Although the Broadway Streetscape Project is in full swing and won’t be completed until the fall of 2016, officials are already looking down the road to improve other busy areas of the historic city. Next on tap are Lower Thames and Spring streets, with planners examining options to make those roadways more attractive and inviting to motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists, […]
City Planner is Hired
After nearly a year without a permanent city planner, officials announced on Wednesday, June 17, the hiring of Christine A. O’Grady, with more than 20 years of experience, as Newport’s new city planner. O’Grady, who has worked as a senior planner with CDR Maguire of Providence for more than two decades, will begin work in Newport on Monday, July 13. […]
Girls of the Road – Newport’s Female Pedicab Drivers
What has two legs and carries up to 600 pounds? If you have hailed a pedicab this season, you might have guessed correctly. A few years ago, pedicab drivers were notoriously Newport’s “men of steel,” but today, there is a 25 percent chance your chauffeur will be a woman. For an individual weighing under 150 pounds, it is like “an […]
Budget Cuts Local Tourism Funds
The 2015-2016 state budget approved by the Rhode Island House on June 16 would cut the state’s contribution to its eight local tourism districts in the next fiscal year. It will cost Discover Newport, the nonprofit organization that promotes tourism in Newport and eight other East Bay communities, about $290,000—or 10 percent of the organization’s annual budget that is derived […]
Platinum Anniversary Celebration
At the Preservation Society of Newport County’s recent annual meeting, a highlight was the awards that were bestowed. Martha Ginty was presented the Laurel Award for Horticulture and John Grosvenor was presented the Laurel Award for Artisanship. The meeting also included election of new trustees and reports from Chairman of the Board Donald O. Ross, CEO and Executive Director Trudy […]
Wild Women of Newport County
The Women’s Resource Center serving Newport and Bristol Counties recently honored twelve local women who have contributed in positive ways to our communities. All proceeds from the event benefited the Women’s Resource Center, a member of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. More information can be found at wrcnbc.org. The luncheon event, held at the Atlantic Beach Club, highlighted […]
Committee Struggles to Reconcile Budget
After receiving the good news on May 10 that the city agreed to fully fund a request for a $935,086 increase in its annual appropriation, the Newport School Committee has begun the daunting task of closing a remaining projected deficit for Fiscal 2016. The City Council decided during its ongoing budget deliberations to boost the educational allotment by four percent, […]
Council Prioritizes Affordable Housing
As Middletown plans its 10-year future, the town wants to do a better job of retaining its past. In a joint meeting with the Planning Board on Monday, June 15, the Middletown Town Council moved affordable housing – for both the young and the elderly – way up on its list of new zoning priorities as it finalizes its wide-reaching […]
NEWS BRIEFS
‘Ten Words or Less’ Scholarship Winner Sailing enthusiast and Portsmouth High School freshman, Magdalena Tabak is the recipient of Semco Orthodontics’ second annual “10 Words or Less” $1,000 college scholarship. The question posed to scholarship applicants this year was “What is your idea of perfect happiness?” Her winning words were “afloat…luffing sail, laughing gull…sheeting in, a journey shared.” In addition […]
For What It’s Worth
For what it’s worth, I have picked out my summer reading, revisiting books I read 30 years ago when we moved here. Starting with “Reminiscences of Newport” by George Champlin Mason followed with “King Lear and The Gilded Age” by Elizabeth Drexel Lehr, then “Newport Our Social Capital” by Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer and “The Last Resorts” by Cleveland […]
