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December 2008 Archives
12:29 PM Wed, Dec 31, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Journal staff writer Following a growing trend among supermarket pharmacies, Stop & Shop will provide nine types of antibiotics free to customers with a prescription. "This whole thing started a couple years ago with Walmart starting......
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10:07 AM Wed, Dec 31, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
NORTH KINGSTOWN -- Lowe's Companies plans to open its new store in North Kingstown at 6 a.m. on Jan. 9. The home improvement store will be at 1530 Davisville Road, the northwest corner of Gate and Davisville roads. It will......
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3:55 PM Mon, Dec 29, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Providence-based GTECH Corporation, which has supplied lottery equipment and services to the state of New Jersey since 1984, has been selected for a new seven-year contract in the Garden State, company officials announced today. The contract, which covers gambling operations......
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2:24 PM Tue, Dec 23, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
The Public Utilities Commission this morning approved a decrease in National Grid's electricity rates which will lower a typical customer's bill by 14.6 percent, or about $14 a month. The new rate, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, reflects......
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5:19 PM Mon, Dec 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Journal staff writer WESTERLY -- About 100 people were waiting at the Westerly Armory this morning, hoping to be hired at Bradford Printing and Finishing LLC, a new company that will replace the old Bradford Dyeing Association,......
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1:40 PM Mon, Dec 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
Verizon Communications has sought to elimnate free directory assistance calls for its residential customers in Rhode Island. As of Dec. 1, the company tried to charge customers $1.25 for each call to 411. A customer can make up to two......
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10:16 AM Mon, Dec 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp. yesterday reiterated its full-year profit forecast and said December same-store sales gains will be less than the 4.3 percent growth it had in October and the 6.1 percent increase in November. Adjusted annual earnings per share......
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8:41 AM Mon, Dec 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Moody's Investors Services downgraded by one notch the corporate debt issued by Providence-based LIN Television Corp., the broadcasting company that owns WPRI-TV, Channel 12. Moody's said, "The downgrade reflects Moody's expectation that LIN's cash flow will weaken significantly in 2009......
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11:53 AM Fri, Dec 19, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
Sovereign Bank said this morning it will eliminate 1,000 jobs throughout the company, including 30 jobs in Rhode Island and 131 in Massachusetts. The announcement follows a comprehensive examination of the company's 2009 budget, the company said. Philadelphia-based Sovereign is......
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9:21 AM Fri, Dec 19, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Providence-based GTECH Corp. has signed a licensing deal with Harrah's License Company LLC, that gives GTECH the right to use the names, logos, images and other assets of three of Harrah's brands -- Harrah's, Caesars, and World Series of Poker......
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6:33 PM Thu, Dec 18, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
A group appointed by Governor Carcieri to recommend reforms to Rhode Island's tax structure is weighing key changes to the ways in which businesses, individuals and property-owners are taxed. The panel's chairman, Gary S. Sasse, director of the state Department......
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8:21 AM Thu, Dec 18, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Rite Aid Corp., the third-largest drugstore chain in the U.S. and in Rhode Island, this morning posted its sixth straight quarterly loss because of interest costs and store expenses. The third-quarter net loss widened to $243.1 million, or 30 cents......
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5:12 PM Wed, Dec 17, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Governor Carcieri this afternoon assembled a team of legislative, labor and business leaders to tell him what's broken at the state economic development agency and how to fix it. "What we're seeing is a continuing decline in traditional manufacturing jobs......
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8:55 AM Wed, Dec 17, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
State legislative leaders plan today to meet with representatives from the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and local businesses. Several state senators, including Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva-Weed D-Newporty, will meet with manufacturers, financial services, insurance, and specialty......
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7:58 AM Wed, Dec 17, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Providence-based Textron had its credit ratings lowered one level by Standard & Poor's because of "weaker-than expected'' performance at the company's finance unit. The rating was reduced to BBB+ from A-, Standard & Poor's said. Textron has about $2.3 billion......
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5:31 PM Tue, Dec 16, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
The Providence Journal/Mary Murphy Jack Templin, left, co-founder of Providence Geeks and RI Nexus program director, listens to panelists Jim Lavoie, CEO of Rite Solutions, Annette Tonti, CEO of Mofuse, and Soren Ryherd, CEO of Working Planet, at the......
