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

Gun dealers in Rhode Island and across much of the nation have been swamped by customers amid renewed public debate over the need for stricter gun-control laws following the massacre of 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school. 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

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

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 later this month, 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

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

The U.S. economy will fall into “severe recession by the spring” unless Congress lessens the tax increases and spending cuts set to begin in January, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. more