The Ocean State Courts Employers

The Ocean State is moving forward with plans to bring in a computer gaming company founded by an ex-baseball pitcher.
The state Economic Development Corporation is offering a $75 million loan guarantee to 38 Studios, a game company currently out of Massachusetts.
The company says it could ultimately offer 400 jobs at an average salary of $70,000.

House Rejects Controversial Immigration Proposal

The Rhode Island House will not take up a bill modeled on the controversial immigration law in Arizona.
A House spokesman told the Projo that he believes immigration is better addressed by the federal government.
The Arizona law makes it a crime to be in the country illegally and requires police to ask people they are questioning [...]

Rhode Island Wrap-Up — Club Elements No More?

It looks like everyone’s favorite nightclub/cage-fighting arena Club Elements and its juvenile-deliquent little cousin Level II will be shut down following a New Year’s eve melee that required 45 police officers to bring under control. The trouble started when an
unidentified patron allegedly fired a gun inside the packed nightclub causing a stampede of customers to [...]

RI Senate votes 35-2 on the legislation banning indoor prostitution

The Rhode Island Senate, in a historic decision last night passed the legislation to outlaw indoor prostitution in the state. The bill, which passed in a 35-2 vote, will close a nearly 30-year-old legal loophole in the state’s prostitution law which made Rhode Island, the one of two states in the country where indoor prostitution [...]

Lt. Governor Roberts holds health care panel

Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts hosted a round-table with health professionals at the Providence Public Library today to discuss national health reform.
Roberts said that health care costs are placing a strain on Rhode Island families, and urged audience members to support President Obama’s health care proposals.
The panelists, three doctors and a medical center operator, [...]

This Week In Politics: 07/13/2009 – 07/17/2009

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate, already at a three-decade high, climbed again in June. It is now 12.4 % up from 12.1 % in May as announced by the state Department of Labor and Training Friday. In the first six months of the year, the number of unemployed Rhode Islanders soared to 77,700 from 27,751. An [...]

Race, Contracting and the Federal Stimulus

Listen to: Contractors and the Federal Stimulus

Listen to: Contractors of Color 

(Update of a story originally published September 3, 2007; recognized in 2008 by the Associated Press of Southern New England for Investigative Reporting)
The nation’s first African-American President ran on the idea of change and Rhode Island will need plenty of it if contractors of color [...]

Overheard in Rhode Island: Inaugural Edition

WBRU wants to hear what you overhear! We’re collecting funny, weird and spontaneous overhearings from people. Let’s face it, RI is a goldmine for stuff like this. Send us your quotes, and we’ll feature them every Sunday here on the blog!

Weekly Blog Round-Up: Flying Chihuahua Edition

Hello, and welcome to the Flying Chihuahua Edition of the Weekly Blog Round-Up. As always, we’ve got five great articles from our news blog to share with you, plus five awesome things from those other websites on The Internets. You know the ones we’re talking about.
From the News Blog
1) Definitely the weirdest story on our [...]

Gas prices up in MA, RI

Gas prices are up again slightly in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
AAA of Southern New England says a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded in the Ocean State is $2.08. In the Bay State, the average is up to $2.01.
It’s the first time since November that the average price in Massachusetts has passed $2.