Archive - Sep 13, 2011 - News Article
PROVIDENCE â State employees and schoolteachers âpossess implied unilateral contract rightsâ to their pension benefits, a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday, keeping alive a lawsuit challenging previous changes made in state pension laws and further complicating ongoing efforts to make more changes that General Treasurer Gina Raimondo says are necessary to avert a fiscal calamity.
WOONSOCKET â Using about $158,000 in drug forfeiture money, the Woonsocket Police Department has ordered seven new vehicles to replace some of the oldest cruisers and detective cars in its fleet. Capt. Kenneth Paulhus said five 2011 Ford Fusions were ordered for the detectives, while the patrol division will get two 2012 Crown Victorias.
PROVIDENCE â General Treasurer Gina Raimondo told state senators Monday that she would like to fashion a pension reform plan that would not take benefits away from state employees who have already retired, and thinks she can do it. But she isnât making any promises.
âWe would love to be able get this done without touching accrued benefits,â she said at an informational caucus for the full senate, âso if youâve earned it, itâs yours, and I think that is possible, that is why we are taking so long to carefully go through the numbers.â
WOONSOCKET â Three police officers may be fired on administrative charges stemming from the 2009 beating of a 16-year-old boy â a highly publicized incident which already ended the career of another policeman who went to federal prison for assault.
City and police officials declined to confirm this information, but the head of the Woonsocket police union said all three were served with termination notices over a week ago.
