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May 2009 Archives
5:36 PM Fri, May 29, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg  Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sen. John J. Tassoni, a business agent for Rhode Island's largest public employees union, has parted ways with his employer: Council 94, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees. Tassoni, who has thrown his name......
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5:30 PM Fri, May 29, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
Ever wonder who killed a certain State House bill, or how it is a proposal came to breathe its last? Don't bother looking. You won't find the answer. Savvy internet surfers know that while member-by-member lists of legislative floor votes......
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4:18 PM Fri, May 29, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed has filed legislation to overhaul the state Economic Development Corporation, after a review panel criticized the agency as ineffective and in need of fresh leadership. The bill, submitted on Wednesday, would expand the agency's......
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12:56 PM Fri, May 29, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
By John E. Mulligan Journal Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Comparing the potential security threat from "a few key strokes on a computer" to the danger of terrorist bombings, President Obama announced Friday that he will create a White House Cybersecurity......
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9:06 AM Fri, May 29, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
Providence Journal photographer Connie Grosch has taken innumerable photos of the R.I. General Assembly at work. Yet she always manages to come up with a fresh angle. This time, it's from the floor, as she focuses her lens on......
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8:10 PM Thu, May 28, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- House lawmakers have approved legislation that could make Rhode Island the ninth state requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, a move supporters say could prevent voter fraud and strengthen the election process. Critics believe......
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3:06 PM Thu, May 28, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Until now it has been a hypothetical question posed by one political junkie to another: who in Rhode Island would be willing to open their wallets to an independent candidate for governor, and specifically Republican-turned independent Lincoln......
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5:10 PM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, RI -- Former Republican Attorney General Arlene Violet says she has been wooed by activists within the state GOP and the fledgling Moderate Party of Rhode Island to run for governor on their tickets. Violet said she had......
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4:18 PM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Steve Peoples Email
ABC World News visited Rhode Island Wednesday for a special segment on the federal stimulus package, which took effect 100 days ago. Governor Carcieri, who was initially critical of the massive federal spending plan, was interviewed for the segment this......
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3:12 PM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Steve Peoples Email
Mark Zaccaria is hoping the Red Sox can help him become a United States congressman. Zaccaria, a North Kingstown Republican who was soundly defeated by Democratic incumbent Jim Langevin last November, knows he needs more money to compete in 2010.......
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12:45 PM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
A just released poll from Brown University shows solid support for same-sex marriage in Rhode Island, with 60 percent in favor of such unions and 31 percent opposed. A larger majority -- 75 percent of respondents--said they would favor a......
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12:39 PM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Defense lawyer, two-term Smithfield Councilman and former Jamestown police officer Stephen R. Archambault has become the first anounced candidate for attorney general in 2010. In a statement released Wednesday morning, Democrat Archambault, 43, said: "I am......
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11:45 AM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Steve Peoples Email
The organizers of last month's State House rally to fight government spending are at it again. Trying to build on the momentum from a demonstration that drew an estimated 2,000 people to Smith Hill on April 15, the Tea Party......
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10:32 AM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Even if the legislature fails to act, the Carcieri administration has assured the owners of the Twin River greyhound track and slot parlor that it will allow overnight gambling to continue beyond the current June 30 deadline.......
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8:00 AM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE - Key senators have given the green light for the stalled nomination of Gary Alexander as the state's health and human services secretary to move forward. As of late Tuesday, a date had not yet been set for the......
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3:15 PM Tue, May 26, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Defense lawyer, two-term Smithfield councilman and former Jamestown police officer Stephen R. Archambault is poised to announce his Democratic candidacy for attorney general on Wednesday. Rounding out his resume: the former Smithfield council president grew up on......
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11:57 AM Tue, May 26, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
Dr. Phil Brown, left, professor of sociology and environmental studies at Brown University, speaks during the protests by environmental groups outside the Pawtucket office of lobbyist Robert Goldberg Tuesday. Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy By Gina Macris and Mike......
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6:00 AM Mon, May 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- On a day when the House Finance Committee debated the future of Rhode Island taxes and the Senate grappled with questions of same-sex marriage, where did the rest of your lawmakers sneak off to Thursday after a......
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6:00 AM Mon, May 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
By Katherine Gregg Journal State House Bureau PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Carcieri has run up a potential $589,218 deficit in his own budget. The deficit came to light in a quarterly spending report issued by the state budget office on......
