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January 2008 Archives
4:40 PM Thu, Jan 31, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Karen Bordeleau  Email
Providence lawyer Angel Taveras’ phone did not stop ringing this afternoon in the wake of John Edwards' departure from the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Taveras, Edwards Rhode Island campaign chairman, took calls from supporters of New York Sen.......
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7:15 PM Tue, Jan 29, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
Governor Carcieri tomorrow will lay out his plans for changing state Medicaid/Family Independence programs, which he says will derive savings that will be part of his fiscal 2009 state budget proposal. The plans will be unveiled at 11:30 a.m. at......
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7:12 PM Tue, Jan 29, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
AP photo Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., greets Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., as rival Democratic hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., second from right, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., look on as she arrives to attend......
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2:30 PM Tue, Jan 29, 2008 | Permalink |
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By maria caporizzo Email
AP photo Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, talks with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., shakes hands as they all arrive for President Bush's State of the Union address before Congress last night. Journal political......
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6:36 PM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
In his final State of the Union speech, President Bush tonight will ask Congress to swiftly pass $150 million in economic stimulus funds, urge no tax increases, talk about tougher borders and immigration, and stress that some level of troops......
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4:51 PM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
PROVIDENCE -- State lawmakers have canceled some sessions and hearings to attend the wake and funeral of Woonsocket Sen. Roger Badeau, who died last week. Badeau was 71 and died from pancreatic cancer. He was first elected to the state......
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1:30 PM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
AP photo Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., works the crowd with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at the rally today after he was endorsed by the three Kennedy clan members. Video: Watch a clip of Sen. Kennedy endorsing......
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11:37 AM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
PROVIDENCE -- Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Democratic Party’s liberal lion, and his son, Rhode Island Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, will endorse Barack Obama for president today, giving the Illinois senator a new jolt of momentum in his campaign......
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9:42 AM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
While Governor Carcieri is demanding belt tightening at all levels as he tries to close the state’s budget gap, he’s created a $119,000 job for a longtime colleague. Adelita Orefice, the former director of the Department of Labor and Training......
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9:41 AM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Who’s the real minority on Smith Hill? The Republicans, with fewer legislators, are certainly the minority party in the General Assembly. But after a group of black and Latino representatives calling itself “the minority caucus” held a news conference blasting......
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9:41 AM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Don’t put down those cell phones just yet. The state Budget Office says it plans to reexamine its estimate that banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving could generate $1.2 million in $50 fines this fiscal year and......
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9:40 AM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
When in doubt, ask the Ethics Commission. That was the tack House Majority Whip Peter Kilmartin chose after joining the law firm of a well-known name in Pawtucket Democratic circles whose brother is a gambling industry lobbyist and daughter is......
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9:38 AM Mon, Jan 28, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
The secretary of state’s office has certified that 184 people — 114 Republicans and 70 Democrats — obtained enough signatures to appear on their parties’ ballots as delegate candidates in Rhode Island’s March 4 presidential primaries. Democratic voters will elect......
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3:35 PM Sun, Jan 27, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
Mr. McKee is going to Washington. Not to stay -- as far as a news release says. But Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee, a Democrat, will be a guest of U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, at President Bush's State of......
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6:20 PM Fri, Jan 25, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed held a press conference today to talk about his most recent trip to Iraq. Reed, a West Point graduate and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, traveled in Iraq from Jan. 16-18. It......
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12:45 PM Fri, Jan 25, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
More than 180 Rhode Island residents are vying for a chance to cast the state’s official votes for president at the presidential conventions. The Secretary of State’s Office has certified that 184 residents have collected the 150 signatures needed to......
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4:55 PM Thu, Jan 24, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
Mike Tracy, a cancer survivor from East Providence's Riverside section, will be a State of the Union address guest of U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, Whitehouse said Tracy's healthcare struggles point up the need for better health care quality.......
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11:49 AM Thu, Jan 24, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
The president of Crossroads Rhode Island is taking a trip to Washington. U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, D-R.I., announced today that he will be bringing Anne Nolan with him to the president's final State of the Union address. Crossroads is......
