By Scott MacKay

Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island lawmakers have gone for the summer, leaving behind a plan to balance the budget and run state government through the next fiscal year. Governor Carcieri and many of the Democrats who control the General Assembly are taking credit for cutting the size of state government and holding the line on taxes. But WRNI political analyst Scott MacKay says there's another side to this story.

By Megan Hall

Providence, R.I. – A dispute that would have prevented around 24,000 Rhode Islanders from filling their prescriptions at Walgreen's pharmacies has been resolved. Woonsocket based CVS/Caremark and Walgreen's companies announced today that they have reached a new contract agreement.

By AP

Providence, R.I. – A Rhode Island state senator has been indicted on bank fraud charges.

Sen. Christopher Maselli, a Johnston Democrat and self-employed real estate lawyer, is accused of falsifying bank and federal tax documents and obtaining more than $1.5 million in mortgages.

The indictment, which was issued by a federal grand jury Thursday afternoon, is not connected to his Senate position.

By AP

Mansfield, Mass. – The commander of the Massachusetts State Police says a veteran trooper working an overnight construction detail has died after being struck by a suspected drunken driver.

Superintendent Marian McGovern says Sgt. Doug Weddleton was out of his cruiser on Interstate 95 north in Mansfield after pulling over a car that tried to enter a closed ramp at about 1:30 a.m. Friday when a second vehicle struck him.

He was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro where he was pronounced dead.

By Anthony Brooks

Providence, R.I. – On this week's Political Roundtable, expanded casino gambling, school funding and the clunker tax are all part of the discussion. Here's WRNI's News Director, Anthony Brooks.

By Flo Jonic

Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island's unemployment rate dipped slightly in May.

The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 12.3 percent in May, down two-tenths of one percent from April. It was the third decline in as many months.

State Labor and Training Director Sandra Powell says Rhode Island still faces a long road to a normal unemployment rate of four to six percent.

By Sarah Forman

Cranston, R.I. – A biofuel technology company is looking to open what it says will be a one-of-a-kind clean energy production facility in Rhode Island.

Tomorrow Biofuels hopes to launch the location in Cranston this fall, according to a company press release. The release explained that the facility will use carbon emissions from a nearby power-plant to "feed" fast-growing algae that can eventually produce clean biofuel.

Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island's highest court has rejected a bid for freedom from a woman acquitted by reason of insanity in the arson killing of her 12-year-old daughter.

Tonya Fuller-Balletta was accused of trapping the girl by locking the doors to her house and setting it ablaze. A judge found her legally insane and not guilty of murder and arson charges in 2007, confining her to the state psychiatric hospital.

The state Supreme Court said Thursday that Fuller-Balletta remains too dangerous to be released into the community.

By Fiona Condon

Washington, DC – The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of Providence Lawyer John J. McConnell for a federal judgeship in the US District Court in Rhode Island.

The committee voted 13 to 6 to approve the nomination, with lone Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina among McConnell's supporters.

"I am incredibly honored by the action that the Senate Judiciary Committee took today," McConnell told WRNI just moments after today's vote.

By AP

Coventry, R.I. – The mother of a Rhode Island second-grader says her son was barred by his school from wearing a patriotic hat he made to honor Army troops because of a no-weapons policy.

Christan Morales on Thursday says her 8-year-old son, David, was assigned to make a crazy hat in his class at the Tiogue School in Coventry.

She says they brainstormed and he came up with an idea to glue Army figures to a camouflage hat with an American flag.