Community Submission

As a school psychologist, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Liz Barron in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and more recently to collaborate with her through her independent practice, Wellness in Education. Through our work together, I’ve come to know Liz as someone who cares deeply about public education, particularly the challenges facing students and families […]

Here we are, almost at Election Day. I have spent this whole summer and fall meeting lots of you, telling you about who I am and why I would be a great person for this job. Although I have met so many wonderful people, the general temperature of this campaign season has been very divisive, […]

Medicare open enrollment runs October 15  through December 7, and Rhode Islanders should review their coverage carefully. Traditional Medicare is run by the federal government and lets you see any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans are run by private insurers and often cost enrollees less up front because […]

The Rhode Island Department of Education’s latest school report cards were released last week, and the results for Newport Public Schools are deeply disappointing. Academic performance declined in English Language Arts, mathematics, and science, as did our four-year graduation rate. Although standardized test scores are just one (imperfect) measure of student success, we can’t turn […]

As someone who regularly attends City Council meetings in-person, I noticed while shaving the other morning, a rough and irritated, sorta reddish linear mark beginning above my right temple, extending  below my ear. Turns out, its from having to scratch my head so often while at the meetings. This past year especially, when compared to […]

RI General Assembly Needs Proven Leaders for LGBTQ+ Community By Senator Tiara Mack In previous legislative sessions, legislators from Woonsocket to Westerly have overwhelmingly voted to protect LGBTQ rights and healthcare. The stakes this year were higher than ever, but I can’t help but ask: Did we do everything we could to protect trans kids […]

To the Editor: Newport is considering a major expansion of the Harbormaster facility at Perrotti Park. There are plenty of arguments about the design, size, cost and merits of the project. But there is a more fundamental question the City has yet to answer publicly: Can Newport legally use this land for the proposed expanded […]

Those of us fighting for the future of the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital celebrated several wins in the state budget enacted in June: $1.6 million in extra funding and significant new requirements that must be met before any hospital is allowed to close or reduce services at a birthing center. Newport […]

As I reflect on my first term serving as Ward 1 Councilor in Newport, I keep coming back to the young people in our community. This year, they reminded me why I do this work. From the City Council dais, I have advocated for policies that create safer, healthier, and more equitable opportunities for Newport […]

The City should move forward with repairing the failing Perrotti Park bulkhead. That work is necessary. But Newport residents should be very cautious about allowing a needed infrastructure repair to quietly become a much larger building project that changes one of downtown’s most important public harbor-view spaces. The concern is not the seawall. The concern […]

Hi Neighbor!  My name is Taryn Mazza and I am running for Newport City Council, At-Large. I’m a longtime Newporter who was born at Newport Hospital and graduated from Rogers High School in 1994 (Go Vikings). I spent nearly a decade on the West Coast but truly, nothing compares to our fair city. Newport is […]

Being a Rhode Island legislator is a challenging calling to pursue. To start with, we pay our state legislators less than $20,000 per year. This is not enough to quit your day job. And in this part-time gig, we expect our legislators to understand a number of complex legal, legislative, economic, environmental and social issues […]

I’m proud to officially announce my candidacy for Newport City Council. Newport isn’t just where I live. It’s home. I was born at Newport Hospital, attended Newport Public Schools, spent summers at Camp Rocky Farm and Braga Park, learned to play tennis at Vernon and Rogers Courts with my late great-uncle Frank Kenney, played softball […]

To the Editor: What an amazing day! We want to thank everyone who made Elliot’s Ride for Everyone such a success. On Saturday, June 6th, Bike Newport presented “Elliot’s Ride for Everyone – the annual event when the iconic Ocean Drive closes to cars and opens to people biking, walking, rolling and strolling – creating […]

Newport in Bloom and the founders of Daffodillion are formally requesting that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the Newport City Council restore the approximately 90,000 Dutch Master daffodil bulbs along the Pell Bridge off-ramps, Roundabout, and the Farewell-America’s Cup Avenue corridor. These areas underwent major renovations which resulted in the removal of […]

