Rise up and unite. Like democracy, it’s a rallying cry that has stood the test of time. It goes beyond partisanship and borders. It’s a call that is rooted in decency, equality and inclusion. In February 1920, at the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) convention in Chicago, a critical turning point occurred when 61-year […]
Columns
A look at What’sUpNewp’s latest columns.
Posted inArts & Culture, Business, Columns, Instagram, People & Profiles
Provence sur Mer serves up elegant French-inspired hospitality
A Celebration of Vision and Place Karen Pinelli is enjoying her second act. And she has created the perfect backdrop: an 1850 historic building overlooking Washington Square in the heart of Newport. Pinelli was a sales executive in Boston for more than 30 years, working in the HR & Employee Benefits industry. As she helped […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Charles L. Roberts: We don’t always know if something is fragile, until it’s broken
“Freedom is very far from being the natural state of mankind; on the contrary, it is an extraordinarily unusual situation.” – Milton Friedman on Freedom. Reflecting on the Fragility of Freedom It’s curious to me that Milton Friedman – a lauded American economist, statistician, and 1976 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences, is nearly as […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about medical school debt
Holy Harry and Louise, they are at it again. Now, everybody is talking about the health care mess in Rhode Island. You know it’s a mess when politicians, who are almost all lawyers, give news conferences and talk about how they are going to fix health care, and the experts they trot out are all lawyers as well, none […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: A ‘square’ navigates cool new slang
In a recent newspaper obituary, a daughter described her late mother thusly: “She was a dope mom.” A dope? Well, hardly. A little research reveals that “dope,” as used by youth these days, is a replacement for what my much older generation would say was “cool.” So I suppose this makes me, in contemporary parlance of […]
Posted inColumns
Helen Hames: The strength to Age: Movement, mindset and meaning
77% of adults age 50 and older want to age at home as long as possible (AARP). While much of the focus has been on modifying homes and managing costs, there is another piece of the puzzle that is often overlooked: building the strength and the confidence to stay at home. And for some, “home” […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Veronica Bruno: Newport gallery report
Newport, RI has a pretty vibrant gallery scene. Dwarfed by perhaps Providence, we feel that the intimate art galleries throughout Aquidneck (and Conanicut Island) don’t get quite the attention that they deserve. Maybe it’s just that there’s so much to do here—especially during the popular summer season—that these art house gems can sometimes get lost […]
Posted inHistory
This Day in RI History: May 18, 1652 – Rhode Island becomes the first colony to pass an anti-slavery law
On May 18th, 1652, Rhode Island became the first of the thirteen colonies to ban slavery. The good intentions of those who wrote the law, however, went unheeded – the statute was largely ignored for over a century, as many merchants in the state became leading slave traders in colonial America. The act read, “Whereas, […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about the Surgeon General of the United States
We have a new Surgeon General nominee, Casey Means, a health influencer and former doctor who replaces Janette Nesheiwat, an urgent care doctor and Fox News host, as the nominee. Dr. Nesheiwat was suddenly reassigned to help RKF Jr., the erstwhile HHS secretary, in other ways, because she was criticized by Laura Loomer (who apparently […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Charles L. Roberts: Newport can follow ancestors’ footsteps, learn their stories
I’ve always been inspired by James Baldwin’s quote – and perspective – “We carry our history with us. We are our history.” Baldwin argues that history is not a distant, finished event, but a living force that shapes our lives and informs our present reality. It’s not something that we can ignore, leave behind, or take for […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion, Real Estate
Tyler Bernadyn: Why listing with a local real estate professional is worth every penny
Selling your home is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make and in a market like Newport County, where price points are significantly higher than the national average, the stakes are even greater. There’s a common misconception that listing your home For Sale By Owner (FSBO) will save you money. But the […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: Holiday time, for short stanzas that rhyme
A limerick is funny, but terse, A short and succinct piece of verse. In only five lines The humor it mines Runs from ribald to bawdy to worse. So there you have my home-made contribution to one of the least known May holidays, which arrives each year on the 12th: National Limerick Day. The date […]
Posted inColumns
Helen Hames: More than music, a CHIME to open hearts
One recent afternoon, a little-known musical debut occurred at The Edward King House Senior Center in Newport. It featured a new maestro of sorts and a most unusual orchestra–made up of a human keyboard, if you will. The conductor, 25-year-old Lauren Ceres of Newport, made her debut as an apprentice to Heidi List Murphy, founder […]
Posted inColumns
Michele Gallagher: It takes a matriarchal village to make a shop feel like a home
May is busting out all over! And we couldn’t be happier. As the founder of ThamesGiving in Newport, I’ve had the joy of connecting with many savvy, creative business owners across the Thames Street District. One thing that stands out is how many of these businesses are run by mother-daughter duos and trios! For this […]
Posted inColumns, History
This Day in RI History: May 9, 1861 -U.S. Naval Academy moved to Newport
The U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland on October 10, 1845 with Commander Franklin Buchanan its first superintendent. The first class was comprised of 50 students and 7 professors. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, then superintendent Captain George S. Blake made the decision to move the Academy to Newport. Although […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion
Charles L. Roberts: I dream of my mother on Mother’s Day
As I considered my “Voices” topic for May’s WUN, my thoughts turned immediately to my mother, Bessie L. Walker Roberts. “Miss Bessie,” as friends called her, was born in Newport on September 30, 1925, and passed away in January 2010. One night, remembering her voice and the lessons she taught me, I awoke from a […]
Posted inColumns
Frank Prosnitz – Just my Opinion: Lessons from an Egyptian cabbie
I nestled into the passenger seat in the yellow cab in NYC on my way with my cousins to Carnegie Hall for a concert. I always like the front seat because I can engage the driver in conversation. That’s what you do when you’ve spent your whole career as a journalist, a storyteller (and listener), […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine – What’s Crazy about Health Care and Intelligence: Artificial and just lacking
I want a T-shirt that says Artificial Intelligence Isn’t. I spent a very long twenty minutes on a Zoom this week with a surgeon-turned-tech-entrepreneur from Stanford, who was trying to persuade me that the new software he’s developing is going to save primary care. Artificial intelligence is better than humans at making diagnoses, he tried to […]
Posted inNews
Helen Hames: Time to treat mental health like heart health – a wake-up call for aging well
Mental health has come a long way—but for older adults, it’s still too often a hidden struggle, fueling isolation at a time when connection matters most. According to AARP, between 2019 and 2023, mental health diagnoses among adults 65 and older jumped by over 57%—the highest increase of any age group in the U.S. And […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: In any lingo, some amusing sports jargon
This may sound a bissel meshuga (a little crazy), but the name of a common play in pro football these days comes straight from Yiddish. And the term has given new meaning to the most important part of the game, the end zone. That’s because we have witnessed the rise of the “tush push,” the strategy of […]