Flo Jonic

Rhode Island Congressman Jim Langevin was among the 200,000 people who thronged Vatican City Tuesday for the installation mass of Pope Francis. The Catholic congressman called it one of the most meaningful and spiritual experiences of his life.

Langevin was part of a congressional delegation that represented the United States at the investiture of Pope Francis.  The Rhode Island democrat says he was thrilled and honored to be there.

Rhode Island still has the highest unemployment rate in the country, but now it shares that title with California. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Rhode Island and California tied for January unemployment with a rate of 9.8 percent.   Nevada was close with 9.7 percent.

The rates are based on telephone surveys and may not be 100 percent accurate. Unemployment statistics are frequently revised when employer-driven data is collected.

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The University of Rhode Island says it’s seeing a record number of applications for the Fall 2013 semester.  University officials believe their marketing efforts are paying off.

Close to 21,000 students have applied for admission to URI for next fall.  Roughly 75 percent will be admitted so that the university has its desired freshman class of 3,100 even after students who have been admitted decide to go elsewhere.

URI Admissions Dean Cynthia Bonn believes the interest in attending URI is a direct result of their outreach efforts.

Rhode Island’s large Liberian community got some good news over the weekend. President Barack Obama announced that he is extending their stay an additional 18 months.  But Senator Jack Reed thinks they deserve better.

A University of Rhode Island pharmacy student has just completed an unusual experiment. Twenty-four year old Emily Anastasia spent a week living in a retirement center, South Bay Retirement Living in South Kingstown,  where her roommate was a 92 year old woman.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority will hold a hearing Monday on restoring bus service to Tiverton.  Tiverton hasn’t had bus service in nearly five years. It was suspended when weight limits were placed on the Sakonnet River Bridge.

The investigation continues this morning into an apparent double murder/suicide in Warwick.  It happened early Saturday morning at a home in the Oakland Beach area.  Police say 45-year old John Oliveira shot his former girlfriend, Carla Bowen, multiple times and then killed her boyfriend before turning the gun on himself. All three victims were dead at the scene.

The crime was reported by one of Bowen’s 12-year-old twin boys. He fled out a dormer window and ran to a neighbor for help. The other twin remained on the roof until police rescued him.

Rhode Islanders celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with parades and bar-hopping.

There’s a renewed push on Smith Hill this year to get a bill passed that would ban the theft of tips by managers. 

It’s the end of an era for a popular Boston weekly newspaper. The Boston Phoenix will publish its last edition March 15th. The last online edition will come a week later.  The company’s newspapers in Providence and Portland, Maine will continue publishing.