Education
ProJo: Prayer banner case settled; city to pay $150,000 (A1)
By Lynn Arditi
CRANSTON — School and city officials have reached an agreement to pay $150,000 in legal fees to the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, ending the protracted battle over the Cranston High School West prayer banner.
ProJo: J&W plans 2 projects downtown (A3)
By Paul Grimaldi
PROVIDENCE — A John-son & Wales University administrator said Tuesday that the university expects to begin construction on two major projects in the city later in 2012 — an 800-car parking garage and space for its new physician’s assistant program.
ProJo: State, local officials meet to discuss school deficit (A5)
By John Hill
WOONSOCKET — City and school officials, as well as an array of staffers from multiple state agencies, spent most of Tuesday in meetings trying to figure out ways the city can close a $10-million school deficit before the city runs out of money, possibly as soon as April.
ProJo: School to stay closed while powder probed (A5)
By Richard C. Dujardin
WEST WARWICK — At the urging of the FBI and state environmental officials, School Supt. Kenneth M. Sheehan announced Tuesday that he is shutting down Greenbush Elementary School on Wednesday to give researchers more time to investigate a white powdery substance that arrived in the mail.
Health and Wellness
ProJo: News Digest: Rhode Islanders no longer face lifetime limit (A3)
By Associated Press
U.S. health officials say that 374,000 Rhode Island residents will no longer bump up against a lifetime limit on health-care coverage because of a provision of the federal health-care overhaul.
WRNI: Central Falls School Department merging with city
By Elisabeth Harrison
PBN: Tufts president wins March of Dimes honor
By PBN Staff
Politics and Government
ProJo: Business owners criticize plan for meal-tax hike (A1)
By Randal Edgar
PROVIDENCE — Restaurant owners and convention planners urged state lawmakers Tuesday to oppose Governor Chafee’s plan to raise the meals and beverage tax, saying the increase would drive customers away from Rhode Island restaurants and drive the convention business to other states.
ProJo: Electric utilities subject of hearing (A3)
By Journal Staff
The Senate Corporations Committee hears testimony Tuesday on a bill sponsored by Sen. Rhoda Perry, D-Providence, bottom right, that would require electric utilities to conduct voltage-detection surveys and complete timely repairs of faults.
ProJo: Pensions outpacing taxes, panel told (A4)
By Alisha A. Pina
PROVIDENCE — Without changing what retirees are paid, homeowners and businesses could see their taxes increase 4 percent every year for 10 years.
PolitiFact: Claim on arming campus police is on target (A7)
By Alex Kuffner
Rhode Island has long struggled with whether to arm its police on public college campuses.
ProJo: Coalition urges passage of tax plan (A8)
By Philip Marcelo
PROVIDENCE –– A coalition calling itself “Rhode Islanders for Tax Equity” gathered at the State House on Tuesday in support of a bill increasing income taxes on wealthy Rhode Islanders.
RI Future: You’re invited to see how the ballots are made
By Chris Barnett
Opinion
ProJo: ‘Darth’ Flanders’s Follies folly insulted Central Falls (B7)
By Elizabeth A. Crowley
Residents at the Central Falls City Council meeting I attended on Friday evening, Feb. 24, raised a pretty good question: Where was Robert Flanders, the state-appointed receiver for the bankrupt city? While about 40 members of the public sought to have their questions addressed, the receiver and his chief of staff, Gayle Corrigan, were nowhere to be found.
