Portsmouth High School was recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as among the best high schools in Rhode Island and the best in the Newport area. U.S. News & World Report recently released its statewide rankings (for 58 schools) and national rankings (for 18,000 schools). Topping Rhode Island was Classical High School in […]
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 inCity & Government
Rhode Island economy ‘on a recession precipice’
Rhode Island’s economy is teetering on a recession, according to the latest economic overview by University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro. Lardaro has published his monthly Current Conditions Index for years. The report usually lags by a couple of months. The latest tracks the state’s economy through June of this year, and each month […]
Posted inCity & Government
School openings: New Rogers High School and new Tiverton superintendent
With schools statewide opening over the next several days, many students will find themselves in new or renovated facilities, and others in systems that are now under the direction of new, or interim school superintendents. In the Newport County area, Tiverton welcomes a new superintendent, and high schoolers in Newport will be attending the recently […]
Posted inCity & Government
Regional economy stagnant, but some optimism for the future
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reports depict a stagnant regional economy that is lagging behind the U.S. economy in some areas, but is cautiously optimistic about the future. Tariffs, economic uncertainty, AI, and rising housing prices have all had a significant impact on the region and Rhode Island’s economy, according to the Boston Fed reports. […]
Posted inCity & Government
Westerly recall effort fails
An effort to recall Westerly Town Council president Chris Duhamel, a Democrat, has failed after organizers were unable to collect the required number of signatures to force a recall election, according to Westerly Town Manager Shawn Lacey. The deadline to submit the petition was 4:30 p.m. today. Lacey said the organizers needed to collect 2,600 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Opera House stage remains silent
The stage at the old opera house on Washington Square remains silent, some 23 years after the Newport Performing Arts Center (NPAC) purchased the historic building. When and if it reopens remains a mystery. After projecting a reopening in the spring of 2024, NPAC officials now say they are unsure when construction will even resume. […]
Posted inCity & Government, Politics
Brookings scholar sees hope in democracy’s darkest hour
With many believing U.S. democracy is in peril, Brookings Senior Fellow Darrell M. West offers a more optimistic outlook. It’s not that West, a former director of Brown University’s Taubman Center, doesn’t see that democracy may be in jeopardy, but he is confident that mainly younger voters are recognizing the dangers. We talked with West, […]
Posted inCity & Government, Environment & Health, News
Newport area’s under-18 population declining significantly
Where have all the children gone? While the nationwide under-18 population fell by 1.4 percent from 2010 to 2020, and in Rhode Island, it dropped by 6 percent, the numbers are dramatically higher for the Newport area, according to the recently released 2025 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. Every community in the Newport area saw […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Two towns, one community … maybe
Locals tout it as two towns, one community – Westerly in Rhode Island and Stonington in Connecticut. They share a trail of murals, painted by mural painters from around the world that tell the story of a region steeped in the granite industry, maritime trades, tourism and farming. And with heroes dating back to the […]
Posted inInstagram, News
‘No King’ protests peaceful and defiant
Amid the backdrop of the assassination earlier today of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, and shooting of another, Americans spanned out across the country to protest a president and administration they believe is dividing the nation and promoting violence. In Rhode Island, there were peaceful No King protests in Providence to Westerly and Middletown, […]
Posted inCity & Government
New counting method adds thousands to affordable housing statewide
Over the past year, the state has revised its methodology for counting Low and Moderate Income Housing units. The latest report, released on June 9, indicates a significant increase in the number of housing units when the new methodology is applied. Otherwise, applying the old method, the actual number of units decreased slightly, by 97 […]
Posted inCity & Government
Tiverton selects three finalists for Superintendent’s position
The Tiverton School Committee has selected three finalists vying to replace Dr. Peter Sanchioni, who is retiring June 30 after eight years as superintendent of schools, according to a press release posted on the school system’s website. Interviews, according to the release, are being held on Wednesday. Whoever is chosen will take over a system […]
Posted inNews, People & Profiles
Podcast with Gov. McKee: budget shortfall; growing healthcare issues; and more
The Rhode Island legislature is in its final few weeks of its current session still trying to close a substantial budget shortfall, the state continues to face mounting healthcare issues, and the Trump administration has dubbed Rhode Island a sanctuary state. We asked Gov. Dan McKee about these, and other issues. The governor was still […]
