The Westerly Town Council last night rejected, after more than three hours of public comment, an effort to have it endorse a bill that would have expanded an anti-obscenity bill that could have resulted in banning books in school libraries. The bill was introduced in the state House of Representatives in late April and is […]
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, News
Westerly Council asked to endorse anti-obscenity bill
The Westerly Town Council has been asked to endorse a bill at its meeting tonight that would follow many of the most restrictive morality bills passed or suggested in so-called red states, banning books and films, shows and art that some unknown censor deems “obscene.” The bill was introduced in the state House of Representatives […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Facing education’s challenges: a conversation with Newport School Superintendent Jermain
For Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain, the 2022-23 school year has been one with considerable challenges, as the school system looks to the next school year to improve upon what was not a very promising “report card” by the Rhode Island Department of Education, a school building project that faces financial challenges, and an […]
Posted inNews
Mental health crisis in our schools, communities
One in four children in Rhode Island, ages three to 17, suffer from mental health issues, while a third of those have trouble getting treatment, according to the latest version of Kids Count. The findings in the Kids Count report, issued earlier this month, reflect conditions not only in Rhode Island, but nationally and validate […]
Posted inNews
Only 10 percent of Rhode Islanders can afford childcare for even one child
It’s no surprise that Kids’ Count has found that only about 10 percent of Rhode Island families can afford to pay childcare for even one child, presenting a significant obstacle to entering the workforce. “Families rely on childcare to enable them to work and to provide the early education experiences needed to prepare their children […]
Posted inNews
Kids Count annual report shows many Rhode Island families struggling
This morning’s release of the annual Kids Count Report, a detailed snapshot of conditions for Rhode Island school-age children, demonstrates that many families in Rhode Island are struggling economically, and their children are suffering for it in school achievement. For Newport, the numbers are more than challenging, according to the 200-page report, the 29th issued […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
WUN videocasts Thursday: at 10 with Mayor Xay and at 2 with General Treasurer James Diossa
It’s a doubleheader today for WhatsUpNewp, with Newport Mayor Xay joining WUN for a videocast at 10 a.m. and General Treasurer James Diossa at 1. The mayor joins us for his regular appearance the day after a council meeting, and now a day after City Manager Joe Nicholson announced his retirement after 37 years of […]
Posted inNews
Meet the staff at WhatsUpNewp
WhatsUpNewp welcomes Dr. Michael Fine, former director of the Rhode Island Department of Health and author, as a regular columnist. Fine joins a team at WhatsUpNewp with strong journalistic and professional credentials, and a dedication to providing our readers, viewers and listeners with quality news and lifestyle coverage. Founded in 2012, What’sUpNewp is a local, […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
WUN-ON-ONE: A conversation with Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain
Across Rhode Island, school systems are finding that the bond issues voters approved only a few months ago to build new, modern school buildings, are millions of dollars short of what they now expect the projects to cost. And so it is in Newport, where for months now educators have been trying to fill a […]
Posted inNews
Will a new fundraising team breathe new life into the Opera House revitalization?
