Business leaders hoping to establish a business improvement district in downtown New Bedford have withdrawn their proposal, ending a fierce debate over whether property owners should pay additional fees to spruce up the neighborhood and market it to visitors. In a letter sent to the City Council president on Monday afternoon, a consultant leading the […]
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 inArts And Culture, Artscape, South Coast Bureau
Not your grandfather’s scrimshaw: Duke Riley engraves pollution scenes on ocean plastic
The New Bedford Whaling Museum’s scrimshaw collection, which includes hundreds of whalebone clocks, pie crimpers, musical instruments, canes and umbrellas, is advertised as the largest of its kind in the world. Naomi Slipp, the museum’s chief curator, said these items weren’t considered fine art when the museum’s founders began collecting them from locals in 1903, […]
Posted inLocal, South Coast Bureau, Transportation
When will South Coast Rail open? MBTA delays start to May 2025
MBTA officials have pushed the target opening date for South Coast Rail back to May 2025, delaying the long-awaited restoration of train service to Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton by another year. MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng, the agency’s top official, delivered the news personally at a pair of public meetings in Fall River […]
Posted inBusiness, Local, Politics, South Coast Bureau
New Bedford City Council delays vote on controversial business improvement district
At a much anticipated Monday night meeting, the New Bedford City Council delayed its vote on whether to approve a business improvement district proposed in the city’s downtown. Instead, the council reversed a previous decision to accept the application paperwork and reopened legal questions about whether the proposal has enough support from downtown property owners […]
Posted inBusiness, Local, South Coast Bureau
Business groups battle over the spirit of downtown New Bedford
Love him or hate him, everyone in downtown New Bedford seems to be talking about Marco Li Mandri. The consultant from San Diego arrived here about 10 years ago, at the invitation of a small business association looking for new funding sources to make downtown a more attractive place to shop and dine out. Li […]
Posted inLocal, Politics, South Coast Bureau
Globe investigation scrutinizes State Sen. Montigny’s $61,000 stipends for ‘bogus’ committees
A new Boston Globe investigation published Friday puts State Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford in its crosshairs. The investigation found Montigny earns $61,000 in extra pay for leading two legislative committees that have not held any public hearings or considered any bills this session. Those stipends have bumped up Montigny’s annual pay to $162,000. […]
Posted inBusiness, Local, Politics, South Coast Bureau
New Bedford pols bury the hatchet and try again with State Pier redevelopment
Plans to redevelop a central slice of New Bedford’s waterfront have begun to move forward again after a dispute between local politicians last year cast some doubts over the future of the project. On an industrial waterfront that prides itself for preserving its fishing industry, the New Bedford State Pier has emerged as a unique […]
Posted inImmigration, Labor, Local, South Coast Bureau
Police press charges in a second sexual harassment case at New Bedford Market Basket
Police have criminally charged a second Market Basket employee for alleged sexual misconduct at the company’s New Bedford supermarket. Juana DeLeon Quinilla, an employee who has chosen to speak publicly under her real name, is accusing a colleague of flashing his penis to her while she cleaned the men’s bathroom and grabbing her butt and […]
Posted inLocal, South Coast Bureau
New Bedford activist Bill do Carmo, dead at 94, knew whalers, Black Panthers and wind developers
When I met Bill do Carmo, I was struck by the paleness of his eyes. He looked like a seer or an oracle — a face out of Shakespeare or Moby Dick. Immediately, he was saying things that connected the fight for rent control to centuries of activism in the same neighborhood. “New Bedford has […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Local, South Coast Bureau
Ex-Fall River cop sentenced to prison for covering up police station beating
A former Fall River police officer received a nearly three-year prison sentence on Wednesday for filing false reports to cover up the beating of a suspect in custody in 2020. Nicholas M. Hoar was convicted in February of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of false reports in […]
