State announces open space acquisition
PROVIDENCE – In a cooperative effort among the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, The Nature Conservancy, and the state, 100.74 acres of land in Exeter and West Greenwich have been acquired, Gov. Lincoln Almond announced last week. The land is to be added to the state’s Open Space reserve. Consisting of fields, woodlands, and wooded swamps, the property is known as the Joslin property and is surrounded by the 833 acre Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge. The Department of Environmental Management has awarded the Audubon Society an Open Space grant of $126,900 to protect the land for preservation. The Champlin Society provided $113,000 to the Nature Conservancy to complete the $240,000 acquisition price. A conservation easement acquired by the state protects the property from development in perpetuity. The acquisition, according to the state announcement, enhances the wildlife refuge and protects the Queens River watershed, a supporter of all the freshwater mussels found in Rhode Island as well as the state’s healthiest population of native brook trout. The river is also described as an important drinking water aquifer.
APC acknowledges more layoffs
WEST KINGSTON – American Power Co. officials acknowledged last week that layoffs representing no more than “a single digit percentage” of the company’s local workforce had been laid off, but the company would not say exactly how many or when the layoffs occurred.. According to the Providence Journal, quoting a former APC employee, about 150 employees had been laid off over the last two weeks. An APC spokesman said the company employed a total of 1,600 workers in is West Kingston, East Providence and West Warwick facilities. APC, which manufactures power protection devices for computers and computer related equipment, reports a total of 5,400 employees worldwide. Earlier APC announced that it was shutting its Fort Myers, Fla., plant and eliminating 200 jobs there.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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Providence, East Providence get housing grants
PROVIDENCE – Providence has been awarded $10,149,000 in various housing grants and East Providence $866,000 in a City Development Block Grant, all from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Providence grants include $7,366,000 in CDBG funds, $2,098,000 for the HOME program, which assists in the production of affordable rental and homeowner housing through grants and loans to developers of affordable housing, $424,000 for the Homes for People With AIDS program, and $261,000 in Emergency Shelter Funds. Announcement of the awards was made by the office of Sen. John H. Chafee.
Channel 36 maintains privacy of donors
PROVIDENCE – Susan L. Farmer, president and chief executive officer of WSBE-TV, Channel 36, announced recently that “Rhode Island Public Television has never, does not now and will not in the future sell, share, rent or otherwise distribute the names of donors to the station for any purpose. We fiercely protect the privacy of our list of donors.” Farmer’s statement was in response to the reports over the last couple of weeks that, first WGBH-TV, Channel 2 in Boston and then other public television throughout the country had been selling or exchanging their donor lists, in the case of WGBH to the Democratic Party. WGBH has made a public apology for its release of the donor lists, asserting that it was a mistake and a violation of its own policies, which it would not repeat.
Hasbro Interactive pursues European software
PAWTUCKET – Hasbro, Inc. announced that it planned to buy a leading European software maker, Europress for an undisclosed amount. The purchase, which would be through Hasbro Interactive, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., would continue to be the third largest software manufacturer in the United States. Hasbro Interactive is a maker of PlayStation and Nintendo 64 video games. Europress is a leading software company in England.
GTECH loses appeal in Florida contact award
WEST GREENWICH – The Florida District Court of Appeal has upheld the Florida Department of Lottery in its award of a contract for computer system and servicing to Automated Wagering International Inc. GTECH appealed the award on various grounds in 1997. An administrative law judge, after hearing the appeal, ruled that the process used by the Lottery’s evaluation committee was flawed and recommended that the decision be reviewed by the same committee. After that committee reached the same conclusion after its review, the Lottery again awarded the contract to AWI. GTECH’s appeal of that process was rejected by the Court of Appeals.
Metcalf, Danforth families join trust company
PROVIDENCE – The Metcalf and Danforth families have joined with a Massachusetts bank to form a trust company to be called M/D Trust LLC, a holding company with a 35 percent interest in the new company, FirstFed Trust Co. FirstFed America will hold 65 percent interest. According to the Providence Journal, approval of the new trust company which was requested of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is expected this fall. FirstFed was founded as a community bank in 1946 in Fall River. The Metcalf and Danforth families which were linked by marriage were associated with the Providence Journal Co. for many years, owning a substantial portion of the company. The company was sold to the Belo Corporation several years ago. The Metcalfs’ fortune was based in the textile industry. The Danforths also were associated, along with the Metcalfs, with the Rhode Island School of Design.