It sits midway on Touro Street, the heart of historic Newport, a reminder of what once was, and of what might be. The old Opera House, a majestic building that once presented some of the most cherished stars of eras past, has been vacant for more than two decades, the subject of what has been […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Financial Literacy Month: RI students will need to demonstrate proficiency in consumer education
A majority of Americans, says Forbes Magazine, are struggling financially, living paycheck to paycheck, and it doesn’t matter whether you earn $25,000 a year or $200,000 a year. Forbes says that more than 60 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and 41 percent of Americans earning between $150,000 to $200,000 per year live […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion – Passover: ‘a cry against indifference, a cry for compassion’
Indifference. To be indifferent, says Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, is to allow cruelty, evil, and darkness to prevail. On this first night of Passover, it is the words of Wiesel, who died six years ago at the age of 88, that will define my Passover Seder. On Passover, we retell […]
Posted inWhat's Up Newp Live Stream
WUN focuses on suicide prevention on 2 pm videocast on Tuesday
According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in 10 high school students attempt suicide, and according to Rhode Island statistics, it’s even higher in the Ocean State. Other statistics are simply alarming, and school officials are scrambling to find enough behavioral health practitioners to meet the needs in classroom across the state. According to […]
Posted inCity & Government
Vision of permanent state archives building closer to reality
For several years, former Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and current Secretary of State Greg Amore have envisioned the state moving its archives out of temporary rental spaces to its own building. This is getting closer to reality. Amore, a former high school civics teacher in East Providence, said recently that his vision is for […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles, What's Up Newp Live Stream
WUN-ON-ONE: A conversation with Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain
Colleen Burns Jermain, Newport’s Superintendent of Schools, joined What’sUpNewp on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, for her monthly live virtual video conversation. During our conversation, we discuss school safety, regionalization, construction at Rogers High School, mental health, teacher shortages, and more. Watch or listen to the conversation below; http://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/271114/private/0be5d6ef-e8ee-4c47-96c5-3fe1fed967d3.rss
Posted inNews
State to soon seek proposals to convert URI Providence campus for housing or commercial use
The Rhode Island Department of Administration (DOA), which in January had announced it was seeking to repurpose the Shepard Building in downtown Providence, a University of Rhode Island campus for some 23 years, is close to publicly asking for proposals for the future use of the building, which not only houses URI, but also the […]
Posted inCity & Government
Just My Opinion: Let the games begin
Who’s running, who’s not? Changes every day, and will continue to change over the next several weeks, as individuals weigh their prospects to replace Congressman David Cicilline, who announced his retirement from Congress a few weeks ago to assume the presidency of the Rhode Island Foundation. It’s great fun for pundits, and you really can’t […]
Posted inCity & Government
Shelters see a huge spike in requests for housing assistance
While legislators ponder several bills aimed at easing the state’s housing crisis, the state agencies dealing with the homeless and most marginalized populations are seeing a “huge spike” in housing needs. “There’s been a massive increase in the last 18 months,” said Russ Partridge, executive director of Westerly’s Warm Center and Wakefield’s Welcome House. Statewide, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Women’s History Month: Celebrating remarkable women
As the end of Women’s History Month get closer, we continue to recognize the incredible contributions by so many Rhode Island women in every aspect of our lives. To be sure, women have distinguished themselves in medicine and the arts, in business and athletics, in the classroom and the courtroom, in government, and, most of […]
Posted inNews
Westerly school employee accused of inappropriate activity is no longer employed in the school system
(This is an update of a story that ran earlier this morning, based on an email sent to parents this morning by School Superintendent Mark Garceau.) Westerly school officials this morning informed parents that the high school employee accused last Friday of acting inappropriately with a high school student is no longer employed in the […]
Posted inNews
Animal sanctuary survives Avian Flu, continues saving abused animals
The 70 farm animals at West Place Animal Sanctuary in Tiverton are the lucky ones. Millions of others are not as lucky. In the United States alone 10 million animals are abused to death each year, according to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). And, according to other organizations, only a tiny fraction […]
Posted inColumns
Women’s History Month: Organizations providing significant services, primarily for women
March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month What’sUpNewp will highlight significant women in the region, present and past, and organizations that are providing significant services, primarily for women, from support for those suffering from domestic violence to those providing specific resources for women in business. Today, we focus on those organizations providing help […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Just my Opinion: Freedom of Expression? I think so
Outside the Gamm Theater on Sunday afternoon, a group of protestors from what they said is the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel were objecting to a billboard promoting the theater’s current production, “Bad Jews.” Literature the group distributed said the theater in 2018 had canceled a production because an impersonation show raised “concerns about blackface…Double […]
Posted inHistory
Women’s History Month: Opera Singer Maria Spacagna
She is among Rhode Island’s most celebrated performers, a soprano who made Madame Butterfly her signature role, acclaimed by the La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera “as one of the great singers of her generation.” Maria Spacagna, born in Providence, and a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan […]
Posted inNews, People & Profiles
A conversation with Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain
Newport School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain joined What’sUpNewp on Wednesday, March 1 for our monthly live virtual video conversation. During our conversation, we touch base on regionalization, the new Rogers High School project, mental health issues, the COVID-19 learning gap, preparing students for the Blue Economy, and much more. Watch