News

A peace rally is being organized to take place in Washington Square in Newport on Saturday, July 9th from 1pm to 2pm. The rally is in response to the officer involved shooting in Louisiana where Alton Sterling was killed on Wednesday, it has been called (as seen below) a “Black Lives Matter” rally by some […]

Ron Kitt from Newport Kite Festival, Musician Justin Pomfret, and Brad Read from Sail Newport joined us today on The Open Forum on WADK 1540 AM. Ron joined us around 1:15pm to chat about this weekend’s upcoming Newport Kite Festival. Justin joined us around 1:30pm to chat about his upcoming CD release party on Saturday […]

Acclaimed actor and musician Jack Black (“School of Rock”, “Kung Fu Panda”) stars in the new feature film comedy “The Polka King”, written and directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. Ms. Forbes and Mr. Wolodarksy previously collaborated on the Golden Globe nominated movie, “Infinitely Polar Bear”, which was produced in the Ocean State in the summer […]

Sail Newport has launched a $10 million Campaign for BlueSpace to expand public access sailing programs, broaden its marine education programming and build a new Mid-Park Marine Education and Recreation Center on the waterfront at Fort Adams State Park. “We believe that everyone in our community, especially children, should have access to the ‘blue space’ of Narragansett […]

Aquidneck Land Trust (ALT) is pleased to announce that Sofia Taylor, a student of Portsmouth High School’s 2016 graduating class, is the recipient of the 2016 Environmental Leadership Award (ELA). Taylor was recognized at the Portsmouth High School awards banquet on May 26, 2016 for her demonstrated leadership and commitment to environmentalism. “Sofia has been […]

The Forts Adams Trust Summer Solstice event held on Friday evening June 24th was widely acclaimed as a great success on multiple fronts.   A record setting attendance of 145 guests helped raise over $13,500 for the Fort Adams Trust, another record over previous summer events.   The funds raised came from: individual ticket and […]

Hear about what the iconic singer had to say about his career, Newport Folk Festival, today’s music industry and much more. Peter Yarrow has a long history with Newport, he performed several times at the Newport Folk Festival during the 1960’s, was on the original board of the Newport Folk Festival and introduced Bob Dylan […]

Two of Newport’s favorite places to stay, dine and play have been nominated for “Best Waterfront Hotel” on USA Today‘s 10Best Readers’ Choice awards. All together, 20 hotels that “sit right on the water and offer their guests stellar views to go along with waterside facilities and amenities” were chosen by a panel of luxury travel […]

Existing and Custom Models Available Now for Summer Season Newport Beach Club has unveiled two new lines of luxury residences within its Waterside Village neighborhood overlooking Narragansett Bay:  classic Cape Cottages and elegant Condominiums. Waterside Village is the latest neighborhood developed by Northern Waterfront Associates, LP in collaboration with builder Sun Homes.   Newport Beach Club’s other phases […]

The inaugural weekend of the new Providence-Newport ferry service proved very popular with Rhode Islanders, as more than 1,000 people took advantage of this new transit connection during its debut this past Fourth of July weekend. From its start on Friday, July 1 through yesterday, July 4, approximately 1,300 people took the ferry from Providence […]

First I would like to apply a disclaimer to this post: everything said here is 100% satire and 100% serious. Ok Ladies, this one’s for you (especially). Let me start off by saying that this particular post is not intended to be sexist. As a quasi feminist myself I can admit that I do not […]

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is predicting that air quality will reach unhealthy levels during the afternoon and late into the evening hours on Wednesday, July 6th. The Alert is being issued statewide as the region will experience very warm weather and favorable conditions for ozone formation. The poor air quality will […]

Rhode Island State Police denied a request from the Associated Press for the St. George’s se/xual abuse investigate report on Tuesday. “Rhode Island state police won’t release their report into dozens of sexual abuse allegations at a prestigious boarding school because the matter is being investigated in other states. Read more from ABC News – State Police […]

Ruth Taylor, Executive Director of the Newport Historical Society, joined me today on The Open Forum on WADK 1540 AM to chat about the upcoming Newport Antiques Show. The 2016 Newport Antiques Show takes place July 22-24 at the St. George’s School Ice Rink in Middletown, RI; the Show opens with the July 21st Gala […]

