Ed Ehlinger, M.D. Wendell Berry, and Dolly Parton. These are three people whose lives made a difference to us and to me and to your health, three people we lost in August. Ed Ehlinger was a doctor who trained in both internal medicine and pediatrics, and who practiced public health. We met while he was […]
Columns
A look at What’sUpNewp’s latest columns.
Posted inColumns
For a party-loving, sailor’s paradise, Aquidneck Island offers a discreet – yet active – treasure trove of supportive resources for people and families in recovery
It’s no secret that substance abuse and addictive behavior come in many forms and has had a deleterious effect on many individuals and families since well before the days when opium was first known to be extracted by the Sumerians in 3400 B.C. These Mesopotamian people called the poppy plant Hul Gil, which translated to […]
Posted inColumns
Sailed away on the Block Island Ferry
There is something about Block Island that makes life slow down. I wrote this editorial from the front porch of our rental house for the week, coffee in hand. I have a sincere appreciation for this little escape from our everyday life in Newport. Newport is home and I never take for granted that I […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: Tiny steps that make life worth living (Or, please pass the ketchup)
One day in 1952, in my hometown of Watertown, N.Y. near the Canadian border, a milkman approached a local chemist with a problem: Whenever milk spilled in his truck, it would sour and produce a disagreeable odor. He sought help from the right man –Julius Samann, a German Jew who had fled the Holocaust for […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about COVID and flu vaccines in 2026
I got a Pfizer COVID vaccine last night from Walgreens. And no, RFK Jr, I didn’t die. I didn’t feel a thing, and I feel fine now. No magnetic particles are letting extraterrestrials control my thoughts from space, at least not as far as I can tell. We are in the late summer COVID spike, […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: Dark side of the Fifties gets a replay
They’re gone now, but they provided our culture with enduring gifts. Folk singer Burl Ives left us his version of a bouncy holiday song, “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” Sultry Lena Horne left us her classic recordings of “Stormy Weather.” Banjo-playing Pete Seeger left a catalogue of music, much of it anti-war, as in “Where Have […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Garrison Keillor at 84: ‘I could go on doing this for a while’
The schedule called for fifteen minutes with Garrison Keillor. It ended up being a half-hour private concert. Keillor brings “Garrison Keillor Tonight” to the Jane Pickens Theater on September 20. “I’m doing pretty well,” he said at the start of the conversation. “I’m making progress on a new book. As long as one has a […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: A slice of snarkiness, squashed
August is nearly upon us, so the best advice is to lock your doors, lower the shades, and pretend nobody’s home. Because you know that at this point in the gardening season a neighbor is sure to stop by with a bulging bagful of home-grown squash. When this happens, at least give credit to the […]
Posted inColumns
My Mama Joe, Hope & Help: Acceptance and a place to begin
“You can’t choose the color of your skin. You can’t choose the year you were born. And you can’t choose to develop a brain disease. But people have the right to choose a lot of things, and you can choose to accept people for who they are.” And so began my conversation with Herb Caldwell, […]
Posted inNews
Dr. Michael Fine: Why it’s crazy we don’t have community paramedicine everywhere in Rhode Island
One of the things driving health care cost increases in the US is the way people use emergency rooms for routine medical care. Between 40 and 88 percent of all emergency room visits are for diseases and conditions that don’t require hospitalization – for colds and sore throats and simple sprains, headaches and back pain. […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: No password necessary to read this essay
“Halt! Who goes there?” According to Marine Order 5530.15, this is the proper challenge a U.S. military sentry must issue when approached by unknown parties. The challenge can sometimes require a password in return – and any of us who work online can attest that even in contemporary civilian life, that elusive secret “word” hangs […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about health care in Lithuania
I’ve just returned from a brief research trip to Lithuania, which wasn’t focused on health care. But while I was there, I had the opportunity to discuss the Lithuanian health care system with a colleague who runs the district health center of a small Lithuanian city. I learned that Lithuania, like most of Europe and […]
Posted inColumns
At Jo’s American Bistro, it’s the people who continue to define the experience
Restaurants inevitably evolve. Owners retire, chefs come and go, menus change, and dining trends shift with the times. In a community like Newport, where people form deep connections with local businesses, change can sometimes be met with hesitation. That’s understandable. Many of us have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and life’s milestones around the same tables for […]
Posted inColumns
If the walls could talk: Revolutionary voices from behind the frame
I spend a lot of time in Newport’s fine art and cultural institutions: attending events, admiring the portraits and fine artwork on the walls, and feeling very fortunate to be a part of this historic, yet ever-evolving City-by-the-Sea. As I have been enjoying history lectures, book talks, Juneteenth events, museum openings, and exhibit previews this […]
Posted inColumns
Book review: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ is less etiquette guide than cosmic musing
I was expecting “Take Me To Your Leader: Perspectives On Your First Alien Encounter” to offer lots of insightful tips from famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on how to behave, what to say, and what questions to ask if a space alien were to come knocking at my front door. In fact, the back blurb […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Independence Day
What is America? We are white, black, brown, red, yellow … we are the rainbow. We are Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, evangelicals, atheist, agnostic. We embrace all who worship and those that do not. We are Latino American Indian, Asian, German, French, English, Italian, Irish, African, Portuguese, Iranian, Israeli, multi-racial and multi-cultural. We come […]