a wind turbine under the blue sky
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Good morning, Newport! 👋 Today is Monday, Aug. 25, the 237th day of 2025. There are 128 days left in the year.

🚨 You need to know

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Saturday criticized President Donald Trump’s order to halt construction on the Revolution Wind offshore project, which is more than 80% complete and was scheduled to finish early next year.

McKee plans to hold a press conference Monday at Quonset Point with Rhode Island’s congressional delegation and union leaders to condemn the decision.

The wind farm, under construction since 2023, was designed to power more than 350,000 homes across both states while creating union jobs in the renewable energy sector.

McKee said the stop-work order “undermines efforts to expand our energy supply, lower costs for families and businesses, and strengthen regional reliability.” He warned the decision puts “hundreds of union jobs at risk by halting a project that is 80% complete.”

Lamont called Trump’s action a “political move” that “will drive up the cost of electricity bills and contradicts everything the administration has told us.”

U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with U.S. Reps. Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, said in a joint statement: “We’re committed to ensuring Rhode Islanders have affordable electricity, but President Trump continues to recklessly increase energy prices. Halting this nearly completed project is unwarranted and unacceptable. We will do everything we can to protect Rhode Island’s interests and help lower people’s energy bills.”

The delegation said wind power is “one of the fastest, cheapest ways to meet rising electricity demand,” but accused the Trump administration of seeking to “weaponize federal bureaucracy to try and kill clean energy projects that will save Americans money.”

Monday’s press conference at 12:10 p.m. will be held at Compass Rose Beach in North Kingstown, home to Revolution Wind’s Regional Offshore Wind Logistics and Operations Hub. Labor leaders scheduled to attend include Michael F. Sabitoni, general secretary-treasurer of LiUNA and president of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council, Rachel Miller of Building Futures RI, and Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.

Both governors said they are working together to reverse the federal decision, arguing the project is essential for energy security and affordability in their states.

“Revolution Wind is key to Rhode Island’s economic development, energy security, and long-term affordability for our residents,” McKee said.

Lamont said the project “represents exactly the kind of investment that reduces energy costs, strengthens regional production, and builds a more secure energy future – the very goals President Trump claims to support but undermines with this decision.”

The governors and congressional delegation did not specify what legal or political avenues they plan to pursue to challenge the order.

Here’s what else you need to know

🎉 Maria Sharapova and doubles legends Bob and Mike Bryan were formally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday, joining tennis immortality in a ceremony that brought the sport’s elite to Newport’s iconic grounds. Check out our full coverage from our team of the Induction Celebration Weekend below.

🏖️ The Rhode Island Department of Health announced Sunday that King Park Beach and Fort Adams Beach in Newport have reopened for swimming after bacteria levels returned to safe standards.

👉 Rhode Island’s first community investment fund will conclude its summer coffee shop tour Wednesday at Custom House Coffee in Middletown, bringing its community outreach effort to Aquidneck Island for the final time.

📰 The Latest from What’sUpNewp

Comic – Sour Grapes: Mist

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📈 Yesterday’s most-read

The following were yesterday’s most-read What’sUpNewp articles.

  1. Sharapova, Bryan Brothers inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame
  2. Highest-rated museums in Rhode Island by visitors
  3. Tyler Bernadyn: Newport County real estate – A market in transition
  4. Obituary: Darlene Faria
  5. Update: More details emerge in Newport assistant attorney general arrest case
  6. Morning Notes: Naval Station Newport to host Navy 250 concert and fireworks today
  7. Obituary: Margery Silvia
  8. On This Day In Newport History: August 23, 2000 – Newport’s Richard Hatch Wins Survivor
  9. Obituary: Dennis Brown
  10. Highest-rated wineries in Rhode Island by visitors

📅 What’s Up Today

Weather Forecast

  • Today: A slight chance of showers before 8 am. Patchy fog before 8 am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 77. East wind 6 to 10 mph becoming west in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 20%.
  • Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Southwest wind around 8 mph, becoming northwest after midnight.

Marine Forecast

  • Today: E wind 5 to 9 kt becoming W in the morning. A slight chance of showers before 8 am. Patchy fog before 8 am. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • Tonight: SW wind around 7 kt becoming WNW after midnight. Mostly clear. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • The coastal water temperature is 65 degrees.

Sun, Moon & Tide

  • Sunrise at 6:04 am. Sunset at 7:29 pm. 13 hours & 24 minutes of sun.
  • High tide at 9:58 am & 10:15 pm. Low tide at 3:13 am & 3:27 pm.
  • The lunar phase is a Waxing Crescent.

Things To Do

Live Music & Entertainment

  • Landing: Justin Pomfret at 12:30 pm, Mark Flynn at 4 pm, Okie and the Bandits at 8 pm
  • Newport Craft: Bingo at 6 pm
  • Newport Harbor Island Resort: Music Bingo at 6:30 pm
  • Newport Pickleball Club: The Newport Groove Merchants at 6:30 pm
  • One Pelham East: Bruce Jacques at 9 pm
  • Perro Salado: John Monllos at 5:30 pm
  • Stoneacre Garden: Mah Jongg Monday at 6 pm
  • The Fastnet Pub: The Ubiquitones at 10 pm

Newport County Public Meetings

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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...