News

By Elisabeth Harrison

Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist says she is concerned about a plan to use $33 million in federal teacher jobs money to plug the state budget deficit.

Gist says Congress intended that money to help school districts.

"This was federal aid that the president and the secretary of education sent to our state for education, and so I'm strongly advocating that the funds be used for that purpose."

Providence, RI – Listen to the WRNI Morning News Podcast for Wednesday, September 1, 2010.

By Catherine Welch

Providence, R.I. – Governor Don Carcieri is urging residents to be as prepared as possible as Hurricane Earl makes its way toward the eastern coastline.

Carcieri says state officials will have a better sense Thursday morning whether to close schools, evacuate along the coast and open up shelters.

There are about 100 National Guard soldiers on alert and FEMA has deployed 50 people to Rhode Island ahead of the storm.

Residents in coastal and low lying areas definitely need to prepare, says Carcieri.

By Elisabeth Harrison

Providence, R.I. – Classes start today at Central Falls High School, which made national headlines earlier this year over a plan to fire the entire faculty.

School officials reached a deal with teachers to avoid the firings, but state education leaders are still demanding major changes at the long-troubled high school.

WRNI's Elisabeth Harrison reports on the plan to fix Central Falls High School - without firing teachers.

By Alex Nunes

Providence, R.I. – The current forecast from the National Weather Service calls for Hurricane Earl to hit 75 to 100 miles south of Nantucket Friday night.

Forecasters say Rhode Island could see tropical storm force winds but that the brunt of the storm is expected to hit outer Cape Cod and Nantucket Island. National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Cadima says the hardest hit areas could face Hurricane force winds.

Providence, RI – Resilience. The dictionary tells us that it means the ability to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change. But these formal, rather sterile words hardly capture the complexity, the utter horror, and the relentless challenges that so many of us have known in the face of true crisis. And that's certainly the case for Jennifer Reis.

Reis is a clinical pharmacist and is currently studying to become an herbalist. She lives with her family in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

By Elisabeth Harrison

Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island will apply for money from the newly created federal teacher jobs fund, but it may not mean new jobs for any out of work teachers. Governor Don Carcieri hopes to use the money to close a $38 million state budget deficit.

The $10 billion fund was meant to save thousands of teacher jobs across the country. If Rhode Island qualifies, its share would be roughly $33-million, but few teachers are likely to be re-hired because of it.

By AP

Sand Juan, Puerto Rico – Hurricane Earl, now a powerful Category 4 storm, barreled toward the U.S. coast early Tuesday after battering tiny islands across the northeastern Caribbean with
heavy rain and winds that damaged homes and toppled power lines.

Earl is forecast to potentially brush the U.S. East Coast late Thursday, before curving back out to sea, potentially swiping New England or far-eastern Canada. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned coastal residents from North Carolina to Maine to watch the storm closely.

By Flo Jonic

Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island may be losing skilled laborers because of a shortage of affordable housing. That word today from Housing Works RI, a coalition of banks, builders, chambers of commerce and community groups.

Housing Works Executive Director Nellie Gorbea says homeownership has been made more difficult because of lending restrictions while rents have gone up because of the foreclosure crisis.

Providence, R.I. – Listen to the Morning News Podcast for Tuesday, August 31, 2010.