Only Newport among Newport County communities achieves the state’s goal of 10 percent housing classified as affordable, despite the state legislature’s creative revision to how it counts affordable housing units. That revision was meant to add housing units to those counted as “low and moderate income,” but still only eight of Rhode Island’s 39 cities […]
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 inBusiness
Consumer confidence plummets as economy slows, Fed reports show
Despite claims to the contrary from the White House, the economy nationally and regionally is limping along, with rising inflation, slow job growth, and weakening consumer confidence, according to the latest reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. For Rhode Island that means unemployment is nearly a percent higher than the New England average, […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Things To Do
Former ProJo reporter explores coal’s legacy at Charter Books event
Since the industrial revolution of the late 1800s, coal has remained a significant energy source in the United States, peaking in the mid-20th century, and declining because of environmental concerns. Even with those concerns, coal remains a significant source of energy in certain areas of the United States. Recently, the Trump administration has been promoting […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News, People & Profiles
Breast cancer cases increase, while the death rate decreases
More than 1,100 women in Rhode Island and more than 316,000 women nationally will be diagnosed by the end of this year with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. That diagnosis will present what will seem for many insurmountable physical and emotional challenges. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we caught up […]
Posted inBusiness
Veteran broadcaster buys WBLQ and WWRI Radio stations
Nearly three years after Chris DiPaolo’s untimely death at the age 49, the radio stations he owned in Westerly and Coventry have sold to a new owner who promises the stations will continue with robust local news, information and entertainment coverage. Rick W. Schmidt of Yonkers, New York, and owner of Greater Hits USA, an […]
Posted inCity & Government
Newport Schools Superintendent reports smooth start to year with new high school building
Newport Public Schools Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain reports an overwhelmingly positive start to the school year, with students and staff adapting well to the new Rogers High School building that opened following a ribbon-cutting ceremony about a month ago. “Wow, this is great. It’s wonderful. They’re still, I think, can’t believe that this is their […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Thank you, Christian McBride
“I don’t want to let him or jazz history down,” said Christian McBride just days before he would assume the role of artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival nearly a decade ago. It’s safe to say that he neither let down the legendary George Wein nor jazz history. Of McBride, Wein had said, “he’s […]
Posted inNews
Westerly golf course saga goes to the state Supreme Court
The owners of Westerly’s Winnapaug Country Club, a popular public golf course, are hoping to overturn a Superior Court ruling that would have blocked them from developing the 120-acre property into a 2,300-unit housing project, according to Westerly Town Manager Shawn Lacey. Winn Properties has appealed the Superior Court ruling to the state Supreme Court, […]
Posted inCity & Government
Just My Opinion: Foulkes, as expected, announces for Governor
Helena Buonanno Foulkes, who came within a whisper of defeating Gov, Dan McKee in the last gubernatorial primary election, today announced she’ll challenge the governor again in the 2026 primary election for governor. Her announcement was no surprise. Foulkes made official what virtually all political observers believed was inevitable and has been made even clearer […]
Posted inCity & Government
Local and regional economy: ‘Sluggish’
Sluggish. That’s the word that best describes the state of the economy in New England and Rhode Island, on the heels of what has been widely described as a troubling national jobs report. The national economy added just 22,000 jobs in August, well below the 76,000 that had been projected, according to the Bureau of […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Portsmouth rated fourth-best high school in RI
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 […]
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 […]