rhode Island led the nation in the gender gap for high school dropout rates in the 2009-10 academic year, according to a 2013 study by the Department of Education. The data showed that 5.5 percent of male high school students dropped out, compared to 3.8 percent of female students — a difference ...
Health care reform in Massachusetts in 2006 influenced both the success and politics of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, said Nancy Turnbull, senior lecturer in health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, who helped former Governor Mitt Romney create the ...
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