The state Department of Labor and Training has asked for a $40 million line of credit to cover those costs for the next three months.

Such lines of credit carry no interest costs under the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and they are approved automatically, so recipients should not see any delay in their payments, said DLT spokeswoman Laura Hart.

In March, DLT received $75 million to carry it through May.

Hart said the state didn't have to apply for a loan in June because it was able to tap the quarterly unemployment insurance tax payments made by the state's 32,500 employers this spring.

The tax on businesses ranges from a low of 1.9 percent for companies whose workers seldom make unemployment claims, to 10 percent for firms that lay off or fire frequently. The tax applies to the first $18,000 paid to an employee, an amount that fluctuates annually, depending on whether the fund needs replenishing.

As of Thursday, the balance of the state unemployment insurance trust fund stood at just under $15.3 million. When the state borrowed money in March, it stood at $23,609,703.

The fund fluctuates depending on the timetable for paying out the claims. For the week ending June 20, the Department had 22,000 claims for basic unemployment, not including the extended benefits programs.

It paid out $34 million worth of such claims in May.

Thirteen other states have also applied for the interest-free line of credit from the Federal Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Before the current recession, Rhode Island had to borrow from the feds to cover its unemployment costs from 1975 to 1980. At the time, the jobless rate was also in the double digits, the state had to borrow a total of $129.4 million. The money was paid back by 1984.

gemery@projo.com / (401)277-7442

It is the latest development in a simmering controversy involving a new state law - sometimes called the "Amazon law" - which generally requires out-of-state retailers to collect Rhode Island sales tax on purchases that are made through affiliated Web sites located in the state.

Amazon.com cut its ties with its Rhode Island-based affiliates over the new law; two other online retailers, Overstock.com, and Blue Nile have followed suit.

PROVIDENCE, RI -- A federal judge has given a court-appointed trustee permission to close the pharmacy and health-care company started by state Sen. Leo R. Blais three decades ago.

The trustee, Providence lawyer Thomas P. Quinn, apparently gave up trying to save the Pawtuxet Valley Prescription & Surgical Center and on Thursday asked a judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to allow "the immediate abandonment of the retail operation . . . on the grounds that the continued operation of the retail pharmacy business is burdensome . . . and of inconsequential value."

In September 2007, Blais sought bankruptcy protection for Pawtuxet Valley Prescription & Surgical Center Inc. The company owed creditors $4.75 million, when Blais -- the company's president and chief executive officer -- made the Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Providence.

Generally, businesses going this route hope to emerge from court protection. That doesn't seem to be the case with Blais' business as the trustee on Thursday sought permission from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Arthur N. Votolato for permission to dissolve the operation. Votolato granted the request.

"The primary concern is an orderly transition of patient records and care," according to hearing summary. "Patients will be needing I.V. treatment over the long weekend."

Fidelity plans to increase employment in Smithfield from the current 2,300 to 2,800 in the first quarter of 2010. "Whenever they come, we'll be ready for them. The coffee's on," Blau said.

Bill Gowen, owner of Effin's Last Resort at 325 Farnum Pike, said his restaurant gets a lot of business from Fidelity employees. "We're very pleased about this.We get a ton of Fidelity people who come in after work," he said. "They're excellent customers, a first-class group of people."

So far this year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 5.65 percent while the Standard & Poor 500 Index is off .76 percent. The NASDAQ Composite Index has gained 13.92 percent during 2009.

The move is part of an internal reshuffling of staff among Fidelity's various locations in Massachusetts, including Boston and Marlborough.

As part of that reshuffling, Fidelity plans to move several hundred jobs to its Smithfield campus.

In a statement, Carcieri said, "Fidelity has established itself as one of our most important corporate citizens. Today's announcement to bring 500 additional jobs to the state is welcome news, and builds on the growing financial services industry here in Rhode Island."

Carcieri added, "Fidelity continues to make an investment in Rhode Island and its workforce, and I look forward to the positive impact of the company's expanded presence."

The move will boost employment in Rhode Island, which has an unemployment rate of 12.1 percent, the highest since at least 1976.

The programs are conducted by individual employers, labor groups, or industry associations, and operate on an "earn while you learn" basis, in which participants receive a combination of classroom instruction and on-the- job training in a skilled occupation.

Laura Hart, spokesperson for the Department of Labor and Training, said that in 2008, 1,700 Rhode Islanders participated in 650 apprenticeship programs.

Although the apprenticeship programs in Rhode Island are not restricted to unemployed workers, the purpose of the federal grant is to better connect workers who have lost jobs to appropriate apprenticeships.

Hart said the state would also like to expand the state's apprentice programs to include more high-growth occupations in green technology, biotech, and health care.

For more information about apprenticeship programs in the state, call 401-462-8536.

Those who require remedial help in math, reading and language skills can apply at the netWORKri centers in Providence, at 1 Reservoir Ave., or in Pawtucket, at 175 Main St. Once participants have received user names and passwords, they may log on to the system from any computer with Internet access.

There are also skills programs available for people who do not require remedial instruction but want additional job training. They can receive access to a catalog of 400 courses designed to improve skills in the healthcare industry and 5,000 courses in subject areas such as information technology and business skills.

For the job training, initial registration is available at the newWORKri center in West Warwick, 1330 Main St.

To use the service, people must attend an orientation program in West Warwick, or attend a scheduled orientation session in Woonsocket, at 219 Pond St., on July 10; in Providence on July 31, or in Pawtucket on Aug. 21. All run from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

The state-administered defined contribution accounts would be available for small employers to offer their employees; management would be done by a third-party provider chosen through a request-for-proposals process, according to a statement issued today by the General Assembly.

The accounts could be used by employers and employees who do not have traditional pension plans or similar retirement-savings arrangements.

