Third Track Project gets $23 million from DOT
WASHINGTON – The Third Track Project that will boost development of the proposed Quonset Point/Davisville port got a $23 million dollar advance from the United States Department of Transportation. With this latest award the federal government has made a total commitment of $55 million to the project. The state is committed to matching grants. The project will include improvements along 22 miles of track between Davisville and Providence, including 17 miles of new track designed to enable freight traffic to continue unimpeded along the Northeast corridor adjacent to track carrying passenger traffic, including the projected new high speed trains scheduled to start service next year.
FCC grants $232,000 to RI teachers for Internet
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 the Federal Communications Commission released $232,000 in e-rate funding to the Rhode Island Department of Education to provide K-12 teachers with Internet access. The FCC also announced it had released the following amounts to individual school districts: West Warwick, $7,443; Gaudet Middle School in Middletown, $1,000; and St. Patrick School in Providence, $1,395. The announcements were made through the Senate and House delegations from Rhode Island.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
Rhode Island unemployment down
PROVIDENCE – Unemployment in Rhode Island resumed its decline in September, a full percentage point below the level of unemployment a year ago. The state Department of Labor and Training announced that seasonally adjusted unemployment in September fell to 3.8 percent, compared to 4.8 percent a year ago. At the same time, unemployment nationally held steady at 4.2 percent. Meanwhile, DLT reported, the number of employed residents in the state rose by11,000 over the course of the year and the number of unemployed declined by 4,500. More recently the unemployment level in September was 2,800 lower than it was in August, DLT reported.
Textron gets Mexican contract for helicopters
PROVIDENCE – Textron, Inc., reported that it had agreed to supply 24 helicopters from its Bell unit to the Mexican government for use against illegal drug traffickers. The first four of the choppers would be delivered in December, Textron reported, with the rest scheduled for delivery before next September.
Credit cards for students ruled off-target
PROVIDENCE — The commissioner of education has told the state’s schools that they can no longer send home credit card applications and advertising materials with students. The decision came after news that Target, a giant retailing chain, has been providing Rhode Island schools with credit card applications that are being sent home with students. About 500 Rhode Island schools are in the Target program. But Education Commissioner Peter McWalters said such promotions in Rhode Island schools are illegal under a 1922 law. In a letter to the state’s school superintendents, he said the law “forbids the use of children in the public schools as agencies for … distributing material in their homes or elsewhere to promote any project.” The Target credit card applications promise to donate 1 percent of each sale to a school of the parents’ choice. The chain says it has enrolled 100,000 schools in the program since 1997, with few complaints. Target gets more customers, schools get more money.
Open air market market planned for Providence
PROVIDENCE — Another shopping project is the works for Providence even as construction continues on the Providence Place Mall. In the next few months, developers are expected to begin site preparation for the $33 million Providence Marketplace,
The Providence Journal reported. Developers want the marketplace, which will be just west of the mall, to have the feel of an old time village center with an open-air food market, pushcarts and entertainers. Developer Richard N. Wasserman is finalizing negotiations to buy a piece of city-owned land to complete the development parcel.
URI’s Jason Project 2000 schedule announced
NARRAGANSETT – URI has announced that its 2000 JASON Project which traces the path of ocean and space research and exploration will be available for viewing by all students throughout the state either on local cable TV channels or live at the Bay Campus here. The Jason XI project, entitled “Going to Extremes” will be held from Feb. 28 to March 10, excluding Sunday. The URI Office of Marine Programs has scheduled a series of free training sessions for teachers and group leaders at the Coastal Institute Visitor Center at the Bay Campus. The sessions, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., are scheduled Thursday, Nov. 11; Saturday, Nov. 20; or Saturday, Jan. 22. Participants in the training sessions will receive a free JASON Project video, a copy of the 2000 JASON curriculum, and special access to an Online Activity and Resource Center. The project, led by Dr. Robert Ballard, will compare the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Aquarius Underwater Laboratory in the Florida Keys and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) International Space Station as research stations, and focus on the ecosystem that exists in the coral reef and plants and animals that live around it.
