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On today's podcast, hospital network Lifespan has announced a new round of layoffs, and advocates protest legislation that would allow schools to be built over toxic sites.

Plus, Rhode Island Public Radio's education reporter, Elisabeth Harrison, looks at how a Massachusetts high school has faced the challenge of standardized testing.

As Rhode Island grapples with high school diplomas tied to test scores,  Massachusetts students have faced a similar requirement for a decade. Rhode Island Public Radio's Elisabeth Harrison visited Attleboro High School to find out how high-stakes testing has changed what’s being taught.

Environmental advocates gathered at the Statehouse Wednesday to protest legislation that would roll back restrictions that prevent schools from building on toxic sites.

The Rhode Island Senate has approved legislation that hikes the state’s minimum wage to $8 an hour.

When Rhode Island’s minimum wage jumped from to $7.40 to $7.75 on January 1st, it was the first raise the state had given minimum wage workers in five years. Now lawmakers are looking at bumping it up again to $8 an hour.

That would match Massachusetts’ minimum wage but come under Vermont’s at $8.60 an hour.

Lawyers for the defunct 38 Studios video game company were back in court Wednesday, asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. The suit alleges that executives of the defunct Curt Schilling enterprise deliberately misled state officials about the financial viability of the company to gain a $75 million state-backed loan.

The state’s largest hospital network is making another attempt to trim nearly $150 million in expenses over the next two and a half years. Lifespan has announced another round of layoffs.

Five days after the train derailment accident in Connecticut, Amtrak travelers at the Providence train station say they remain confident about train travel through Amtrak.  One traveler named Paul Murphy, who was headed to Washington DC, says he’s a veteran of train travel.

Dozens of bills have been introduced in the General Assembly this session that, if passed, could affect your health, your family's health, or the state's health care system.

On today's podcast, Brown University students speak to the Corporation about divesting from fossil fuels, and Education Commissioner Deborah Gist responds to her vocal critics.

Plus on This I Believe Rhode Island, a young woman muses on the ways in which we remember each other.

There’s a meaty agenda on tap this week at the State Board of Education. The group is scheduled to vote Thursday on a controversial proposal to allow police to carry guns on state college campuses. The board is also scheduled to vote on adopting new science standards and consider a contract extension for Education Commissioner Deborah Gist.