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10:31 PM Tue, Jan 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
Governor Carcieri told lawmakers tonight that the state is teetering on the brink of financial disaster. “The State of the State is at a tipping point,” he told a packed chamber of senators, representatives, judges and mayors. “If we are......
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7:11 PM Tue, Jan 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
Editor's note: The governor's office has just e-mailed the prepared remarks of Governor Carcieri's State of the State address. They are posted below. You may also watch the 7 p.m. speech live now on projo.com, courtesy of wpri.com. 2008 State......
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9:36 AM Mon, Jan 21, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Out of recent influence-peddling scandals came a law requiring every corporation, labor union and special-interest group that has a lobbyist at the State House to disclose “anything of value” they have given a state legislator. Well, the latest reports are......
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9:27 AM Mon, Jan 21, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Among those defending Governor Carcieri after he questioned “why in God’s name” the state should provide English-language interpreters “for people who want benefits from us” was a group called the Ocean State Research Policy Institute. As controversy swirled over Carcieri’s......
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9:26 AM Mon, Jan 21, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
In a week that saw the governor unveil major budget changes, let’s not forget the introduction of another, ahem, explosive bill last week. The Restroom Access Act of 2008 would require retail businesses to allow customers with medical conditions such......
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9:24 AM Mon, Jan 21, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
In Rhode Island, it was a snowstorm while the governor slept on a plane halfway around the world that sparked questions about who should be in charge in the absence of the state’s chief executive. In Tennessee, it was an......
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6:00 PM Thu, Jan 17, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
Journal photo / Connie Grosch Governor Carcieri today submitted a revised budget plan for this fiscal year in a bid to close a current-year deficit projected at $151 million. Here, he answers questions from the press at the State......
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4:28 PM Thu, Jan 17, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
COVENTRY — Townspeople next Wednesday will decide the fate of a $19.8-million package of diverse capital projects including major repairs to schools, a start on a new police headquarters and a substantial expansion of the library. The Town Council’s bond-issue......
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5:16 PM Tue, Jan 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
The House Corporations Committee today is slated to hold a hearing today on bills that would prohibit people from sending text messages while driving. One bill is sponsored by Rep. Joanne M. Giannini, D-Providence, and the other bill is sponsored......
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1:20 PM Tue, Jan 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
LAS VEGAS -- Democratic presidential rivals and their supporters vied for advantage in the courts, on a debate stage and at the ballot box today in an unsettled race for the party's nomination to the White House. The debate lineup......
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11:27 AM Tue, Jan 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- John McCain was trying to repeat history while Mitt Romney was seeking a favorite-son boost as Michigan voters cast ballots today in a very tight GOP presidential primary. The Democratic side of the primary has generated less......
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9:57 AM Mon, Jan 14, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Worried about any new competition for the region’s gambling dollars, Rhode Island politicians have had their eyes and ears glued to the Massachusetts casino debate. But on a visit here last week, Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi said he......
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9:56 AM Mon, Jan 14, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
If it’s not casinos Rhode Island’s politicians are obsessing about, it’s the movies. Last week, Speaker Murphy went to Boston to pick up an “Imaginnaire” award. Given by a local industry magazine, the honor recognizes Murphy for helping establish film......
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9:56 AM Mon, Jan 14, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
The Department of Transportation makes hundreds of signs at its special sign shop in Warwick every year. Most don’t contain typos. Political Scene learned last week there was a little problem with several “Handicapped Access” signs installed outside the Department......
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9:55 AM Mon, Jan 14, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said goodbye last month to a long-time political aide and is set to welcome another familiar face to his staff this week. Dennis Riley, 59, of Little Compton, retired on New Year’s Day after 34 years......
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9:50 AM Mon, Jan 14, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Many political groups struggle to attract new members. Maybe that’s because they don’t promote drinking booze during meetings, like the new chapter of Drinking Liberally set to meet in Providence later in the month. There are more than 230 Drinking......
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9:49 AM Mon, Jan 14, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Week two of the General Assembly session brought another round of committee appointments. Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan Jr., D-Coventry, was named to the House Judiciary Committee, where he’ll replace J. Russell Jackson, D-Newport, who earlier this month moved on to......
