PROVIDENCE – A Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association official testified in Washington last week in favor of federal legislation that could secure funding to protect the Pawcatuck River and other streams in the region, The Associated Press reported. more

PROVIDENCE – The effort to build a rock-climbing playground for Jamestown children got a push recently when the R.I. Department of Environmental Management awarded the project a $38,000 grant. more

BOSTON – The Mass. Gaming Commission is hoping lawmakers push back a key deadline by as much of a year, saying taking over the work of the state racing commission will make it more difficult to get new casinos up and running, The Associated Press reported last week. more

NEW BEDFORD – Four federal grants totaling $600,000 aim to enhance broadband adoption and support for small businesses and nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts. more

Once known by the buzzword “consolidation,” municipally shared services is a concept that’s been kicked around for years by towns throughout the state, but has rarely gotten past the planning phase. But in financially ailing cities like Pawtucket and Central Falls, it might be an idea whose time has finally come. more

Former House Finance Committee Chairman Tony Pires is more familiar than most with the often glacial pace of action in the General Assembly. Now director of administration in Pawtucket, Pires and other city leaders know their financially ailing community can’t afford to wait any longer when it comes to the money-saving issue of sharing services with neighboring communities. more

PROVIDENCE – The Humane Society of the United States has awarded Sen. Dominick Ruggerio, D-North Providence, and Rep. Patricia A. Serpa, D-West Warwick, as Rhode Island’s Humane State Legislators for 2012. more

PROVIDENCE – R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller is stepping down to take a post as president of the Milbank Memorial Fund, a national health-policy foundation based in New York, Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee announced last week. more

PROVIDENCE – A partnership that includes GTECH Corp. is slated to be awarded a 15-year lottery-marketing contract by New Jersey, Bloomberg News reported. more

After serving 17 years in the military, Matthew Paquette left his work as an electrician’s mate in the Navy, where he was assigned to the USS Shasta Battle Group Echo, stationed off the coast of Kuwait. more