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5:11 PM Fri, May 22, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - With time running out on the 2009 legislative session, Governor Carcieri is dropping hints that he will begin making nominations next week to the seven openings on the state court bench -- including the top spot on......
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1:15 PM Fri, May 22, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
By Katherine Gregg State House House PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch chose a radio talkshow, hosted by one of Rhode Island's most famous convicted felons, to announce that he intends to be on the ballot next year......
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5:28 PM Thu, May 21, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) -- A Richmond, R.I., lawmaker says he'll donate $100 to charity for every second former President George W. Bush withstands waterboarding, an interrogation technique his administration used on some terror suspects. Rep. Rod Driver, a Democrat, also......
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4:11 PM Thu, May 21, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
By Cynthia Needham Journal State House Bureau As the same-sex marriage debate in Rhode Island heats up in the wake of passage in nearly every other New England state, political observers have speculated that money and resources from gay marriage......
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6:24 PM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Asserting that no vote is required, General Assembly leaders paved the way Wednesday for the July payment of 2.5 percent raises to all of their staffers, despite House Minority Leader Robert Watson's observations about economic realities......
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5:11 PM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A legislative leadership panel chaired by House Speaker William J. Murphy voted behind closed doors on Wednesday to reimburse former Speaker John B. Harwood $25,540 in legal fees he says he paid fighting an ethics complaint in......
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2:36 PM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Senate has postponed a scheduled vote Wednesday to confirm Gary Alexander as the chief of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. President of the Senate M. Teresa Paiva Weed said: "We are working......
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5:43 PM Tue, May 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
The full House of Representatives this evening approved a bill that would relax the state's boxing rules. Rhode Island is the only state that still imposes a "three-knockdown" rule, which ends the bout if a fighter is knocked down three......
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4:23 PM Tue, May 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- More than two months have gone by since a pension study commission appointed by House Speaker William J. Murphy took a series of votes aimed at creating a new - and for taxpayers, significantly less expensive -......
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4:05 PM Tue, May 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- After a five-month delay, a postponed disciplinary hearing by the Department of Health into a dozen alleged violations by a pharmacy owned by state Sen. Leo Blais, R-Coventry, is back on the docket for mid June. A......
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3:55 PM Tue, May 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
Wondering where to find your legislative leaders Thursday night? Skip the State House and try McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. For the third year running, House Speaker William J. Murphy and Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox will host a "Barbecue and......
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12:36 PM Tue, May 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Vice President Joseph R. Biden will attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, which is being held for the first time in Rhode Island in June, according to conference spokeswoman Elena Temple. Mayor David N. Cicilline,......
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5:42 PM Mon, May 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
Governor Carcieri announced Monday afternoon that he will impose a one-day pay cut for many state employees, to help close the state's $70 million deficit for the year that ends June 30. The state budget office estimates the one-day pay......
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3:30 PM Mon, May 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- At one of its rare public meetings, a legislative leadership panel chaired by House Speaker William J. Murphy will decide this week whether to extend to General Assembly employees the same 2.5 percent raises promised most other......
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10:47 AM Sun, May 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Khorey Email
BY KATHERINE GREGG Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE, RI - So where does the AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer George Nee, the top organized labor lobbyist at the Rhode Island State House, go when he wants political advice? The answer, as he will......
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10:39 AM Sun, May 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Khorey Email
By STEVE PEOPLES Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE, RI - The governor's office announced last week the "re-launch" of Rhode Island state government's Web site, RI.gov. We spoke to the private company that manages the site to get the new......
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10:25 AM Sun, May 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Khorey Email
By Philip Marcelo Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE, RI -- Mayor David N. Cicilline, making a rare appearance on the local media circuit, called the lawsuit filed by former Tax Collector Robert P. Ceprano last week a conspiracy by supporters of......
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5:47 PM Thu, May 14, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Steve Peoples Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- We ran into a familiar face outside the House chamber Thursday afternoon. Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, made his first appearance this legislative session inside the marble dome in some......
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2:37 PM Thu, May 14, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Maria Armental Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Flags will be lowered to half staff Friday in observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri announced Thursday. Peace Officers Memorial Day honors public servants who fight crime and those who have fallen in......
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1:50 PM Thu, May 14, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Steve Peoples Email
Are you interested in what the state's top pols think about Rhode Island's souring economy? Tune in to public access television over the next week or two. Operation Clean Government's April 25 forum, "Rx for Rhode Island - Restoring Our......
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9:22 PM Wed, May 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, RI -- Disappointed in his quest to become U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, state Democratic Party Chairman William J. Lynch says he is now considering whether to run to succeed his term-limited brother, Patrick, as the state's attorney general.......
