PROVIDENCE – The State Police have agreed to open an investigation into the Central Coventry Fire District, the Coventry legislative delegation announced last week. more

BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley this month launched a consumer-protection campaign that includes free educational training across the state and a new website offering resources for consumers related to for-profit schools. more

PROVIDENCE – Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, D-Warwick, is sponsoring legislation that will make benevolent gestures by a health care provider – such as saying “I’m sorry” or expressing other forms of sympathy – inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability in a civil action. more

DARTMOUTH – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have formed a National Fair Housing Collegiate Partnership Campaign. more

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin last week announced that he has submitted legislation to implement a criminal-records-check program for long-term-care providers who have direct patient access. more

When a federal labor board ruled in September that a West Virginia coal mine had illegally refused to hire union workers, 61-year-old Dave Preast thought his nine-year ordeal was finally coming to an end. more

FORT WORTH, Texas – Oppenheimer & Co. agreed to pay about $2.9 million to settle claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Massachusetts attorney general that it misled investors in a private-equity fund, Bloomberg News reported last week. more

PROVIDENCE – The mayors of four Rhode Island cities joined several state legislators and a coalition of advocates last week in calling for the passage of legislation aimed at freeing Rhode Islanders from a cycle of debt caused by ultra-high-interest payday loans. more

BRISTOL – Roger Williams University School of Law now will offer students the option to earn a three-year J.D. degree on an accelerated 2.5 years, or a more flexible four-year track. more

BOSTON – Massachusetts lost a bid for review of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision renewing the license of Entergy Corp.’s Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Bloomberg News reported. more