News Clips

Searching for information about government business in Rhode Island is a little tougher in comparison to many other places due to a clause in the state’s access to Public Records Act.

A newly elected state representative is apologizing after he acknowledges he misled members of the local Democratic town committee about a mailer, as the committee calls on him not to take his seat in the General Assembly.

Christopher Maselli, a former state senator from Johnston who spent two years in federal prison for bank fraud, has been working on behalf of the state judiciary over the past year as a bail commissioner. The discovery of his criminal record brought a swift reaction from several of the communities where he has been working.

A year ago, state lawmakers approved the appointment of a former state representative, the House speaker’s legal counsel and a legal adviser to the governor with family ties to the Senate leadership and the Laborers International Union to top-paid posts in the state courts, in which they get to wear the same black robes as judges without having to go through the same screening.

Rhode Island General Assembly hearings must be announced at least 48 hours ahead of time, which is supposed to give the public a heads up. On Monday afternoon, one legislative commission barely beat that deadline with an announcement it would take testimony on the line-item veto at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.