PROVIDENCE – Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee last week announced that longtime aide Stephen R. Hourahan will return to Family Service of Rhode Island as chief advancement officer. more

Superior Court Associate Justice Sarah Taft-Carter has ordered the parties involved in the state pension reform litigation into mediation, the R.I. Judiciary announced Tuesday. more

Providence College has agreed to contribute $3.84 million to the city over the next 10 years as part of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, Mayor Angel Taveras and PC President Rev. Brian J. Shanley announced Tuesday at a press conference. more

Oil rose for a second day in New York on speculation that Republicans and Democrats are getting closer to a budget agreement. more

Patrick Boris, a banquet chef in Las Vegas, is inching closer to his own “fiscal cliff,” 2,100 miles away from the political brinksmanship under way on Capitol Hill. If Congress and the White House allow the country to go over the cliff, Boris figures he could owe federal income taxes on more than $100,000 in forgiven mortgage debt following the short sale of his two-bedroom townhome next year – a personal financial “disaster,” in his words. 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

Officials from the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority need to balance their budget, but they plan to wait until at least March before increasing fares and establishing service cuts in hopes of an increase in funding, reported Boston.com. more

It has been an exciting, if tumultuous, year in the Ocean State. As 2012 comes to a close, Providence Business News looks back on the biggest news stories of the year. more

Most nonunion employers understandably pay relatively little attention to the National Labor Relations Board’s decisions and regulations. The NLRB administers the National Labor Relations Act and most often decides cases involving attempts to form a union or conduct of an employer dealing with its employees’ union. more

The city of Pawtucket is planning to form a Charter Review Commission, which will review the governing document of the city and make recommendations for potential changes, Mayor Donald R. Grebien announced. more