Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for Jan. 14
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Rise & Shine! I’m Scott Barrett, digital editor for The Daily News, and today is Jan. 14, the 14th day of the year — 351 days remain in 2022. On this day in 1993, late-night talk show host David Letterman announced his intention to leave NBC for CBS, where he would get the 11:30 p.m. time slot and go head-to-head with “The Tonight Show” and host Jay Leno.
Here & Now
• I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who volunteer to serve on the various boards, committees and commissions in their community. They do so on their own time and, more often than not, catch more grief than praise.
There are certainly the high-profile panels like the planning board and the zoning board, but they all have a function aimed at making your city or town a better place to live.
That being said, I reached out to municipalities to see what vacancies they have currently. Spoiler alert: There is no shortage of open positions. If you have the time and a desire to give back to your community, it's something you should consider. Check out the list here.
• Speaking of local government, several top Newport city officials left their jobs at the tail end of 2021. Reporter Sean Flynn has a breakdown of who's out, who's in and why the "Great American Resignation" isn't just impacting the private sector. Read his story here.
• Speaking of resignations, the big news from Thursday was the announcement that Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott is stepping down as head of the state Department of Health. Why she's leaving remains uncertain. Providence Journal reporter Katherine Gregg has the story.
• In his weekly Spare Change column, Jim Gillis writes the COVID pandemic continues to impact the local restaurant industry, noting the recent closure of Fluke. He also offers other tidbits and musings. Read his column here.
• The town of Portsmouth once again has partnered with the Raytheon facility as a hub to receive COVID vaccine doses. There will be a clinic there today from 4 to 7 p.m. for those ages 12 and older. Register at C19VaccineRI.org and click “Upcoming Community Vaccination Clinics.”
• Congratulations to Portsmouth High School boys hockey player Aidan Toner, who with a whopping 10,161 online votes was named The Newport Daily News Athlete of the Week for Jan. 3-9.
• Clean Ocean Access this morning at 10 a.m. will virtually host its fourth annual Healthy Soils Healthy Seas symposium. Learn more and register here.
• From the inbox: According to a recent survey, roughly 1 in 3 Rhode Islanders said they would not stop to help a driver whose car had broken down in a snowstorm. While that's not as bad as Louisiana, where 44% of respondents said they wouldn't help, it's not as a good as Wyoming and Idaho, where only 9% said they wouldn't assist. See the state-by-state breakdown here.
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Born today
Dave Grohl (musician), 53
Jason Bateman (actor), 53
LL Cool J (actor), 54
Carl Weathers (actor), 74
Faye Dunaway (actress), 81
Weather report
Low tides: 11:27 a.m., 10:45 p.m.
High tides: 5:24 a.m., 5:40 p.m.
Sunrise: 7:08 a.m. Sunset: 4:40 p.m.
Water temperature: 44.8 degrees.
Municipal meetings
Jamestown
Housing Authority, 3 p.m.
Local obituaries
Today is …
Organize Your Home Day
National Dress Up Your Pet Day
International Kite Day
Blast from the Past
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This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for Jan. 14