Crime
ProJo: Police reveal more details of Watson’s arrest
Education
ProJo: Officials oppose bill that changes seniority rules
ProJo: School chief proposes initial $831,030 cut
GoLocalProv: Critics blast for-profit college proposal
GoLocalProv: Prov. schools accused of passing failing students
Health and Wellness
PBN: Five Questions With Richard A. Bell
Politics and Government
ProJo: Occupy protesters, city reach agreement to end encampment
ProJo: Moody’s endorses early state aid
WRNI: Warwick mayor named RIPTA chairman
Opinion
ProJo Ed Fitzpatrick: Voters should get say on power of state ethics panel
ProJo Editorial: Government jobs
RI Future: Will Rep. Bob Watson’s 2nd drug arrest in 9 months end his political career?
Crime
ProJo: Police reveal more details of Watson’s arrest (A1)
By Philip Marcelo and Maria Armental
PROVIDENCE –– State Rep. and former House Minority Leader Robert A. Watson might not face further legal complications after being charged early Sun-day with possession of marijuana in South Kingstown, his second such drug-related charge in less than a year.
Education
ProJo: Officials oppose bill that changes seniority rules (A6)
By Jennifer Jordan
PROVIDENCE –– The state Department of Education does not support a bill introduced by state Rep. Scott J. Guthrie, D-Coventry, that would expand the list of reasons laid-off teachers must be recalled by seniority. House Bill 7166, scheduled to be discussed Tuesday by the House Labor Committee, would add “program reduction or elimination” and budget cuts to enrollment declines as situations in which “teachers that are suspended shall be reinstated in the inverse order of their suspension.”
ProJo: School chief proposes initial $831,030 cut (A6)
By Andy Smith
NORTH KINGSTOWN — School Supt. Philip Auger has proposed an initial round of budget cuts, totaling $881,038, for North Kings-town schools.
GoLocalProv: Critics blast for-profit college proposal
By Dan McGowan
Critics are railing against a proposed bill that would allow a private for-profit computer-science university to apply to establish a campus in Providence. The legislation, sponsored by House Majority Leader Nicholas A. Mattiello, would bring Neumont University, a private school with a campus of about 330 students in Utah, to the city. The Board of Governors for Higher Education would have to approve the school’s application.
http://www.golocalprov.com/news/forprofit/
GoLocalProv: Prov. schools accused of passing failing students
By Dan McGowan
The Providence School Department says it is attempting to address a longtime practice of promoting students who are failing a certain subject or grade simply to keep them on the same track as their peers. The practice, often referred to as “social promotion” by educators, has come under scrutiny across the country in recent years as reformers have tried to turn around struggling schools, particularly in urban areas.
http://www.golocalprov.com/news/schools2/
Health and Wellness
PBN: Five Questions With Richard A. Bell
By Richard Asinof
Richard A. Bell, 62, of Greenville, had never testified before at a public hearing, and he admitted to being a little nervous. He had driven down to Warwick on Jan. 17 to voice his concerns about the proposed rate hikes requested by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island for its Direct Pay health insurance plan.
http://pbn.com/Five-Questions-With-Richard-A-Bell,64705
Politics and Government
ProJo: Occupy protesters, city reach agreement to end encampment (A1)
By Bryan Rourke and Karen Lee Ziner
PROVIDENCE — Occupy Providence got the day shelter for the homeless it asked for. And the city got what it wanted, too: the peaceful departure of Occupy Providence from Burnside Park, more than three months after members pitched their tents.
ProJo: Moody’s endorses early state aid (A10)
By Bryan Rourke
EAST PROVIDENCE — Moody’s Investors Service has endorsed a law established last week to allow East Providence to receive its state education aid three months early to avoid financial default.
WRNI: Warwick mayor named RIPTA chairman
By Jacqueline Palumbo
Opinion
ProJo Ed Fitzpatrick: Voters should get say on power of state ethics panel (A4)
By Edward Fitzpatrick
Over the past 12 months, one state legislator has been accused of sexual assault, another has been charged with pocketing the proceeds of a life-insurance policy, and yet another has been accused of drunken driving in Connecticut and marijuana possession in South Kingstown.
ProJo Editorial: Government jobs (B6)
As we mull the depressing increase to 10.8 percent in Rhode Island’s jobless rate in December, up from 10.5 percent in November, we think of the oft-heard assertion that the Ocean State’s large number of public employees unduly burdens the private sector, pushing companies to flee the state.
