BOSTON – A Colorado-based insurer last week agreed to pay $42,000 to resolve allegations that it illegally and prematurely canceled certain auto-insurance policies belonging to roughly 50 Massachusetts customers, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced. more

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

Modern payday lending was legalized in Rhode Island in 2001 and didn’t cause too much outcry until the recession began adding to the number of local families falling deeper into debt and bankruptcy. more

This year, 17 Rhode Island communities will go through the rite of passage known as the revaluation cycle. State law requires a full property revaluation by the tax assessor in each city and town every nine years with less-detailed updates every three years. These values are important because, absent additional improvements or damage to the property, the values will stay the same for the entire cycle even though the tax rate will change each year. For many of us, that means this spring we’ll learn that the tax assessor, or a company hired by the assessor, has come up with a new tax value for any real estate we own. more

BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick last week swore in Andrea Cabral as secretary of the Mass. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. more

BOSTON – More than $2.8 million in insurance refunds have been returned to Massachusetts motorcycle owners, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week. more

BOSTON – The Mass. Department of Environmental Protection has fined a Fairhaven company for dumping waste paint-wash water into a storm drain at the Dartmouth Mall, the agency announced. more

BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office has fined National Grid $270,000 for various violations of the state’s wage and hour laws after complaints that hundreds of Massachusetts workers have gone unpaid for up to nine weeks. more

PROVIDENCE – After a monthlong cellphone-recycling drive held by the R.I. Office of Attorney General, Verizon Wireless made a $2,000 HopeLine contribution to the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The funding will provide financial assistance to local nonprofit organizations focused on supporting victims of domestic violence. more

BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week that Assistant Attorney General Patrick Hanley has been appointed chief of the new Mass. Gaming Enforcement Division. more