The commission was established under Senate bill S 0453, sponsored by state Sen. William A. Walaska (D-Warwick), and House bill H 5696, by state Rep. Arthur Handy (D-Cranston). The legislation was introduced at the request of state Gen. Treas. Frank Caprio. The commission is to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by January.

The Zoning Board of Review has given a green light to plans by Thorpe's Gift Shop, now at 517 Main St. next to CVS, to move a couple blocks north to the church at 214 Main St.

Owner Chad Verdi said the exterior of the church will not be changed, although there are plans to turn the downstairs into office space and convert the annex in the back into five condos.

The church moved its services to its new home on South County Trail last year. According to its web site, the state Constitution was supposed to be signed at the East Greenwich Court House, which is now Town Hall, but the lack of space and heat prompted the ceremony to be moved to the church.

gemery@projo.com / (401)277-7442

The retailer said it has been suffering from a drop in sales over the past year, due to the downturn in consumer spending. The company expects a 24.4 percent drop in retail sales for fiscal 2009 from 2008 and a 30 percent decline in wholesale revenue as well.

Crabtree & Evelyn's e-commerce business has not slowed as much as its brick-and-mortar retail operations. The company expects online sales to increase 10 percent in 2009.

Operational improvements are one of the company's main goals during the bankruptcy, Crabtree & Evelyn President Stephen W. Bestwick said in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The company also expects to close poorly performing stores.

Crabtree & Evelyn operates a store in Garden City Center, in Cranston, and also sells through specialty retailers around the state. It has eight stores in Massachusetts, including a new store in Patriot Place, Foxboro, and a wholesale outlet in Wrentham Village Premium Outlets.

Qualified veterans who become first-time 7-Eleven franchisees will receive a discount on the initial fee for the first 7-Eleven store they franchise. The discount can range from $1,000 up to approximately $35,000, depending on the store.

The Dallas, Texas-based chain's president and chief executive officer, Joe DePinto, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, who served five years as an officer in the U.S. Army.

Blue Nile's move comes after Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN:NASDAQ) and Overstock.com (OSTK:NASDAQ) took similar actions here, as well as in North Carolina. The companies are seeking to avoid efforts by states to force them to collect sales tax by classifying them as a retailer with a physical presence in a state through their work with locally based affiliates.

In an e-mail Wednesday to The Journal, Blue Nile said it had notified companies "that we are terminating our relationship with all Rhode Island affiliates, effective immediately. This is a result of the tax collection legislation passed by the Rhode Island state legislature, and expected to become law."

Overstock said Wednesday it sent notices to affiliate advertisers in Rhode Island and three other states as it battles what it considers an "end-run" around U.S. Supreme Court decisions that a company must have a physical presence in a state before the government can enforce sales tax collections.

What has been dubbed the "Amazon tax" -- which became law as part of Rhode Island's state budget Wednesday -- has been proposed by a handful of cash-strapped states. The plan essentially forces Rhode Islanders to pay a 7-percent sales tax for Internet purchases from out-of-state companies, such as Amazon.com, that have formal business relationships in the Ocean State.

Amazon notified its affiliates earlier this week about its decision to sever formal ties with them.

Overstock.com (OSTK:NASDAQ) similarly canceled contracts in May 2008 with more than 3,400 New York affiliates and sued that state when it enacted the first Internet advertising law. The suit is still pending.

The effect of the laws will be to force the closure of Internet ad businesses located in the states that pass such sales-tax laws, according to an Overstock executive.

"In the end, the only thing to be accomplished by theses laws will be to put more local citizens out of work -- exactly the wrong choice in a down economy," said Jonathan Johnson, Overstock's president in a statement released Wednesday.

(An earlier version of this report was posted at 11:09 a.m.)

Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and Attorney General Patrick Lynch are expected to be on hand for the first day of business for the "new" Coastway Community Bank.

Leaders at the 89-year-old credit union have said that the change is a natural step in the institution's growth. President and chief executive officer Bill White has said that one of the main reasons for the change is to allow Coastway to expand its lending to small businesses.

As a credit union, Coastway, was limited in how much it could offer in loans when it operated under the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), but will have no such cap as a bank.

As of Wednesday morning, Coastway, which pegs its assets at about $300 million, will be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) instead of the NCUA.

As part of the application process to become a bank, Coastway had to undergo a review by the FDIC.

It also had to put the conversion question to its 30,000 or so members in April. Nearly 80 percent endorsed the plan.

Shortly after the vote, White said that the cap on business lending was inhibiting Coastway's ability to grow and it was looking to expand in the near future.

Headquartered in Cranston, it has seven branches, all in Rhode Island, in Cranston, Providence, East Providence, Warwick and Lincoln.

On Saturday, most of its inventory was sold at auction.

This winter, Power Brokers Inc., which did business under the Boat World name, laid off its 35 employees, a victim of an economy that was looking like a remake of Titanic.

William J. Delaney, one of the two special masters in charge of liquidating the company, said about $100,000 in cash was raised at the auction. The next step is to dispose of the real estate.

Sal Corio of S.J. Corio Company, the Warwick-based commercial-industrial auction and marketing company, said nearly 80 people, ranging from people looking to buy boats for themselves to dealers looking for boats and parts, registered as buyers. The auction ran from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

"We had an extremely good turnout," he said. About three-quarters of the boats were sold. "The smaller ones go better than the bigger ones."

The auction also included Boat World's inventory of parts, a gas-powered 6,000-pound forklift, propellers, hydraulic jacks, shop equipment and other flotsam and jetsam of the business, including office equipment such as chairs, computers and monitors.

Corio said he thought the sale went well, even though prices are down, because "people have gotten to the point where they have done without for a while and they realize life still goes on.

And in that industry, summer is passing them by, and if they want to get on the water, they have to do something about it."