RI News
1:19 am
Tue June 18, 2013

PUC Will Hear From Public on Providence Water Rate Hike Request

Credit file / RIPR
The Providence Water Supply Board wants to raise rates by 24 percent for city residents and 32 percent to wholesalers.

The public is invited to comment Tuesday on a proposed rate increase by the Providence Water Supply Board. Because Providence sells its water to other municipalities, the rate increase would affect residents in nearly 60 percent of the state.

It’s the first rate hike in four years, and for city residents it means a 24 percent increase. The water board says that’s an additional $6.00 for the average customer.

For the cities of Warwick and East Providence, and for the Kent County and Bristol County water authorities, rates would go up 32 percent.

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On Politics
5:56 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Moody's Downgrades 38 Studios' Bonds; Chafee "Confident" on Payment

Moody's Investors Service isn't taking lightly debate about whether to pay back bonds issued to fund the state's investment in 38 Studios. The agency has downgraded the 38 Studios' bonds and warned Rhode Island of other possible action:

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Credit Robert Dodge

Trey Graham edits and produces arts and entertainment content for NPR's Digital Media division, where among other things he's helped launch the Monkey See pop-culture blog and NPR's expanded Web-only movies coverage. He also helps manage the Web presence for Fresh Air from WHYY.

Outside NPR, Graham has been a lead theater critic at the Washington City Paper, D.C.'s alternative weekly newspaper, since 1995, which means he's seen a good deal of superb theater and a great deal of schlock. He's still stage-struck enough to believe that the former makes up for the latter.

Graham began his career as a writer and editor at The Washington Blade; his subsequent tenure at USA Today included a stint as the newspaper's music and theater editor. A past fellow at both the O'Neill Critics Institute and the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater, Graham won the George Jean Nathan Award for distinguished drama criticism in December 2004.

Graham is also a regular panelist on Around Town, the venerable arts roundtable program on Washington PBS affiliate WETA-TV, and the author of the theater section of the newest Time Out Guide to the nation's capital. He's written about books, travel, movies and the arts for publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Born in New Orleans (during Mardi Gras, no less) and raised in South Carolina, Graham has lived in Washington, D.C., since 1990 ­ except for a couple of years in Zimbabwe, which turned out to be way more fun than a politically perilous, economically disastrous situation has any right being.

On Politics
4:02 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

The new Rhode Island: Gambling is us

There’s an old chestnut in banking: If you owe the bank $10,000, the bank owns you. If you owe the bank $100 million, you own the bank.

That’s pretty much what has happened in Rhode Island state government’s quest to regulate the state-sponsored gambling emporiums at Newport Grand and at Twin River (aka Twin Rivahs in Vo Dilundese) in Lincoln.

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The Pulse
2:36 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Prescribing Painkillers: What the Health Dept. Recommends

Tomorrow on Morning Edition, you can catch my story about Rhode Island's fledgling prescription drug monitoring program. It's a program that's supposed to spot troubling trends in prescription drug misuse. And as you might know, there's plenty of trouble to spot in Rhode Island, where prescription drug overdose death rates have soared along with rates of addiction to narcotic painkillers.

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Transportation
1:28 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

RI Gas Prices Hold Steady for Third Week in a Row

Credit file / RIPR
Drivers in Rhode Island are paying an average $3.59 for a gallon of unleaded.

For the third week in a row, gas prices remained unchanged in the Ocean State. Drivers are seeing prices holding steady at $3.59 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to the latest survey from AAA Southern New England.

That’s up two cents from how much a gallon of gas cost Rhode Island drivers last month. And it’s almost a dime more than drivers in Massachusetts are paying.

Bay State drivers are paying an average $3.50 a gallon for regular unleaded. That’s up a penny from last week.

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On Politics
1:01 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Compromise Will Preserve Voter ID in Rhode Island -- Without Photo ID

Voters will still have to show identification to vote in Rhode Island -- but not a photo ID -- under a compromise ticketed for passage in the House of Representatives.

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Morning News Podcast
9:01 am
Mon June 17, 2013

Monday, June 17th, 2013

On today's podcast, a hearing on the state budget is scheduled to for this week in the House Finance Committee, and Twin River Casino prepares to launch table games.

Plus, considering the lack of Republicans in Rhode Island in this week's commentary from Political Analyst Scott MacKay.

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Scott MacKay Commentary
8:05 am
Mon June 17, 2013

Rhode Island is Foreign Territory For Republicans

Rhode Island and the rest of New England have become foreign territory for Republicans, says Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay.   

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RI News
7:25 am
Mon June 17, 2013

A Place For Homeless Veterans in Providence

Credit Flo Jonic / RIPR
Apartment building Joyce House in Providence.

Governor Lincoln Chafee, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will be among the dignitaries who gather Monday morning for the dedication of  Joyce House – an apartment building for homeless vets.  Rhode Island has roughly 270 homeless veterans, but has designated beds for only about a third of them.

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