PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In another 9-to-6 vote, the same as Friday, the City Council set a $662 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Mayor Angel Taveras' slightly modified budget, $20 million more than this year's spending plan, includes raises for police officers, firefighters, teachers and other city employees, as well as pays for more than 100 new firefighters, two building inspectors and 18 officers. (The officers are funded completely by a federal grant.)

None of the budget details were discussed Monday. The meeting was over in less than 10 minutes, and only Councilman Sam Zurier spoke about the increase to the residential tax rate that is helping to pay for the budget.

The residential tax rate for homeowners living in their houses will increase from $15.95 to $19.25 per $1,000 of assessed value. The residential tax rate for most landlords will increase from $27.11 to $33.75 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The commercial ($36.75), tangible or business equipment ($55.80) and motor vehicle ($60) tax rates per $1,000 of assessed value will remain the same as this year.

Although it varies by neighborhood and type of residential property, city internal auditor Matthew Clarkin says single family homeowners citywide will see an average $351, or 9.51 percent, increase in their tax bills when they come in the mail around July 1.

Homeowners on the East Side, which include three neighborhoods represented by Zurier, will see higher than that average because their house values didn't drop as much in the recent revaluation.

"The budget will increase the tax bills of the people in these three neighborhoods by more than $2.6 million," he said. The increase citywide is $7.2 million.

Those residents, Zurier said, will pay 36 percent of that overall increase despite being eight percent of the city's total property owners.

"This goes beyond what they consider to be a fair share," he said before voting against the budget with council members Luis Aponte, Carmen Castillo, Kevin Jackson, Sabina Matos and Davian Sanchez.

Voting for the budget was Council President Michael Solomon and council members Michael Correia, Terrence Hassett, John Igliozzi, Wilbur Jennings, Nicholas Narducci, Bryan Principe, David Salvatore and Seth Yurdin.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - A forum on the future of public education in Rhode Island turned out to be more of a referendum on state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist's policies.

Sponsored by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, the event drew at least 80 participants.

The conference took place four days before the state Board of Education votes on Gist's contract, which has become the subject of intense debate.

Gist used her time to list her many accomplishments, including the first state education funding formula in years, $50 million in federal money for early-childhood education, a rigorous teacher evaluation and implementation of new standards.

In a rebuke to her critics, Gist said that these programs were the result of listening to feedback from teachers and administrators.

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. -- Papal biographer George Weigel will deliver the keynote address at a three-day conference on Catholicism and the American Experience set to begin at 11 a.m. Friday at the Portsmouth Abbey.

Organized by the Portsmouth Institute, the gathering will focus on Catholics in an increasingly secular America and will explore such topics as Catholic identity, leadership, art and evangelization.

Weigel is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and author. Some of the other featured speakers include former New York Times religion writer and Commonweal editor Peter Steinfels, and Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin.

Full registration for the full three days is $495 and can be made on the website www.portsmouthinstitute.org or calling Cindy Waterman at (401) 643-1244.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Tuesday expressed his support for state education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist just three days before her future will be decided by the state Board of Education.

Duncan, in a phone call with local reporters, said he was speaking out because Rhode Island, under Gist's leadership, has made notable progress. He cited the state's winning two multi-million Race to the Top grants and improving test scores.

"I think if you look at the majority of indicators, whether it's graduation rates or test scores going up, this state has made some real progress," he said. "It's important to pick out the personality issues and look at what's happening for students in Rhode Island. The reality is we have a state that is making some real progress in the right direction."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A 16-year-old South Providence boy has turned himself in, as police seek two other men in connection with a shooting at a kindergartner's graduation party on Sunday.

The teenage boy had crashed the 5-year-old's party at 365 Public St. and got into an argument when he was told to leave.

The boy left, and returned with a group of friends, who opened fire on the party guests, according to the police. Ny'asia Lawrence, 16, was shot in the back.

The teenage boy was charged Monday with felony assault, conspiracy, carrying a firearm while committing a violent crime, and carrying without a license, said Deputy Chief Thomas F. Oates III.

Police have similar warrants for two men, whom Oates declined to identify.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Cumberland man accused of arranging the rape of one little girl has been found guilty of molesting another 25 years ago.

A Superior Court jury found John E. Rainey, 54, guilty of two counts of first-degree, and one count of second-degree child molestation.

The girl, now a woman, came forward to Providence police in 2011 after reading media reports that Pawtucket police had charged Rainey with allowing a friend to rape an 11-year-old girl.

The woman told Detective Theodore Michael that Rainey had also molested her, starting in 1987 when she was 8, until she turned 13.

