RIIHEA

PROVIDENCE – The Rev. Brian J. Shanley has been appointed to a second five-year term as president of Providence College.

The state awarded more than $1 million in grants Wednesday to six teams of Rhode Island researchers working on projects ranging from the possible use of the spice turmeric in cancer treatment to improved lithium batteries for automobiles.

JOHNSTON — Just a few hours after state business and government leaders endorsed a new green economic future for Rhode Island, a gathering of another group of builders, architects and engineers seemed to show that the journey is already well under way.

In Hollywood, they’re known as the Brown Mafia, the steady stream of talented writers coming out of Brown University and making it in film and television. But it’s not just screen writers who are tasting success. Brown graduates are also scoring big when it comes to playwriting.

The New England Institute of Technology is offering its first graduate degree program and the only one of its kind in Rhode Island — a master’s degree in occupational therapy.

Amid all the dolorous economic news in Rhode Island comes word that Brown University still plans to spend a lot in the years ahead. That’s despite having lost $740 million of its then-$2.8 billion endowment in last year’s market meltdown. Clearly, Brown remains the big enchilada of private economic clout in the Ocean State.

Karen Haidemenos never imagined her job could be so challenging, and so much fun.

The registered nurse, who has a masters of science and nursing degree and is working on her PhD, teaches at the New England Institute of Technology.

Rhode Island is a state of neighborhoods.

People live in Edgewood, not Cranston; Rumford, not East Providence.

Years ago, when Providence was a vibrant banking center, people didn’t say they worked downtown. They told friends they worked in the Financial District.