Rhode Island

North Kingstown voters rejected two bond measures while authorizing the sale of a vacant school in a referendum where turnout was low.

A court ruling favorable to Rhode Island state employees in a pension case is expected to further complicate debate in the state, where pensions have been central to a municipal bankruptcy and where a special legislative session will convene next month to discuss pension overhaul.

Rhode Island's retirement system is essentially "an implied contract" between the state and its employees, a judge said Tuesday in a ruling that favored the Ocean State's pension workers.

Rhode Island revenue collections increased 2.2% over that of the previous fiscal year, the state’s Department of Revenue said in a special report on preliminary fiscal 2011 revenues.

Central Falls' state-appointed receiver has stepped into the bankrupt Rhode Island city's school district contract talks with teachers.

When Rhode Island sold $169 million of general obligation bonds on Wednesday after a two-day retail period, two words echoed amid huge jumps in yield: Central Falls.

Another downgrade hit Rhode Island as Moody's Investors Service lowered its rating to A2 from A1 on the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.'s motor fuel-tax revenue bonds, affecting $77 million of outstanding debt.

With a bankruptcy in Central Falls and pension-debt problems engulfing her state, Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo has announced a bond sale for next week, accompanied with a marketing campaign.

The dominoes continue to fall in Rhode Island as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded East Providence to Baa1 from A1, while on the same day it lowered to A2 from Aa3 the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corp.’s revenue bond financing program.

Ron Davis only recently found out about Central Falls' predicament."Somebody sent me an e-mail two days ago," Davis, the mayor of Prichard, Ala., said Thursday in a telephone interview.But his city of 23,000 residents along Alabama's Gulf Coast and the Rhode Island city in bankruptcy court, both with similar population sizes, have experienced major struggles with pension-debt gridlock.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island in Providence has designated the Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing by Central Falls as historical, according to a court filing.

The bankruptcy filing of Central Falls, R.I., created another ripple Thursday, one day after the city's Chapter 9 case opened in downtown Providence.

As soon as Central Falls, R.I., filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, questions emerged.

The Central Falls City Council will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Aug. 4, its first such meeting in more than a year.

One city is a capital in a large state often considered a battleground in presidential elections. The other occupies a blighted square mile in the nation's smallest state.

The state-appointed receiver overseeing Central Falls, R.I., asked retired police officers and firefighters on Tuesday for $2.5 million in permanent pension and health-benefit concessions for the city to avoid bankruptcy.

The Central Falls, R.I., City Council will hold its first public meeting in more than a year after Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed a bill requiring more input from local elected officials in communities under state receivership.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee has signed a bill requiring Rhode Island municipalities to guarantee that lenders get first rights to property taxes and general revenue, should the government entity file bankruptcy.

Legislation intended to give the City Council of Central Falls and any other community that lands in receivership a greater say in decision-making is headed to Gov. Lincoln Chafee's desk.

The state-appointed receiver overseeing Central Falls, R.I., said he will remain in that position until a recovery plan is in place for the troubled city.