Funds approved by U.S. House for dredging
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives has approved some $829,000 for three Army Corps of Engineers projects in Rhode Island. The projects included in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for the next fiscal year beginning October 1 are the Providence River and Harbor Dredging Project, the R.I. Eco-System Restoration Study and the R.I. South Coast Habitat Restoration and Storm Damage Reduction Study. The harbor and river dredging project has been allotted $584,000, the eco-system project will receive $191,000 and the habitat restoration will get $54,000. The dredging projects are designed ultimately to permit most vessels to travel up and down the river to the harbor. Now, because of build-up of silt, only shallow draft and lightly loaded vessels may enter the harbor. The eco-system study is part of a continuing process of learning how best to restore depleted salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, and bay area fisheries in which salt-water fish enter fresh water sanctuaries to spawn.
Express Valet service available at T.F. Green
WARWICK – A new Express Valet service has opened at T.F. Green Airport, more than doubling available parking spaces available for that service. The popular service which has been limited to 350 outdoor spaces since it opened in 1995 will now offer up to 750 covered spaces and covered access to the terminal. The service is offered by the New England Parking Company and rates are $22 a day or $110 a week.
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
Bigger hangar for R.I. Air Guard passes muster
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Included in the final military construction bill for Fiscal Year 2000 passed by the House and Senate Conference Committee is $8.9 million for construction of a new maintenance hangar at Quonset for the Air National Guard’s new transport aircraft. Sen. Jack Reed reported that negotiations with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., of the Appropriations Committee rescued the project. He added that with approval by the Conference Committee, passage by both houses of Congress and the President’s signature are expected to follow. The Air Guard is getting a larger version of its C-130E cargo planes next year. The new version, the C-130J-30 is fifteen feet longer and would not fit in the old hangar, built in 1941, according to Senator Reed. That is scheduled for demolition before 2005. Reed said he has been assured that the maintenance section of the new hangar will be available when the new planes arrive.
Almond nominates Gale to Superior Court
PROVIDENCE – Edwin Gale has been nominated by Governor Almond to fill the vacancy on the state Superior Court created by the death of Sen. Thomas Needham. Gale has served in the U.S. Attorney’s office since 1987 when he joined then U.S. Attorney’s Lincoln Almond’s staff as chief of the criminal section. He had joined the U.S Department of Justice in 1972 after receiving his law degree from the University of Santa Clara in California and served in various capacities with that agency before joining the U.S. Attorney’s staff here. He served as assistant U.S. attorney until Almond resigned in order to run for governor in 1993. Gale then became interim U.S. Attorney until 1994. He has been an active prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s office, including the prosecution of former Pawtucket Mayor Brian Sarault who was convicted and imprisoned on various corruption charges. Gale’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
TransCanada buying rest of Burrillville power
BURRILLVILLE – TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. has agreed to buy the balance of the Burrillville power plant that doesn’t own from the National Grid Group PLC of the United Kingdom for $61 million in cash and assumed debt, Bloomberg News reported. The Ocean State Power plant here has a capacity of 560 megawatts of electricity, enough for 560,000 homes. TransCanada is expanding its ownership of gas-fired plants. It is building two ones in Alberta and holds pieces of others across Canada and in New York state. TransCanada is based in Calgary, Alberta. National Grid is based in Coventry, England, and this spring completed purchase of New England Electric System, which includes Narragansett Electric.
State boosts biotech startups with grants
PROVIDENCE – The state through its Slater Center for Biomedical Technology awarded a total of $600,000 to six biotechnology companies. Awarded grants were Nemogen of Providence, $225,000 to identify and test compounds that target central nervous system disorders, specifically memory loss; Discovery Research Technologies, Providence, $75,000, calcium channel blockers to treat pain, head trauma, or stroke; ExoAssisT of Bristol and Coventry, $75,000, disposable plastic labwear treated with specialized proteins; GeneSpectrum, Bristol, $75,000, new methods of DNA sequencing and diagnostics; Neurotech USA, Lincoln, $75,000, hardy cell lines to treat neurogenerative diseases; and Sensory Technologies, Providence, $75,000, medical devices, using sensory enhancement technology, for diabetics and the elderly.
(Compiled from news reports and releases, print and electronic.)
