Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for Jan. 29-30
Rise & Shine! I’m Scott Barrett, digital editor for The Daily News, and today is Jan. 29, the 29th day of the year — 336 days remain in 2022. On this day in 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, N.Y., elected its first members: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson.
Here & Now
• Local officials spent most of the day Friday preparing for a storm that is expected to dump at least a foot of snow — and likely a lot more — on Newport County, Rhode Island and the northeast on Saturday.
“With the light, fluffy snow, it won’t be sticking to trees and adding an exorbitant amount of weight,” William Riccio, Newport’s director of public services, told reporter Sean Flynn. “That could be a good thing. If trees don’t come down, maybe we escape outages. We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
“It’s going to be a long duration storm, close to 24 hours worth,” he said. “We will be challenged, but we’re up for it. With the winds, drifting is always a problem for us on Wellington Avenue, Ocean Drive."
In Middletown and Portsmouth, department heads were assembling plans, but one thing was certain — it's going to be a long day. “We’ll have all our crews in tonight,” Portsmouth Town Administrator Rich Rainer said Friday morning. “We expect them to be on duty through Sunday. We have 121 miles of road to plow.”
• Find all of the information regarding parking bans, cancellations and other need-to-know news here. And keep that link handy. We'll be updating it throughout the weekend as we learn more. If there are any power outages locally, you can find the outage map here.
• Will this storm pack the same punch as the Blizzard of '78? I took a dive into our archives and put together a gallery of local photos from that historic storm. Check it out here.
• With Gov. Dan McKee ordering a traffic ban, you'll probably be stuck inside all day. So that means hunkering down and watching movies. Why not try one that was filmed in Newport? Find the list here.
• If you get sick of sitting in front of the tube, check out some of the great stories we published online this morning. Reporter Sean Flynn writes about Ken Dooley's recently published memoir Dooley Noted. The former Newport resident, now 90, has lived a fascinating life, and some of his encounters include Red Auerbach and Katharine Hepburn.
There's also a great tidbit about how Dooley nearly produced a film about Gilded Age Newport that would have starred Richard Gere and Olympia Dukakis, but financing for the project — from a well-known Rhode Island name — fell through.
Sports reporter Steve Rogers has a piece on Salve Regina University hockey player Seth Benson, who has overcome a major surgery and a bout with cancer to get to where he is — the second-leading scorer for the Seahawks. Both stories are on NewportRI.com.
• Speaking of the website, now would be a good time to become a digital subscriber, if you're not one already. You're going to be stuck at home looking to catch up on the things you've missed. Spend $1 and you can read anything you want for the next three months. Not a bad deal. Click here to get started.
• When the snow does subside, you'll need to get out there and start shoveling. The city of Newport answers some frequently asked questions about snow removal here.
• I had a goof in yesterday's edition of Rise & Shine! Instead of putting a NewportRI.com link to the license plate design story, I put a ProvidenceJournal.com link. Considering many of you don't subscribe to both publications, Daily News subscribers couldn't read it. Find the corrected link here.
• Last week, I mentioned The Daily News is seeking a full-time journalist to focus on housing in Newport County. Well, we're also looking to hire a second scribe to report on all things government. Learn more and apply here.
• Find the latest Newport County sports standouts with the Stars of the Day.
• A couple of weeks back, I asked local football coaches for their Super Bowl predictions. After what has been a wild postseason thus far, it's not going too well. Then again, neither is mine — Cowboys vs. Bills.
• Have a safe and happy weekend!
Got a news tip, story idea or just want to drop me a line? Don't be a stranger. Send an email to sbarrett@newportri.com.
Born today
Sara Gilbert (TV host), 47
Oprah Winfrey (TV host), 68
Tom Selleck (actor), 77
Born Sunday
Christian Bale (actor), 48
Phil Collins (musician), 71
Dick Chaney (politician), 81
Weather report
Saturday’s low tides: 11:23 a.m., 10:50 p.m. High tides: 4:57 a.m., 5:24 p.m.
Sunday’s low tides: 12:16 p.m., 11:49 p.m. High tides: 5:57 a.m., 6:20 p.m.
Saturday’s sunrise: 6:58 a.m. Sunset: 4:58 p.m.
Sunday’s sunrise: 6:57 a.m. Sunset: 5 p.m.
Water temperature: 41.9 degrees.
Municipal meetings
Tiverton
School Committee, Saturday, 9 a.m.
Local obituaries
Today is …
National Puzzle Day
National Corn Chip Day
Sunday is …
National Croissant Day
National Draw a Dinosaur Day
Where in Newport County?
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This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for Jan. 29-30
