Newport This Week

09/10/2025

Local celebrity Gravy the turkey is playing in the afternoon traffic in Middletown at the corner of Valley Road and Green End Avenue.

09/10/2025

The Town of Middletown, RI is replacing approximately 1300 streetlights. Look for the work beginning in neighborhoods around Middletown. The new lights are expected to save the town approximately $200,000 per year.

According to Deputy Public Works Director Scott McLeish, about 300 lights have been switched out already with new LED units with remaining work ongoing.

is in the process of replacing about 1,300 streetlights across the community. In addition to saving the community at least $200,000 a year, the project will provide better service and dramatically reduce energy consumption. Visit https://mdl.town/NYCU-Light-Work for more.

09/10/2025

On this week’s podcast, Middletown Affordable Housing Committee’s Mark Donahue joins Bill Bartholomew to discuss the expanding affordable housing crisis that is impacting Middletown.

See the full interview on our website homepage or on our YouTube channel.

Middletown Affordable Housing Committee’s Mark Donahue joins Bill Bartholomew to discuss the expanding affordable housing crisis that is impacting Middletown.  

09/10/2025

We are sad to share the news of the passing of
James “Jim” Allyn Reise.

You can read the full obituary on-line.

James “Jim” Allyn Reise, 85, of Jamestown, R.I., and Bonita Springs, Fla., passed away peace­fully at home on Aug. 22, 2025, with his loving wife, Rita, by his side. Born in Newport, Jim was the son of Gertrude (Raposa) and John Reise. He attended De La Salle Academy and enjoyed a charmed child...

09/09/2025

“The Revolution Wind contract delivers power at 9.84 cents per kWh, with a long-term levelized price just above 7 cents, a competi­tive rate that would put downward pressure on bills while diversifying our energy mix. In addition, hun­dreds of union jobs and hundreds of millions in local investment are now at risk.”

Read this letter to the editor about the now shuttered Revolution Wind project in this week’s paper.

On Aug. 22, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management abruptly issued a stop-work order on the Revolution Wind project, already 80 percent complete and vital to Rhode Island’s energy future. This offshore wind farm has undergone nearly a decade of environmental review, received all necessary per­mits...

09/09/2025

The State Properties Committee voted Sept. 2 to transfer owner­ship of an addition to a community center in Newport’s North End from the Rhode Island Department of Education to the local public housing authority. The transfer is necessary to comply with require­ments for using federal pandemic relief money to renovate the site.

Read more here ⤵️

The State Properties Committee voted Sept. 2 to transfer owner­ship of an addition to a community center in Newport’s North End from the Rhode Island Department of Education to the local public housing authority. The transfer is necessary to comply with require­ments for using federal pandemic r...

09/08/2025

We are sad to share the news of the passing of Julia R. Herrick of Newport.

You can read the full obituary here from this week’s edition.

Julia R Herrick (Julie) died In Newport, Rhode Island, on July 30, 2025, after a long illness. Julie was born to Walter D. Herrick Jr. and Julia R. Herrick on March 1, 1943, in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She spent her early years in Oak Park and later a neighboring suburb, River Forest...

09/08/2025

The Newport School Committee gave initial approval to an overhaul of the district’s attendance policy at an Aug. 12 meeting.

Being a policy change, the new language requires a second committee vote of approval before becoming official. The committee is likely to again vote at its next scheduled meeting Sept. 9.

Read this story here ⤵️

The Newport School Committee gave initial approval to an overhaul of the district’s attendance policy at an Aug. 12 meeting. Being a policy change, the new language requires a second committee vote of approval before becoming official. The committee is likely to again vote at its next scheduled me...

09/08/2025

Road work continues on the East Main Road project. This week. Expect delays between Wyatt Road and Turner Road.

Drive carefully.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation continues work on upper East Main Road in . Please use care when driving through the area and thanks to for all its efforts to improve our state roads. Your efforts are noticed and appreciated. Visit https://mdl.town/RIDOT for more.

09/08/2025

A new jet-powered boat is set to patrol Newport’s waters be­ginning next year following a city council vote on Aug. 27.

The council approved, in a 6-1 vote with David Carlin opposed, the roughly $450,000 purchase of a custom-built, 28-foot harbor pa­trol vessel for the harbormaster’s office from Oregon-based North River Boats.

Read more here ⤵️

A new jet-powered boat is set to patrol Newport’s waters be­ginning next year following a city council vote on Aug. 27. The council approved, in a 6-1 vote with David Carlin opposed, the roughly $450,000 purchase of a custom-built, 28-foot harbor pa­trol vessel for the harbormaster’s office fr...

09/07/2025

Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan pleaded no contest to a charge of willful trespass stem­ming from an incident in Newport last month.

Judge Terence Houlihan, Jr. handed down a 10-month filing, which essentially pauses the case and acts as a probationary period. If Flanagan is not charged with an­other offense during that time, she will not be convicted.

Read more about the update here from this week’s paper.

Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan pleaded no contest on Aug. 27 to a charge of willful trespass stem­ming from an incident in Newport last month. Judge Terence Houlihan, Jr. handed down a 10-month filing, which essentially pauses the case and acts as a probationary peri...

09/07/2025

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch are two of the best actors working today, equally adept at comedy and drama on screens big and small and on both sides of the pond.

Read our review of their new dark comedy “The Roses,” now in theaters and coming soon to the Jane Pickens Theater.

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch are two of the best actors working today, equally adept at comedy and drama on screens big and small and on both sides of the pond. As the battling couple in the dark comedy, “The Roses,” Colman and Cumberbatch are first rate and are reason enough to see th...