By Elizabeth Roberts on
4/22/2010 3:25 PM
Today is the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day—and I’m old enough to remember that first event on April 22, 1970. My friends and I would mark the day by walking the five miles to school rather than riding the bus.
On this Earth Day, I participated in the Great River Pull event in Woonsocket, aimed at cleaning up and protecting the Blackstone River (for more Blackstone cleanup events, click here).
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
4/16/2010 2:46 PM
I visited the Westerly Red Cross shelter the week of the floods, speaking with the more than fifty people who had been forced from their homes by floodwaters. It was so stressful for them. But I noticed that many of them were passing the time reading. There were children and adults in the center sitting at the long tables usually used for meals, engrossed in a book.
Right now, readers around the state are participating in Reading Across Rhode Island....
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
4/13/2010 8:54 AM
Good news on the FEMA front: RI has qualified for public assistance to reconstruct infrastructure damaged in the recent floods, so the federal government will reimburse us for 75 percent of what we spend (and we’re trying to get that last 25 percent waived as well). This is good news for Rhode Island taxpayers.
In addition, two more FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers open today (Tuesday) in Cumberland and South Kingstown, bringing the total to seven, with centers...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
4/7/2010 3:49 PM
With the passage of health reform, many are wondering what that reform will ultimately look like. Who better to discuss the challenges and opportunities of health care reform than officials from our neighbor to the north, Massachusetts, which has a head start in the health reform effort with their 2006 law that mandated insurance coverage for all residents.
So I’m excited to be hosting Sarah Iselin, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts, on Thursday as she talks about the second phase of that state’s health reform effort: cost containment. Sarah was most recently the commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, where she managed critical phases of the state’s health care reform law.
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
4/1/2010 5:28 PM
The sun is shining, I-95 has reopened, and the flood waters that have devastated wide swaths of Rhode Island are slowly beginning to recede—without the loss of lives. We now begin to think about recovery—both how to get help if you’ve been affected by the flooding, and how to help your neighbors in need.
On my office website, I’ve posted a long list of flood information and contacts to put those in...
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