Posted inCity & Government
Several school superintendents on the move
In the coming days and weeks, graduates throughout Rhode Island will walk across high school stages and receive diplomas. They better be careful not to trip over those superintendents who just might be leaving. It’s an elusive number that seems to change with the day – that is the superintendent vacancies, and superintendents who appear, […]
Posted inNews
‘Primary Care in Rhode Island is in Imminent Danger’
The uncertainty of Rhode Island’s healthcare system continues as leading physicians see a crisis looming, with Congress debating Medicaid’s future, Rhode Island’s legislature grappling with a stubborn budget deficit, and the improbability that the state will be able to close the Medicaid payment gap with neighboring states. Add to that, says Dr. Shannon Small, an […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Tax Compliance Days comes to Newport next week
Tax issues can sometimes become overwhelming for businesses and individuals, which is why the state Division of Taxation is holding tax compliance days for businesses in Newport and Narragansett over the next few days. Neena Savage, Rhode Island’s tax administrator, said these are individual sessions meant to help taxpayers become compliant. The tax compliance events, […]
Posted inCity & Government
Childhood homelessness rising rapidly
Nearly 2,000 children in Rhode Island’s public schools were identified as homeless in the 2023-24 school year, a sharp increase of 35 percent from two years earlier, according to the latest Kids’ Count Factbook, which will be released later this morning (May 5). This figure mirrors rising childhood homelessness nationally, with the School Home Connection […]
Posted inColumns
Frank Prosnitz – Just my Opinion: Lessons from an Egyptian cabbie
I nestled into the passenger seat in the yellow cab in NYC on my way with my cousins to Carnegie Hall for a concert. I always like the front seat because I can engage the driver in conversation. That’s what you do when you’ve spent your whole career as a journalist, a storyteller (and listener), […]
Posted inNews
It’s a perilous time to be a school superintendent
These are challenging times for superintendents of schools. From Pawtucket to Chariho to Newport, superintendents have been under fire from school committees, teachers’ unions, and residents. Jobs have been threatened, some superintendents have either left or been replaced, and others have been subjected to angry public disputes that have impugned their integrity, and that have […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Haven Box providing support for sexual assault victims
The numbers are staggering and the impact even worse. More than half of women have experienced sexual violence during their lifetime, and nearly half of rape victims were raped before their 18th birthdays, according to the Centers for Disease Control. April is sexual assault awareness month. We had an opportunity to sit down with Alana […]
Posted inNews, Nonprofit
GrowSmart to honor newportFILM
newportFILM is among four projects that will be recognized by GrowSmartRI as Outstanding Grow Smart Projects at the organization’s Sustainable Economic Growth & Quality of Place event on May 8. newportFILM, GrowSmart says delivers “robust year-round indoor placemaking events in recent years throughout Rhode Island, expanding impact and access of documentary films statewide,” according to […]
Posted inCity & Government
New Tiverton town administrator to earn $165,000 annually
Last night, the Tiverton Town Council approved a three-year contract for new Town Administrator Patrick Jones that pays him $165,000 annually, according to Town Council President John G. Edwards, V. That’s a nearly 50 percent increase over the previous administrator. Jones, who had been acting administrator since December, replaces Christopher Costa, who resigned after four […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Just My Opinion: Rhode Island’s Nathaniel Greene among those buried in Savannah’s historic cemeteries
While planning a trip to Savannah, Georgia to visit my daughter, Ryan Belmore, WUN publisher, and I mused about possible Rhode Island/Savannah connections. None readily came to mind. But they are there. In the historic cemeteries. artists and soldiers, young children and others buried and remembered. Their stories are told on markers near burial vaults, […]
Posted inCity & Government
Conversation with Gov. Mckee: reflections on federal government cuts and their impact on Rhode Island; healthcare; and the budget
Governor Dan McKee lashes out on the uncertainties of policies and programs of the current administration in Washington, including his reflections on Elon Musk. The governor was appearing on WBLQ’s Morning Show with Frank Prosnitz. He was critical of federal program cuts, costing Rhode Island more than $30 million and 60 jobs, suggesting that there […]
Posted inCity & Government
Tiverton to hire new town administrator
Police Chief Patrick Jones, who has been serving as Tiverton’s acting town administrator for the last three months, will be offered the permanent job, according to Town Council President John G. Edwards, V. Jones, who had applied and withdrew his candidacy, had reapplied. “He waited to the end and threw his name back in,” Edwards said. Edwards said the council, at a special meeting tonight(Tuesday), authorized […]