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6:46 PM Thu, Jan 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
Thirteen presidential candidates will be on Rhode Island’s March 4 primary ballot, the final slate of candidates for that contest, Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis announced today. Today was the deadline for the secretary of state’s office to certify......
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11:07 AM Thu, Jan 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) -- Barack Obama is being endorsed by fellow Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee who lost to George W. Bush that year and gave up his own plans for a 2008 run......
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10:33 AM Wed, Jan 09, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
When former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr. arrived in New Hampshire to campaign for fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, he hoped she could narrow the gap between Sen. Barack Obama to within the single digits. But he wasn’t expecting a positive......
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9:12 AM Wed, Jan 09, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
AP photo Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., second from left, and his wife Cindy, second from right, share a laugh with Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker, left, and Traveling Press Secretary Brooke Buchanan, right, this morning on his campaign plane en......
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7:27 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl Supporters of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama drag their message through Elm Street in Manchester, N.H. today. Will Barack Obama capitalize on his big win in the Iowa caucuses and defeat fellow Democrat Hillary......
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5:05 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl John Edwards campaign volunteer Maggie Thornton, 21 of Shawsville, Va., cheers for the Democratic candidate after he thanked volunteers at his Manchester primary campaign headquarters today. But the end result will be up to......
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3:23 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
The first place that New Hampshire residents cast their ballots in their first-in-the-nation presidential primary is in the tiny northern town of Dixville Notch. The polling place is actually inside The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, in "The Ballot Room."......
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2:18 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
Journal photo/ Gretchen Ertl Showing his support for Hillary Clinton, Louis Elisa, of Boston, stood outside of a Manchester, N.H., polling location today.......
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1:54 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- University of New Hampshire pollster Andrew Smith, walking along a street in this politically prime city, said some of the state's smaller communities are reportedly running short of ballots today in a primary turnout that could be......
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1:35 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Ray Buckley, the New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman, said today he was heartened by the large primary turnout and especially that his party's turnout appeared to be higher than Republican turnout. Independents, however, can vote in either......
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12:47 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Mike McKinney Email
MCT photo / Chuck Kennedy Supporters of many stripes turn out to sway voters at the last minute on primary day in Peterborough, N.H. MANCHESTER, N.H. -- It looks like a theme park for political campaigns here today. And......
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11:24 AM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
With sunny skies, mild temperatures and bustling crowds, it could have been the Patriots' opening day. But throngs of New Hampshire residents this morning rose before sunrise and braved the crowds for a different type of contest: the first presidential......
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11:11 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera Email
One day ahead of the closely monitored New Hampshire presidential primary, seven presidential hopefuls have reserved a spot for their names in the Rhode Island primary. Municipalities have until Thursday to validate the signatures of the remaining candidates, several of......
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9:31 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
House Republicans have promised to boycott all legislative grants in the coming year and have threatened to sue the General Assembly leadership to stop the disbursement of the modest checks to local libraries, senior centers and Little Leagues. “Going forward......
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9:27 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
The 2010 election is just under three years away, but at least one candidate has decided that it’s never too early to get started. Providence City Solicitor Joseph M. Fernandez filed organizational papers with the Board of Elections to campaign......
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9:26 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
The new year brought a spate of new appointments to Rhode Island House legislative committees. Speaker Murphy has named Jan P. Malik, D-Barrington, chairman of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. That chairmanship was vacated when Peter T. Ginaitt,......
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9:23 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
R U VAIN? Rhode Islanders apparently are not, at not least when it comes to their license plates. The state known for big egos and bad drivers ranks a modest 21st on a nationwide list of percentage of cars sporting......
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9:21 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
Governor Carcieri’s cost-cutting plan has sliced only 61 jobs off the state payroll thus far, but among them was the position of Josephine DiRuzzo, who is the president pro tempore of the all-Democrat Providence City Council. DiRuzzo’s state job, as......
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9:19 AM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
And finally, in this season of new beginnings, the General Assembly has a new leader of a different sort. Richard W. “Rick” Singleton has assumed the unofficial title of leader of the Assembly’s independent caucus. While it may sound good,......
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6:57 PM Sun, Jan 06, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andrea Panciera | |
