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Rhode Island
This Is Where You’re Most Likely to Have a Celebrity Sighting—and No, It’s Not Los Angeles or New York City
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/TAL-watch-hill-rhode-island-WINTCELEBSPOT0325-d3f8ab13b9f9472d8b27bb0c9b7292fc.jpg?ssl=1 "This Is Where You’re Most Likely to Have a Celebrity Sighting—and No, It’s Not Los Angeles or New York City")
Believe it or not, celebrities really are just like the rest of us. Sure, they get to spend their days professionally playing pretend, and they get paid a ton to do it. But when it comes to their downtime, they enjoy all the same things we do, including taking a little vacation. And while you may assume most split their time between major hubs like Los Angeles and New York City, it turns out that celebrities love hidden gems, too.
In February, Casino.org released a study that looked at the places where people are most likely to have a celebrity sighting across the globe. And the No. 1 place is a Swiftie hot spot that may surprise you.
“Watch Hill, Rhode Island, ranks No. 1 worldwide for celebrity sightings (per capita)—especially for Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, and Ryan Reynolds fans,” the company said in a statement obtained by Travel + Leisure. (Watch Hill is a neighborhood in Westerly, Rhode Island, that is about an hour from Providence and Newport.)
Methodology
To find these destinations, the team scraped data from a popular celebrity-sighting Instagram account over the past six months, identifying the 42 global cities where celebrities have been seen the most.
The small town got a significant celebrity boom when Taylor Swift moved in, though it’s a place well worth visiting even without the promise of seeing the world’s most famous touring artist. In Westerly, travelers can check into iconic hotels like the Ocean House, which gives everyone the A-list treatment and also has a private stretch of beach, a zen spa, and opulent bedrooms for all. (It’s also a stone’s throw from Swift’s house, so who knows who you may see while there.)
But Rhode Island isn’t the only place for celebrity sightings. Coming in at No. 2 on the list is a mountain favorite: Aspen, Colorado. It ranked second with “151 celebrity sightings per 100,000 people,” with regulars like “Hailey Bieber, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Kevin Costner” frequently seen strolling the streets and shredding the mountain in winter.
Aspen was followed by several Californian cities, including West Hollywood, Malibu, and Bel-Air, rounding out the top six spots, while Santa Monica came in at No. 10.
However, celebrities don’t spend all their time in the U.S. In No. 7 is St. Barts, a gorgeous Caribbean island with 17 sightings per 100,000 people. Visiting the island also gives you a “high chance of spotting Leonardo DiCaprio.”
St. Barts is followed by Shoreditch in the U.K., where you could see Emilia Clarke and DJ Bassi Fox. Cottesloe, Australia, cinched the ninth spot, with 2.5 celebrity sightings per 100,000 people, with “Drake among the stars frequently seen there.”
However, if you do see a star, remember that they’re on their downtime too, and let them relax just as you are—even if you may be freaking out a little on the inside.
CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island State Police are investigating a crash that happened on I-295 North in Cumberland Tuesday night.
The crash happened in the right lane near Exit 22 just before 9 p.m.
It’s unclear exactly what caused the crash or if anyone was injured.
12 News has reached out to Rhode Island State Police for more information but has not heard back.
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Scandals shake up Capitol Hill ahead of midterm elections
Congressional reporter Zachary Schermele dives into the latest scandals on Capitol Hill and how they’re shaking up politics ahead of midterms.
Rhode Island’s Democrat and Republican primary elections will officially be held on Wednesday, Sept. 9 this year, instead of the usual Tuesday election day.
Lawmakers passed the bill at the urging of state and local officials, who were concerned that an election day falling the day after Labor Day would not give them enough time to set up polls for the arrival of voters.
Gov. Dan McKee signed the bill on April 20, officially moving the primary day for 2026.
Which races will be on the ballot? The Republican and Democrat nominees for a swath of local offices – most notably governor but also lieutenant governor and attorney general.
Why was RI’s primary day moved?
At a hearing on the bill earlier this year, Randy Rossi, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns explained the “significant logistical and financial challenges” municipalities otherwise would have faced having an election the day after Labor Day.
“Beyond cost, municipalities face serious logistical challenges accessing and setting up more than 430 polling locations on a major federal holiday, a process that often requires many hours and access to facilities that are typically closed and unstaffed on Labor Day,” he said.
“Compounding these challenges, many municipalities conduct early voting in city or town halls that must also serve as primary day polling locations,” Rossi noted.
Without changes to current law, he said, “municipalities would be required to conduct early voting and primary day polling simultaneously, often in the same limited space and with the same poll workers, requiring additional staffing and facilities.”
By the time this legislative hearing took place in January, other states facing similar issues, including Massachusetts, had already adjusted their primary dates, “and Rhode Island itself has demonstrated that alternative scheduling can be successful, as occurred during the statewide Wednesday primary in 2018,” Rossi said.
EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (WPRI) — If you’re looking to satisfy you’re sweet tooth, look no further than Division Street.
Nothing Bundt Cakes opened its first Rhode Island bakery in East Greenwich earlier this month. The new bakery is situated within East Greenwich Square, which is also home to the Ocean State’s first Crumbl.
The bakery is known for its handcrafted specialty Bundt cakes, as well as smaller “Bundtlets,” and bite-sized “Bundtinis,” that come in a variety of flavors.
“There’s a strong sense of local pride, creativity, and community here that aligns perfectly with our values,” said Jake Williams, who owns the East Greenwich bakery. “We were drawn to the area’s vibrant small business culture and the opportunity to contribute something special.”
Nothing Bundt Cakes is also expected to open another bakery at Chapel View in Cranston later this year.
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Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
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