Schilling Company Can't Make Payment; R.I. Loan Official Resigns

Update at 8:45 p.m.: The Boston Globe has the latest:

Rhode Island officials disclosed this evening that Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios video-game company attempted to pay a missed loan payment, but had insufficient funds to cover the $1.12 million check.

The firm has also failed to pay its employees this week, state officials said.

Update at 4:45 p.m.: The AP reports that 38 Studios will make the $1.1 million payment to Rhode Island the company had defaulted on, according to the state's governor.

Original post:

The head of Rhode Island's Economic Development Corp. (RIEDC), the state agency that handed out a $75 million loan guarantee to Curt Schilling's now-financially troubled video game company, has resigned.

The Associated Press reports that Keith Stokes, the RIEDC executive director, submitted his resignation to Gov. Lincoln Chafee late Wednesday.

As we reported early Thursday, the former Red Sox pitcher, who moved his 38 Studios to Providence from Massachusetts in 2010 after Rhode Island offered the loan guarantee, has asked the state for additional aid after the company defaulted on a May 1 loan payment.

According to the AP, "Stokes [had] called the loan guarantee a calculated risk well worth taking" because of 38 Studios' promise of jobs and tax revenue.

Amid the controversy over Schilling's company, the Providence Journal reports that a Rhode Island legislator has introduced a bill that would prohibit the RIEDC from handing out loan guarantees of more than $10 million to one entity.

Update at 1:35 p.m.: The AP updates its story after speaking with Stokes:

Stokes told The Associated Press on Thursday that he had been considering stepping aside for a while. He said he met with his staff Thursday morning to inform them of his decision.

As to whether 38 Studios played a role in his decision, Stokes quoted novelist William Faulkner, saying "all of us fail to match our dreams of perfection."