A lot has changed since the first Mental Health Awareness Week back in 1949. What started as a seven-day observance now lasts all of May, and we have no shortage of events to raise awareness about mental health. Far more important is the progress we’ve made. Treatments for mental health conditions have improved, care is […]

To the Editor, I would like to address misinformation surrounding the Newport School Committee’s decision to hire an interim superintendent for Newport Public Schools. Our current superintendent is retiring at the end of next month, and the School Committee has a responsibility to ensure there is qualified leadership in place without interruption. The decision to […]

To the Editor, What’s Up Newport: The Aquidneck Island Land Trust recently published a letter regarding the Sweet Berry Farm proposal. But it may have left readers more reassured than the facts warrant, because it does not answer the central question: will a project that destroys more than 1,300 mature fruit trees to construct an […]

On April 8, Newporters had a chance to hear how one visionary can make a hugedifference in the wellbeing of an island community. In an event co-hosted byRENEWport and Salve Regina University, Newfoundlander Zita Cobb, entrepreneurand CEO of the Shorefast Foundation, told her inspiring story, “A Framework forCommunity Economic Stewardship: Learnings from Fogo Island.” Cobb’s […]

Why aren’t we facing the reality that elementary students belong in elementary school? Research shows the transition to middle school is a high-stakes turning point where academic performance often declines. Uprooting 10-year-olds from a familiar environment exposes them to social pressures they are not developmentally ready to navigate –  cliques, heightened self-consciousness, and expectations designed […]

Editor’s note: The following letter to the editor was submitted by Newport Fire Chief Humphrey J. “Harp” Donnelly IV in response to today’s announcement that the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital will remain open. What’sUpNewp published a news story on the announcement, which you can read here. The recent announcement by Brown […]

I am writing in response to this week’s school committee meeting, which left many in our community feeling deeply disappointed and, frankly, unsettled. My concerns are twofold: first, the committee’s decision-making process regarding the relocation of fifth grade, and second, the conduct of committee leadership at the close of that meeting. Earlier this week, the […]

Over the past several years, I have raised concerns during Planning Board discussions about the rising cost of building housing in Middletown, particularly single-family homes. Unfortunately, those concerns have not gained much traction, even as the Town continues to emphasize housing affordability and supply. Recently, I compiled a table comparing development impact fees and other […]

To the Editor: It’s time to talk with our kids. As our community reels from the recent violent assault that occurred in the Rogers locker room, I urge parents and caregivers to discuss what took place with their children, no matter their age. While the act itself was deeply disturbing, I, like much of our […]

The horrifying assault of a student with disabilities at Rogers High School is heartbreaking and deeply troubling. While accountability is essential, this moment must also prompt us—as a community—to reflect on how we support, include, and value people with disabilities in our schools and across Newport County. It is too easy for people with disabilities […]

I read with interest the 2 articles you published recently regarding the panel discussions for the future of the Newport Hospital Birthing Center. My concern is that as long as Brown University Health has a large financial obligation to pay off the loans that they acquired when they purchased Lifespan, the Birthing Center’s existence will […]

“Answer The Question, Please Mid-September, Middletown Town Council approved $11.4 Million dollars of town debt for the “new library” building at 110 Enterprise Center. Shocking enough was Town Council’s announcement last year to move the library from the center of town, but now, for this debt, instead of a General Obligation Bond, Middletown Town Council […]

To the Editor: Newport’s youth continue to sit on top of one of the most promising career opportunities of our time — cybersecurity —  yet our community has barely begun to acknowledge it. Recent media stories have featured the opening of Rhode Island College’s advanced class cyber simulation lab where students learn to counter real […]

The library, once an integral part of the original Request for Information (RFI) for the “Middletown Center” and in fact, included in the developer’s RFI response, has vanished from the proposal and plat. The purchase of the inappropriate commercial building for $3.4 million was made in closed door session without any regard of taxpayer input. […]

More than once, I have publicly heard or seen reference to a Request for Proposal (RFP) in connection with the Town Center project from the developer.   From what I can find on the Town’s website, no RFP was issued for this very important project.  Why? The Town issued a Request for Information (RFI), to probe the […]