Nancy Lavin

5 days ago | yahoo.com | Nancy Lavin

North Providence Town Councilor Stefano Famiglietti won his district party committee's endorsement in the upcoming special primary for the Senate District 4 seat. (Courtesy photo from svf-law.com)Rhode Island Senate District 4 candidate Stefano Famiglietti has secured the support of his district’s party committee in the four-way Democratic special primary to fill the open seat left by the late Sen. Dominick Ruggerio.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Nancy Lavin

The U.S. flag outside the Rhode Island State House flies at half staff on April 21, 2025, after the death of Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, who held the Senate District 4 seat for over 40 years. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)A battle for the open Senate District 4 seat is taking shape, with half a dozen candidates filing declaration papers with the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s office by Friday’s 4 p.m. deadline.

1 week ago | newsfromthestates.com | Nancy Lavin

Retooling a mostly-empty behavioral heath care wing at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital to take new, Medicaid-eligible patients would help clarify funding and oversight of the program, while easing the state’s critical shortage of mental health services, state officials and health care providers agree. But it’s unclear if Gov. Dan McKee’s proposal to inject $10 million in unspent state and federal funds into the 21 long-term psychiatric beds at Fatima will rise above other budget demands this year.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Nancy Lavin

Gov. Dan McKee nominated Robert Rapoza to fill a soon to-be open seat on the Rhode Island Board of Elections. Rapoza retired as the elections panel executive director in 2024. (Photo by Jocelyn Jackson/Rhode Island Current)Fourteen months after his retirement as executive director of the state elections board, Robert Rapoza is back. Gov. Dan McKee on Thursday unveiled Rapoza as his pick to serve on the Rhode Island Board of Elections’ board of directors.

1 week ago | warwickonline.com | Nancy Lavin

You wouldn’t suspect any opposition to proposed pay raises for state troopers and correctional officers based on public hearings on May 23. The requisite meetings on new collective bargaining agreements held just before the holiday weekend concluded in under 10 minutes, with no public feedback on either contract. But legislative leaders are less than thrilled about the salary increases and accompanying benefits for roughly 1,250 state employees, which require $15 million more than what Gov.