Court upholds lead-paint law exemption

Rhode Island's highest court has upheld a state law that directs certain landlords and property owners to fix lead paint problems in their buildings. The 2002 law exempts landlords who own buildings with two or three units and live there as well. A group of landlords sued, saying the exemption was arbitrary and unfair. A Superior Court judge declared the law unconstitutional last year and encouraged the General Assembly to rework the statute. He said he would not prevent the state from enforcing the law. But the Supreme Court yesterday reversed the judge's decision. The justices said the exemption made sense because landlords who live at their properties are more likely to maintain them and keep them safe. They also said the General Assembly could have logically concluded that larger properties would be more difficult for landlords to keep safe. (AP)

There will be one less holiday tradition in Rhode Island this year; the General Assembly will forgo its traditional Christmas party. In a letter sent this week, legislative leaders said the money that would have gone to pay for the party will instead be donated to charities, including Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Rhode Island Good Neighbor Energy Fund, and Crossroads Rhode Island. The annual State House bash is paid for with private money, but some lawmakers felt the merrymaking might send the wrong message at a time when the state grapples with a $450 million deficit. The party generally attracts hundreds of guests, including many lobbyists. (AP)

Strange lights in the sky that prompted calls to police from New Hampshire to Canada have been linked to a satellite launch. Law enforcement officials say the fireballs coincided with Monday evening's launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida of what a defense agency spokesman described as a "national security satellite." Sergeant Derek Strong of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the orange lights were caused by debris reentering the atmosphere and crashing into the ocean off Point Lepreau, New Brunswick. Ken Stewart from the US Coast Guard said calls were fielded from Portsmouth, N.H., to Nova Scotia. (AP)

A student at Everett High School was arrested yesterday after police found a BB gun, school officials said. The school was locked down after the principal received a report at 8:45 a.m. that a student had a weapon on campus, a school official said. The principal called police, who searched the school and found the BB gun. The name and age of the student was not released. The lockdown lasted about an hour. Additional information was not released.

Every child born in central Maine hospitals - and eventually every child born in Maine - will get a college savings account, thanks to a foundation established by philanthropist Harold Alfond, who died last month at 93. A pilot program starting Jan. 1 at MaineGeneral Health hospitals will establish a $500 college savings account for every newborn at the Augusta and Waterville hospitals. The program will expand statewide a year later. Alfond founded Dexter Shoe Co. (AP)

The Brunswick area was hit by a small earthquake yesterday for the second time in less than three months. The Weston Observatory reported a magnitude 2.2 earthquake at 5:02 a.m. yesterday about 4 miles northwest of Brunswick. Dina Smith, associate director, said the same area experienced a similar-scale earthquake Oct. 2. (AP)

A former Somerville police officer was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for the 2005 sexual assault of a 23-month-old girl, the Middlesex district attorney's office said. Keith Winfield, 33, of Melrose was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child by force, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. When the child's grandmother picked her up from Winfield's home in October 2005, the child had serious burns on her body. Doctors suspected she had been sexually and physically abused and called police.