In his first year in office, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras just wanted to survive the “category 5 fiscal hurricane” brought about by the recession and years of city policy decisions. more

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island last week became the latest state to roll back criminal penalties for minor marijuana possession, replacing the threat of jail time for those caught with pot with something akin to a traffic citation, The Associated Press reported. more

“A modest man,” Winston Churchill supposedly quipped about Clement Attlee, his successor as prime minister, “but then he has so much to be modest about.” We should say the same about economists, particularly their ability to forecast anything in a useful and timely manner. more

R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller says there’s enough unfinished business to keep him working right up until the last minute of his scheduled departure at the end of June. That’s when he’s set to begin his new job as president of the Milbank Memorial Fund in New York City. more

I think that, in many ways, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation is getting a bad rap. We, as taxpayers, look to the EDC to help jump-start our economy, and it always seems to come up short. more

More changes appear to be coming for the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, whether Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee wants them or not. Competing House and Senate proposals suggest that whatever ultimately emerges from the General Assembly, the independent governor’s reshuffling of the agency over the past year will not be the final word. more

WaterFire plans to send its enchanting flames over the waterways of downtown Providence with 11 full lightings in 2013. At least that’s the schedule, the buildup to which was anything but typical this year due to added complexities of sequestration and public concern about security since the Boston Marathon bombing in April. more

PROVIDENCE – Four state legislators representing Aquidneck Island communities have sent a letter to the Rhode Island congressional delegation, requesting assistance in allowing the R.I. Public Transit Authority to receive a waiver of insurance for interstate travel between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, a move that could bring limited service to Fall River. more

BOSTON – Former Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill will pay $100,000 and serve a pre-trial probation period of 18 months to four years after admitting to violating state ethics law, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced. more

PROVIDENCE – Government watchdog group Common Cause Rhode Island is working to close a loophole in state ethics rules that makes lawmakers immune to ethics complaints, The Associated Press reported last week. more