Carcieri plans State of the State address

PROVIDENCE—Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri will deliver his annual State of the State address to lawmakers next month.

Carcieri’s staff said in a letter to legislative leaders that the governor plans to make the address on the evening of Feb. 10 in the House chamber of the State House.

Carcieri has not previewed the speech, and his spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The Republican governor has spent most of January trying to close a $357 million budget deficit for the year ending in June. That shortfall is equivalent to nearly 11 percent of expected state spending.