All Rhode Islanders 16 and older will be eligible to schedule appointments for COVID-19 vaccination starting April 19, Governor Dan McKee said at a briefing Thursday afternoon. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced the same time frame for vaccination Wednesday. Earlier this week, Rhode Island health officials said there would not be enough vaccine supply to […]
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, Business, Environment, South Coast Bureau
Floating turbines could bring offshore wind to deeper waters
A new report from an environmental nonprofit found the United States has enough offshore wind energy potential to power the entire nation’s electricity grid two times over. Even in a future where Americans forego fossil fuels to power cars and heat homes with electricity, researchers from Environment America say offshore wind alone could meet close […]
Posted inArticle, Business, Environment, South Coast Bureau
America’s biggest offshore wind farm is on the verge of federal approval
America’s offshore wind infrastructure is modest: the only turbines in the ocean today power a small community’s worth of homes from a wind farm off Block Island. But within two years, the number of American homes powered by the renewable energy source could grow to nearly half a million. Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen says […]
Posted inArticle, Business, South Coast Bureau
Lockheed Martin will close factory in Marion, moving 400 jobs out of state
Lockheed Martin announced it will close a factory next year in Marion, Massachusetts that employs more than 400 workers. The defense contractor is the largest employer in the coastal town of 5,000, where a mix of factory and office workers manufacture underseas weapons for the U.S. Navy. The company said it will offer most employees […]
Posted inArticle, Health, South Coast Bureau
3 in 4 Bristol County inmates refuse vaccine, mirroring hesitancy among staff
Last May, a densely populated wing of a jail in Dartmouth, Massachusetts erupted in violence amid growing tensions over coronavirus safety. Why are the jail’s inmates now refusing the vaccine?
Posted inArticle, Education, South Coast Bureau
‘I was afraid of the superintendent’: More stories of misconduct emerge from Fall River’s school department
Fall River’s City Council is calling for the immediate resignation of the school superintendent, who faces allegations that he sexually harassed and verbally abused school employees.
Posted inArticle, Education, South Coast Bureau
Fall River superintendent, accused of ‘bullying’ employees, told to resign immediately
Councilors are calling for the school superintendent to step down following accusations that he sexually harassed and verbally abused several of his subordinates.
Posted inArticle, Business, South Coast Bureau
America’s largest scallop company sues New Bedford over waterfront expansion
An owner of the world’s largest scallop fleet is fighting New Bedford’s plans to expand a portion of the city’s waterfront.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Ex-Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia’s corruption trial delayed until May
Snow days and Covid precautions have shifted the start line once again for one of Massachusetts’ most anticipated trials: that of Jasiel Correia, the former mayor of Fall River facing corruption and fraud charges in federal court. Once a rising star elected as the youngest mayor in Fall River’s history, Correia now stands accused of […]
Posted inArticle, Environment, South Coast Bureau
Report: Shellfish industry under threat as oceans grow more acidic
Carbon emissions and wastewater are making the ocean more acidic, an accelerating chemical reaction that could threaten the ability of young scallops, oysters and lobsters to survive to maturity, according to a report published by the Massachusetts legislature on Tuesday. A coalition of scientists, conservationists and representatives from the seafood industry found that a third […]