Attorney General Peter Kilmartin commended the woman's courage. "Her story should give other victims of sexual abuse the strength to come forward and be silent no more," Kilmartin said in a statement.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio State University Gordon Gee is retiring following the revelation of recorded remarks in which he criticized Notre Dame, Roman Catholics and the Southeastern Conference.

The university announced Tuesday that Gee is retiring as of July 1.

Gee made the joking remarks to the university's Athletic Council in December during an update on Big Ten expansion. The recorded comments were obtained by The Associated Press, which published a story about them last week.

Trustees had called Gee's remarks unacceptable and placed him on a remediation plan after learning of the comments earlier this year.

Gee has been a successful college president, including a stint at Brown University, but also prone to verbal gaffes, once calling Ohio's governor a "dummy" and likening the job of running a university to the Polish Army.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- A charge of drunken driving against Robert McManus, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, was dismissed Tuesday in District Court.

McManus last month admitted refusing a chemical breath test for alcohol and was fined $935 in an appearance before the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal.

Courts spokesman Craig Berke said the drunk-driving charge was dropped at the behest of the prosecution. He said such actions are common in cases involving first offenders who have pleaded guilty at the tribunal level.

McManus, a former auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Providence, had pleaded not guilty to the charge of drunken driving after an accident May 4 when his car allegedly struck another on Boston Neck Road in Narragansett and he drove off.

He later apologized for his actions.

At the Traffic Tribunal, Judge William T. Noonan ordered the bishop's driver's license suspended for six months. McManus also was directed to perform 10 hours of community service, and was referred to alcohol counseling.

"Blues on the Beach" -- with the James Montgomery Band, Triple Threat and special guest performers -- is scheduled for Sunday, June 9, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Atlantic Beach Club, 53 Purgatory Road in Middletown.

Proceed from the concert will benefit Heather Abbott of Newport, one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings in April. Abbott, 38, had been waiting for friends near the finish line when one of the bombs exploded. Doctors were forced to amputate her left leg below the knee. She also suffered hearing damage.

"Blues on the Beach" will include a buffet and cash bar. Admittance costs $20, and additional donations are welcome.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Lawyers for defendants in the state's lawsuit against some of the people involved in crafting the loan deal for the 38 Studios videogame company pressed a R.I. Superior Court judge to dismiss the case.

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. sued 14 people or entities in 2012, including two former employees and the agency's lawyers, in an attempt to protect taxpayers from having to pay $75 million, plus interest, on bonds sold to back the ill-fated company's move here.

Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein heard arguments spread over two days on the complicated 16-count case. Not all defendants face every charge and for the judge to find some defendants liable in some instances will clear other defendants of other claims.

Silverstein did not rule Tuesday on the defendants motion to dismiss the case outright, instead giving them until June 12 to file more documents.

PROVIDENCE, R.I -- Governor Chafee would veto legislation proposed by House leaders to reorganize state government and create a new Secretary of Commerce, according to his spokeswoman, Christine Hunsinger.

Hunsinger said the administration remains opposed to the proposal, despite amendments lawmakers have made to address some of his administration's concerns.

The amended bill, introduced by House Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo, is up for a full vote of the House of Representatives Tuesday afternoon.

Hunsinger said the governor does not believe the proposal is a "substantive response" to the issues facing the state's economy. Chafee believes picking the right people to lead state departments and agencies should be the focus, she said.

"Shifting boxes in an organizational chart does not solve the problem," Hunsinger said. "The right person in the right position does."

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Maeve Donohue, Governor Chafee's final nominee to the eight-member board of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, won unanimous approval Tuesday from the state Senate, said Senate spokesman Greg Paré.

Donohue, 41, is president of Nami Studios in Barrington. At the integrated design, marketing and communications company, Donohue works with small businesses and corporate brands on their web strategies, social media and graphic design needs.

Donohue is also working on strategy for a project that grew out of the Rhode Island Foundation's Make It Happen RI forum last fall. The foundation awarded $50,000 to the MedMates project, which is convening people in the state's medical-technology sector to enhance collaboration and attract more such work to Rhode Island.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The lawyer in charge of what's left of defunct Providence videogame company 38 Studios says the developer's lone game has brought in approximately $713,000 through an online game service.

That revenue is in addition to the approximately $430,000, lawyer Richard Land raised through auctions of computers, office furniture and other items left behind by 38 Studios when it declared bankruptcy in 2012.

Land released the latest accounting Tuesday as lawyers argued in state court over who is financially responsible for the 38 Studios loan debacle and legislators debated whether it's in the state's interest to default on $75 million in bonds sold to back the videogame company.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Council 94 President Michael Downey says his union is hiring as a consultant a Forbes magazine online columnist who has been sharply critical of General Treasurer Gina Raimondo and her pension fund investment strategy.

