Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for July 5

Newport Daily News
·2 min read

Good morning.

With the calendar now firmly in July and the holiday behind us, it's a good time to take a look back at the first half of 2022.

With that in mind, we're going to take a look at some of the most popular stories from the first six months of the year from each of our reporters here at The Daily News during the next couple of days.

First off is Savana Dunning's most-read stories.

While change is always inevitable, Savana has taken it head-on this year. Following the retirement of Sean Flynn in February, Savana stepped right in and took over the role of covering Newport city government and the surrounding issues. She's added some new wrinkles to the beat, such as her live-tweeting of Newport municipal meetings, while also telling some of the biggest stories to emerge so far in 2022.

Here's a look at 5 the most-read stories so far.

• When it was announced in February that there will be a second season of HBO's "The Gilded Age," Savana began checking around to see what could be in store for Newport and the potential for a return to the City-by-the-Sea.

• Following many attempts during the past year to address growing concerns around the increase in short-term rentals popping up around the city, the City Council finally came up with a plan in March to ban them in residential areas. Savana reported on the change and those who voiced concern about what was happening.

• When digging through property records this past February Savana came across documents that made it appear the famed OceanCliff was changing hands. When she reached out to the owner however the news came as a surprise to them. Savana's reporting took her down a strange path that led to a State Farm insurance salesman from Michigan in this unusual story.

• With Memorial Day weekend about to begin Newport's lodging scene was dealt an enormous blow when the Wayfinder Hotel was destroyed by a fire. The day after the blaze Savana began talking to those on the hospitality side of the situation to see what would happen next for everyone from employees to guests that no longer had a room to stay in on their planned visit.

The effort to extinguish a fire at the Wayfinder Hotel continued Tuesday morning with Newport Fire Department crews concentrating on hot spots.
The effort to extinguish a fire at the Wayfinder Hotel continued Tuesday morning with Newport Fire Department crews concentrating on hot spots.

• In April, Savana learned that unions representing teachers and staff at Thompson Middle School had voted and informed Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain that they had no confidence in the school's principal. Savana talked with union leaders and school officials to learn more about the concerns and how the school department would be handling the matter.

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Weather forecast for July 5
Weather forecast for July 5

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Rise & Shine! Your Newport County guide for July 5