Newport Gulls
The Newport Gulls return to Cardines Field this week. Photo Credit: Newport Gulls

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

⚾ The Newport Gulls opened up their 2023 season with a 5-3 win versus the Mystic Schooners on Tuesday night. Middletown native Ryan Andrade will get the start when the Gulls take on the Bristol Blues at their home opener at Cardines Field at 6:35 pm this evening.

🚓 Acting Police Chief Ryan Duffy, a 23-year veteran of the Newport Police Department, has been named the City’s next Police Chief. Read More

👏 Preservation Society of Newport County CEO Trudy Coxe was one of four Rhode Island residents honored during Trinity Repertory Company’s 24th Pell Awards Gala Monday evening at WaterFire Arts Center in Providence, receiving the Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts. Read More

🏆 One of Rhode Island’s own won the title of Best Chef: Northeast for the 2023 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards on Monday night. Sherry Pocknett, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, who owns Sly Fox Den Too in Charlestown, a restaurant specializing in Indigenous cuisine and culture. Rhode Island Monthly with the story

🔥 Why is it so smoky outside? Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The Quebec-area fires are big and relatively close, about 500 to 600 miles (roughly 800 to 970 kilometers) away from Rhode Island. Read More

☕ Brack’s Cafe is scheduled to open on June 13 at 111 Bellevue Avenue in Newport (formerly Meg’s Aussie Milk Bar).

🚢 The next cruise ship scheduled to visit Newport is on July 6 (the Queen Mary II!) and on July 27 (the Caribbean Princess).

🦈 What’sUpNewp and The JPT Film & Event Center will present our annual Jaws Summer Parties on Thursday, July 20 & Friday, July 21. Our friends from Narragansett Beer will be on hand for the parties; each night will kick off with live music from The Z-Boys (on July 20) and The Teledynes (on July 21), and a screening of Jaws! These events do sell out ahead of time, get your tickets now if you plan on joining us!

What’s Up Today

☀️ Weather

  • Air Quality Alert
  • Today: Scattered showers, mainly after 5 pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 68. The northwest wind is 7 to 9 mph, becoming southwest in the afternoon. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
  • Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low of around 52. West wind around six mph, becoming light and variable after midnight.
  • Tomorrow: Scattered showers, mainly after 2 pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
  • 7-Day Weather Forecast | 3-day Surf Forecast

⛵ Marine Forecast

  • Today: NW wind around 8 kt, becoming SW in the afternoon. Scattered showers, mainly after 5 pm. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • Tonight: Variable winds 5 kt or less. Isolated showers before 7 pm. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • Tomorrow: Variable winds less than 5 kt, becoming S 5 to 8 kt in the afternoon. Scattered showers, mainly after 2 pm. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • Coastal Water Temperature: 56°F.

🌊 Sun, Moon, & Tide

  • Sunrise: 5:11 am | Sunset: 8:17 pm | 15 hours & 5 minutes of sun.
  • High tide at 11:11 am & 11:35 pm | Low tide at 4:40 am & 4:26 pm
  • Moon: Waning Gibbous. 18 days, 89% lighting.

🎭 Things To Do

🎶 Entertainment

  • Buskers: Open Mic with Mike Warner at 9 pm
  • Fastnet Pub: Trivia at 9 pm
  • JPT Film & Event Center: Exhibition On Screen: Vermeer The Blockbuster Exhibition at 4:30 pm, Somewhere In Queens at 7:30 pm
  • Landing: Jimmy & Matt at 1 pm, Mark Flynn at 4:30 pm, Jim Devlin at 8 pm
  • Newport Playhouse: Spreading It Around at 11 am
  • O’Brien’s Pub: Karaoke at 9:30 pm
  • Perro Salado: The Z-Boys at 10 pm
  • Ragged Island Brewing: Brian Scott from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
  • Sardella’s: Shawn Montiero, Matt DeChamplain, and Dick Lupino at 7 pm
  • The Reef: Music Bingo Night at 7 pm

Hosting or planning an event? Be sure to add it to our free events calendar so we can let the world know about it!

