New England’s fishing regulators are weighing whether the owners of scallop vessels should be allowed to lease out their access to scallop grounds.
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, Politics
Maura Healey stacks up endorsements for governor in Fall River
Politicians in Fall River lined up today to endorse Maura Healey in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts governor. Mayor Paul Coogan and State Representatives Carol Fiola, Alan Silvia, Paul Schmid and Patricia Haddad all pledged support for Healey, who currently serves as Massachusetts’ Attorney General. She launched her campaign in January after Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
New research suggests cod, New England’s founding fish, may be returning to local waters
Atlantic cod, once a mainstay of the region’s economy, is being fished at historically low levels, but a research scientist whose past findings opened up a tightly regulated scallop fishery says cod may be staging a comeback.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Jasiel Correia, former Fall River mayor convicted of taking bribes, is now in prison
Correia will appeal his convictions while serving a six-year sentence at a federal prison in Berlin, New Hampshire.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Jasiel Correia ordered to turn himself into prison on Friday
The former mayor of Fall River is out of legal options to secure another delay to his six-year prison sentence.
Posted inArticle, Education, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Referendum shows overwhelming support in Dartmouth for Indian logo
81 percent of voters support keeping the Dartmouth Indian as the high school’s logo.
Posted inArticle, Education, South Coast Bureau
An Indian logo at Dartmouth High, a Wampanoag illustrator, and a town divided over its removal
A non-binding referendum is on Tuesday’s ballot.
Posted inArticle, Environment, South Coast Bureau
In bid for service sooner, South Coast Rail takes the long way to Boston
The MBTA is reviving train service from Boston to Fall River and New Bedford, but a series of cost-saving decisions will lead to slower, less frequent service than commuters were initially promised.
Posted inArticle, Business, Environment, Politics
Governor announces bill to procure enough offshore wind contracts to power half of R.I.
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee unveiled legislation today that would more than double the amount of power the state has agreed to purchase from offshore wind farms being developed off the southern coast of Martha’s Vineyard. If passed by the state legislature, the bill would require Rhode Island’s utility providers to buy another 600 megawatts […]
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Genoveva Andrade, Jasiel Correia’s chief of staff, is spared jail time as Fall River corruption probe nears completion
Andrade, 50, was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $50,000.