Concerns of Brexit shaping the world economy seem to have little effect on luxury homes in Watch Hill, as a turn of the century mansion on Ninigret Avenue sells for $7,600,000 this past week. The nine bedroom home is set atop a bluff overlooking two ponds and the dunes of East Beach. The home was […]

Dorothy Carr Quinn, of Newport passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 3, 2016 at Newport Hospital. A native Newporter she was born on June 5, 1928 and was the daughter of Raymond H. Carr Sr. and Irene Diggles Carr. She was predeceased by her three older brothers, Robert F. Carr, Raymond H, Carr Jr. and […]

Spirit of South Carolina, a 140-foot-long, two-masted topsail schooner designed to take groups of novices to sea on sailing adventures, has arrived at Mystic Seaport — “The Museum of America and the Sea” — in Connecticut, and will be spending the summer in New England waters. Spirit is a pilot schooner reminiscent of the famed schooner America, a vessel that made our nation […]

The 2016 Independence Day weekend is now in the history books and it would be hard to ask for, predict and/or come across such a beautiful and busy weekend. Thank you Mother Earth for blessing us with great weather on what’s sure to be the busiest weekend of the year. The crazy weekend all wrapped […]

The Coast Guard was called Monday to a plane crash in the west passage of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Only the pilot, who was reportedly not injured, was aboard the aircraft during the crash. After the single-engine propellor plane plunged into the bay, a nearby good Samaritan aboard a recreational boat rushed to recover the […]

Portsmouth Historical Society Hosts Lecture and Display of 1776 Declaration of Independence at Town Hall The Portsmouth Historical Society, in conjunction with the Town Clerk’s office, will host a lecture by noted local scholar John Parrillo on William Ellery, one of Rhode Island’s signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a display of Portsmouth’s original […]

The following obituary appeared on O’Neill-Hayes first; Joseph Richard Brady, 63, of Newport, RI passed away peacefully at Newport Hospital surrounded by his family Saturday, July 2, 2016. He is predeceased by his wife of 28 years Ellen S. Brady (Caswell). They were married in Newport, at St. Mary’s Church. Born in Jersey City, NJ […]

The Coast Guard is searching for a possible person in the water in Great Salt Pond on Block Island, Rhode Island. At about 1 a.m., Monday, watchstanders at the Sector Southeastern New England command center received a report of an unmanned dinghy making in circles in Great Salt Pond. The Block Island Harbormaster and a […]

Due to the city of Providence Fireworks taking place this evening and channel closures Seastreak has cancelled the 9:45pm Providence departure. The boat was scheduled to arrive in Newport at 10:45 p.m. this evening. The last boat to depart Providence today for Newport will be at 5 p.m. The last boat to depart Newport today for Providence […]

After being closed on Thursday, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) recommended the reopening of Mackerel Cove Beach in Jamestown around 5pm on Friday for swimming. The beach was closed based on results from water samples that measured bacteria counts at the beaches. RIDOH did recommend closing Conimicut Point Beach in Warwick due to high bacteria counts. […]

Karen King, Owner of Style Newport, came across two beautiful dog on Hammersmith Road this morning. The dogs were laying in the shade and exhausted, they have matching collars but no tags. Newport Police and Potter League for Animals have not received any calls from anyone looking for the dogs. UPDATE: These dogs have been reconnected with […]

Since Memorial Day, local residents, business owners and even tourists have been providing us with an overwhelming amount of feedback regarding wrong-way bicycle riders and sidewalk riders. A recent city traffic scanner validated their concern, it counted 150 wrong-way vehicles on Thames Street over a weekend. In a recent study by the League of American Cyclists, […]

Here’s our weekly roundup of open houses taking place on Aquidneck Island over the weekend, happy home shopping! Need real estate help or a reliable agent? E-mail us at Ryan@whatsupnewp.com, we’d be happy to put you in touch with a preferred and reliable real estate agent that can fulfill your needs. The following information has […]

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced at a press conference yesterday that it will debut its new ferry service connecting Providence and Newport on July 1. The new service will run during the busy tourism season, July 1-Sept. 5, bolstering the state’s economy and promoting public transit for visitors to Rhode Island’s two […]

