Archive of Rhode Island on Tuesday June 30, 2009
RI: R.I. Senate to hold session today, agenda uncertain
By Cynthia Needham, The Providence Journal
With the House of Representatives at a hiatus and House Speaker William J. Murphy about to head to Switzerland for a conference, the Senate will return to the State House Tuesday to deal with high-profile bills including a bid to ban indoor prostitution and a proposed statewide referendum on changing the name of this state.
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RI: Amazon cuts its R.I. ties over sales tax
By Steve Peoples and Neil Downing, The Providence Journal
The Internet giant Amazon.com has severed formal ties with all Rhode Island businesses, a move intended to shield the online retailer from the General Assembly's push to tax some online sales as soon as Wednesday.
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Furloughs cut into state services
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer
With states facing a $121 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year, a growing number of them have turned to squeezing their workforce for savings, and effects both great and small will be felt.
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RI: R.I. workers without jobs deliver a message that 'people want to work'
By Neil Downing, The Providence Journal
CRANSTON, R.I.— A group of unemployed workers met with officials of the state Department of Labor and Training on Monday mainly to seek more help in obtaining jobs and faster processing of claims for unemployment benefits.
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RI: Primary care focus of grants
By Felice J. Freyer, The Providence Journal
One program will make it easier for people to get fast medical care on evenings and weekends. Another will help doctors push their patients toward healthy living. Still another will tell Spanish-speaking people where to find care when they have no health insurance.
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RI: High court rules in Irons' favor on ethics prosecution
By Mike Stanton, The Providence Journal
Rhode Island legislators can be prosecuted for ethics violations involving their political activities, questionable acts on behalf of constituents or businessmen –– but not, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled Monday, for their official legislative votes or actions.
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RI: Trooper's assault conviction vacated
By Katie Mulvaney and Talia Bulford, The Providence Journal
The state Supreme Court on Monday overturned the 2006 conviction of a former Rhode Island State Police trooper accused of assaulting a man in South Kingstown police custody as he sat in the back of a police cruiser.
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RI: With funding cuts, colleges revamp majors to save money
By Jennifer D. Jordan, The Providence Journal
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Citing financial constraints and a desire to strengthen academic programs at the state's three public colleges, the Board of Governors for Higher Education Monday approved the elimination or consolidation of dozens of majors and ordered the review of dozens more that have consistently graduated fewer than 11 students a year.
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RI: Amazon cuts R.I. affiliate ties over taxes
By Bloomberg News, The Boston Globe
SAN FRANCISCO -- Amazon.com Inc., the world's biggest Internet retailer, cut ties with its Rhode Island business affiliates after the state's assembly passed legislation requiring the company to collect taxes.
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US: Ruling adds teeth to state oversight of banks
By Neil Irwin, The Washington Post
For years, state governments have had little power to enforce consumer-protection and lending rules at the country's biggest banks. No more.
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RI: Rhode Island weighs using shorter official name
By Abby Goodnough, The New York Times
It does not appear on the state flag or license plate. You won't see it on road maps or welcome signs. But Rhode Island has a lightning rod of a formal name — Rhode Island and Providence Plantations — that harks back to its prominent role in the slave trade and makes some of its residents cringe.
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US: Obama steers health debate out of capital
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times
WASHINGTON — With Democrats deeply divided over health legislation, President Obama is trying to enlist the nation's governors and his own army of grass-roots supporters in a bid to increase pressure on lawmakers without getting himself mired in the messy battle playing out on Capitol Hill.
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US: A green way to dump low-tech electronics
By Leslie Kaufman, The New York Times
Since 2004, 18 states and New York City have approved laws that make manufacturers responsible for recycling electronics, and similar statutes were introduced in 13 other states this year.
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