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1:44 PM Tue, Dec 16, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
The Internal Revenue Service today announced it will speed up the processing of requests involving federal tax liens for homeowners who face financial trouble. This should remove a key obstacle for people who are trying to refinance or sell their......
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12:02 PM Tue, Dec 16, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
State Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr., D-Smithfield, is calling on Governor Carcieri to fire Elia Germani, the chairman of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, for making decisions that are "costly, arbitrary and anti-consumer." Tassoni said his remarks were prompted......
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8:29 AM Tue, Dec 16, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Actress Raquel Welch has been chosen again by FGX International to promote its Foster Grant brand of glasses, but this time she'll be wearing reading glasses. Welch has appeared in several prior ad campaigns for the company's sunglasses since the......
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6:00 PM Mon, Dec 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Rising unemployment in Rhode Island is draining the fund that the state maintains to pay unemployment benefits. If the trend continues, the state may have to seek a federal bailout early next year to prop up the fund and keep......
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3:36 PM Mon, Dec 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
By Mike McKinney projo.com staff writer NEW YORK -- Hasbro Inc. is dropping its lawsuit against the makers of a popular online version of the board game Scrabble. According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in New York, Pawtucket-based......
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3:06 PM Mon, Dec 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Less than a week after the state's economic development chief stepped down to head a nonprofit that promotes business innovation, one of his top deputies is making the same move. Melissa Withers announced today that she is stepping down as......
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10:54 AM Mon, Dec 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Lynn Arditi Email
Rhode Island's economy showed no sign of improvement as it entered the fourth quarter, according to a local index. Unemployment, retail sales, building permits and consumer sentiment were among the indicators that deteriorated in the University of Rhode Island's Current......
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10:31 AM Mon, Dec 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
Gasoline prices in Rhode Island have dropped for the 13th straight week and have hit their lowest point in nearly five years, according to AAA Southern New England. The average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline fell seven......
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8:50 AM Mon, Dec 15, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Laura Sen, president and chief operating officer at BJ's Wholesale Club, has been named chief executive officer, replacing Herb Zarkin. Sen will start on Feb. 1 as part of a planned succession. Zarkin will remain as board chairman and Sen......
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5:14 PM Fri, Dec 12, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
By Neil Downing, Journal MoneyLine Columnist Cap Willey has a client who's in the home-improvement business. The client typically does about $175,000 in business each month, Willey said. But in October and November of this year, sales fell to......
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6:25 PM Thu, Dec 11, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri today unveiled a far-reaching economic stimulus package that includes new loans for cash-thirsty small businesses, a one-of-a-kind loan guarantee program - and maybe a state tax break, too. The package is intended to help tackle two key problems......
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2:46 PM Thu, Dec 11, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Providence-based Textron Inc. continues reducing its workforce, letting more people go this week as the company deals with the current economic environment. Textron (TXT:NYSE) began trimming jobs in October, when the company began making cost-cutting moves, including shrinking jobs in......
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2:45 PM Thu, Dec 11, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Lynn Arditi Email
Rhode Island's home foreclosures last month continued to rise, despite a dip in foreclosures nationwide, according to data released today by the research firm RealtyTrac. Nationally, foreclosures declined 7.3 percent from October to November, as state moratoriums on foreclosures and......
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12:17 PM Thu, Dec 11, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
APC, the backup power supply manufacturer based in West Kingston, laid off up to 100 employees yesterday, a company spokeswoman said this afternoon. The company did not immediately say how many of those employees worked at the company's Rhode Island......
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9:08 AM Thu, Dec 11, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) -- The tool maker Stanley Works says it plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force, and close three manufacturing facilities. The New Britain, Conn.-based company cited weakness in its construction......
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5:37 PM Wed, Dec 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri plans to unveil tomorrow the state's own economic stimulus package to help Rhode Island's small businesses. The plan is intended to open up new sources of credit for small businesses. It will include an infusion of capital into......
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5:32 PM Wed, Dec 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training today shifted more if its staff to handle incoming phone calls. The move came as call volume remained heavy amid the state's high rate of unemployment. "I put more people on the......
