Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for Jan. 25

Rise & Shine! I’m Scott Barrett, digital editor for The Daily News, and today is Jan. 25, the 25th day of the year — 340 days remain in 2022. On this day in 1905, the world’s largest diamond was found in a South African mine. The gemstone weighed 3,106 carats — or 1.33 pounds — and was nicknamed the Cullinan Diamond after Thomas Cullinan, the mine’s chairman.

Here & Now

• A proposed bill that would ban the small alcohol bottles known as "nips" has the backing of several lawmakers in Newport County. Those 50mL bottles often end up on city sidewalks, across beaches or in Newport Harbor.

“Nips is short for niprecent, which means small measure,” said Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, D-Jamestown, one of the bill’s nine total co-sponsors. “They’re small drinks, but big pollution.”

As for local liquor stores, opinions seem mixed as to whether this legislation will solve the issues at hand or hurt business in the long run.

"People who buy nips everyday, they’ll probably just buy the next size up. They’re not going to just quit drinking. I don’t think it works like that," said Seth Margolis of Fifth Ward Liquors, who estimated nips account for around 15% of sales by the end of the year.

Read the full story from reporter Savana Dunning here.

• Do you have any strong feelings on the proposed nip ban? The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee will meet Thursday to discuss the bill. Public testimony is being accepted. Learn more here.

• The Nathan Bruno and Jason Flatt Act — partially named for a Portsmouth teenager who died by suicide in 2018 — was signed into law last year. On Sunday night, the organization Be Great for Nate held its first public suicide awareness training session, and reporter Laura Damon was there. Read her story here.

• If you're in the market for a home in Rhode Island, you're probably having a pretty tough time. There was less than a one-month supply of homes available for sale at the end of December, far below the six-month supply that typically characterizes a market balanced between supply and demand. Reporter Bethany Brunelle-Raja breaks down the numbers for Newport County here.

• Find the latest nominees for The Daily News Athlete of the Week and cast your ballots here.

• If you have yet to receive your free at-home COVID tests through the mail, other options are available for Newport seniors. The Edward King House will administer them today through Friday from noon to 3 p.m. Supplies are limited and it's first-come, first-served. Learn more here.

• Speaking of COVID, there are three clinics being held locally today: From 3 to 6 p.m. at the Edward King House in Newport; from 3:15 to 6:15 p.m. at St. Michael's Country Day School in Newport; and from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the United Church of Christ in Little Compton. Registration is recommended for these clinics. To register, visit C19VaccineRI.org and click “Upcoming Community Vaccination Clinics.”

• The MLK Center's mobile food pantry will visit Tiverton in the area of the Apple Creek Apartments and the Sandywoods Center today between noon and 2:30 p.m. Learn more here.

From Four Corners to the Fifth Ward, The Daily News provides the most thorough coverage of Newport County. Become a digital subscriber today for as little as $1 and you'll never miss a story. Click here to get started.

Born today

Danny Woodhead (athlete), 37

Alicia Keys (musician), 41

Dinah Manoff (actress), 66

Weather report

Low tides: 6:16 a.m., 6:21 p.m.

High tides: 12:43 a.m., 1:04 p.m.

Sunrise: 7:01 a.m. Sunset: 4:53 p.m.

Water temperature: 42.3 degrees.

Municipal meetings

Newport

Cliff Walk Commission, 4:30 p.m.

Tree and Open Space Commission, 6 p.m.

Middletown

Zoning Board of Review, 6 p.m.

Tiverton

Dog Park Advisory Committee, 6 p.m.

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m.

School Committee, 7 p.m.

Jamestown

Zoning Board of Review, 7 p.m.

Local obituaries

None new today

Today is …

Opposite Day

National Plan for Vacation Day

National Irish Coffee Day

Trivia Tuesday

In March 1996, the American Civil Liberties Union got involved after the Portsmouth School Committee proposed a dress code — which later passed to the dismay of students — that banned this from being worn inside the high school. The ACLU called such a ban unconstitutional. What was it? Send guesses to sbarrett@newportri.com.

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This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for Jan. 25