BOSTON – Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray last week joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development New England Regional Administrator Barbara Fields and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Christie Hager to announce a $5.3 million award to the Mass. Department of Housing and Community Development. more

After a lengthy and often frank discussion, the state’s Health Planning Advisory Council reached consensus at its May 13 meeting on future priorities for its work in the coming year, in alignment with the R.I. General Assembly’s statutory directions. more

To the Editor: The R.I. Department of Environmental Management is again on record as opposing economic growth and its corollary, jobs. The DEM (an acronym for Delay Economic Momentum) recently objected to a legislative proposal to prevent the expiration of building permits issued to developers by local and state regulatory agencies. more

To the Editor: Both The Rhode Island Foundation and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council are to be commended for their recent efforts to repair what is a failing economy with dismal prospects. more

BOSTON – Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley led a bipartisan group of 35 attorneys general – including R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin – that sent a letter this month to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and congressional leaders calling for broad reform of the federal immigration system. more

Elected officials and others representing the region’s defense industry recently crowded around the cockpit of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II, waiting their turns to hop in the pilot’s seat, taxi the fighter jet down the runway and launch into the skies on a government mission – all without leaving the confines of the R.I. Department of Administration building, that is. more

NEW YORK – Fitch Ratings last week affirmed its AA rating of the Massachusetts Port Authority’s $1.16 billion revenue bonds and its A+ rating of the authority’s $127.4 million passenger facility charge revenue bonds. Fitch said the rating outlook is stable for all of the authority’s debt. more

PROVIDENCE – Providence Water, the largest water utility in Rhode Island, has selected Broomfield, Colo.-based Innovyze’s smart water-network-modeling technology to manage the company’s hydraulic network. more

PROVIDENCE – General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo last week announced Andrew Roos will join her office as chief of staff. Additionally, Ashley Gingerella O’Shea will come on board as associate director of communications. more

Medical-marijuana advocates lobbying Congress got powerful new allies last week to help them make the case for getting federal prosecutors to back off: labor leaders. more