In a series of columns, Edward "Ted" Siedle, a former federal securities lawyer and investment banker, has blasted Raimondo's efforts to increase hedge investments as "blatant Wall Street gorging," given the risks, high fees and lack of transparency in the industry.

Downey said he met with Siedle in Providence about a month ago and the executive board of Council 94, the largest state employee union, approved the idea to go forward with hiring him at their May 21 meeting.

"We have an agreeement, but it hasn't been finalized yet," Downey said. He said he expects Siedle to start soon and serve as "another set of eyes" to help the union monitor the state's pension fund, and specifically, its hedge fund stake.

Siedle, who founded a firm that investigates the money management industry, began writing about Raimdon April 4, after she was featured in another publication, Institutional Investor, for her work helping to spur an overhaul of the state's pension system.

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Chafee has now appointed 10 of the 12 directors who serve with him on the board of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

He has replaced Keith W. Stokes, the executive director when he took office, with Marcel A. Valois.

And late last year, Chafee created a new EDC position and appointed longtime supporter John R. "J.R." Pagliarini as chief of staff.

Chafee says he has his "hands on the steering wheel" at the EDC, a control he didn't have when he inherited the agency.

"I want to be given the chance to drive," he said.

The EDC is the agency he needs, Chafee says, to rebuild the troubled Rhode Island economy, which has an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent.

EAST GREENWICH, R.I. -- A 30-foot boat on a trailer fishtailed and then overturned on Route 95 northbound near the Route 4 merge just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, state police said.

The driver of the truck towing the boat told troopers that he swerved to avoid a vehicle that had cut him off, Lt. Paul Olszewski said. The trailer fishtailed until it had turned 180 degrees, Olszewski said, when boat and trailer rolled onto their sides. The boat broke free and landed in the right lane.

Two right lanes just north of Route 4 were closed from 3:05 to 4:50 p.m., causing backups on Route 4 and Route 95, Olszewski said.

There were no other vehicles involved, no injuries and no charges.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Six bills in House Democrats' economic development package overwhelmingly passed the chamber Tuesday and now head to the state Senate, where at least one of them faces an uncertain future.

Among the bills that cleared the House after about an hour of debate was a dramatic plan to reorganize state government around a new Executive Office of Commerce focused on business and economic development issues.

That bill, introduced by House Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo, calls for a governor-appointed secretary of commerce to head up the new office, which would take over many duties from some of the state's largest agencies -- the departments of Administration, Business Regulation and Labor and Training.

It would also oversee the quasipublic Economic Development Corporation, which would be rebranded as the "Rhode Island Commerce Corporation" but still be charged with handling the state's various loan and incentive programs for businesses.

But Chafee, an independent who only last week became a Democrat, has been adamantly opposed to the proposal. On Tuesday, he promised to veto the bill if it clears the Assembly.

Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and her Democratic leadership team, meanwhile, are proposing much less dramatic changes to the EDC, which has been widely blamed for its role in the state's failed $75-million investment in Curt Schilling's now-bankrupt video game company, 38 Studios.

JOHNSTON, R.I. -- A 20-year-old woman who allegedly broke into the home of her sister-in-law and tried to choke her while she slept has been released on personal recognizance after her arrest Friday on charges of breaking and entering and assault by strangulation.

The police said the victim, Amanda Homerston, 26, of 89 Bishop Hill Rd., told them she had been asleep in her bedroom Thursday night when she woke to find her sister-in-law - Amanda Blanchette, 20, of 7 Cross Rd. - on to top of her with hands around her throat.

Blanchette told the police she had broken into the home after being told her brother's wife had been cheating on her brother, Adam, who is about to deploy to Afghanistan.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The American Civil Liberties Union, Rhode Island, released a report Wednesday that says that black and hispanic students are suspended from school at much higher rates that their respective numbers in the school population.

The ACLU analyzed eight years' worth of public suspension data from 38 school districts. Although the agency didn't conclude why minority students were suspended at greater rates, it showed that this pattern exists across Rhode Island.

The "over-use" of suspenion extends to elementary students with nearly 1,400 children suspended last year, 173 of them in first grade. Of the suspensions between kindergarten and fifth grade, 28 percent involved a black student.

The ACLU also said that suspensions are over-used as a punishment across ethnic and racial groups.

These are fairly heady days for the Red Sox. Not only are they playing great baseball, they're one day away from using the No. 7 overall pick in the MLB Draft, a spot that gives them an excellent chance to land an impact player. Tim Britton and Brian MacPherson took readers' questions about the team for about an hour earlier this afternoon. You can view the transcript by entering the chat room below.