In the early morning, noon, and early evening, they gather around a rectangular table in the dining hall. About 10 or a dozen elderly men, all in rehab at a five-star nursing facility mid-state. That rectangular table is surrounded by several round tables of another 40 women. Most sit in silence, waiting for whatever meal […]
Frank Prosnitz
Frank Prosnitz brings to WhatsUpNewp several years in journalism, including 10 as editor of the Providence (RI) Business News and 14 years as a reporter and bureau manager at the Providence (RI) Journal. Prosnitz began his journalism career as a sportswriter at the Asbury Park (NJ) Press, moving to The News Tribune (Woodbridge, NJ), before joining the Providence Journal. Prosnitz hosts the Morning Show on WLBQ radio (Westerly), 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, and It’s Your Business, also on WBLQ, Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Prosnitz has twice won Best in Business Awards from the national Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), twice was named Media Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Administration, won an investigative reporter’s award from the New England Press Association, and newswriting award from the Rhode Island Press Association.
Posted inNews
Finding Spectacular Fall Foliage – Right Here in Rhode Island
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in September 2020. With fall foliage season beginning, and with travel restrictions making it difficult for us to visit the mountains of Northern New England, Rhode Islanders can discover the charming villages, tree lined reservoirs and ocean views that millions of visitors yearly come to experience in the […]
Posted inCity & Government
Get to know Gubernatorial Candidate Dr. Luis Daniel Muñoz who joins What’s Up Newp for a Wednesday videocast
In a crowded and growing Democratic gubernatorial field, the least known, and by far youngest, is Dr. Luis Daniel Muñoz, 35, who will join a What’s Up Newp videocast on Wednesday at 4 p.m. It will be an opportunity to get to know Muñoz, a progressive who ran for governor as an independent in 2018, […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Two Aquidneck Island State Senators facing primary elections
Aquidneck Island State Senators Lou DiPalma and Dawn Euer will be among perhaps dozens of Democratic state legislators facing primary election battles next September, some targeted by a progressive group led by former Secretary of State Matt Brown, who announced this week that he’s running for governor. Euer was first elected to the District 13 […]
Posted inNews
Gubernatorial candidate Treasurer Seth Magaziner joins What’sUpNewp for a live virtual conversation on Wednesday
With Rhode Island’s primary election less than a year away, the field for the race for the Democratic nomination is taking shape with the announcement last week by General Treasurer Seth Magaziner that he is a candidate for governor. Magaziner joins us on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on a What’sUpNewp videocast. The Democratic gubernatorial primary […]
Posted inBusiness
RI Foundation honors Wickford lawyer with highest honor
James C. Sullivan, a Wickford lawyer, received the Rhode Island Foundation’s prestigious Harold B. Soloveitzik Professional Leadership Award at the Foundation’s recent Annual Meeting. The award recognizes a member of the professional advisor community who has demonstrated an enduring commitment to philanthropy. The Foundation recognized Sullivan for his emphasis on and expertise in charitable planning as […]
Posted inNews
Westerly Town Manager quits; Police Chief expected to be appointed interim manager
Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey is expected to be named Westerly’s interim town manager on Monday, following the abrupt resignation last week of Town Manager J. Mark Rooney. Rooney is expected to officially leave office on Monday, according to Councilman Chris Duhamel, who said Lacey would become interim town manager. Rooney, who has served as […]
Posted inNews
Election 2022 – It begins
General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, long expected to join a crowded 2022 gubernatorial race, made it official yesterday, formally announcing his candidacy. He joins Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, who announced her candidacy for governor a few months ago; Gov. Daniel McKee, who has repeatedly said he will run for reelection; and Dr. Luis Daniel Munoz, […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion
Just My Opinion: A day to remember the contributions of labor unions
On this Labor Day, I’m hopeful that people take just a few minutes to reflect on the importance and contributions of the organizations, the labor unions, that have worked for so long to protect the rights and dignity of working men and women. Unions have quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, fought for the rights […]
Posted inCOVID-19, News
Synagogues take COVID precautions as Jewish High Holy Days begin Monday night
For weeks, months, leaders of Jewish Congregations have struggled to find a way to deliver meaningful and spiritual services on the holiest of Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Each Congregation, including many in Rhode Island, has tried to strike the right balance between safety and spirituality. Congregation leaders have not only been developing […]
Posted inNews
Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burn Jermain joins WUN for a videocast Tuesday at 1 pm
For teachers, students, parents, and probably most of all, superintendents, the start of the 2021-22 school year is filled with promise and high expectations, but also with uncertainty as COVID continues to spread, with more young people becoming infected and a vaccine yet to be available to most of those in elementary schools. Newport School […]
Posted inOpinion
Just My Opinion: My Body, My Choice