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9:20 AM Wed, Dec 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Submarine maker Electric Boat plans to hire 650 workers in the upcoming new year to help with the construction of the new Virginia-class Missouri sub and other projects, EB President John Casey said. But Casey warned that while the outlook......
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8:16 AM Wed, Dec 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Independent Bank Corp., parent of Rockland Trust Company, said it received preliminary approval for an investment of up to approximately $78 million of new capital from the U. S. Dept. of Treasury. The Capital Purchase Program was pat of the......
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7:39 PM Tue, Dec 09, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
If you called Rhode Island's unemployment agency today, chances are that the agency hung up on you -- assuming your phone call to the state Department of Labor and Training's call center got through in the first place. Whether you......
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10:35 AM Tue, Dec 09, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Email
The prominent law firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP has laid off 16 people from its Providence office. Managing partner Walter Reed said no attorneys were involved. The employees who lost jobs, he said, were support personnel such......
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10:12 AM Tue, Dec 09, 2008 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri today accepted the resignation of Saul Kaplan, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. Michael Saul, EDC deputy director, has been named interim director, according to an announcement fromt he governor's office this morning.......
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7:39 AM Tue, Dec 09, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Kopin Corp., based in Taunton, said its directors have authorized the repurchase of up to $15 million of the company's common stock. Kopin plans to finance the repurchase program with available cash. The company plans to buy shares in......
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5:29 PM Mon, Dec 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Dozens of Medicare beneficiaries took advantage of a free seminar at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick today sponsored by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Rhode Island Department of Elderly Affairs. The agencies held the event......
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3:13 PM Mon, Dec 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri today said he supports elimination of Rhode Island's death tax. The tax - also known as the Rhode Island estate tax - generally applies if the value of a decedent's estate exceeds $675,000, which is one of the......
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1:30 PM Mon, Dec 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Even as passenger traffic has remained down sharply from a year ago, the agency that runs T.F. Green Airport has just paid 41 non-union employees nearly $450,000 in discretionary pay. Kevin A. Dillon, president of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation,......
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10:06 AM Mon, Dec 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Lynn Arditi Email
If you are calling the state to certify your weekly unemployment benefits through the agency's automated service line, you must call after business hours only. TeleServe customers in Rhode Island will be restricted to calling between 12:01 a.m. on Sunday......
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8:27 AM Mon, Dec 08, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
About 15 companies will be accepting resumes at a job fair today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the netWORKri Career Center at One Reservoir Ave., in Cranston. The employment opportunities are for assemblers, electricians, engineers, financial services, quality......
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6:49 PM Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Jonathan D. Pond, an author and Massachusetts financial planner who has gained a following through numerous appearances on public television, will be in Rhode Island next week. Pond will make a live studio appearance during the broadcast of the "Grow......
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6:35 PM Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Part of a panel formed by Governor Carcieri to study the reform of Rhode Island's tax structure has unveiled three proposals that would, if adopted, result in far-reaching change. The proposals include eliminating Rhode Island's estate tax (also known as......
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4:09 PM Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
The chief executive of Deepwater Wind, the company selected by Rhode Island to construct a $1.5 billion wind farm off the coast of the state, has left the company. Chris Brown, who stood with Gov. Carcieri in September, when the......
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3:42 PM Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
A nationwide shortage of a runway deicing chemical is not expected to pose problems at T.F. Green Airport, according to Alan Andrade, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation's vice president for operations and maintenance. "We are prepared, so we should be......
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1:22 PM Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Eunice Png and Julie Sygiel, seniors at Brown University, won top honors at this year's statewide elevator pitch contest sponsored by the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. The entrepreneurs are developing a line of women's lingerie that aims "to complement......
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9:25 AM Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, in Portsmouth, has won a $17.1 mllion U.S. Navy contract to repair weapons systems used on the Airborne Low Frequency Sonar utilized on the MH-60R helicopter. About 10 percent of the work will be perfomed by......
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6:37 PM Thu, Dec 04, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
U.S. Sheldon Whitehouse today called for greater oversight of the credit card industry to curb what he called abusive, anti-consumer practices. Whitehouse's comments came at a Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing this afternoon at the Rhode Island College campus in......
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12:36 PM Thu, Dec 04, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Pentair Electronic Packaging said today it will relocate several manufacturing product lines from Poway, California to the company's Warwick plant, creating new jobs at the Rhode Island site. The company expects the transfer to be completed by July 2009. The......
