The Navy has awarded a $271.2 million contract for the second phase of construction on Pier 1 at Naval Station Newport, Sen. Jack Reed announced Tuesday, clearing the way for four Coast Guard cutters to make Newport their homeport. The original pier at Coddington Cove, built in the mid-1950s, ran 1,585 feet and was condemned […]
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 inEnvironment & Health
State launches men’s mental health campaign aimed at working-age Rhode Islanders
The Rhode Island Department of Health is launching Man Therapy, a national campaign aimed at getting working-age men to take their mental health seriously, running through April online, on social media and on gas station ad screens. The campaign centers on a website, mantherapy.org, with resources on depression, divorce and suicide for men and the […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Newport Hospital is first in Rhode Island with the da Vinci 5 surgical robot
Newport Hospital has become the first in Rhode Island to use the da Vinci 5, the newest version of Intuitive’s robotic-assisted surgical platform, after a year of fundraising that covered the full cost through donations. The system will be used for minimally invasive procedures in urology, gynecology, thoracic surgery and general surgery. It translates a […]
Posted inCity & Government
Reed, Whitehouse and Amo ask EPA for help with Tiverton PFAS contamination
Correction: An earlier version of this story said residents had been advised not to use affected water for brushing teeth or washing dishes. The Rhode Island Department of Health says those are not routes of PFAS exposure and that residents can continue both. Rhode Island’s congressional delegation is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to step […]
Posted inCity & Government
Chip seal resurfacing this week on Kay Street and surrounding roads
The city’s contractor is resurfacing 15 streets this week in the Kay Street and Bliss Mine Road area, with on-street parking restricted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday or until work on a given street is finished. The project uses chip seal over existing pavement, which the city describes as a fast process […]
Posted inNews
Salve Regina climbs to 16th in U.S. News regional ranking
Salve Regina University rose eight places to 16th among regional universities in the North in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report college rankings released Tuesday. The university also appeared on U.S. News lists for best value, social mobility, undergraduate teaching, and undergraduate nursing and psychology programs in the region. In the Princeton Review’s 2027 […]
Posted inNews
On This Day – September 22, 1962: President Kennedy and Jacqueline watch 4th America’s Cup Race off the Coast of Newport
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy attended the fourth race of the 1962 America’s Cup aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., off the coast of Newport on September 22, 1962. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has a full (incredible) photo gallery from the event here – PRESIDENT KENNEDY […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Elms will reopen this fall with a new multi-sensory experience
The Elms, closed to the public since Aug. 10, will reopen later this fall with a new guest experience built around storytelling, multi-sensory elements and what the Preservation Society of Newport County describes as thoughtfully integrated enhancements. The Preservation Society is developing the experience with Digital Kitchen, a creative studio chosen as its experience design […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Washington County man is Rhode Island’s third Powassan virus case this year
A Washington County man in his 60s has a confirmed case of Powassan virus, the Rhode Island Department of Health said Monday, the state’s third case of the rare tick-borne disease this year. He began showing symptoms in late August. It is the 11th Rhode Island case since the disease was first reported in the […]
Posted inCity & Government
Hakeem Jeffries visits Pawtucket to celebrate Rhode Island’s Cabo Verdean community
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries came to Pawtucket on Sunday to celebrate Rhode Island’s Cabo Verdean community, hosted by Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner. Jeffries, whose mother’s family comes from the island of Fogo, is the highest-ranking elected official of Cabo Verdean descent in American history. Rhode Island has the largest Cabo Verdean population […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Rocky Horror shadow cast returns to the Jane Pickens, 45 years after its first show there
RKO Army, the Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast that played its first show as an established troupe at the Jane Pickens Theater on Halloween night in 1981, returns to that stage Friday, Sept. 25, ahead of a newportFILM screening of “Time Warp.” Doors open at 6 p.m. and the performance and film begin at […]
Posted inSports
Newport Yacht Club wraps evening racing season with 53 teams
Fifty-three teams raced in the Newport Yacht Club’s 2026 Tuesday and Wednesday evening series on the lower end of Narragansett Bay, the club announced. Tuesday nights drew 23 teams across J/7 Ensign and classic S-Boat fleets. The J/7s raced two series, and the second came down to a tiebreaker, with Ryan Davis’s Hull Fliers of […]
Posted inHistory
On This Day In History – September 21: Hurricane of ’38 hits Newport
September 21 marks the anniversary of the New England Hurricane of ’38, one of the deadliest hurricanes in New England history. The New England Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869. The tide was even higher than usual because of the autumnal equinox and full moon. The storm […]
