Archive - News Article
March 14th, 2013
WOONSOCKET – A sentencing reform bill sponsored by the controversial parole of convicted thrill-killer Alfred Brissette Jr. has been passed by the state Senate.
The measure would require individuals convicted of first- or second-degree murder to serve at least half their sentence prior to becoming eligible for parole, provided they haven’t been sentenced to life, which normally requires a minimum of 15 years behind bars.
WOONSOCKET – California-based Prime Healthcare Services submitted its amended application to buy Landmark Medical Center to state regulators Thursday – a day after the hospital employees union ratified a contract with a rival company that complained it has been unfairly shut out of the bidding.
The United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5067 unanimously approved a five-year collective bargaining agreement with Landmark Hospital Holdco LLC of New Jersey on Wednesday.
State Rep. Lisa Baldelli Hunt (D-Dist. 49, Woonsocket) presented Woonsocket High School senior Kyle Mulvey with a citation for rescuing a woman who accidentally drove her car onto the ice on Cass Pond in Woonsocket in January. Baldelli Hunt invited Kyle and his family to the Statehouse to be honored by the House of Representatives recently.
WOONSOCKET – Residential foreclosure deeds dropped 11.4 percent statewide in 2012, but Woonsocket, Central Falls and Pawtucket still have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the state, a new survey says.
The HousingWorks RI survey says 86 foreclosure deeds were filed in Woonsocket in 2012, nearly 20 percent fewer than 2011. But the rate of foreclosures represented 1.7 percent of the city’s overall housing stock, the third highest in the state and nearly double the statewide average.
March 13th
LINCOLN – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. David Cicilline are teaming up to reverse what they say is a perverse incentive in the U.S. Tax Code that provides a tax break to companies that move American jobs to other countries.
PROVIDENCE – Members of Woonsocket’s General Assembly delegation still aren’t fully committing to supporting the city Budget Commission’s request for a $2.5 million supplemental tax increase in the city, but there seems to be a consensus that a compromise is within reach that would allow the city to levy the additional assessment.
March 12th
By
Joseph B. Nadeau and Russ Olivo
WOONSOCKET – The Zoning Board of Review Monday let stand an earlier decision on developer Gary Fernandes’ plans for St. Francis House that resulted in a $3 million lawsuit against the city.
Superior Court Judge William Carnes remanded the case to the zoning board last fall to clarify the underlying “findings of fact” supporting the decision, and to address allegations of a conflict of interest involving member Allan Rivers, who opposed Fernandes’ plans
March 11th
CUMBERLAND — The Town Council last week approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Daniel J. McKee to enter into a contract agreement with Birchwood Design Group, a Providence-based landscape architecture planning and design firm chosen by the town to replace the natural grass football field at Tucker Field with synthetic turf as part of the Tucker Field Athletic Complex renovation project.
WOONSOCKET — Members of the Budget Commission will meet privately with city lawmakers at the Statehouse today to discuss the commission’s request for enabling legislation to issue a supplemental tax bill.
Chairman William Sequino said the commission wants lawmakers to know the importance of acting quickly to approve a $2.5 million supplemental tax bill, but he is open to suggestions on how the money should be raised.
“As a body I would say yes to both questions,” Sequino said via e-mail. “We are open to suggestions and we would like speedy passage.”
March 9th
LINCOLN — The police department has a new member and also, thanks to his prior career with Pawtucket police, an experienced one.
Patrolman Alvaro Herrera was sworn-in to his new role on Friday, just about a week after retiring from a 20-year career as patrol sergeant for the Pawtucket Police Department.
Lincoln Town Administrator T. Joseph Almond said it was somewhat unusual for a new department member to come aboard after retiring from another department but pointed out that, at 42, Herrera is certainly young enough for a second career.
