Paul Roselli, a Democratic candidate for governor, an environmentalist who is leading the opposition of the proposed power plant in Burrillville, talks about jobs, the economy, and healthcare on this edition of The Open Forum with What’sUpNewp’s Frank Prosnitz on AM 1540 WADK Newport.
People & Profiles
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Shift Drinks: Marc St. Laurent, Zelda’s
Shift Drinks is a new weekly column on WhatsUpNewp that hopes to highlight local hospitality professionals around town. With so many unique, talented and passionate individuals working in the service industry, this series aims to introduce some new faces, feature some familiar ones and give you an insight into their lives outside the workplace. In case you missed […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Shift Drinks: Matt Plumb, Brick Alley Pub
Shift Drinks is a new weekly column on WhatsUpNewp that hopes to highlight local hospitality professionals around town. With so many unique, talented and passionate individuals working in the service industry, this series aims to introduce some new faces, feature some familiar ones and give you an insight into their lives outside the workplace. In case […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Shift Drinks: Justine King, The Mooring
Shift Drinks is a new weekly column on WhatsUpNewp that hopes to highlight local hospitality professionals around town. With so many unique, talented and passionate individuals working in the service industry, this series aims to introduce some new faces, feature some familiar ones and give you an insight into their lives outside the workplace. […]
Posted inArts & Culture, People & Profiles
Podcast: A conversation with Rebecca Bertrand, Executive Director of newportFILM
Last fall, newportFILM announced that longtime Executive Director Terri Conners would transition into a role on the Board of Directors and Managing Director Rebecca Bertrand would be named Executive Director. On the eve of newportFILM’s first event of 2018 (Love, Cecil – newportFILM screening 1/31) and at the start of her first full season/year as Executive Director, Rebecca […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Podcast: RI Foundation on what grants and scholarships are available, our thoughts on sale of Armory, and more
Chris Barnett from Rhode Island Foundation joined us on this hodge-podge of What’sUpNewp Radio Edition on AM 1540 WADK to discuss the Foundations news that they are offering $265,000 in grants to serve Newport County residents. Frank Prosnitz and I also discuss the possible sale of the Armory on Lower Thames Street, government transparency, and […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Podcast: What’s up with Newport Wellness Week
Start the year off right by focusing on lifelong health and wellness solutions. That’s at least the goal of the Discover Newport’s inaugural Newport Wellness Week, running January 21 – 27, 2018. Andrea McHugh from Discover Newport stopped by What’sUpNewp Radio Edition on AM 1540 WADK on Tuesday with guests Meredith Ewenson and Kim Fuller […]
Posted inArts & Culture, People & Profiles
Podcast: A conversation with Pamela Pantos, Executive Director of Newport Music Festival
When most people think about music in Newport, they imagine the storied folk and jazz festivals. But in the houses of Newport in July, the mansions that line the streets around Bellevue Avenue, the Newport Music Festival has earned a place among the world’s premier chamber music festivals. From its recent history, when members of […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Rhode Island’s Tourism Marketing Initiative
Introduced with great fanfare, the state’s “re-energized” tourism marketing program turned into a debacle. With a slogan that was widely criticized, and a video discredited, the state trashed that program and 16 months ago began anew. Unlike the “trashed” version, this new initiative was introduced with little fanfare and has been seldom seen by many […]
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Podcast: Working Cities Newport – What it is and how you can get involved
Last May, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Eric Rosengren and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced that Cranston, Newport, and Providence won the Fed’s Working Cities Challenge, a competition for Rhode Island communities to improve the lives of low- and moderate-income residents. The three cities each received multiyear grants of $400,000 to support programs […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles
Podcast: A conversation with Paul Pence, Republican candidate for Lt. Governor
Paul Pence, the Republican candidate for Rhode Island Lt. Governor, joined Frank today on The Open Forum on AM 1540 WADK Newport. Pence is editor of RI Roads Magazine, a former reporter at the Westerly Sun, and senior quality management systems and food safety specialist at Toray.