Posted inSports
Newport’s Hannah Swett takes third at the inaugural Women’s International Championship
Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Team Vigilant won the New York Yacht Club’s first Women’s International Championship on Saturday, finishing 23 points clear of the field after a week of racing out of Harbour Court. Newport’s Hannah Swett took third, moving onto the podium in the last race of the regatta. Swett opened the final day by […]
Posted inSports
Newport’s Hannah Swett in second heading into the final day of the Women’s International Championship
Newport sailor Hannah Swett goes into the final day of the New York Yacht Club’s inaugural Women’s International Championship in second place, after a Friday on which the wind never filled and the fleet was sent in without racing. The race committee waited into the afternoon before abandoning for the day at 3 p.m. Megan […]
Posted inThings To Do
USA meets Switzerland at Glen Farm on Saturday in the season’s last international match
Team USA faces Switzerland at 4 p.m. Saturday at BD Field at Glen Farm, the last international match of Newport Polo’s 150th anniversary season. The Swiss roster includes Cedric Schweri, a two-time Gstaad winner and two-time Italian champion; Thomas Wolfensberger, a three-time Swiss champion; Philipp Müller, a former Swiss national skeleton athlete; and Janik Noah […]
Posted inCity & Government
Final turbine installed at Revolution Wind, 15 miles off Little Compton
Crews have installed the last of 65 turbines at Revolution Wind, the offshore wind project in Rhode Island Sound about 15 miles south of Little Compton, Ørsted confirmed Thursday. “Commissioning activities continue across the project, with safety as the top priority,” the company said. “Revolution Wind continues to progress toward an anticipated commercial operation date […]
Posted inCity & Government
Airbnb-funded grant to train Newport math teachers, with a public film screening Nov. 2
The Newport Public Education Foundation has awarded Newport Public Schools a $20,000 grant, funded by Airbnb, to train middle and high school math teachers in a teaching framework aimed at getting students working problems rather than watching them worked. The initiative, called Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics and Financial Literacy, will support workshops, planning and […]
Posted inCity & Government
Point survey finds widespread flooding but few homeowners insured or protected against it
Homeowners in the Point recognize the risk that flooding poses to their houses but largely have not insured or fortified against it, according to survey results presented to the Point Association last week. Rep. Lauren Carson presented the findings at the association’s fall meeting at St. John’s Hall on Sept. 15. The Historic Point Neighborhood […]
Posted inNews
Newport Restoration Foundation adding student mentorships to its climate and preservation symposium
The Newport Restoration Foundation is launching a mentorship program for students at next month’s Keeping History Above Water symposium, pairing three of them with local professionals in preservation, architecture, city planning or climate science. The Rising Practitioners program is open to undergraduate and graduate students studying historic preservation, architecture, city planning, site management, climate science […]
Posted inNews
Maine-built Hood 42 named best new boat at the Newport International Boat Show
Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding’s Hood 42 took best new boat overall at the Newport International Boat Show’s Newport for New Products awards, announced Friday at a ceremony on the waterfront. “The Hood 42 has a retro look but with modern touches tastefully incorporated throughout,” said judge Sam White, senior editor at Yachting. “This one is a throwback […]
Posted inNews
Rhode Island Foundation offering up to $10,000 for Newport County community projects; deadline is Sept. 24
The Rhode Island Foundation is accepting applications through Wednesday, Sept. 24, for neighborhood grants of up to $10,000 for Newport County projects that bring residents together. The program is open to libraries, schools, neighborhood groups and nonprofits, and targets resident-led efforts — neighborhood gatherings, improvements to shared public spaces, green space projects, preservation of cultural […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Newport Classical brings a prize-winning piano trio and a quartet playing Bad Bunny to Dearborn Street in October
Newport Classical has two chamber concerts in October at its recital hall at 42 Dearborn St., plus a pair of free afternoon concerts mid-month. Trio Azura, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The group swept the 51st Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2024, taking the grand prize and gold medal along with two special prizes. […]
Posted inCity & Government
Secretary of State warns voters about text posing as voter registration check
The Rhode Island Department of State is warning voters about a text message that claims to be about voter registration and asks recipients to confirm their identity for their voter record. The department’s Elections Division said the text is not affiliated with the state and was not authorized by it, and urged people to be […]
Posted inNews
Rogers hosts community conversation on bullying, hazing and racism tonight
Rogers High School hosts a public conversation on school culture tonight at 5 p.m. in the Student Commons, led by a national speaker who has spent the day with students and staff. B. Elliot Hopkins is director of sports and student services for the National Federation of State High School Associations, where he leads national […]