1. Uncle Tony’s Pizza reportedly closes Cranston location permanently POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 6. The Uncle Tony’s Pizza and Pasta location that was temporarily closed due to health violations has shuttered permanently. WJAR-TV NBC 10 first reported that the restaurant permanently closed after the R.I. Department of Health found numerous health code violations with the Oaklawn Avenue location in December, which prompted a brief shutdown at the time.
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PBN FILE PHOTO/PAMELA BHATIA[/caption]
2. Should government step in to help slow the rapid rise of apartment rents in the Providence metro area? POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 2. The Providence metropolitan median rent rose by 21.55% year over year in December to $2,752, the highest percentage increase among the 50 metro areas analyzed by the Atlanta-based apartment search engine rent.com. When PBN asked if the government should step in to help slow the rapid rise of apartment rents in the Providence metro area, a whopping 95.9% of respondents said yes, otherwise even more people will be forced into homelessness.
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PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
3. Providence economic development director resigns POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 27. Providence Director of Economic Development Cassandra Thomas resigned on March 15, just a year after getting hired. Thomas, a former federal disaster recovery officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was named director of economic development last March. It is unclear why Thomas left the position.
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COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT
OF TRANSPORTATION[/caption]
4. RIDOT launches real-time traffic dashboard POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 9. In response to traffic jams caused by closure of the westbound lanes on the Washington Bridge, the R.I. Department of Transportation has launched an online dashboard showing real-time travel estimates along impacted routes. The dashboard updates every five minutes based on current traffic data and shows how long it should take to travel between points on 12 different routes identified as particularly impacted by the bridge closure.
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5. UPS to lay off 130 Warwick employees POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 13. The United Parcel Service Inc. plans to lay off 130 workers in Warwick. The layoffs are related to the company’s plans to reduce packing and sorting activities in Warwick and other UPS facilities, said Jim Mayer, UPS senior director of media relations. More specifically, UPS will close its day sort operations in Warwick effective April 2.
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6. Downtown design panel OKs apartment complex proposed in Jewelry District POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 12.
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7. Morin’s Hospitality Group buys Bayberry Beer Hall POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 23.
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8. Narragansett oceanfront home sells for $6.25M POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 1.
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9. Santilli to leave Crossroads Rhode Island to become YMCA of Greater Providence’s new CEO POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 1.
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10. Federal highway administrator: Washington Bridge replacement could take 2 years POSTED ONLINE: FEB. 5.
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