Underage and Unprotected: How a migrant teen tried to juggle going to high school and working overnights at a seafood processor.
New Bedford
Posted inArticle, Business, Labor
Underage and Unprotected: Migrant teens worked in risky jobs in New Bedford seafood processing plants
The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating possible violations of child labor, overtime pay, and anti-retaliation laws at two processors and one Rhode Island-based staffing agency
Posted inArtscape, Episode, Local, South Coast Bureau
New Bedford says goodbye to a downtown eccentric
Ira Cohen, a bookseller and art model who kept a literary spirit alive in a tough New England seaport, died this January at 70 years old after a brief illness. Cohen was the focus of what turned out to be the last show UMass Dartmouth exhibited at its gallery in downtown New Bedford before the university abruptly closes its campus there at the end of the month. For this week’s Artscape, South Coast Bureau Reporter Ben Berke interviewed more than a dozen people who knew Cohen. The result is a collection of stories, memories and impressions that form another lasting portrait of Cohen.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
A decade in the making, parts for America’s first major offshore wind farm arrive in New Bedford
A barge carrying massive turbine components for Vineyard Wind One arrived in New Bedford’s harbor Wednesday afternoon. It was a symbolic step forward for a historic seaport where leaders have spent more than a decade fighting for an early role in America’s emerging offshore wind industry.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
Voters agree – Abel Afonso makes the best pastel de nata in Massachusetts’ South Coast
The pastel de nata is one of Portugal’s best-known culinary exports. Thousands of these flaky pastries filled with sweet egg custard emerge from ovens in Fall River and New Bedford each week. A recent contest between the two cities’ tourism departments claims to have identified the best pastel de nata in the region.
Posted inArticle, Politics, South Coast Bureau
The enduring challenge of closing New Bedford’s 135-year-old jail
Less than a month into his first term, Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux announced his intention to close the Ash Street Jail. It’s one of the oldest carceral facilities in America, but the project of closing it has proven to be more difficult than expected.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
Justice Department to require New Bedford schools to provide more support to K’iché students and families
A two-year investigation found that the district had failed to provide equal access to education for students and families who speak K’iché, an indigenous Guatemalan language.
Posted inArticle, Arts And Culture, South Coast Bureau
Reviving a lost tradition at Hazelwood Park
Our South Coast Bureau Reporter Ben Berke is a frequent visitor of Hazelwood Park, where volunteers are seeking to revive a lost tradition of playing croquet and lawn bowling in New Bedford’s South End. He stopped by last Friday for the grand re-opening of the park’s bowling greens.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
Massachusetts’ South Coast prepares for evacuation if Henri floods low-lying areas
New Bedford is the only city in Massachusetts with a hurricane barrier. Tony Marques, who lives right next to it, said the last time he saw the gates close on Rodney French Boulevard was when Hurricane Bob hit in 1991. But he and others in the city are preparing to rely on the gates once […]
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 […]