Grants will fund programs ranging from job readiness training and after-school activities to preventing relationship violence prevention and stocking food pantries The Rhode Island Foundation has awarded $259,000 in grants to 40 organizations serving Newport County residents. The grants, through the Foundation’s Newport County Fund (NCF), will underwrite a host of programs ranging from job […]

Members of four historic Newport houses of worship – Touro Synagogue, Trinity Church, Newport Congregational Church, and St. Mary’s Church joined me to chat about the Four Faiths Tour on The Open Forum on WADK1540 AM. Representing the four churches were Chuck Filppo (Touro Synagogue), Harle Tinney (Trinity Church), Andy Long (Newport Congregational Church) and John Hirschboeck (St. Mary’s […]

Tim Mills, Newport Harbormaster reminds Newport residents and visitors to the City-By-The-Sea to stay safe over the Fourth Of July Weekend. Fourth of July weekend is a time for fireworks, barbeques, boating, friends and family, and of course celebrating Independence Day. Amongst all of the fun, especially on the water, the Newport Harbormaster would like […]

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has recommended reopening Oakland Beach in Warwick and closing Mackerel Cove Beach in Jamestown for swimming. These recommendations are based on results from water samples that measured bacteria counts at the beaches. The status of a beach may change daily. The most up-to-date beach information is available through […]

Portsmouth Fire Department and Portsmouth Police Department responded to West Main Road just before 9 a.m. this morning for a truck that had rolled over on its side. The truck, full of crabs, was the only vehicle involved in the accident, there were no injuries reported. As of 9 a.m. all of West Main Road was […]

June was a busy month of good news, bad news, breaking news and helpful information, here’s what Newport was reading, talking about and most interested in! Thanks to the the 52,300+ people that visited WhatsUpNewp.com more than 120,000 times in June! 20 – Warning: Fake $100 Bill Passed in Downtown Newport This Morning 19 – 8 Businesses You Can […]

The U.S. Coast Guard, Newport Fire Department, Middletown Fire Department, Jamestown Fire Department and several other agencies responded to Bailey’s Beach for a water rescue/search around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. A helicopter from the U.S. Coast Guard and a jet ski from Middletown were among the vehicles searching the area. Authorities responded to Bailey’s Beach for a report […]

The 6th annual Fishing for A Cause tournament, fundraiser and dinner raised $200,000 to benefit children and families of The Schwartz Center. The annual event featured more than 100 anglers and over 300 guests at the seaside dinner, making it once again the largest annual fundraiser for Meeting Street’s Dartmouth campus.  Fishing for a Cause has […]

With the window to declare your candidacy for local offices now closer, we’re finding out who will and won’t run for election/re-election come November. Naomi Neville has announced that she will not seek re-election, she is the only Newport City Council member that will not seek re-election. “It’s been an honor to serve for as […]

Ever wonder what grandma’s old – maybe antique – vase is worth. Or preparing to downsize and trying to determine how to get rid of all that “junk” you’ve accumulated over the years. Is it worth anything? Should you just pull up a dumpster and get rid of it? Kevin Bruneau, owner of Bruneau & […]

Tyler’s Two Cents: Thoughts from Behind the Bar is a weekly lifestyle column, written by Tyler Bernadyn, that will appear every Tuesday on What’sUpNewp this summer.     It’s almost unbelievable that 4th of July weekend is upon us already.  Arguably the busiest holiday of the summertime, this party weekend transforms Newport into a bustling […]

Jake Brodt (Santa Clara) powered some energy into the Newport Gulls line-up in an attempt to facilitate another walk-off win at Cardines Field, but the Gulls were unable to fight all the way back, as the Winnipesaukee Muskrats defeated the Gulls 8-6 on Monday night at Cardines Field to extend the Gulls winless streak to five […]

Newport resident Adrienne Haylor was among the 4 outside candidates to file declarations of candidacy on Monday. “I turned in my declaration of candidacy papers, 8:30 this morning for the Newport Public School Committee. I am a first time candidate. I retired from a 15 year career in education in June 2015, returned to my […]

I turned my focus on this June Monday to the 2016 election calendar and focused on the declaration of candidacy in some of our local and state offices. Representative Lauren Carson called into the program around 12:30pm to announce for the first time that she would be running for re-election in November to continue representing District […]