Are you a musician or a venue that hosts live music and/or entertainment? Help us continue to publish the most comprehensive and correct entertainment guide around by emailing your listings to ryan@whatsupnewp.com.

🏛️ City & Government

  • Jamestown: Jamestown School Committee at 6:30 pm
  • Little Compton: Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust at 7 pm
  • Middletown: Middletown School Building Committee at 5 pm
  • Newport: Newport Beach Commission at 5 pm, Newport School Committee – Policy Subcommittee at 5:15 pm
  • Portsmouth: Portsmouth School Committee – Personnel Subcommittee at 5 pm, Portsmouth Melville Park Committee at 6 pm, Portsmouth Harbor Commission at 7 pm
  • Tiverton: Tiverton Wastewater District at 5:30 pm, Tiverton Zoning Board of Review at 7 pm
  • See the agendas and a full list of public meetings across Rhode Island here.

On WhatsUpNewp.com

📈 Popular Stories

We published 19 stories on WhatsUpNewp.com yesterday. Here’s what grabbed the most attention on our website;

  1. ‘Six Picks’ best strawberry picking in Rhode Island 2023
  2. Newport County Real Estate Market: A look at the 25 homes that sold last week
  3. Westerly Council rejects attempt to have it endorse anti-obscenity bill
  4. Lead, rodents, put tenants at risk, Rhode Island says in lawsuit against major landlord
  5. Ticket packages are now on sale for the 44th U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club

🆕 The Latest

Newport Gulls win season opener 5-3 against Mystic Schooners

Newport Gulls win season opener 5-3 against Mystic Schooners

The Gulls will return to action on Wednesday, June 7th, for their home opener in Newport, R.I. to take on the Bristol Blues at historic Cardines Field.

3-day Surf Forecast for Rhode Island

Forecast includes rip current risk, surf height, weather, winds, and more.

7-Day Weather forecast for Newport County

Here’s what’s on tap for weather this week and weekend.

Bottomless supply? Concerns of limited Canadian hydropower as U.S. seeks to decarbonize grid

Policymakers seeking to make the U.S. electric grid less reliant on fossil fuels have long looked north to Canada and its abundant surplus of hydropower, advocating for new transmission lines to bring more of that cheap, clean electricity south.

Refsnyder has go-ahead RBI single in 4-run 8th, Red Sox beat Guardians 5-4

Kiké Hernández drove in two runs and Masataka Yoshida had three hits for the Red Sox, who put their first six batters on base in the eighth against relievers Enyel De Los Santos (2-1) and Nick Sandlin.

Video: Commissioning Ceremony for Coast Guard Cutter Maurice Jester at Fort Adams State Park

The Coast Guard’s newest cutter was accepted by the U.S. Coast Guard on March 2, and is the third of six Fast Response Cutters homeported in Boston.

Trudy Coxe receives Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts

Preservation Society of Newport County CEO Trudy Coxe was one of four Rhode Island residents honored during Trinity Repertory Company’s 24th Pell Awards Gala Monday evening at WaterFire Arts Center in Providence, receiving the Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts.

Acting Police Chief Ryan Duffy named Newport’s next Police Chief

Acting Police Chief Ryan Duffy, a 23-year veteran of the Newport Police Department, has been named the City’s next Police Chief.

Why is it so smoky outside? Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in northeastern US

The Quebec-area fires are big and relatively close, about 500 to 600 miles (roughly 800 to 970 kilometers) away from Rhode Island.

🙏 Recent Local Obituaries

Jeraldine “Jeri” Reynolds

September 27, 1938 – May 31, 2023

🗞️ Further Reading

Biah drops out of 1st Congressional District race to pursue open R.I. Senate seat (PBN)

Tiverton’s Finest now armed with body cams (East Bay Times)

Baseball wins 12 All-CCC selections, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year to cap historic season (Salve Today)

New York City is sinking, and it’s not alone (URI Today)

Rhode Island General Assembly

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...