Woonsocket Radio News Room

House passes legislation from Speaker Shekarchi’s housing package

 

STATE HOUSE – The House of Representatives today approved legislation sponsored by Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi that is part of his eleven-bill housing package introduced earlier this year.

“Last year, when my colleagues and I introduced our legislative package regarding housing issues, we said it would take an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, and that this complex issue requires solutions that address many factors that impede housing production,” said Speaker Shekarchi. “We have had two special legislative commissions that have been meeting regularly over the past year to look at ways we can help cities and towns meet their affordable housing goals, and also to look at the state’s land use. One thing we keep hearing is that we need more density in certain areas. This legislation incentivizes municipalities to allow more multi-unit homes, and also helps keep units affordable.”

2022-H 7941 would permit multi-family rental apartment units to be built as part of a comprehensive plan and to be included in the calculation of low or moderate income housing. It also requires that at least 30% of the units created are deed restricted for households earning not more than 60% of AMI.

 

Details of David Pecker's Involvement in Donald Trump's alleged hush money trial came to light in court Thursday. Pecker took the stand for his third day of testimony, and revealed conversations between himself, the former President, and Associate Michael Cohen. Pecker says he arranged to buy the story surrounding Trump's alleged affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal for $150,000, but backed out of the deal after consulting with election lawyers, believing the payment may break the law.        Students at Columbia University are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school. They filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights on Thursday, demanding an investigation into the school's actions against pro-Palestinian students. The lawsuit alleges Columbia has mistreated students utilizing their first amendment rights.        The Food and Drug Administration says remnants of the bird flu were found in one in five pasteurized milk samples. Earlier this week, the FDA found fragments of the bird flu in commercially sold milk but said it's still safe to drink, as the pasteurization process kills the virus and only leaves small traces behind. On Thursday officials revealed about 20-percent of their milk samples contained remnants of the virus.        Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is having his conviction for sex crimes in New York overturned. The New York Court of Appeals ruled Weinstein did not receive a fair trial. The court found the judge in his trial made an error allowing women to testify about alleged sexual assaults committed by Weinstein that were not part of the charges against him. Weinstein was also sentenced in Los Angeles in February of last year to 16 years in prison after he was convicted of rape and that conviction still stands.        Buying a home is now more expensive than ever. A new report from Redfin found the median home price in the United States is now over 383-thousand-dollars, a record high. The economic research lead with Redfin says prices may drop slightly in the coming months, but buyers should accept that "housing costs are likely to remain elevated for the foreseeable future." The median down payment is also up 24-percent compared to last year, at around 56-thousand-dollars.        Soulja Boy says he wants to help save TikTok. Congress passed a bill on Wednesday that requires TikTok's Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance to sell the app or else it will be banned in the United States. Soulja Boy has offered up a solution, posting "How much yall want for TikTok? I'll buy it." The rapper tagged the social media company in the post.       

Old News Archives