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9:22 AM Thu, Dec 04, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Brian Goldner, chief executive officer at Pawtucket-based Hasbro, has been named 2008 MarketWatch CEO of the Year. The financial news outlet said Goldner, building Hasbro's business with such products as Transformers tied to the hit movie, has "radically altered perceptions......
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5:50 PM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Sen. Jack Reed and state officials will gather at Quonset Point Friday, to mark the start of construction of two National Guard facilities that will be built with $43 million in federal money. A 40,000-square-foot aircraft maintenance facility dating from......
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3:06 PM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
A deal to sell the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island in North Smithfield fell through yesterday as the Missouri company that wanted to buy a majority stake in the health-care facility pulled out of the transaction, according to state and......
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2:44 PM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Got a gripe about your credit card company? U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse wants to hear it. Whitehouse will hold a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Rhode Island College in Providence. The hearing......
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1:50 PM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Email
Barbara Cervone, who runs a non-profit organization called What Kids Can Do, is one of 15 national winners of The Purpose Prize, an award designed to recognize social innovators over the age of 60. What Kids Can Do recognizes the......
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12:18 PM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Nurses and therapists at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island last night backed the possibility of a strike against the North Smithfield health-care facility if contract negotiations. The health-care workers are upset with a demand from RehabCare Inc., which wants......
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8:49 AM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Providence-based GTECH Corp., a unit of Lottomatica, and South Australia Lotteries today set a seven-year partnership that will allow for the provision of a new central lottery system and terminals, self-service products, and ongoing support services in South Australia. The......
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8:17 AM Wed, Dec 03, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Volunteers will transfer nearly 750,000 adolescent oysters to restoration sites in Bristol Harbor and neighboring areas on Saturday in an attempt to bolster the number of oysters in state waters. The project is a joint effort between local community members......
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2:03 PM Tue, Dec 02, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Retail investors in Rhode Island have purchased a record $102 million in General Obligation bonds in a sale completed today, according to General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio. That amount represents 95% of the total amount of municipal bonds offered. "For......
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12:28 PM Tue, Dec 02, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Passenger traffic at T.F. Green airport in October dropped 8 percent compared to the same month a year ago, with a little more than 400,000 people passing through the state's main airport, according to figures from the state agency that......
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11:35 AM Tue, Dec 02, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
PROVIDENCE -- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public meeting Thursday in Rhode Island on proposed changes to bankruptcy law. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., will chair the committee's field hearing on "Credit Cards and Bankruptcy: Opportunities for......
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7:20 AM Tue, Dec 02, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
FM Global, the Johnston-based property-casualty carrier, may bid for a 142-year-old American International Group Inc. business that sells coverage on equipment and power plants. "Weve had some indirect contact with AIG about a potential deal for Hartford Steam Boiler," FM......
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5:32 PM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
The outlook for winter heating costs is much brighter than it was just a couple months ago, thanks to the steep decline in energy prices. Those who can breathe the biggest sigh of relief are the people who use heating......
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4:45 PM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink |
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By maria caporizzo Email
Richard M. Oster, who rose to the top of the business world as chairman of the London-based Cookson Group PLC, a multinational company, died Monday at Providence's Miriam Hospital. A resident of Barrington, he was 73. "He was a man......
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12:49 PM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink |
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By maria caporizzo Email
Moody's Investors Service today released a detailed analysis of Rhode Island's credit outlook for the near and short term. While the treasurer's office released updated credit ratings from Moody's and other credit rating agencies last week, today's analysis offers an......
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11:14 AM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Tim Barmann Email
Gasoline prices in Rhode Island continued their unprecedented drop, with the average price falling another 4 cents over the past week. A survey of local stations by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources found an average price of $1.879......
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10:40 AM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Planet Fitness today plans to open a new health club at 387 West Fountain Street, in a mixed-use project developed by The Armory Revival Co in the West End of Providence. The 6,000-square-foot gym features more than 80 pieces of......
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7:46 AM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
General Growth Properties, the owner of Providence Place mall that is considering filing for bankruptcy protection, got a two-week extension from its lenders on $900 million in mortgage loans. General Growth and the banks are discussing a longer extension to......
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