Flo Jonic

Rhode Island still has the highest foreclosure rate in New England but the numbers are coming down. According to Housing Works RI, foreclosure filings fell 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.   Filings have fallen 36 percent since 2009, when data was first available.
The Mortgage Bankers Association says Rhode Island continues to lead New England in foreclosures and is tied for 7th nationwide.

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Providence Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin says he will not release the names of all of the priests who have been investigated for child sex abuse.  Tobin was responding to a call from the group Bishopaccountability.org for greater transparency.  

The leader of Rhode Island’s Roman Catholics reacted positively to the selection of the first pope from South America. Bishop Thomas Tobin was watching the news when Pope Francis was introduced to the world.

The bells of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul pealed wildly when white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel in Rome, indicating a new pope had been elected. Inside the Providence diocesan offices, Bishop Thomas Tobin and several staff members watched on TV as the new pope emerged from St. Peter’s Basilica.

Two new reports suggest Rhode Island’s economy is on the rebound. 

Rhode Island elections director Bob Kando gets to keep his job, but he first had to endure a dressing down from his bosses, the Board of Elections. The board felt Kando exceeded his executive authority when he presented lawmakers with a package of elections-related bills.

Governor Lincoln Chafee is trying to explain why he’s withholding a report that details waste, fraud and abuse in the state’s Medicaid and food stamp programs. The report was done by former Moderate Party gubernatorial candidate Ken Block.  Chafee says he asked Block to conduct the investigation about a year ago. But now that it’s done, the governor is refusing to release it.

A historic tree on the grounds of the John Brown House in Providence was cut down Monday.  

Early in the morning a tree crew armed with a chain saw lopped off the top third of the 108-year-old elm. A crane carefully lowered the piece to the ground.  The American elm on the grounds of the John Brown House fell victim to a fatal canker, according to Rhode Island Historical Society grounds keeper Ed Desjarlais.

The town of North Providence is planning a major upgrade to school security. It’s the result of the schoolroom massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

It took seven years and $21 million, but a large affordable housing complex in the west end of Providence is finally ready for occupancy.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee joined with other dignitaries to celebrate the completion with a ribbon cutting.  The apartments are scattered in 23 buildings. Rhode Island Housing director Richard Godfrey says the buildings were in pretty rough shape.

"They were all vacant. Some of them were burned out. All boarded," says Godfrey. "It was a very, very distressed neighborhood."