Posted inPeople & Profiles
Podcast: Current and former Newport residents reflect on their experience in Hawaii during false missile alarm
Following the false missile alarm, it’s been absolute chaos in Hawaii. Patrick Murphy, a Newport native, a contributor to What’s Up Newp, the founder of The Kings Lens And Friends and (at least for this winter) a winter resident of Hawaii, called in to What’s Up Newp Radio Edition on WADK 1540AM recently to take us through what life was like […]
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Podcast: A conversation with Lara Salamano, Chief Marketing Officer of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation
Remember the Rhode Island Tourism debacle of the late winter, early spring of 2016. Remember the slogan, Warmer and Cooler. Remember the video, with that skateboarder, yes, the skateboarder from Reykjavik. The state blew up that program and chose Lara Salamano, the Commerce Department’s Chief Marketing Officer, to fix the program. Some $4.3 million was […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles
Podcast: A conversation with Rhode Island Lt. Governor Dan McKee
Lt. Governor Dan McKee, a Democrat, joined me recently on The Open Forum on AM 1540 WADK Newport to talk about what appears to be a competitive primary election, in which he faces Progressive Democrat Aaron Regenberg, a 27-year-old who is in his second term in the House of Representatives. McKee also talked about his […]
Posted inBusiness, People & Profiles
Podcast: A conversation with NIROPE – Nick, Ron, and Pete Cardi of Cardi’s Furniture
It was a leaky rowboat that Nick, Ron, and Pete named as kids, using the first two letters of their first names and that’s how the name NIROPE was born. The stores, Cardi’s was started as a general store by Nick, Ron, and Pete’s grandmother, Rosa. Now, some 90 years later it is among the […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles
Podcast: A conversation with Patricia Morgan, Republican gubernatorial candidate
Republican gubernatorial candidate and State Representative Patricia Morgan, R – West Warwick, the House Minority Leader, discusses her vision for Rhode Island with Ryan Belmore and Frank Prosnitz on The Open Forum on AM 1540 WADK Newport, and why she believes GOP voters should choose her above the two other Republican gubernatorial candidates, Cranston Mayor […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles
RI GOP gubernatorial candidate Morgan focusing on corruption, economy, and education
Characterizing herself as tough, informed and with a vision to root out corruption and spark the economy, state Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick, is focused on becoming Rhode Island’s next governor. She is among three Republicans who will battle in a primary election for the right to challenge incumbent Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat seeking […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles
Congressman Cicilline’s Jan. 13 Town Hall will focus on Democrats’ economic initiative: “A Better Deal”
Congressman David N. Cicilline, D-RI, will focus on what he characterized as the Democrats “bold economic agenda,” a program with a goal of creating 10 million good paying jobs, at a “BetterDeal Town Hall” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Pell Elementary School, 35 Dexter Street, Newport. The Congressman emphasized that he views […]
Posted inCity & Government, People & Profiles
Podcast: Giovanni Feroce discusses why he’s running for Governor
Former state senator, Alex and Ani CEO and Newport resident Giovanni Feroce said he will run for governor this year in a series of New Year’s Day social media posts. Feroce joined Frank Prosnitz and I on What’sUpNewp Radio Edition on AM 1540 WADK on Wednesday, January 3rd to discuss those posts, the Republican gubernatorial race, his plans […]
Posted inArts & Culture, People & Profiles
REVIEW: What Cheer Brigade’s ‘You Can’t See Inside Of Me’
Adding to Providence’s musical variety, brass bands have come to prominence since the turn of the decade with rhythms that take hold of the soul. The Extraordinary Rendition Band and Kickin’ Brass are great examples by possessing an infectious sound that can start a party anywhere. With the Providence Honk Fest being one of the […]
Posted inBusiness, People & Profiles
Newport’s BedJet is revolutionizing the sleep industry from small Brick Market headquarters
Brick Market in Downtown Newport: home of boutique clothing stores, small eateries, Newport memorabilia shops, and… a globally renowned sleep technology start-up that’s currently out-engineering, out-innovating and outselling the billion-dollar brands in the mattress industry. That’s right. Quietly nestled among the shops in Goddard Row is the headquarters of BedJet, founded by Newport resident and […]
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A Conversation with Victor Wooten, Bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
In the world of bass players, few can match Victor Wooten’s mastery. He’s well-versed in the stylings of jazz and funk while also dabbling in the realms of progressive rock and metal. Wooten is always on a mission to teach the younger generation while upholding knowledge to a high standard and encouraging artistic self-identity. To […]
Posted inArts & Culture, People & Profiles
For The Ballroom Thieves, Newport Folk Festival Is Where They Found Their Identity
The story behind The Ballroom Thieves should give any child or adult who has ever dreamed of playing their favorite festival or the “big stage” hope. Just five years ago, two members of the Boston-based band were in the audience of the 2012 Newport Folk Festival without a proper name and dreaming of the day […]
Posted inArts & Culture, People & Profiles
A Conversation with Christian McBride, Artistic Director of Newport Jazz Festival (Part 5 of 5)
The challenge of dwindling public funds to support the arts in school has inspired Christian McBride to join with his wife, Melissa Walker, founder of Jazz House Kids, to provide young musicians an opportunity to develop and grow as artists. And, with public funding for the arts in jeopardy, McBride believes musicians will not be […]
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A Conversation with Christian McBride, Artistic Director of Newport Jazz Festival (Part 4)
You could say about Christian McBride that the bass was in his blood – and it was. From a father and great uncle who played bass, to Julliard in New York City to study classical bass, to the stages of the most significant jazz clubs and festivals in the world – that’s Christian McBride. He […]