Top stories this week Cape Verde history, a gull named Glenn, ORR tension
As we head into the weekend, let’s take a look at the news from this past week.
The SouthCoast community has stepped up for 7-year-old Porter Guillemette — a second grader at Acushnet Elementary School — who was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, after doctors discovered an aggressive brain tumor. Billy Sylvia, president of the New Bedford firefighters union Local 841, started a GoFundMe page which has raised over $60,000 from many community members.
There’s a herring gull named Glen flying around the Whaling City, and he’s about to make his big debut in an upcoming children’s book. The children’s book is all about following around the feathered downtown resident hoping to catch him causing a nuisance in the city. Instead, he is embraced by the community and makes people laugh with his wit and charm.
Sports:Carreau does whatever is needed to help Bishop Stang girls basketball succeed
Keep up with high school sports with scores, game highlights, and player of the week voting at https://www.southcoasttoday.com/sports.
Then there are the most-read stories of the week on https://www.southcoasttoday.com:
Mayor Jon Mitchell requested the City Council’s approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the City of New Bedford for a $21 million pedestrian bridge creating access to the new downtown inter-city rail station.
The purpose of the bridge would be to provide a walkway over John F. Kennedy Boulevard between Purchase Street and the station to ensure a safe walking route. The city will not be required to pay for any of the construction costs; Construction is expected to begin this summer.
Landmark:New Bedford reaches agreement with MBTA for $21M pedestrian bridge to rail station
Tensions between School Committee members in the Old Rochester Regional School District surfaced at last week’s Joint School Committee meeting, where member Joe Pires spoke out on concerns reportedly passed on to him by community members about local nonprofit Tri-Town Against Racism, or TTAR, and its relationship with the schools; and community members spoke out on Pires’ behalf concerning op/ed pieces published about him, including one submitted to local news outlets by fellow committee member Frances-Feliz Kearn.
At the Dec. 14 ORR School Committee meeting, Pires outlined feedback he’d reportedly received from school community members, including concerns over what he said were described to him as “reverse racism” and “anti-white” sentiment, and suggested that the district’s Equity Subcommittee — which both he and Kearns serve on — should take those perspectives into account in its considerations. Following that meeting, an op/ed piece taking issue with Pires’ remarks, signed by Kearns her and husband Thomas, was published by local news outlets.
Town officials:Tensions between ORR school officials surfaced at the meeting
When you love what you do, as is the case for Caitlin Townsend, advocating for fishermen by collecting old fishing nets, ropes, and other gear in New Bedford so it can be recycled feels like a dream job.
It may not sound like everyone’s dream job, but Townsend feels she’s making a difference working for Net Your Problem, a fishing gear recycling service doing its part for the fishing industry as the Massachusetts representative.
She can collect codend bottom trawl net, footrope, seine web of any color, chafing gear, purse line, float line from pot gear, soft buoys, gillnet web, weedline, sink line and lead and cork line from gillnets. A baling machine will also be employed to help bale gillnet. Currently, there is no charge for the service.
Fishing industry:A net win: Recycling company works with New Bedford fisheries to repurpose their old gear
They are sharing their stories about life as part of a thriving Cape Verde community on Milton Street in Dartmouth to keep its history alive.
The collection of oral histories is called “Our Town/Nha Vida” or “Our Town/My Life.” It was a challenge Jim Lopes eagerly accepted when he agreed to record the stories. He had never thought about the origins of his father’s family and how they came to live on a farm in Dartmouth.
The Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society has also been working with Lopes to help get the word out about the oral histories and prompt curiosity about the Cape Verde community in town.
Blast from the past:‘Dartmouth wouldn’t be what it is’: Oral histories celebrate the Cape Verdean community
When Justina Perry launched BuyBlackNB, a directory celebrating Black-owned businesses in the New Bedford area, little did she know it would motivate her to take the leap and start her own business, too.
Perry, for the past eight years, worked for Southcoast Health as a doctor of physical therapy specializing in pelvic health and pelvic floor rehab. In December, Perry launched Oshun Physical Therapy and Pelvic Health located at 1249 Ashely Blvd. The business is geared towards women who are ready to heal in their pelvic floor and learn more about their bodies.
Perry said she works with women who have bowel, bladder or sexual dysfunction, which is usually triggered after childbirth, but sometimes it presents earlier in life.
Health:BuyBlackNB founder opens her own business helping women with pelvic health.
All of these stories can be found in their entirety at SouthCoastToday.com.