RI unemployment rate falls to 8.8 percent
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level since October 2008, but the labor force shrunk.
The state Department of Labor and Training reported Thursday the April jobless rate was 8.8 percent, down from
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House immigration group gropes for deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of House members that has been trying for months to finalize a comprehensive immigration bill is encountering difficulties and trying to decide whether to split up or keep trying.
The four Democratic and four
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Senate confirms physicist Moniz as energy chief
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate unanimously confirmed Fall River native Ernest Moniz to lead the Energy Department today.
Moniz, 68, a 1962 graduate of BMC Durfee High School and the grandchild of Azorean immigrants, is a professor at the Massachusetts … Read Full Story
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Study questions how sharply US should cut the salt
WASHINGTON (AP) — A surprising new report questions efforts to get Americans to sharply cut back on salt, saying getting to super-low levels may not be worth the struggle.
Make no mistake: Most Americans eat way too much, not just
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RI to get $291,000 in adulterated drug settlement
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is expected to get $291,000 as part of a multistate settlement with an Indian pharmaceutical company accused of selling adulterated drugs.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin on Tuesday announced the state’s portion of the $500
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Mass. bald eagle count finds 30 active nests
GREENFIELD, Mass. (AP) — The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife says its first bald eagle nesting survey has verified 30 active nests in the state.
The survey conducted last month found eight nests along the Connecticut River, six at
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Senators argue over immigration bill ID mandates
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators weighing a landmark immigration bill have defeated an effort by Republicans to require biometric identification — such as fingerprinting — to track who is entering and leaving the country.
The amendment was by Republican Sen. Jeff
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Business opportunities explored
BOSTON — If there’s one message Massachusetts officials want a business delegation from Portugal to take back home it’s that the Commonwealth is a great gateway to the U.S. market.
More than 25 Portuguese delegates were in the Bay State … Read Full Story
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US state to become 10th allowing gay marriage
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) — Rhode Island is poised to join nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee planned to sign gay marriage legislation into law Thursday evening,
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Brown students step up call for coal divestment
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Brown University students are trying to put pressure on the school’s president and trustees to support divestment from coal companies.
Students are staging a mock vote on campus Friday in favor of divestment. They want Brown’s
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Protesters charged after Seattle May Day rally
SEATTLE (AP) — City prosecutors have started filing charges against people arrested during a May Day protest in Seattle.
The City Attorney’s Office said Thursday six people who spent the night in the King County Jail face misdemeanor charges that
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Immigration debate gives life to annual rallies
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are expected to rally in dozens of cities from New York to Bozeman, Mont., on Wednesday in what has become an annual cry for easing the nation’s immigration laws.
The rallies
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RISD students call for divestment during sit-in
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Students at the Rhode Island School of Design gathered Monday for a sit-in in the president’s office to call for the school to divest from fossil fuel companies.
Eleven students began the sit-in in the waiting
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Mass. voter to choose who will run in June 25 election for Kerry’s seat
On Tuesday, April 30, the field will be narrowed as voters go to the polls of their respective parties to choose which two candidates will face each other in a special election on June 25. Five candidates are running in … Read Full Story
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Piece-by-piece on immigration in House
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will take on the immigration issue in bite-size pieces, shunning pressure to act quickly and rejecting the comprehensive approach embraced in the Senate, a key committee chairman said Thursday.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte,
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Poll: RI residents among most stressed Americans
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A new poll says Rhode Island is the second most stressed out state in the country.
The Gallup poll released Wednesday says Rhode Island follows only West Virginia on the list of the most stressed states.
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A risk including gay partners in immigration bill?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are treading carefully when it comes to a proposed addition to the bipartisan immigration overhaul. It would let gay Americans sponsor their partners in other countries for visas, and the Democrats are concerned that by adding … Read Full Story
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NYT to distribute columns by Brazil’s ex-president
SAO PAULO (AP) — The office of Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he will soon start writing a monthly column to be distributed by the New York Times.
Jose Crispiniano, spokesman for the Lula Institute, says
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