The protest has already stalled construction for five days on the nation’s first major offshore wind farm.
South Coast Bureau
Posted inArticle, Business, Environment, South Coast Bureau
Construction halts on Vineyard Wind as longshoremen protest lack of local workers on jobsite
Assembly work for the nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm shut down today in New Bedford because of a protest over diversity and local hiring on the job site.
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, Criminal Justice, Local, South Coast Bureau
Excessive force trial begins for Fall River cop with long rap sheet
Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Michael Pessoa, a police officer accused of beating a man and arresting him on false charges four years ago. Prosecutors said Pessoa has a history of “utilizing his authority as a police officer to engage in violent behavior towards individuals engaging in lawful behavior and lying about it to cover up his illegal actions.”
Posted inArticle, Business, South Coast Bureau
Immigrants fired for protesting win big settlement from New Bedford tire recycler
The nearly $1 million concession by Bob’s Tire could have ripple effects in other workplaces where undocumented immigrants quietly endure harsh conditions.
Posted inArticle, Housing, Local, Politics, South Coast Bureau
New Bedford city council reverses course on rent control ballot question
A non-binding referendum approved by the city council last month would have polled voters on whether they support limiting rent increases. But several councilors flipped their votes Thursday night and supported Mayor Jon Mitchell’s veto of the ballot measure.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
Disturbance breaks out at Bristol County Jail as sheriff relocates inmates for renovations
Corrections officers have resolved a standoff at a Bristol County Jail that kept the facility under lockdown for most of the day on Friday.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
Unsealed footage of 2020 ICE detainee uprising leaves some questions unanswered
A violent confrontation between guards and immigrants at a Bristol County detention center in 2020 spawned conflicting accounts of what happened. Three years later, the release of a heavily redacted subset of the original footage offers little in the way of objectivity.
Posted inArticle, South Coast Bureau
New Bristol sheriff advances plans to close Ash Street Jail, reduce suicides
At a press conference reflecting on his first 100 days in office, Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux announced plans to rearrange the county jail system’s staff, facilities, and suicide prevention protocols. He said these changes will reign in the jail system’s exceptionally high suicide rate and enable him to close New Bedford’s Ash Street Jail within two years.
Posted inArticle, Business, South Coast Bureau
New Bedford seafood plant follows through on mass termination of immigrant workers
Eastern Fisheries, one of America’s largest seafood suppliers, has effectively fired 100 processing workers in New Bedford by requiring them to reapply for their jobs with verified social security numbers. Many of the workers are Central American immigrants who have worked for years at Eastern Fisheries under temporary contracts through a pair of local employment […]