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12:29 PM Wed, May 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
By Tom Mooney Journal staff writer Cynthia Giles, director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island office and a Barrington resident, has been confirmed to be the top EPA enforcement officer. The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch WASHINGTON, D.C. --......
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4:56 PM Tue, May 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Maria Armental Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island House has postponed to May 20 a vote on a bill to allow licensed dispensaries -- known as "compassion centers" -- to grow and sell marijuana to the estimated 600 patients who currently have......
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3:08 PM Tue, May 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Cynthia Needham Email
Karen Malcolm, executive director of the social advocacy coalition Ocean State Action will step down later this month. Malcolm, a familiar face at the State House and seven-year veteran at the agency cited the need for "fresh leadership" as her......
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1:13 PM Mon, May 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Philip Marcelo Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- City Council President Peter S. Mancini appointed five councilmen to a new committee to review the Providence External Review Authority, the civilian board that was formed seven years ago to investigate allegations of police abuse and misconduct.......
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7:02 AM Mon, May 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Karen Bordeleau Email
By Cynthia Needham Journal State House Bureau Attention sports nuts: remember the plan to create Red Sox and Patriots license plates? Fear not, it hasn't dissolved, just given a temporary time out. Legislative spokesmen tell Political Scene that the bills......
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7:02 AM Mon, May 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Karen Bordeleau Email
By Katherine Gregg Journal State House Bureau PROVIDENCE - Despite the state's deepening budget hole, General Assembly leaders have been doling out raises to select employees, including the son of a current legislator and the brother of a former legislator.......
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5:00 PM Thu, May 07, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Maria Armental Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Senate voted 34-to-0 Thursday to ban texting while driving, a practice that local authorities blame for accidents and at least one fatality in Massachusetts this year. Under the proposed legislation, violators would pay a $50......
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3:34 PM Thu, May 07, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
By Thomas J. Morgan Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr., who has all but announced formally that he is a candidate for lieutenant governor, said Thursday that he has commissioned JH Communications, of Providence, to......
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11:30 AM Thu, May 07, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Steve Peoples Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The bottom is in sight, but Rhode Island's economy still has a long way to go before it begins to recover, according to the testimony provided at the State House this morning by Andres Carbacho-Burgos, an economist......
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4:14 PM Wed, May 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Maria Armental Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox Wednesday fondly remembered former Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano's son as "a good kid" who was just starting life, and called his death a tragedy. Speaking to the entire......
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1:53 PM Wed, May 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Owners of the Twin River greyhound track and slot parlor decided on Wednesday to suspend live racing on Aug. 8 -- instead of May 31 -- to remove any doubt they have conducted the minimum number of......
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10:54 AM Wed, May 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has won a temporary seat on a key Senate health committee -- a plum assignment at an opportune moment in President Obama's campaign to overhaul the U.S. medical system. The Senate put Whitehouse on......
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6:38 PM Tue, May 05, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Maria Armental Email
By Katherine Gregg Journal State House Bureau PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Owners of the Twin River greyhound track and slot parlor have put the state on notice they intend to "suspend'' dog-racing on May 31. In a letter hand-delivered to the......
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6:12 PM Tue, May 05, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
By Maria Armental Journal Staff Writer CUMBERLAND, R.I. -- Mayor Daniel J. McKee, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and Georgia state Rep. Jan Jones will receive the 2009 Champion for Charters Award at a......
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5:10 PM Mon, May 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE - Should Rhode Island voters have a chance to say yea or nay to full-scale casino gambling at Twin River and Newport Grand? That question will be up for debate Wednesday, when the Senate Committee on Constitutional & Regulatory......
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2:15 PM Mon, May 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- With $60,053 in his campaign account, Republican state Rep. Joseph Trillo has more money than the average rank-and-file lawmaker, but nowhere near as much as any one of his potential big-name Democratic opponents in the 2010 race......
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10:38 AM Mon, May 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
By Katherine Gregg Journal State House Bureau How do Rhode Island's top lawmakers spend the tens of thousands of campaign dollars they get from state workers, lobbyists and others during the legislative session? Answer: Same as ever. They eat;......
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3:44 PM Fri, May 01, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Katherine Gregg Email
Anyone wondering who might support the gubernatorial candidacy of Republican-turned-independent Lincoln Chafee can now take a gander at the hosts for his first fundraiser. The list includes Republican Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, former Republican Secretary of State Susan Farmer and......
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