Photo licensed under Creative Commons. Courtesy of Jef Nickerson.

Brown University and Johnson & Wales University are asking the General Assembly to give them first claim on nearly six acres of prime downtown real estate that will become available when the relocation of Route 195 is complete. House Majority Whip Peter F. Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket, has submitted legislation on behalf of the universities that would authorize the state Department of Transportation to sell them the land. The deal would bypass the public bidding process typical of state land sales.

Mayor David Cicilline wants to impose a $150-per-semester tax on the 25,000 full-time students at Brown University and three other private colleges in the city, saying they use resources and should help ease the burden on struggling taxpayers. The proposal is still in its early stages but if enacted, it would apparently be the first time a U.S. city has directly taxed students just for being enrolled.

A bill that would allow Rhode Island’s polling places to close an hour earlier, at 8 p.m., was passed by the House Thursday. It now heads to the Senate, where a similar bill is awaiting action. Only Rhode Island, New York, and Iowa keep their polling places open until 9 p.m. Other states typically close them between 6 and 8 p.m.

Rhode Island sports fans may soon be able to show their team colors on the front and rear bumpers of their cars. The House on Thursday passed and sent the Senate bills authorizing Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots team license plates. If approved, these specialty plates would join those already on the road benefiting The Rhode Island Community Food Bank, The Audubon Society, Save The Bay and, soon, WaterFire.

The Rhode Island Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill giving “domestic partners” the right to claim the bodies of – and make funeral arrangements for – their loved ones. A domestic partner is defined as “a person who prior to the decedent’s death, was in an exclusive, intimate and committed relationship with the decedent.” The bill, which was approved by a vote of 35-0, will now be forwarded to the House of Representatives.

Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri on June 1st, joined the RI Department of Labor and Training and the Workforce Partnership of Greater Island in awarding more than $2 million in Workforce Investment Act grants, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to run 18 youth-employment programs throughout the state this summer.

A handful of Rhode Island’s top religious leaders gathered in the State House on Tuesday afternoon to urge elected officials to back off plans to cut 3,000 low-income families off Rhode Island’s welfare rolls at the end of the month. In accordance with new timelines introduced in Governor Carcieri’s welfare overhaul of 2008, an estimated 7,800 adults and children will lose cash assistance and related child care and employment training as of July 1.

The Senate Committee on Constitutional Affairs and Regulatory Issues voted unanimously on Thursday to approve legislation forcing Twin River to continue live dog racing. Twin River, a privately held company that pours tens of millions of dollars into the state’s coffers each year, had announced plans to suspend dog racing to stave off bankruptcy court. An estimated 225 jobs are at stake, 7 of them in the Benedetti family. But the survival of the family’s business seems far from certain, even after the committee vote.

Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and House Speaker William J. Murphy met with Governor Carcieri on Thursday afternoon. Such behind closed-door meetings are not considered to be rare especially at this time before the Assembly adjourns for the year on July 4. The Assembly’s fiscal 2010 budget proposal — which will affect public pensions, taxes, and local aid, among other things — may be publicly released as soon as next Friday, June 12.

The Judicial Nominating Commission on Wednesday selected five finalists for Governor Carcieri to consider for chief judge of the District Court, the post held by the late Albert E. DeRobbio Sr. But the governor began interviewing at least some candidates before the commission even took its vote, a move criticized by members of the nominating panel and from the government watchdog group Common Cause of Rhode Island.

The administration put forth a set of proposals on Thursday to create a new class of state job for “prevailing wage investigator(s),” at a starting salary of $37,460, and raise the starting pay for a deputy chief medical examiner from $150,735 to $168,956 for “recruitment purposes.”

The state Senate has delayed vote (initially to be held on Thursday) on a plan to change Rhode Island’s public records law. Prompted by concerns raised by open records advocates last month, the bill’s sponsor, J. Michael Lenihan, D-East Greenwich, is still working to build unanimity, according to Senate spokesman Greg Pare.

National Grid is asking Rhode Island regulators for a 35 % distribution rate increase that could hike a typical residential electric bill by more than 11 percent. If approved, the new rates would take effect Jan. 1.