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What's Up in Newport: Friday, November 15 – What's Up Newp
Good Morning! It’s Friday, November 15. 🗓️ Today is the 320th day of the year; 46 days remain in 2024.
Today, we’re covering the end of Singing for Shelter, a jewelry collaboration involving Snoop Dog, Yacht Rock, an open call to serve in Newport’s legal roles, and more.
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What’s Up Today
☀️ Weather
Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.
⚓ Marine
N wind 7 to 10 kt becoming NW in the afternoon. Mostly sunny. Seas 1 ft or less.
🌔 Sun, Moon, & Tide
Sunrise at 6:34 am, sunset at 4:25 pm. Low tide at 12:51 pm. High tide at 6:43 am & 7:08 pm. The lunar phase is a Waxing Gibbous.
🎭 Things To Do
🎶 Live Music & Entertainment
🗓️ Newport County Public Meetings
- No public meetings are scheduled.
Community Calendar
What’s News Today
News
🏘️ Portsmouth breaks ground on affordable 55+ housing and senior center
On Wednesday, local housing organizations, community partners, and several state officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a new, age-restricted housing development in Portsmouth. Read the story on WPRI —>
🏘️ Newport City Council-elect calls for letters of interest for key legal roles
Residents can apply for City Solicitor, Municipal Court Judge, and Probate Judge positions by November 19. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
⛽ How Rhode Island’s decreasing gasoline sales compare nationwide
Rhode Island gas consumption falls by 150,200 gallons in 5 years, as nationwide demand drops 5.7%. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
⚡ Rhode Island becomes first state to launch Community EV Charging Expansion
$10M available for public, non-profit, and private entities to install publicly accessible EV chargers. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
🚨 Newport Police Arrest & Dispatch Log: Nov. 13 – 14
Two individuals were arrested on various charges. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>
👏 NUWC Division Newport Team Honored for Torpedo Milestone
Successful firing of Mark 48 Mod 4 from U.S. submarine after 20-year gap. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
💰 Quonset Port secures $11.25 million for infrastructure upgrades
Port of Davisville project aims to boost cargo transport, security, and future expansion. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
Business & Nonprofit
🎶 Singing for Shelter ends its run – annual fundraising concert will not return this season
But homeless shelters still need your support – We speak with founder Mark Gorman about the legacy of the concert which raised nearly $200,000 for local shelters. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>
✨ Jewelry designer Carolyn Rafaelian partners with Snoop Dogg for new brand
Lovechild aims to blend craftsmanship, positive energy in Rhode Island-made pieces. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>
📰 Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
The sale price was not immediately disclosed. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>
Food & Drink
☕ ‘It wasn’t just about coffee’: R.I. cafe owner is growing her brand while boosting other women in business
Entrepreneur Andreea Marin owns three Kaffeology coffeeshops in Rhode Island — in Newport, Portsmouth and Cranston. Read the story on The Boston Globe—>
Life & Culture
🗓️ Out with the Astors, in with the Calders: revisiting Newport, Rhode Island’s 1974 public sculpture extravaganza
Fifty years later, Monumenta’s organisers and attendees reflect on what was arguably the most ambitious school project ever. Read the story on The Art Newspaper —>
💃 Salve Regina University to present ‘True North’ dance concert
DJD artists join students and faculty for contemporary and jazz performances November 21-23. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>
🎾 International Tennis Hall of Fame unveils ‘Be Legendary’ youth program
The initiative will teach the rich history of tennis, provide memorable experiences with Hall of Famers and current tennis stars, and showcase what it means to Be Legendary. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
🎬 ‘Yacht Rock’ docks in Newport: HBO documentary gets special screening
HBO film exploring soft rock’s cultural impact to screen at newportFILM event with trivia and prizes. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
Obituaries
🕊️ Donnell Shea
Opinion
✍️ Letter to The Editor – Dennis Turano: Thank you to Middletown voters for selecting me to represent you
By Dennis Turano, Middletown. Read on What’sUpNewp—>
✍️ We Can’t Wait for Promise of Unproven Nuclear Technology to Save Planet from Roasting
We need a diverse blend of responsibly sited non-fossil-fuel energy, from on and offshore wind to various solar and nuclear technologies. This mix may someday include small modular reactors, but we can’t afford to wait years, perhaps even a decade or more, for this technology. Read more on ecoRI News—>
People
🕰️ An Auctioneer as Rare as Any Antique
For some, an even bigger draw than the silver, furniture and artwork at Michael Corcoran’s auctions (in Newport) is the 96-year-old auctioneer himself. Read the story on NY Times —>
👉 Gina Raimondo is considering another run for governor of Rhode Island
Former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo — a Democrat who is facing the end of her tenure as U.S. Commerce secretary due to Donald Trump’s victory last week. Read the story on The Public’s Radio—>
Sports
🏒 Dadonov scores 2 goals, including a penalty shot, as the Stars beat the Bruins 7-2
Evgenii Dadonov scored two goals, including the first successful penalty shot in the NHL this season, and the Dallas Stars beat the Boston Bruins 7-2 on Thursday night. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
🏀 Bryant defeats Buffalo 87-64
Rafael Pinzon’s 15 points helped Bryant defeat Buffalo 87-64 on Thursday night. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
🏈 Matthew Stafford will be trying to erase bitter memories when Rams visit Patriots
Matthew Stafford remembers what didn’t go right during his last visit to New England, in 2014 when he was still with the Detroit Lions. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
What’s Up This Week + Weekend
🗓️ What’s Up in Newport: Nov. 11 – 18
Newport Classical, Holiday Festival, Steve Hofstetter, Jesse Cook, and more. Read the story on What’sUpNewp —>
🎶 What’s Up Interview: Grammy-winning singer Lucinda Williams, playing The Vets tonight
Iconic performer to present ‘Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets,’ a show based on her recently published book. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
🎭 Theatre Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ continues to delight audiences with standout performances and energetic dance numbers
Popular jukebox musical runs through Sunday at Performing Arts Center. Read the story on What’sUpNewp—>
New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.
Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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