Roger Federer received his International Tennis Hall of Fame ring Monday night at the US Open, capping a week that began on the grass courts on Bellevue Avenue. Hall of Fame Co-President Kim Clijsters presented the ring during the night session in Arthur Ashe Stadium, joined on court by ITHF CEO Dan Faber, Co-President Patrick […]
Ryan Belmore
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 is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, and Local Independent Online News Publishers. He is committed to the codes of ethics of these organizations: accuracy, independence, accountability, and transparency.
In Newport, Ryan served on the boards of the Fort Adams Trust and Potter League for Animals, and hosted a daily radio talk show for four years.
In 2021, Ryan moved to Alexandria, Virginia, to support his wife Jen's career. He launched The Alexandria Brief in 2025, applying what he learned in Newport to a new community. With the help of some talented on-the-ground contributors, he still runs What's Up Newp — and always will.
Contact: ryan@whatsupnewp.com.
Posted inCity & Government
Man taken into custody after hours-long standoff on Dudley Avenue, police say
A 32-year-old man was arrested Monday night after a standoff of nearly four hours at a Dudley Avenue residence, Newport police said. Officers went to 12 Dudley Ave. at 3:45 p.m. on a report that Khaleel Mills had assaulted a man and threatened to shoot him with a pistol, according to a release from the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Newport Classical opens its chamber season Sept. 18 with a quartet that plays banjos and mandolins too
Newport Classical opens its sixth full-season Chamber Series on Friday, Sept. 18, with the Austin-based quartet Invoke, the first of twelve concerts running through early June at Newport Classical Recital Hall, 42 Dearborn St. Invoke is a string quartet that doesn’t stay one — the group plays banjo and mandolin alongside the usual strings and […]
Posted inNews
Blood center asks for donors over Labor Day weekend after a thin summer
The Rhode Island Blood Center is asking for donors over the Labor Day weekend, saying donations typically fall off around holidays just as travel and back-to-school schedules pull people away. During Labor Day week last year, the center collected more than 40 percent fewer donations than the 2,100 it needs weekly to meet hospital and […]
Posted inNews
New York Yacht Club challenges America’s Cup governing body
The New York Yacht Club, whose Harbour Court clubhouse sits on Halidon Avenue, has asked the New York attorney general’s Charities Bureau to examine whether the newly created America’s Cup Partnership can be reconciled with the Deed of Gift, the charitable trust that has governed the trophy since the 19th century. Commodore Clare Harrington announced […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Jane Pickens runs a week of 1960s cinema starting Friday, opening with a Beatles tribute band
The Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center will screen 10 films from the 1960s over seven days beginning Friday, Sept. 4, with three of the nights paired with live music. The festival opens with Studio Two, a Boston-based tribute to the early Beatles, performing at 7 p.m., followed by a restored print of “A Hard […]
Posted inNews
RENEWport volunteers return to Pell for a second year of morning greetings
RENEWport volunteers will be back outside Claiborne Pell Elementary School Wednesday morning, welcoming students on the first day of the 2026-27 school year for the second year of the group’s morning greeter program. The greeters are at the Dexter Street school daily from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Volunteers also help open the Pell library before […]
Posted inCity & Government
Newport spends more per resident on police and fire than any other Rhode Island community
Newport spent more per resident on police and fire protection in fiscal 2024 than any other city or town in Rhode Island, according to a report released this week by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council. The city spent $746 per capita on police, the highest in the state and nearly three times the $266 […]
Posted inHistory
This Day in History – August 31, 1954: Hurricane Carol makes landfall in Newport
On August 31st, 1954, Hurricane Carol came ashore on the coast of Newport, RI with a massive surge and winds of 115 mph. In one hour, Carol destroyed 3,800 homes, sank or damaged 2,000 boats and yachts, and leveled almost all of the island’s powered and telephone lines. While the storm was less powerful than […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
This Day In History: August 31, 1881 – Inaugural US Men’s Single Tennis Championships Is Played in Newport
The inaugural U.S. National Championship took place on August 31, 1881 at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. In the first year of the tennis championships only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association were permitted to enter. A Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles competition were played. The first […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Teton Gravity Research ski film screens at the Jane Pickens on Nov. 11
Teton Gravity Research will screen its 31st annual ski film, “Actually, It Is Rocket Science,” at the Jane Pickens Theatre on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the 120-minute film at 7:30. The film was shot across Bute Inlet in British Columbia, Haines in Alaska, Japan, Finland, Andorra, Montana, Jackson Hole and […]
Posted inInstagram
Easton’s Point home sells for $6.2 million, Middletown’s highest since 2023
A home on Easton’s Point has sold for $6,245,000, the highest residential sale in Middletown since 2023, according to Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty. The property at 592 Tuckerman Ave. sits across from Purgatory Chasm and near Second Beach. Jessica Chase of Gustave White represented the seller; Libby Kirwin of Lila Delman Compass brought the […]
