News Minute: Here is the latest Rhode Island news from The Associated Press - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

News Minute: Here is the latest Rhode Island news from The Associated Press

Posted: Updated:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The mayor of Providence is among 18 mayors nationwide reviving a push against allowing government food vouchers to be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks. Mayor Angel Taveras (tuh-VEHR'-us) and others say it's "time to test ... limiting" the use of subsidies for sugar-laden beverages.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The National Flood Insurance Program has paid more than 800 claims totaling more than $31 million to property owners in Rhode Island after Superstorm Sandy. She says the average payment for a claim in Rhode Island was $35,603.

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (AP) - An official at the Wyatt Detention Center has been fired after improper handling of evidence. Wyatt Chairman Brendan Doherty would not name the official. WPRI-TV reported in January that Maj. Christopher Coburn had been accused of destroying videotape evidence. Coburn's lawyer did not return a call for comment.

SCITUATE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island state police will hold a ceremony Friday that will reunite a retired Marine injured in an explosion in Afghanistan with the bomb-detecting dog he used to command. Former Lance Cpl. Bradley O'Keefe hasn't seen Earl the black Labrador since 2010, when they were injured in the explosion.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.