“My body, my choice,” says the health care worker, protesting outside the State House in Providence against mandatory vaccinations for health care workers. “My body, my choice,” says Republican Congressmen (whether House or Senate), Republican governors, GOP state legislators. “My body, my choice” … NO NO NO, say these same Republican lawmakers, when it comes […]
Posted inNews
VIDEO: Keith Stokes discusses new Black Heritage and history curriculum
Recently, Gov. McKee signed into law a bill that requires Rhode Island’s public schools to teach Black Heritage and history curriculum that was developed over seven years by the Black Heritage Society, Rhode Island College, and the Rhode Island Historical Society. Keith Stokes Keith Stokes, vice president of the Black Heritage Society, and a key […]
Posted inNews
Exeter Town Council considers turning Schartner farm into massive high-tech agricultural project
On a crisp October morning, leaves turning the color of the rainbow and pumpkin patches filled with pumpkins awaiting children to turn them into Jack-O-Lanterns, thousands of parents, children, and grandparents would flock to Schartner Farm in Exeter. They’d likely find the home-cut French Fry stand, and inside freshly baked pies, homemade jams and newly […]
Posted inColumns
Frank Prosnitz: My Jazz Festival’s Top Picks
It’s always a dilemma, choosing which acts to follow at the Newport Jazz Festival. You’d think it would be easier this year, with just two stages. It’s not. I’ve been going to the Jazz Festival for more than 20 years – consecutively – and the array of talent has been extraordinary. The best in jazz […]
Posted inNews
Jazz Festival returns, July 30-August 1
Voices … so many voices. That’s what’s striking about this year’s Newport Jazz Festival, July 30-August 1 at Fort Adams in Newport. Voices in the form of an impressive array of female vocalists, and voices in the many artists who are strong advocates for social causes, among them Black Lives Matter. And, as always, the […]
Posted inCity & Government
State may consider restrictions on travelers from high COVID states
Rhode Island Gov Dan McKee today said the state may consider imposing some restrictions on travelers coming to Rhode Island from states with high COVID rates. The governor was appearing on WBLQ’s morning show, hosted by Frank Prosnitz. The governor said it was possible the state would consider “imposing a quarantine on travel,” as COVID […]
Posted inCity & Government
Secretary of State joins What’s Up Newp for a live virtual video conversation on Wednesday
Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, who announced her candidacy for governor earlier this year, will join WhatsUpNewp for a videocast at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday). Gorbea is expected to be part of a crowded field seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. Besides Gorbea, current Gov. Dan McKee has said he would run for reelection. McKee […]
Posted inArts & Culture
State Arts Council awards $73,000 to 11 area organizations in latest round of grants
Area organizations received more than $73,000 in grants as part of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) latest round of grants to arts and culture organizations, arts education programs, teaching artists in healthcare and education, individual artists, culture workers, and other related community projects. Some 156 grants were awarded statewide, totaling $878,942. […]
Posted inNews
Spring Project Board expects architectural investigators to present findings end of July
By the end of July, “archeological investigators” from Salve Regina University are expected to present findings from their exploration of the site of the spring that sparked Newport’s development and is now being turned into a local park. Surrounded by some of the city’s oldest buildings, the spring, long forgotten, will be the centerpiece of […]
Posted inNews
Westerly fire department hosts annual Smokey the Bear parade
Smokey the Bear is taking some time out from his hard work on the West Coast for a brief visit to Rhode Island on Thursday, where he’ll spread the word about fire safety as he has for nearly a half-century at the annual Karl E. Kenyon Smokey the Bear Parade. The parade is sponsored by […]
Posted inOpinion
Just My Opinion: Rhode Island’s MLB All-Stars
When the best in major league baseball takes the field for the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star game on Tuesday at Coors Field in Denver, none of the players will have Rhode Island roots. But it wasn’t always that way. Since the first official MLB All-Star game was played in Chicago in 1933, five players […]
Posted inCity & Government
Newport making progress on North End Development, transportation plans
The former 25-acre jai alai property, now owned by Carpionato Corp., sits vacant on a rise overlooking the Pell Bridge. It was the center of redevelopment talk once Twin River decided to move its Newport casino to Tiverton, selling the property to Carpionato. The corporation had produced an aggressive mixed-use plan for the former casino […]
Posted inNews
Gorbea critical of U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Voting Restrictions
Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea said yesterday that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that she said makes it more difficult for minority voters, is “deeply disappointing.” “Your constitutional right to vote should never be affected by your zip code or the color of your skin,” she said. “The United States […]
Posted inNews
Teachers respond to efforts to limit teaching racism and equity in schools
As conservative groups in Rhode Island and nationwide fight against the teaching of “critical race theory” in schools in what has been considered an effort to eliminate conversations about race and equity, one Rhode Island teachers’ organization has lashed out at those individuals and organizations for pushing “inaccurate lessons” and fueling divisions within the community. […]