Lima saw beauty in Fall River where few others did. He devoted decades of his life to daylighting the Quequechan River, much of which remains buried in a pipe beneath Interstate 195.
Ben Berke
Based in New Bedford, Ben staffs our South Coast Bureau desk. He covers anything that happens in Fall River, New Bedford, and the surrounding towns, as long as it's a good story. His assignments have taken him to jails, factories, city halls, fishing vessels, bakeries, environmental cleanup sites and the homes of hundreds of interview subjects. Ben joined the bureau in February 2021 after three years in Brockton reporting for The Enterprise. His freelance work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Providence Journal. When he's not working, Ben can often be found near the beach hiking, surfing and collecting the strange things that wash ashore.
Posted inArticle, Environment, South Coast Bureau
Hiking the ‘other’ Fall River: City opens 20-mile trail through protected watershed
Half the land within Fall River’s city limits is a pristine forest that protects the municipal water supply. After a century of pushing residents out of this bioreserve, the city is inviting them back in as hikers.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South County Bureau
Fung and Magaziner focus on cost of living in first CD2 forum
The candidates running to represent Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District debated a variety of issues in a forum hosted by The Public’s Radio and The Providence Journal at the University of Rhode Island on Monday night. The biggest topic of conversation was the cost of living in the district, which runs west from downtown Providence to the Connecticut border.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
Second, undisclosed suicide attempt on Oct. 2 exposes strain on Bristol County jails’ mental health system
The death of an inmate under suicide watch reignited old criticisms of Bristol County’s jails, which for years reported the highest number of suicides of any county jail system in Massachusetts.
An investigation by The Public’s Radio has since revealed that, just six minutes before Adam Howe was found unconscious in his cell, guards were responding to a previously unreported suicide attempt down the hall – exposing greater strains on the county jails’ mental health system than were publicly known when the sheriff defended conditions in his facilities earlier this month.
Posted inArticle, Politics
On Rhode Island’s economy, Kalus and McKee describe alternate realities
The candidates running to be the next governor of Rhode Island shared vastly different visions of the state’s economy in a forum hosted Thursday night by The Public’s Radio and the Providence Journal at Rhode Island College.
Posted inArticle, Business, South Coast Bureau
Local scallopers win big battle over regulatory change sought by corporate competitors
After months of heated public discussion, the New England Fishery Management Council decided against creating a leasing program for limited access scallop permits on Tuesday.
Posted inArticle, Business, South Coast Bureau
New data shows remote work is a rare privilege in New Bedford
New Bedford has one of the lowest shares of residents working remotely of any city in the United States, according to an analysis of new data from the Census Bureau. The Bay Area Council Economic Institute report found only 6 percent of New Bedford’s residents worked from home last year, a proportion that pales in […]
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Massachusetts 2022 Primary Election: Live updates
Check here for live updates on the Sept. 6, 2022 Massachusetts Primary Election.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Mass. primary: Democrats pick a challenger for Sheriff Hodgson, and more
Voters cast their ballots in the Sept. 6 primary elections for a slate of important political offices in Bristol County and Massachusetts at large.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Dartmouth legislator facing election challenge after voting against tax on wealthy
Massachusetts’ largest alliance of labor unions is throwing its weight behind State Rep. Chris Markey’s 21-year-old challenger, Cameron Costa, complicating the incumbent’s first contested election in eight years.
