BHDDH director reappointment up for Senate hearing

 

STATE HOUSE – The Senate Health and Human Services Committee meets tomorrow for a hearing on the reappointment of Richard Charest as the director of the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals.

The meeting is scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the rise of the Senate session (sometime after 4:30 p.m.) in Room 313 on the third floor of the State House.

This meeting will be streamed live online by Capitol Television at http://rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Pages/default.aspx.

 

 

Former President Trump is back in a New York City court for his criminal hush money trial. Jurors again heard testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker who has explained this week how he protected Trump from negative stories leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Trump faces felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.       The clock is ticking for pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus of Columbia University. University administrators said they need to clear out the encampment in less than 24 hours or they will be forced to take action. Students want amnesty for any students who may have been arrested or suspended as a result of the protests.        Salvage and recovery crews are marking a new milestone at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site in Baltimore. Thursday morning, a new deep-water channel opened and the first ship was able to pass by the bridge wreckage en route from the Port of Baltimore to Canada. The Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel is one of several ships being allowed to leave the port since being stranded following the March 26th collapse.        A federal judge is denying former President Trump's bid for a new trial in E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit. Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the over 83-million-dollars in damages were not excessive and that Trump's comments when denying Carroll's claims that he sexually assaulted her in a department store in the 1990s "endangered [her] health and safety." Judge Kaplan noted that his continued attacks against her and her credibility "derailed her career" as a columnist and author.       The national average price for a gallon of regular gas is down slightly today. Triple A reports it dropped a penny to three-dollars-and-65-cents. That's also two cents less than a week ago.        The NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs continue tonight with two games. The Florida Panthers will travel to Tampa to take on the Lightning for game three. Then, the Carolina Hurricanes will face off against the New York Islanders for game three of their series.