Posted inSports
Red Sox run themselves into 1-0 loss at Yankee Stadium in series opener
By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ceddanne Rafaela and the Boston Red Sox ran themselves right into a 1-0 loss at Yankee Stadium. In the opener of a critical four-game series, Rafaela committed a costly baserunning blunder in the fifth inning Friday night and then got thrown out at home plate to […]
Posted inSports
Newport meets Palm Beach at BD Field Saturday, with an all-white dress code and a Barbados trip hidden in the turf
Newport Polo hosts Palm Beach at BD Field on Saturday, Aug. 29, the 15th meeting between the two resort towns since the City Series began in 2011. The match is set for 5 p.m., with gates opening at 1. It falls during the club’s 150th anniversary season and closes out the August schedule. Palm Beach’s […]
Posted inArts & Culture, History
On This Day – August 28, 1987: Actor John Huston dies in Middletown
On this day in 1987, film director, screenwriter and actor, John Huston, died in Middletown, Rhode Island from pneumonia as a complication of lung disease. Huston was in Rhode Island and rented a home in Middletown for his work as producer and co-writer of Mr. North (1998), the last film he would ever work on. Huston […]
Posted inEducation
Newport Public Education Foundation names 2026 award recipients
The Newport Public Education Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2026 Noreen Stonor Drexel Education Awards, to be presented Oct. 22 at Innovate Newport during the foundation’s annual fundraiser. FabNewport receives the Friend of Education award. Founded in 2013 as a fab lab in the North End, it has grown into a youth development […]
Posted inCity & Government
Newport County voters have cast more than 1,300 primary ballots so far
More than 1,300 Newport County residents have voted in the Sept. 9 statewide primary, a week into a three-week early voting period, according to the Secretary of State’s turnout tracker. As of noon Thursday, 1,331 ballots had been cast across the county’s six communities — 948 in person at early voting sites and 383 mail […]
Posted inBusiness
People’s Credit Union names Justin Lombardo head of Middletown branch
People’s Credit Union has promoted Justin Lombardo to head of its Middletown branch, where he will oversee daily operations and branch leadership. He reports to Deb Maxwell, head of area branches. Lombardo joined the credit union in March as head of member branch operations at the Portsmouth branch. He previously spent nearly two decades in […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, History, Sports
On This Day In Newport History – August 27, 1995: Tiger Woods Wins 1995 U.S. Amateur Championship in Newport
In celebration of the U.S. Amateur Championship centennial, the Newport Country Club hosted the 1995 U.S. Amateur Championship. At age 19, Tiger Woods became the ninth player to win back-to-back Amateur championships when he defeated Buddy Marucci on August 27th at the 1995 US Amateur at Newport Country Club. Following an outstanding amateur and two-year college golf […]
Posted inNews
Newport police identify man killed in officer-involved shooting in harbor
Newport Police have identified the man killed in Wednesday morning’s officer-involved shooting in Newport Harbor as Brendan Norris, 27, of Clinton Ave. in Newport. The Rhode Island State Police and Newport Police, coordinating with the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, are continuing to investigate, the department said in a news release Wednesday evening. […]
Posted inNews
Sold-out Pell Bridge Run brings road closures to Newport and Jamestown Sunday morning
The Citizens Pell Bridge Run returns Sunday, Aug. 30, bringing rolling road closures to both ends of the bridge during the early morning hours. The 4-mile run and walk starts at 7 a.m. on Conanicus Avenue in Jamestown and finishes in downtown Newport. It is the only day of the year pedestrians are allowed on […]
Posted inNews
Route 67 returns to fall schedule Saturday; rides stay free through October
RIPTA’s Route 67, which runs along Bellevue Avenue and serves Salve Regina University, returns to its fall and winter schedule Saturday, Aug. 29, with trips every 30 minutes throughout the day. The route remains free to ride through Oct. 31, courtesy of Discover Newport. The change is part of RIPTA’s fall service adjustments, which the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Puddingstone Music adds two September concerts at Rough Point
Puddingstone Music has announced two September concerts at Rough Point, following sold-out performances in August. Pianist David Kaplan performs “Quasi una Fantasia” on Saturday, Sept. 12. The program explores the territory between composition and improvisation, drawing on works with improvisatory qualities either in how they’re performed or how they were written. The title comes from […]
Posted inNews
Dolly Parton’s Newport legacy: one unforgettable appearance at Fort Adams, and a book in the mail every month
Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday in Nashville at 80, left two very different marks on Newport: a single surprise appearance at Fort Adams that people still talk about, and a program that has quietly mailed books to thousands of local children every month for six years. Her family asked that donations be made in her […]
Posted inNews
IYRS launches Maritime Leadership Institute, names Kristin Urbach managing director
IYRS School of Technology & Trades announced Wednesday the launch of a Maritime Leadership Institute and named Kristin Urbach its managing director. The institute will offer leadership development for maritime professionals, with programs aimed at building teams, managing change and problem-solving in maritime workplaces — an extension of the school’s technical training into management. “The […]